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It’s been just over a month since Dr. Joseph Cox took over as interim superintendent for Prince Edward County Public Schools. And already, he has multiple projects in the works around the district, looking to further develop partnerships and provide data for the school board. He gave an update on his work during the school board’s meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 6. 

First, Cox said he’s been working with Longwood to set up meetings and discuss partnership opportunities. With the help of Justin Pope, Chief of Staff to Longwood President Taylor Reveley, Cox is set to meet with the president and the chairperson of the university’s education department. 

“We do have some opportunities with Longwood, and I hope soon to follow with Hampden-Sydney,” Cox said, adding that he wants to find ways to really work with the schools and see how Prince Edward students can benefit from that. 

Looking at Prince Edward schools, staff and students 

He’s also taking stock of each student, staff member and building in the system. That started last week, when on Friday Cox organized a ‘meet and greet the superintendent’ at each building. 

“What I really like to do is go to every classroom in the school division and meet every student,” Cox told the school board. “I try really really hard to do that. I think it’s a great way to get into the classroom, to say hello and to meet people.” 

Cox joked that rather than people pointing and wondering who the guy was walking around the building, this lets them know. Typically, he said he tries to take two three-hour blocks, to see if he can accomplish it that way. The plan is pretty simple. Cox goes from class to class, asks the principal to do a 20-second introduction and then he takes it from there. 

“I’ve certainly enjoyed getting out to the schools, walking around and meeting people,” Cox said. “Getting a chance to talk to people, that’s a really nice thing for a superintendent to do.” 

And beyond students, he also wants to talk with teachers and staff, to get an idea of what’s happening in the buildings. That’s been set up two ways. First, through an internal staff survey, which has been sent out. 

“What we would aim to do, maybe by the January board meeting, is give some trend data, in terms of a culture check in Prince Edward,” Cox said of the survey. “I’ve found that to be very very valuable. I think you can also tie that into your superintendent search as well.”  

That’s where the second part of talking with staff comes in. The survey itself is anonymous, but there is a section on it where if someone wants to sign up, to come in and meet with the superintendent, Cox said he’s more than willing to do that. 

“I’ve done that in each place I’ve been an acting superintendent and I’ve found there are people who just want to come in, share and talk,” Cox said. “I try to meet in person when I can.” 

Prince Edward looks at safety  

And finally, Cox is also working to get data about where each building in Prince Edward County Public Schools stands from a safety and security perspective. The plan is to work with each principal and Richard Goode, the district’s assistant superintendent of support services, to walk around each property. 

“The idea is to really walk each site, look at cameras, look at (the infrastructure) and that’s one of the things I’ll report back to the board on about where we think we are,” Cox said. 

Who is Joseph Cox? 

Just a quick refresher about the interim superintendent. Cox is best known as the longtime superintendent of Colonial Heights Public Schools. He took over that position in 2001 and stayed until his retirement in 2019. Before that, Cox had served in Colonial Heights Public Schools as a teacher, first at Colonial Heights Junior High for nine years and then as a government and history teacher at the district’s high school.
Since his retirement, Cox has served in an interim role as superintendent for a number of different school districts in Virginia. He took over in Nelson County in 2022 for a few months and then in 2023, he went back to Colonial Heights, taking over as an interim superintendent at his old district.