Baltimore schools board picks Jermaine Dawson as next CEO

Baltimore City Public Schools turned to a Philadelphia administrator to lead one of the city’s most important institutions, unanimously selecting Dr. Jermaine Dawson as the district’s next CEO and setting his start date for July 1, 2026. The choice puts a turnaround bet on a leader with experience in curriculum, instruction, student supports and professional learning at a moment when Baltimore still needs sharper gains in classrooms.

Dawson currently serves as deputy superintendent of academic services for the School District of Philadelphia. His background also includes leadership roles in Birmingham City Schools, Houston ISD, Duval County Public Schools, Fulton County Schools and Charter Schools USA. He is originally from Atlanta, Georgia.

The board’s decision came as Dr. Sonja Brookins Santelises prepares to step down at the end of June after a decade as CEO. City Schools says she is the longest-serving CEO in nearly 79 years, and the search for her successor stretched across multiple steps, including a contract extension in June 2024, another in October 2024, a request for search proposals in February 2025, the hiring of Kremer Communications for community engagement in March 2025 and the selection of Alma Advisory Group in May 2025 to lead the national search. The district said students, families, staff, community members, elected officials and school administrators helped shape the process.

The numbers Dawson inherits show why the board wanted a leader with deep academic experience. Baltimore City Public Schools had a 71.71 percent graduation rate in 2025 and an 86.2 percent attendance rate, but student proficiency remains stubbornly low, with 12.6 percent of students proficient in math, 8 percent in science and 31.2 percent in English Language Arts. The district says literacy gains have risen for nine consecutive years and math scores have improved for three straight years, yet Baltimore remains well below state averages and far from the kind of system-wide recovery families want to see.

Robert Salley, the board chair, said the board was “thrilled” to work with Dawson. Mayor Brandon Scott said Santelises’ tenure produced “historic progress,” including new 21st-century schools, better attendance and expanded opportunity. Dawson said he wants to partner with students, educators, families and the community and hopes to help make Baltimore City Public Schools one of the top urban school districts in the country.

Dawson has already begun transition work, including visits to Baltimore schools and meetings with staff and students. For families, the first real measure of success will not be the title or the résumé, but whether the district can move faster on the problems that shape daily school life: attendance, literacy, staffing and safety, while turning gradual progress into larger gains in student achievement.