5 Questions for Dr. Brian Clayton, Hartselle City Schools superintendent
Dr. Brian Clayton is proud to serve the students, faculty, staff administration, and the community of Hartselle City Schools as its superintendent. He is a native of Eutaw, Alabama and is a graduate of the University of Alabama where he earned four degrees which includes a doctorate in Education Leadership in 2005. He has served students as a math teacher, basketball and football coach, assistant principal and principal in Hale County Schools, Thomasville City Schools, Tuscaloosa City Schools and Madison City Schools for nearly three decades. For the past 10 years, he served as the first principal of James Clemens High School. During his time at James Clemens, Dr. Clayton was awarded the honor of State of Alabama Secondary Principal of the Year in 2018. Also with Madison City Schools, Dr. Clayton served as Principal of Liberty Middle School when the school was named a National Blue Ribbon Award winner in 2012.
Dr. Clayton has served his peers as president-elect of the Alabama Association of Secondary School Principals for the 2019-20 school year. Additionally, he serves with the Council for Leaders of Alabama Schools (CLAS) Board of Directors and is a member of the Executive Board of CLAS.
- What inspired you to pursue a career in education administration, and what motivated you to become a superintendent? I was inspired in education by the many examples I had growing up. My uncle Jack Clayton was a 40-year veteran of education. He was a math teacher and principal. I had the opportunity to work with him for the first five years of my career. He was also my principal when I was in elementary school.
- Can you share a bit about your leadership philosophy and how you plan to apply it to improve our school district? believe in keeping the main purpose of education student wellbeing and achievement. This in turn calls on all of us to make sure that we make all decisions based on our students.
- What do you see as the most significant challenges and opportunities facing our school district, and how do you envision addressing them? The most significant challenges we have in our district at this time is financial wellbeing with the continued growth that we are experiencing in the City of Hartselle. I believe that planned growth is what is best for any community. Mr. (Bradley) Colburn, our Chief Financial School Officer, does a great job in this arena.
- How do you plan to engage with teachers, students, parents and the community to foster open communication and collaboration? In the beginning of my time here, we established a student advisory group for the superintendent. We have representatives from all schools who I meet with quarterly in order to receive student input on decisions that we have to make in the school system. I would like all of our community members to know that I have an “open door” policy and believe that we are all in this together for the betterment of our students.
- Outside of your professional life, what are some of your hobbies and interests that you’d like to share with our school and community? I love to support the University of Alabama athletics. Additionally, I enjoy traveling and reading biographies of leaders.
