TYLERTOWN — The guard is changing in the Walthall County School District, but a familiar face will still be in charge.
Board members last week elevated Assistant Superintendent Dr. J. Bradley Brumfield to the top post. Superintendent Wade Carney will retire June 30.
“I have been completely humbled and amazed at how many phone calls and text messages I’ve received,” Brumfield wrote in a statement Thursday, “Also, the amount of social media messages, likes, and positive comments is so meaningful to me — from everyone who has sent them!”
A 1997 graduate of Pine High School in Louisiana, Brumfield earned an Associate of Arts degree at Southwest Mississippi Community College and a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in biology and history at the University of Mississippi in 2002.
He received his master’s degree from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2008, and his doctorate from SLU in 2011.
Brumfield has spent his entire career in Walthall County schools, starting as a seventh- and eighth-grade science teacher at Tylertown High School in 2002. He moved up to high school biology teacher in 2009, and moved to the central office as supervisor of instruction in 2011.
He added the role of testing coordinator in 2015, and was named curriculum and instruction director a year later.
He was named assistant superintendent in December 2018.
He was the high school’s Teacher of the Year in 2004, as well as the Walmart Teacher of the Year for the McComb store. He was appointed to the graduate student committee of the National Center for Accreditation of Teacher Education at SLU in 2008, and was president elect, president and past president of Learning Forward Mississippi.
Brumfield is a member of Mississippi Professional Educators, Learning Forward Mississippi, the Mississippi Association of School Administrators, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and the Mid-South Educational Research Association.
He said he is starting to develop plans for the district for consideration when he takes over July 1.
“I will be working from a strategic plan with specified and agreed-upon goals and measurable objectives,” Brumfield said. “Lots of decisions to make. I will see that more of that is shared over the coming months.
“I humbly ask that you keep us educators in your prayers, and that He continues to give all of us the wisdom, knowledge, and heart to always do what is right for children.”
He also expressed his appreciation to Carney for his leadership and wished him a long and happy retirement.
Carney is also a longtime employee of the district. He was principal of the district’s Career and Technology Center before winning the county’s last election for superintendent in 2015. The legislature made all superintendents appointed in 2016.
