Photo by Jon Anderson
Hoover City Schools Chief Administrative Officer Terry Lamar presents proposed changes to the student code of conduct during a school board meeting at the Farr Administration Building in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday, June 7, 2022.
Terry Lamar, the chief administrative officer for Hoover City Schools, is leaving to fill a similar position with Birmingham City Schools.
Lamar, after 18 years with Hoover City Schools, has been hired as the chief of staff for the Birmingham school system and will begin his new role there Oct. 1.
The chief of staff is one of three people who report directly to Birmingham Superintendent Mark Sullivan, who became superintendent for Birmingham in 2020.
Lamar said he has loved every moment of working in Hoover City Schools, but it’s time for a change and new challenge, and he likes what he sees happening in Birmingham.
“It’s a school district that has some innovative things and innovative initiatives, and I really want to be a part of what they’re doing in Birmingham,” he said. “The superintendent in that district is all about programs developed for the betterment of students. … It’s a great opportunity to get to work with Dr. Sullivan.”
Lamar said Hoover has been his home, and he feels like he has grown up in the district. He came to Hoover as a 25-year-old counselor, and now he’s 44.
Lamar originally is from Mobile and got his start in education as a physical education teacher at Tuscaloosa Middle School in 2003.
In 2006, he was hired as the eighth-grade counselor at Bumpus Middle school, where he served for four years. He then spent three years as an assistant principal at South Shades Crest Elementary School and two years as the seventh-grade principal at Berry Middle School before being appointed principal at Bluff Park in 2015.
Then in the fall of 2018, Lamar was promoted to become the Hoover district’s director of equity and educational initiatives, and in March of 2022, he was named chief administrative officer, overseeing things such as human resources, student services, transportation, operations, and equity and educational initiatives.
As chief of staff in Birmingham, his role will include oversight of human resources, operations, information technology, strategies, communications and education partners.
The Hoover school system has roughly 13,300 students on 17 campuses, while Birmingham has more than 19,000 students on 43 campuses.
Lamar said he and his family plan to continue living in Hoover, and he plans to continue serving on the Hoover Public Library board of directors. He also is a graduate of Leadership Hoover.
“It’s been great all these years,” he said. “The people in this district I will thoroughly miss.”
