Hoover City Schools Assistant Superintendent Tera Simmons resigns to take college job

Tera Simmons, the assistant superintendent and recently interim superintendent for Hoover City Schools, has resigned and taken a job as executive vice president at Gadsden State Community College.

That means Simmons will be following and working with her former boss, former Hoover Superintendent Kathy Murphy, who became Gadsden State’s president in January.

Simmons’ last day on the job in Hoover will be July 14, she said. She will start her new position with Gadsden State on July 19.

Simmons, who came to Hoover City Schools as assistant superintendent in June 2016, said her departure from Hoover is bittersweet because she loves the city and loved being a part of the community. It was just time for her to take advantage of another opportunity, she said.

“I’ve always wanted to work at the college level,” she said, but she thought it wouldn’t happen until after she retired from working in the K-12 realm.

“This door opened, and I thought at this time in my life, it was the best decision for me,” she said. “Hoover’s a great system. I have been blessed to be able to be here. … My whole goal in life is hopefully to make a difference in other people’s lives and be where I can make the greatest impact.”

That means Hoover City Schools will have a new superintendent, Dee Fowler, who started July 1, and two assistant superintendent positions to fill. Ron Dodson, the other assistant superintendent, is retiring Sept. 1.

Dodson said he and others will miss working with Simmons but understand her desire to take what she considers to be a step forward in her career.

Hoover school board President Amy Tosney said everyone thinks it has been fantastic to work with Simmons.

“She was just the perfect example of diligent and kind to everyone,” Tosney said. “We hate to lose her. She will be missed. It’s going to be a void.”

Simmons did a great job stepping in as interim superintendent after Murphy left for Gadsden State, Tosney said. Central office staff and principals all indicated she did a great job in that role, Tosney said.

Losing a superintendent and two assistant superintendents at the same time means a lot of change, but Fowler has such great experience that he can handle it, Tosney said.

“I do not think we’ll have a hard time replacing those positions, although it’s going to be hard to replace those people,” she said.

Simmons has a long history of working under Murphy’s leadership. Murphy hired her for her first teaching job at Greenville Middle School in 1997 and served as an assistant principal under Murphy for two years at Greenville High School.

Simmons started her career in education as a special education teacher. After eight years as a teacher, she served one year as an assistant principal at Greenville and W.O. Parmer elementary schools, then two years as an assistant principal at Greenville High School and two years as principal at Greenville Elementary before being promoted to the central office of the Butler County school system.

She served four years as K-12 curriculum director and then two years as director of student learning before coming to Hoover. She has served as interim superintendent in Hoover for the past six months.

She received her bachelor’s degree in education from Auburn University of Montgomery in 1998, a master’s degree in education from Auburn University of Montgomery in 2000 and a doctorate in education from Regent University in 2006.

Editor's note: This article was updated at 6:10 p.m. with comments from Hoover school board President Amy Tosney.