School board approves contract extension for Superintendent Dan Sims

The Bibb County school board renewed superintendent Dan Sims’ contract for an additional three years in a 7-1 vote Thursday evening.

The extension — the longest the board could make — reflects strong support for a district administrator who has built meaningful relationships with the community but faces a looming budget shortfall and school closures due to declining enrollment and flagging attendance.

Sims was appointed Bibb County Schools’ superintendent in May 2022 following Curtis Jones’s retirement. He spent the previous six years as an assistant superintendent in Atlanta Public Schools.

The contract renewal comes two months before new school board members Henry Ficklin and Barney Hester replaced Juawn Jackson and Thelma Dilliard. Sims will make a base salary of $262,500 starting in July, which will increase to $275,625 in January 2027.

Bibb County Schools has seen strong graduation rates during Sims’ tenure.

“Overall, I just feel like there’s a spirit that’s alive in our district,” he said. “We’re much more collaborative, we’re focused, and we’ve taken where the district was and continued that track of success in a way that’s setting us up for the future.”

James Freeman, president of the Bibb school board, said Sims has done a “great job” so far, raising graduation rates and increasing engagement with parents and the community.

Freeman said the three-year contract aligns with their strategic five-year plan to improve parental and student engagement with the district. 

He added that Sims has done a good job helping students of all grade levels and ensuring student success.

“Graduation rate is one of the measures of success, but you don’t get there without looking at the whole system,” he said. “It’s not just about high school graduate rates, it’s about the whole system.”

In his upcoming term, Sims said he hopes to keep teacher salaries competitive, ensure school safety and conduct “recruitment for excellence,” by connecting students with opportunities for professional development.

He said he also plans on bringing closure recommendations to the board by the beginning of 2025.

School board treasurer Daryl Morton was the lone dissenting vote.

Morton said he did not think Sims’ performance over his term merited a three-year contract and said he thought Sims should get two years to see if he could improve upon certain metrics.

He raised concerns about “chronic absenteeism” and noted the school district failing to procure a maximum waiver contract with the state education board last spring. Bibb Schools was granted a one-year strategic waiver, which gives the district flexibility on some state requirements in exchange for improved academic performance.

“The biggest hurdle is getting kids in school; if they are not there, they can’t learn,” Morton said.