Buncombe County Schools names Jennifer Reed interim superintendent Sept. 1

Buncombe County Schools will hand the superintendent’s office to Jennifer Reed on Sept. 1, keeping the district under an internal leader as Rob Jackson retires Aug. 31. For students, parents and staff, the immediate change is a shift at the top, not a wholesale reset of the system they will return to for the new school year.

Reed is a Buncombe County Schools graduate and a veteran educator with nearly 25 years in public education. District bios show she has worked as a teacher, instructional coach, assistant principal, principal, director and associate superintendent in the system, including service as Director of Elementary and Intermediate Education from 2017 to 2022. The board unanimously approved her as Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction in November 2022, placing her in one of the district’s core academic jobs before naming her interim superintendent.

The board has already started the search for Jackson’s permanent replacement, and its legal counsel, Campbell Shatley, is overseeing candidate recruitment. Jackson told the board on June 4 that he would retire after 34 years serving students in North Carolina public schools and after leading Buncombe County Schools since 2022.

The timing gives Reed a front-line role at a moment when the district is juggling more than one pressure point. The U.S. Department of Education has opened a Title IX investigation into Buncombe County Schools’ restroom policies, and November 2024 board briefing materials referenced Hurricane Helene response updates and an interim Title IX policy. That backdrop makes continuity at the top especially important for families and staff who are looking for steady communication as the district heads into a new school year.

Reed’s local roots are part of that continuity. She has worked in Buncombe County schools at every level of the system, including Fairview Elementary School, Emma Elementary School and Glen Arden Elementary School. In 2023, she was named Woman Executive of the Year at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce’s WomanUP Awards, recognition the district tied to her leadership, mentorship and work on workforce development and community partnerships.

Jackson’s departure closes a 34-year North Carolina public school career, but the transition leaves the district in the hands of a longtime insider as the board moves toward naming a permanent superintendent.