It couldn’t have been easy for the members of the Bryan County Board of Education to choose the next school superintendent. But in the course of just a few months, the board managed to weed more than 30 applicants down to its top pick — Dr. Paul Brooksher.

Brooksher comes to us from the Gwinnett County Schools system, where he most recently served as the director of human resources and staffing. He also spent a number of years as a principal — first of J.A. Dobbins Middle School in Paulding County from 2004-2007 and then of Dacula Elementary School in Gwinnett County from 2007-2008. Prior to 2004, he spent five years as a middle school principal after beginning his career in 1995 teaching children with special needs. It might seem like an odd transition from staffing director to superintendent, but Brooksher clearly has wide range of experience within a school system, which can only help make him stronger in his new position.

And speaking of strong, Brooksher definitely has some big shoes to fill. He’s replacing current superintendent John Oliver, who has spent three years at the helm of what is arguably one of the best school systems in the region. Oliver is retiring with a remarkable 28 of his 43 years in education with Bryan County Schools alone.

And things aren’t exactly boring with our school system either. Richmond Hill Middle School is in the process of relocating to its new facility off Belfast River Road. Richmond Hill High School is about to expand into the old middle school. And there are plans for additional new school facilities in both the north and south ends of the county in the coming years.

There are big projects at hand — not to mention a quality reputation to uphold — and by all accounts Brooksher is up to the task. So we would like to offer him a warm welcome to Bryan County and congratulations on his new position. We hope he likes it here as much as we do.