Deputy Superintendent Tommy Bice was named the new state superintendent Thursday by the Alabama Board of Education.

Bice, who has been in charge of curriculum and instruction, replaces Joe Morton, who retired in August.

“Thank you governor, than you board,” he told them after the announcement. “I’m humbled, I’m honored, and I’m ready to go to work.”

Bice received six votes; Mark A. Bounds received two votes and Craig Pouncey received one.

Stephanie Bell and Betty Peters voted for Bounds, Ella Bell for Pouncey and Gov. Robert Bentley, Randy McKinney, Gary Warren, Mary Scott Hunter, Yvette Richardson and Charles Ellis voted for Bice.

The board interviewed three of its four finalists Wednesday in a nearly five-hour meeting. Other finalists for the job were Craig Pouncey, deputy state superintendent of administrative and financial services, and Mark A. Bounds, a deputy superintendent for the South Carolina Department of Education.

-Staff Reports