By Ray King
After two years as Superintendent of the Pine Bluff School District, Dr. Jeremy Owoh is saying goodbye to the city and taking a new job in Little Rock.
Appearing on the Oldies 101,3 morning show, he said he has accepted a job as Deputy Superintendent/Academic Officer for the Little Rock School District which is coming out of state control and will be electing a school board this fall.
Owoh announced his resignation in a letter to his staff and faculty and said the decision to leave Pine Bluff was a tough one.
He went on to say that his successor, which will be appointed by State Education Secretary Johnny Key, “should be able to come in and have a great foundation to continue to move forward (the district). Our teachers and our administrators at the school level, we’ve worked hard the last couple of years to really build capacity in them to make those decisions driven by our student data, both socially and emotional data, we have all those things.”
Owoh was also asked when he thought the Pine Bluff District would be released from state control and said he thinks it will be sooner than the five-years that the state mandate calls for.
He said his final day with the district will be June 30 and wants to get as much done before that as he can, including help to plan a graduation ceremony for the district’s seniors in July, and the distribution of teacher contracts.
Owoh, who lives in Little Rock, also talked about the amount of time he spent on the highway each day, and the time he was unable to attend school activities in Little Rock, where his son will be in the seventh grade this fall.
