Ozark City Schools Superintendent Reeivice Girtman Unexpectedly Announces Resignation
By: Jeff Devine
Ozark received a bit of a shock Monday evening as Ozark City Schools (OCS) Superintendent Reeivice Girtman suddenly and unexpectedly announced his decision to resign from his position as the head of Ozark City Schools, a position which he has held for four years.
In a statement released late Monday, Girtman announced that he has notified the school board of his resignation, which will take effect at the end of the school year.
“Serving as Superintendent of Ozark City Schools over the past four years has been one of the greatest honors of my life,” Girtman said in his announcement. “I am extremely grateful to the school board members, our incredible staff, and the Ozark community for their trust, encouragement, and shared commitment to our students.
“Though I am moving on, Ozark will always feel like home, and I will forever be a fan of our #ONEeagle family,” Girtman added.
Though the announcement came as a shock, a trusted source informed the Dale County Chronicle that Girtman had been in a meeting with all of the schools’ principals and other leaders yesterday afternoon.
First selected as OCS Superintendent in July 2021, Girtman assumed the lead role following a number of years as a teacher and principal in Eufaula, Alabama. According to our research, Girtman holds the historic distinction of being the first Black superintendent of OCS, and this means a great deal to many residents of the community During his tenure as superintendent, Girtman announced a series of achievements OCS made. For example, during his leadership, the Carroll High School graduation rate climbed to 95%, an achievement which is a few points higher than the Alabama average among public schools.
I must admit that the Dale County Chronicle has faced difficulty in the past getting Superintendent Girtman and his immediate assistant to cooperate with our legitimate journalistic inquiries so we could publish news reports on topics ranging from the ACAP reading scores, the number of third-grade students retained this school year due to those scores and the requirements of the Alabama Literacy Act, and our very simple request for email addresses for newly-hired principals and assistant principals. We made this simple request multiple times so we could conduct brief email interviews and introduce them to the community (at the time of our requests, just before the start of the school year, the OCS online system was down, and the former, easy-to-use faculty/staff directory had disappeared from the website). Now, one must use the “Central Office Staff Directory” and comb through the results. The results do not include the position/job description of the individual.
It has now been over forty-two days since we made our first request for newly-hired administrators’ OCS email addresses so we could conduct brief interviews via email. We have done this in previous years. After no response to our email dated August 1, we tried again a week later. After no response, I called Central Office and got initial approval from Girtman. He informed me that his assistant would provide the requested email addresses to me. However, Brandy Allport declined our request. The excuse Allport provided by email was that “we are knee-deep in getting everything just right to set up our students for academic success. Because of that, we will have to decline to participate in an interviews for your articles at this time. Our administrators must remain focused on the myriad of important details required to launch the best school year possible.”
We understood the initial delay; however, 42 days is unacceptable. Also, during phone calls, Allport often spoke in a rude and abrupt manner and was not cooperative in the least. We hope that, moving forward, we can start with a clean slate so we can report on OCS news and events to keep the community informed. As an Eagle alumnus myself, I hold a special place in my heart of OCS and the Carroll High School Eagles!
Despite our issues with Girtman’s office, many members of the community, including many members of the faculty, staff, student body, and the OneEagle family are deeply saddened by Girtman’s departure. There has already been an outpouring of support from many members of the community.
Last August, Girtman was appointed by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to serve on the Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences Board of Trustees as the District 1 representative.
Quickly following the unexpected announcement of Girtman’s upcoming resignation, the Dale County Chronicle obtained a statement from OCS Board of Education President, Larry Hicks. Hicks said, “Mr. Girtman has done an excellent job representing our school system and community as the superintendent of Ozark City Schools.”
“He will leave a lasting impact on this community for years to come. We hate to see him leave, but we fully understand and respect his decision. We wish him well and thank him and his family for their dedication and commitment to our community,” Hicks added.
When asked about the OCS Board of Education’s plans, we were referred to a press release which announced they have no immediate plans regarding the launch of a new search for the next superintendent to succeed Girtman. They did, however, say they fully expect to have a new leader in place prior to the start of the 2026-2027 academic year.
The Dale County Chronicle reached out to other members of the OCS Board of Education and leaders with the Alabama State Department of Education for comment, and we will update this story when more information is received. We are waiting for a response from the Alabama State Department of Education, but we have received two brief responses from other OCS Board Members.
The Dale County Chronicle asked Board Member J. Nicky Bull if any of the board members were aware prior to Girtman’s announcement that he would be resigning. While that and other questions went unanswered, we did receive the following response to our email: “I want to thank Mr. Girtman for his dedication and hard work for our school system and our community over the past several years and wish him the best as he begins this next chapter. He has been an invaluable leader for our system and a tremendous friend.”
Bull then mentioned that the OCS Board “will begin meeting in the coming weeks to discuss our plans moving forward. I encourage you to attend our meetings to learn as we begin to make decisions regarding our plans.”
While Lynn Ivey had the following comment: “At this time, I have no comment other than that we appreciate the strong leadership Mr. Girtman has provided and continues to provide to the Ozark City Schools, and that the Board will be working together in the coming weeks to search for a new superintendent.”
