ORANGE BEACH — The Orange Beach community headed to the Coastal Arts Center of Orange Beach on Wednesday, June 8, to meet Randy Wilkes, the newly appointed city school system superintendent.
Through the event, community members headed inside to introduce themselves to Wilkes and welcome him to the Orange Beach area.
Wilkes has directed Phenix City schools for the last eight years, a district on the Alabama-Georgia line next to Columbus, Georgia. In 2019, he was named Alabama Superintendent of the Year.
The newly formed Orange Beach School Board voted unanimously to hire Wilkes as the system's first permanent superintendent on Tuesday, June 7. Wilkes was selected from 21 applicants, five of whom were interviewed.
"It's a beautiful location with beautiful people," Wilkes said after his appointment. "I've been terribly impressed with the board members that I've met and the vision for this school system and from city officials and from the mayor, it's really one that, I'm 33 years in education now and I really feel like I'm at the apex and in my prime, so coming and starting just really made a lot of sense, and a lot of things in the end just really fell into place for us."
Board president Robert Stuart said Wilkes displays an impressive resume, which includes leaving every Phenix City school STEAM-certified, a major criteria for which the Orange Beach board was searching.
Wilkes said after his appointment that the needs of the students is his top priority. He said student safety and doing what is in the best interests of students comes first. Being "good stewards of the taxpayer dollar" is also especially important to him, Wilkes said.
The Orange Beach City Council voted March 15 to create a municipal school system and to separate city schools from the Baldwin County School System by July 1. The move follows Gulf Shores City School's same action in 2017, with the formal agreement between the city and county systems formalized in 2019.
Prior to this position, Wilkes served as a math teacher and coached girls' and boys' athletics. He has also served as an assistant principal, a principal and superintendent of Crenshaw County in addition to Phenix City.