Lewis Ferebee

Ferebee was born c. 1974 to Charlotte and Lewis Ferebee.[1][2] He earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education from North Carolina Central University.[3] In 2000, he completed an M.A. in school administration from George Washington University.[3][4]

Ferebee worked for Guilford County Schools in various roles.[3] He was a teacher and later principal of Fairview Elementary School.[4] In 2006, he was the principal of the year.[3][4] He served as an instructional improvement officer and as one of the five regional superintendents.[3] Ferebee was its enrichment region superintendent.[4] For three years, Ferebee was the chief of staff for Durham Public Schools.[3] He earned a D.Ed. in educational leadership from East Carolina University.[3] His December 2009 dissertation was titled, Comparative Analysis of Demographic and Student Achievement Outcomes of Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) Public School Choice Provision.[2] Lynn Bradshaw was his dissertation director.[2] At the time of his dissertation, Ferebee was married to Edye and had a son.[2]

On September 23, 2013, he became the superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS), succeeding Peggy Hinckley.[5][6] In 2016, IPS renewed his contract until 2019.[7] He was one of four finalists to lead the Los Angeles Unified School District before withdrawing his candidacy.[7] In 2018, he was selected by Mayor Muriel Bowser as the chancellor of District of Columbia Public Schools.[3] He acted in the role from January to March 2019 when the Council of the District of Columbia confirmed his appointment in a unanimous vote.[1]