Superintendent of large north Alabama school system retiring: 'District's in a wonderful place'

A long-time North Alabama superintendent announced his retirement.

Madison City Schools Superintendent Dr. Ed Nichols said that he will be leaving his position on June 30, 2026.

He made the announcement through tears at the April 9 school board meeting.

"I'm very proud of what we've been able to do in six years. Thank you," Nichols said. "I see several of our city council folks here, and I want to say thank you, because the district's in a wonderful place to move forward and do some growth because of their dedication and support of our school district."

Nichols has served as superintendent for six years. The system has seen tremendous growth during his tenure, adding more than 2,500 students in a six year span.

Just in the last year, he led the construction of Russell Branch Elementary School, a public-led rezoning process and retaining the city's half-cent sales tax for public schools.

He's also overseen the openings of Midtown Elementary, Journey Middle, and West Madison Pre-K Center. Plus, the expansions of the Bob Jones High School special ed program, STEM and career tech offerings.

He was named the Alabama State Superintendent Association's District IX Superintendent of the Year in 2025. He decided to come out of his first retirement to lead Madison City Schools during the pandemic in 2020 after serving as Superintendent of Decatur City Schools. He served in various roles in the Decatur school system for 28 years.

"It's been a truly, truly wonderful experience," Nichols said. "My family have grown to be Madisonians, I guess you would say, and when you say that in some places, you have to live there 40 years, but in Madison, five is good enough."

He said he's worked in education for 37.6 years and his 65th birthday is right around the corner.

"There comes a time when you, as a friend of mine told me on the phone, you don't know how many summers you have left, and you just want to spend a lot of them in the sunshine, and so I'm going to try to spend those in the sunshine a little bit more," Nichols said.

"If anybody hears anything I say when I retire, the main thing is the people that are in the classroom, the people that drive the bus, the people that clean the schools and make the lunches, they're the magic," he added. "Superintendents, we do our job, but those folks whom I'm most proud of, and I've been able to help them, I've been able to support them, and I've done my job."

At the 2026 State of Schools, he made an impassioned plea for more business leaders to pour more money into the school systems, from billboards thanking teachers to public school programming.

According to Madison City Schools Board Attorney Woody Sanderson, the system can post the open position as soon as there is a legitimate vacancy.

He recommends that Dr. Nichols move into an interim superintendent position so applicants can begin submitting resumes to take his role.

Sanderson believes the search will take approximately two months to complete.

They want to have a new leader in place ahead of the new Russell Branch Elementary School opening in fall 2026.