Raleigh BOE narrows superintendent candidates to four

Josephine Moore, The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.Va.
Updated ·2 min read

Apr. 10—Raleigh County Board of Education President Larry Ford said the board is on track to find a new superintendent for the district by May.

Board members met for a special meeting at the end of March to review applications for the position of county superintendent.

The meeting was conducted entirely in executive session.

After reviewing the applications, Ford said the board has scheduled to interview four candidates on April 24.

He added that the board had initially intended to interview five candidates but "one withdrew his application" for "personal reasons."

Ford said he did not want to reveal the identity of the four candidates "because there may be people in their counties that may be not even aware that they applied."

Of the four candidates being interviewed, Ford said he is confident that the board will be able to find the district' next superintendent.

"We have some good candidates," he said.

"We hope we're able to hire a superintendent that continues our mission. I mean, we have a pretty good county. We're a financially secure county, and everything is running very smoothly. We hope we have a smooth transition."

Ford said the candidates all currently work in West Virginia as they did "not advertise out of state."

Depending on how well the first round of interviews goes, Ford said the board will decide afterward whether a second round of interviews is necessary before they are able to make a decision.

"We may decide to have a second interview with say maybe the top two or something, but we may not even have a second interview," he said. "We don't know yet. That's kind of up in the air until we see how the first interviews go."

Ford said he hopes the board can come to a decision by May.

"We're hoping we'll have everything resolved before May 1," he said. "But the state does allow us 'til June 1, but we're hoping to get this thing over with."

Raleigh school board members spent March soliciting applications for school superintendent following an announcement from the current superintendent, David Price, that he would be retiring.

Price has served as superintendent since 2014. His retirement will take effect June 30.

Email: jmoore@register-herald.com