Warren County Schools Appoints Keith Sutton As Superintendent
WARRENTON, NC – The Warren County Board of Education unanimously voted to appoint Keith Sutton as Superintendent at its meeting on Nov. 15. His new contract runs from January 1, 2022 – June 30, 2025. Sutton has been serving as Interim Superintendent since July 1, 2021, and will continue in that role through the end of the year, when he becomes Superintendent.
“Mr. Sutton has done an excellent job over the past four and a half months in Warren County, making recommendations and decisions that have significantly impacted our students and staff for the better,” said Board of Education Chair Jennifer Sims. “With his long-standing track record of educational service and advocacy, we’re excited to have Mr. Sutton’s leadership and experience working to benefit our families and the Warren County community.”
“I feel like my years of working as an education consultant, advocate, legislative liaison, community organizer, and policymaker, in addition to my years of service as a member of the Wake County Board of Education, have all led me to this moment and this opportunity in Warren County,” Sutton said. “Warren County Schools has a great team that I’m honored to work with every day and we have promising students, eager to learn. Together, we’ll work to ensure our students and staff have access to the resources they need to effectively teach and learn. When teachers and students are successful, our entire community benefits, making it that much easier for future teachers and students to build on that success.”
Having served on the Wake County Board of Education since 2009, Sutton is currently serving his second term as Chair of the school board. He plans to resign his position before becoming Superintendent of Warren County Schools on January 1, 2022.
Sutton graduated from the American Association of School Administrators Urban Superintendents Academy at Howard University. He has a Master of Science in Education Entrepreneurship from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science/Arts in Industrial Relations with a focus on Labor and Industrial Relations from UNC-Chapel Hill.
He’s been a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity since 2002.
Sutton has owned and operated an Education Innovation Consultant company, FocusEd, LLC, since 2017. Before starting his own business, he was the Excellence Director for BEST NC (Business for Educational Success and Transformation in NC), a non-profit, non-partisan coalition of business leaders committed to improving North Carolina’s education system through policy and advocacy.
He worked for the NC Department of Public Safety from 2010-16, serving as a Policy Analyst and Program Coordinator. Sutton also served as Director of Legislative Affairs for the NC Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention from 2009-2010.
Moving forward, Sutton will use student academic performance and growth data to drive district decisions, in order to improve outcomes for students.