BATON ROUGE - Following a national search, State Superintendent of Education John White announced that Ernest E. Garrett III will serve as the new Superintendent of the Louisiana Special School District.

Garrett will guide the implementation of the SSD's new three-year strategic plan and oversee all operations of its special schools and programs. He will officially start on September 3.

According to a release from the Louisiana Department of Education, Garrett, a native of Missouri, is the former executive director and chief executive officer of Deaf Empowerment Awareness Foundation, Inc.

"Ernest is a strong leader and passionate advocate whose extensive experience, as a school administrator, as an advocate of students with low-incidence disabilities and as a social worker in both the school and clinical settings, will bring a unique perspective to the SSD and to the state education department's executive team," said White. "We look forward to watching the SSD redefine itself as a statewide model of excellence under his guidance."

The SSD was established by the Louisiana State Legislature to provide education to students housed in state or privatized facilities and hospitals. The SSD oversees the state's two special schools which are the Louisiana School for the Deaf (LSD) and the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired.

The SSD also manages educational programs for eligible students enrolled in the Office of Youth Development, Office of Behavioral Health, Office of Developmental Disabilities, Department of Public Safety, and Corrections, and privatized facilities across the state.