SMITHFIELD – During a special called personnel meeting Tuesday afternoon the Johnston County Board of Education approved the hiring of a new superintendent.
In a 6-to-1 vote, Dr. David Pearce, the current Assistant Superintendent of Administrative and Auxiliary Services, was named the new school leader, effective July 1, 2025.
Dr. Pearce will replace Dr. Eric Bracy who recently accepted the role as Superintendent of Cumberland County Schools.
School board member April Lee voted against his hiring. Lee said it was not about Dr. Pearce but about the process. She felt the board should have conducted a search for Dr. Bracy’s replacement.
Board member Jeff Sullivan said he also struggled with the decision. Sullivan stated he firmly believed in a thorough search but said in the end it was about the person.
Board member Michelle Antoine said she had complete confidence in Dr. Pearce.
Lyn Andrews, school board chairperson, said the decision to hire Dr. Pearce was made with students as the top priority. Andrews called him an exceptional problem solver with knowledge in all areas of the JCPS system. She added that Dr. Pearce has a clear understanding of the needs of students and staff and the demands on the public school system.
An official swearing in ceremony will take place on July 1st at 9:00 a.m.
Absolute best decision y’all have ever made!
No national search because that would expose how messed up our school board is and open JOCO to become a reality TV show!!
Hold up. JCPS has had a reality TV show for a while now. It airs the second Tuesday of every month on YouTube, albeit viewership has dropped since the hero of the people got voted off the island. All jokes aside, JCPS did not need to do another national search. The last time they did, it cost taxpayers $50,000 to have a consultant tell them their best option was in Sampson County. A Wi-Fi connection and a Google search could’ve landed a more qualified candidate and maybe spared the school district the disaster we are all still cleaning up after. But hey, those 13 kidneys were too busy recording one another to really focus on what was best for the children.
Dr. David Pearce will be good for JCPS. Every success this district has seen in recent years is because of him, the principals, the teachers, and the staff. They have been the boots on the ground giving their all every day to make a positive difference in students’ lives. The fact that anything improved during Dr. Bracy’s dumpster fire of a tenure is nothing short of a miracle. Dr. Pearce is this district’s best hope of rebuilding an organization that Johnston County can be proud of again.
Wow, they never searched for anyone?
Everyone wants to complain about the school system. Everyone wants to complain about the Board of Education. You’re always going to have that group of loud people who always seem to be upset about something with miserable lives the same ones over and over and over again, no matter what the topic. If you’ve been privy to the inside workings, you will know that David Pearce has ran the school system for the last four or five years. Dr. Bracy has been nothing but a Figure head. He didn’t do anything wrong because let’s face it. He didn’t do anything. He did bring in some folks who were pretty darn good such as Steven Britt the finance guy I hope He stays, give that guy a raise. As far as test scores and things like that, that’s all a charade and a game of Smoke and mirrors. Pearce is very well-versed in all aspects. He knows all of the nuances of all the principles and all of the schools and all of the parents of certain schools by far the best choice. Anytime we’ve gone outside the county to find leadership. It has not turned out well. Just look at DSS…
Congratulations, Dr. Pearce! Finally some good news
Reading all the racist posts on FB about this. Attacking Pearce based solely on his color religion and values. It goes against that very small Loud fraction of Joco crazies who want Saran clubs and sexual identity clubs in our schools snd porn in our libraries. Pearce is a great leader common sense and knows Joco. Don’t be fooled by “ Bracy’s success” he changed the rules on testing to appear to have improved learning. Why is it always the same handful of people at every commissioners meeting every school board meeting every March protest whatever the majority of people are for they are against… find something better to do. I know they think they’re doing something noble but at some point they have to know that they are in the minority and that’s why it appears that their comments or postings or fake stories are falling on deaf ears.
@Saveme, your first problem is you read Facebook.
This is great news and a huge step forward. Save me, you are absolutely correct about the smoke and mirrors. Bracy did some thing wrong though, he just never got caught. There were some things in the works, but he jumped ship before they could come to light. Some of the people who know these things should at least come forward now. Bracy thinks he is a God and walked on water. Good riddance and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Dr. Pearce is a great person. He has pretty much run JCPS for the last 4-5 years. He LOVES JC and will put his heart and soul into this position. There will be some people who make not like this because he is a “local home grown boy” but he is going to impress everyone. If you aren’t happy, go the to school board and tell them. Other than that, get ready to be impressed. And remember, he will do his job and be great at it as long as the board works WITH him and SUPPORTS him. If not, whoever is in this role will never succeed and the school board is the problem then. ———– Go get em David, make us all proud!!!
He may be a good decision and may not be Everyone says good things until they start the job but for them to not have done a search and bring a couple of candidates in I think is a big mistake. Mr Pearce may have came out on top but this was not the way to go
Until the sheep decide to stop voting clowns to the BoE, nothing will improve (regardless of the superintendent). I give Pearce three years (at most) until he’s had his fill of the sh*tshow we call the “Johnson County Board of Education” and leaves. #VoteOutIncumbents
Half the problem is we need serious candidates to run who aren’t either communists or paid off to look like they aren’t communists!
Stop all government control of education. It’s a complete disaster and everybody is forced to pay for it. If you want to have 12 kids, you better be able to pay for everything they need, including their education.