Dr. Ufot Inyang, the Dougherty County School System’s Chief Academic Officer and an Associate Superintendent, is retiring on June 30. 

The former teacher and principal has helped guide and direct the district’s Academic Services division, which oversees the district’s Curriculum and Instruction, Assessment and Accountability departments as well as its Exceptional Students Program and English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program, for the past six years. 

“He is the epitome of a servant leader and has had an impact on students at every level of our district. It has been a pleasure having him on the team and I’m convinced that his service will have a lasting impact on our district for years to come,” Superintendent Kenneth Dyer said. “While Dr. Inyang’s retirement is well-deserved, he will be tough, if not impossible, to replace. I wish him well on his retirement and hope he enjoys the many fruits of his labor.”

Inyang’s career within the district spans more than 27 years. During that time, he served as a substitute teacher, a middle school Science teacher, an assistant principal, a principal of both Sylvester Road Elementary School and Merry Acres Middle School, assistant superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction and associate superintendent for Academic Services. 

In a letter announcing his retirement to Dyer, Inyang writes that it has been a privilege to serve the students in Dougherty County. 

“It has been my tremendous honor and privilege to have been part of the immense progress and changes that we have witnessed and brought about in the school system over the past several years,” he writes. “I am deeply grateful for the opportunity. I would like to believe that through a collaborative effort, I have contributed to the growth and improvement that we have witnessed in the school system.”

 In 2013, before Inyang took over, the district’s overall graduation rate was at a low-water mark of 60%. In 2019, the district’s graduation rate was 85.1% putting it above the state average for the fourth straight year. 

Inyang’s tenure in leadership at the district level has come at a time when some major changes were made both at the local and state levels. With Dyer and a team of others, Inyang helped develop a new strategic plan for the district; assisted with accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and then AdvancED; oversaw the implementation and transition of the district from the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) to the Georgia Milestones Assessment and assisted with the district’s push to become a fully 1-to-1 technology district. Additionally, he’s provided guidance and oversight to the district’s principals and assisted with the creation of the Commodore Conyers College and Career Academy. 

“Though I am looking forward to retiring, I will definitely miss the busy working schedule, but more importantly, working with (Dyer) and your leadership team, the team that I will be leaving behind in the Division of Academic Services, great colleagues, administrators, teachers, parents and students that I loved interacting with on a daily basis,” Inyang writes.