Lisa Herring

Lisa Herring (born c. 1972 in Macon, Georgia) is a former superintendent of Birmingham City Schools and Atlanta Public Schools.

Herring grew up in Macon and earned a bachelor of arts at Spelman College in Atlanta in 1994, and a master's in education from the University of South Carolina in Colombia in 1999. She began her career as a creative writing teacher in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and returned to Georgia as a language arts teacher and as a guidance counselor for Bibb County public schools. She was promoted there to director of student support services in 2006. In 2007 she completed a Ph.D. in educational leadership and administration at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro.

In 2009 Herring transferred to DeKalb County schools where she supervised 300 counselors and graduation coaches. From there she moved to Charleston, South Carolina where she worked as director of student support services, associate superintendent for instructional support, chief academic officer, and deputy superintendent of academics for the county school district.

In 2016 she was hired as chief academic officer for Jefferson County Public Schools, a system with more than 100,000 students in Louisville, Kentucky. She came to Birmingham as superintendent of schools in May 2017. Though the board's hiring process was criticized, Herring earned good marks, and her one-year contract was renewed for four years in 2018.

Herring's tenure was marked by improvements in city schools' scores on the Alabama Education Report Card and lifting of probationary status placed on the system by the private accreditor AdvancED. She worked with city leaders to develop the Birmingham Promise Initiative to provide business apprenticeships and college scholarships to graduates, and was involved in the launch of TechAlabama's Ed Farm program.

Herring was a member of the 2020 class of Leadership Birmingham.

Herring left Birmingham in 2020 to accept a job as successor to Meria Carstarphen as superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools, a system with 50,000 students in Atlanta, Georgia. Her contract was not renewed after it ended on June 30, 2024.

Preceded by: Larry Contri (interim)

Superintendent of Birmingham City Schools May 2, 2017–May 2020

Succeeded by: Mark Sullivan (interim)

Reports

• Stewart, Sherrel (May 3, 2017) "Birmingham Hires New School Superintendent" WBHM.org
• Gaddy, Daniel (December 11, 2019) "Birmingham School Superintendent Receives 3.55 out of 5 in Evaluation." BirminghamWatch
• Cohen, Eli Benton (April 21, 2020) "Birmingham Superintendent Lisa Herring Stepping Down to Lead Atlanta Public Schools." WBHM.org/BirminghamWatch
• "Atlanta schools getting rid of former Birmingham Superintendent Lisa Herring." (June 2, 2023) Associated Press / AL.com