Jharrett Bryantt, an executive in the Office of Talent for the Houston Independent School District in Houston, Texas, has been named the new superintendent for the Anchorage School District.
“He articulates specific and innovative plans to improve proficiency in reading and math,” wrote School Board President Margo Bellamy in a letter to parents. “He is laser focused on students and their academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs along with a sincere desire to ensure adequate resources are directed to the classroom to support educators and support staff.”
The Houston Independent School District spends $9,691 per student each year. It has an annual revenue of $2,678,729,000, according to U.S. News.
He comes into a district that spends more than $19,000, according to the ASD’s audited report. Anchorage’s school revenues are $741,692,000, including $88,207,000 of federal money and $225,524,000 in local revenues. The Anchorage School District has 42.2% of students scoring proficient or above in English, while in math, 39.4% of students scored at least proficient this year. The district has set a goal of having 50 percent of students proficient.
The Houston school district serves about 194,000 students on 276 campuses; Anchorage schools have about 43,000 students on less than 100 campuses.
Bryantt will arrive before his start date of July 1 to work on transition with exiting Superintendent Deena Bishop. For his three-year contract, he will make $250,000 a year, the same that Bishop was paid for her contract.
“Serving the Anchorage community as superintendent would be the privilege and honor of a lifetime; I want to put down roots here, and unite our complex, multicultural community around our schools. I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and partner with the community to create a shared vision of educational excellence. I have a track record of leading academic gains and attracting top talent into one of America’s largest and most diverse school districts; I am prepared to lead the Anchorage School District into a bright, exciting new chapter,” Bryantt said in his letter of introduction to the district.
Bryantt began his education career as a high school mathematics teacher. In 2019, he was named to Forbes Magazine’s 30 education leaders to watch, and then to Forbes’ 2021 national list of 50 champions for advancing communities of color.
Bryantt is an alumnus of the Cooperative Superintendency Program at the University of Texas at Austin, and also completed numerous national future superintendent fellowships. He holds doctoral and master’s degrees in education leadership and policy from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Bachelor of Science from Yale University.
Bryantt was among three finalists, including Frank Hauser, who is a former Service High School principal and who serves as the superintendent for the Sitka School District; and Mathew Neal, superintendent of Woodland Park School District, a district with 2,600 students in Woodland Park in Colorado.
In 2021, Bryantt was among the three finalists for superintendent of the Salt Lake City School District.
The national mean tenure for a superintendent is five to six years and the annual turnover rate for superintendents is between 14 and 16 percent, according to the national School Superintendents Association. Bishop has been superintendent for six years for Anchorage.
