The Cullman City School Board has selected current Demopolis City Schools Superintendent Kyle Kallhoff to be the next superintendent of Cullman City Schools.

The board approved the selection of Kallhoff in a special called meeting Thursday morning, and officially welcomed him as the next leader of the city school system.

Kallhoff said the Cullman City School System is known around the state for the excellence that has been shown in the last several years, and he is looking forward to getting started in the system and working with current Superintendent Susan Patterson on his transition to superintendent.

“It is my pleasure to serve the community, the students, the families,” he said. “You don’t have a school system doing as well as this school system if you don’t have great employees, and a lot of that is due to Dr. Patterson’s work and what she has done here in the last few years.”

Kallhoff has worked as a school superintendent in Alabama for the past eight-and-a-half years. He has served in the position at Demopolis, a city school system in Marengo County in southwest Alabama, since 2015. 

Before that he was the inaugural superintendent of the Chickasaw City School System in Mobile County. During those two previous superintendent stops, Kallhoff helped develop strategic plans; partnered with local colleges and universities; and was a member of the Transformation Leadership Academy in Alabama.

He was also named Superintendent of the Year for the School Superintendents of Alabama in District 2 in 2018.

Board President Chris Branham welcomed Kallhoff to the system, and said the board’s members are excited to bring in someone with prior experience as a superintendent.

“I think you’re going to be a great fit for our school system, and we’re real excited,” he said. 

Branham also thanked Patterson for the leadership and everything she has given to the system over the six years she has served as superintendent.

Patterson will remain as superintendent until July, and will work with Kallhoff to ease his move to a new school system. 

“I’m glad that we were able to make this appointment early so we can make a real smooth transition,” Branham said. 

Board attorney Taylor Brooks, who was selected by the board to lead the search for a new superintendent after Patterson announced her retirement last September, spoke to the board about the decision-making before its members voted to approve Kallhoff.

The board originally agreed to accept applications from Nov. 2 until Jan. 4 and announce the finalists for the position on Jan. 19. Members later voted to change the timeline to allow until March to select and announce the finalists.

The system received 20 applications for the position, but Kallhoff was the only one who had prior experience as a superintendent in Alabama and all five board members listed him as their number one choice, Brooks said.

After reaching out to Kallhoff and learning that there may be other school systems looking to hire him as their superintendent, Brooks recommended the board call the special meeting and make the decision to hire Kallhoff sooner than originally planned. 

The board also gave approval for Brooks to negotiate a start date and contract for Kallhoff, and Brooks said the contract will likely be ready for consideration at the board’s next meeting on Feb. 16.