Birmingham City Schools
The History of the Birmingham City Schools
1873 Board of School Trustees established
1874 Free School Established (renamed The Powell School 1883)
1883 John H. Phillips, superintendent (First Birmingham Schools superintendent, considered the architect of the first school system)
1884 Board of School of Trustees becomes Board of Education (members appointed)
1884 Enrollment at 1,206; 7 schools total (2 were African American schools)
1910 Schools in Greater Birmingham Area Annexed; 40 schools (15 were African American schools)
1915 Capital campaign to build schools
1921 Charles Glenn, superintendent
1922 Capital campaign to build schools
1922 Enrollment at 15,692
1923 Charles Glenn, superintendent
1922 Capital campaign to build schools
1930 Segregation ordinances for public places
1942 L. Frasier Banks, superintendent
1952 Seventy schools in the system; Board of Education Administration building built
1954 Brown vs Board of Education
1959 Theodore R. Wright, superintendent
1961 Forty-one new school buildings
1963 First school desegregated (Graymont Elem.) followed by Nat. Guard enforced enrollment at West End HS and Ramsay HS
1964 Phillips HS desegregated
1969 Raymond Christian, superintendent (led full dismantling of dual school system)
1970 Enrollment at 70,000; 13 high schools, 77 elementary schools
1972 Henry Sparks, acting superintendent
1973 Wilmer Cody, superintendent
1977 Thirteen high schools and 77 elementary schools in BCS
1983 John Cantelow II, interim superintendent
1984 Walter G. Harris, superintendent (first African American superintendent; contract not renewed by school board)
1988 Cleveland Hammonds, superintendent
1988 Enrollment at 42,927
1994 Ed LaMonte, Interim superintendent),
1998 Johnny E. Brown, superintendent
1998 Enrollment at 39,831
2002 Wayman Shiver Jr, superintendent
2002 Board of Education becomes elected body: a nine-member board representing each City Council district
2004 Enrollment at 34,099
2006 Enrollment at 30,959
2006 Stan Mims, superintendent
2008 Barbara Allen, interim superintendent
2004 School closings and consolidations
2010 Enrollment at 26,721
2010 Craig Witherspoon, superintendent
2011 Enrollment at 25,091
2012 School Board President Edward Maddox guilty of using political office for personal gain. Resigned from position.
2012 Alabama Department of Education takeover operation of Birmingham City Schools
2015 Spencer Horn, interim superintendent
2015 Kelley Castlin-Gacutan, superintendent
2016 Larry Contri, interim superintendent
2017 Lisa Herring, superintendent
2017 Enrollment at 24,070, 49 schools
More on the state of Birmingham City Schools
Making the Grade? How Birmingham City Schools Are Doing Depends on Which Measure You Choose.
