INDIANAPOLIS — Aleesia Johnson, IPS Deputy Superintendent for Academics, will serve as Indianapolis Public Schools’ interim superintendent. Current superintendent Dr. Lewis D. Ferebee’s last day will be Jan. 4, after which Johnson will fill the position. Ferebee was recently announced as the next Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools. Members of the IPS Board of School Commissioners made the appointment with a unanimous vote of 7-0.
Johnson, an educator for over 16 years, has worked in a number of roles throughout Indianapolis, including most recently as Innovation Officer and Deputy Superintendent for Academics for IPS. A native of Evansville, Ind., Aleesia comes from a long line of educators including her grandfather, Anthony Brooks, one of the few African-American administrators in the Evansville area in the 1970s and 1980s. Aleesia is the first African-American female to serve as superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools.
The district will begin its search for a permanent superintendent sometime in 2019.