Craig Pouncey

Warren Craig Pouncey (born c. 1960 in Highland Home, Crenshaw County) is the president of Coastal Alabama Community College and a former Superintendent of Jefferson County Schools.

Pouncey, son of Clarence Pouncey Jr, was born in Alabama, but grew up in Southern California. He returned to his grandparents' 90-acre farm as a teenager in 1975. He went on to complete a bachelor of science and a master's in elementary education at Troy State University. Later in his career he earned an Ed.S. in educational administration at Auburn University and an Ed.D. in educational leadership at Samford University.

Pouncey began his career in education teaching a fourth-grade class in Montgomery County. After that he spent fourteen years teaching sixth grade in Crenshaw County schools. He was promoted to assistant principal before accepting the position of Superintendent of Schools for the Crenshaw County system. He held that title from 1993 to 2003, when he was appointed as Director of Administrative and Financial Services for the Alabama State Department of Education.

Pouncey was promoted to Assistant State Superintendent in 2005 and Deputy State Superintendent for Administrative and Financial Services in 2010. He was later named Chief of Staff for the Department. Pouncey left Montgomery to succeed Stephen Nowlin as Jefferson County's Superintendent of Schools effective July 1, 2014.

Pouncey was a candidate to succeed Tommy Bice as Alabama State Superintendent of Education in 2016, but was passed over in favor of Michael Sentance, a veteran of the Massachusetts Department of Education. During the board's selection process, an anonymous ethics complaint was made against Pouncey, alleging that he had used state resources to complete his Samford doctoral dissertation. The complaint was later found to be without merit and Pouncey filed a lawsuit against several state officials.

Pouncey left the Jefferson County System in October 2019 after being named president of Coastal Alabama Community College. Walter Gonsoulin was appointed to succeed him as interim superintendent.

Pouncey and his wife, Wanda, have one son, Wesley, and two grandchildren.

References

• Belanger, Evan (June 24, 2014) "Meet Craig Pouncey; new JeffCo schools superintendent wants to 'reconnect with students'." The Birmingham News
• Pouncey, Craig (July 6, 2014) "Superintendent Craig Pouncey: Jeffco schools will remain a flagship district by being a family, working together." The Birmingham News

External links

• Meet The Superintendent at jefcoed.com