ASHEVILLE – Buncombe County Schools Board Sept. 22 elected Rob Jackson as a superintendent to replace outgoing Tony Baldwin, who served in the position since 2009.
Jackson, currently Carteret County Public Schools superintendent, will start his job after Baldwin officially retires Nov. 1. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, data from the 2021-2022 school year shows the Carteret system had 18 schools and 7,843 students.
NCES data shows Buncombe had 45 schools and 22,298 students in that academic year.
“Thank you so much for the honor and the opportunity to come back home,” Jackson told the Board, which voted unanimously and with a standing ovation to elect him to the school system’s top role.
Jackson is a Buncombe native.
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According to his biography on the Carteret County Public School System website, Jackson used to serve as an elementary teacher in Buncombe County Schools. He began a career in public education as a school secretary and summer school custodian in Buncombe County.
According to his biography and LinkedIn profile, Jackson served in the U.S. Navy on the USS Iwo Jima and then earned an associate’s degree from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. He then transferred to Western Carolina University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in school administration.
He went on to earn an educational specialist degree and a doctorate of education from Wingate University.
“I can’t be Dr. Tony Baldwin, but I will do my very best to serve each and every one of you … as you serve this community’s greatest resource, the children of Buncombe County,” Jackson said at the school board meeting.
In an interview he spoke to the local iteration of teacher and staff shortages Buncombe has experienced in recent months.
“Unfortunately, we have seen incredible shortages in educators and not just teachers, but in our classified positions as well, teacher assistants and bus drivers,” Jackson said. “That is … universal across the state. One of the things we have to do as educators is a much better job of telling our story, to talk about how important it is to be able to serve our community, to make a difference in a child’s life, to look for opportunities to incentivize and encourage our students to consider a career in teaching.”
Jackson said that in Carteret County, administration started a local teaching fellows scholarship so that a senior from every high school would receive a full-ride scholarship from the school systems foundation. Then they agreed to come back and teach in the school system.
“We’ve started to see some success with that,” he said. “And so I do think giving our students the opportunity to intern, perhaps high school students interning in our middle schools and elementary schools, really talking about the value and how incredible it is to be an educator telling that story, is important. I also think we have to advocate for our teachers and staff to tell their story to the leaders of the community. So their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed because we know how important they are in the life of the community.”
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“Dr. Jackson is an accomplished education leader, and the Board looks forward to working with him to further the success of the district and our students,” Ann Franklin, Chair of the Board of Education, said in a statement. “We believe his history and knowledge of Buncombe County will allow him to make an immediate and positive impact.”
Baldwin, who said he plans to spend time with his eight grandchildren during retirement, emphasized Jackson’s care for students.
“He is there for every single child and in Buncombe County that’s important because we have such a range of needs and challenges,” Baldwin said. “Rob will be a master in making sure we support that entire range of children.”
In 2021, Baldwin made $216,174. No details are available yet regarding Jackson’s pay and his starting date.
Andrew Jones is an investigative reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at @arjonesreports on Facebook and Twitter, 828-226-6203 or arjones@citizentimes.com. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
