I wrote on April 26, 2017 about the surprise announcement that the Lisa Herring, Chief Academic Officer (CAO) in the Jefferson County Public School District (JCPS), was a finalist to become Birmingham, Alabama’s new school superintendent. The surprise here was that Herring, who has been on the job less than a year in Louisville, was even considering a move.

Well, it’s now clear that Herring can’t exactly be in love with her current position in JCPS. The online news service connected to the Birmingham News just announced that Herring has indeed accepted that top spot in the Birmingham school system.

Of course, this really isn’t so much of a surprise. As I wrote in my earlier blog, the CAO position at JCPS had a highly troubled history even before Herring arrived.

It will be interesting to see if Herring makes any comments similar to those from her predecessor, Dewey Hensley, after she vacates the CAO slot. As you can read in my earlier post, Hensley’s resignation letter is laced with serious charges.

Herring’s short time in office before stepping out the door makes it look a lot more likely that there are some really deep-seated problems with the crucial CAO position in Jefferson County. Hopefully, the Kentucky Department of Education will get the real story while Herring is still available to interview.