Walter B. Gonsoulin Jr. received a new blue blazer, an oversized $10,000 poster-board check and the distinction of being named on Thursday afternoon the 2025 National Superintendent of the Year at AASA’s National Conference on Education in New Orleans.
Gonsoulin, 56, is the superintendent of the Jefferson County Schools in Birmingham, Ala., a post he has held since 2020.
He becomes the 37th recipient of the national honor, co-sponsored by Corebridge Financial and Sourcewell, AASA’s government cooperative procurement partner. He is the first Alabama educator to win the national title.
In accepting the award on stage at the conference’s 1st General Session, Gonsoulin thanked his school board for its “constant support” of his school system’s 35,000 students and 4,500 employees and gave special gratitude to his hometown of New Iberia, La., “who groomed me and raised me over the years.”
The 2024 National Superintendent of the Year, Joe Gothard, superintendent in Madison, Wis., placed the ceremonial blue sports jacket on his successor. He also received a representation of a check that he will award to a senior in the high school from which the national superintendent graduated or to a high school senior in his current district.
The other finalists for the 2025 award were:
- Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat, Peoria Public School District 150, Ill.
- Debbie Jones, Bentonville School District, Ark.
- David K. Moore, School District of Indian River County, Fla.
More details about the National Superintendent of the Year program are available in the official AASA press release.
A complete list of the 2025 State Superintendents of the Year, awarded independently by each state association is accessible on the AASA website.
