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Over the last three weeks, 128 people told the Buckingham County School Board what they wanted to see in the next school superintendent. Board members went through that data on Wednesday, Jan. 15, putting together the qualifications that will show up on the job announcement when it is posted.
Back in October, Dr. John Keeler announced plans to step down as superintendent of Buckingham County Public Schools. Keeler’s retirement, which was reluctantly accepted by the school board, will take effect as of June 30. Now begins the process of finding his successor. 

“Looking over just what people said, it was pretty interesting, the feedback they gave,” said Buckingham School Board Chairman Joii Goodman. “I think that was good. We’re paying attention. We’re listening. And it’s much appreciated.” 

Residents said a new superintendent needs to be a good leader, a good organizer and a good communicator, with the board, the county and with residents. The survey also showed that people valued experience as a principal, work experience in Virginia, knows how to handle school finances, that the person either currently lives or agrees to move into Buckingham and for the person to have a doctorate. The only part of that changed was the doctorate, as Goodman suggested making that a preference, rather than a requirement. 

“I didn’t want that to be a disqualifier for a good candidate we might have,” Goodman said. 

Buckingham school board has a plan 

The school board has brought on some help to assist in the search. Neighboring Prince Edward County recruited the Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA) to help with their own superintendent search and Buckingham has done the same. 

School board officials haven’t given a timeline as far as when they hope to have a new superintendent selected. It will likely take several months, if not longer. When she spoke with The Herald about Prince Edward’s search last month, Gina Patterson said you need at least three months to go through the process. Patterson works as executive director of the VSBA. 

And while you need at least three, Patterson said that six months total is ideal for a situation like this. But before you can start that clock, first you need applicants. And you can’t advertise for the position until you have a list of qualifications. So, since the qualification list won’t be finalized until January, a five-month search would push us into May. Keeler has promised to stay on until the end of this current school year. 

A graduate of Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in science education, Keeler also has a master’s degree from Virginia State University in educational leadership and a doctorate in education leadership from Nova Southeastern University. Before coming to Buckingham, Keeler had retired as superintendent of Buena Vista City Public Schools, where he served as superintendent from 2013 to June 2021.

Keeler originally joined the district in an interim role, taking over after former BCPS Superintendent Dr. Daisy Hicks announced her retirement back in 2021. The interim tag was removed in 2022 and Keeler took over the position full-time. Now the school district is having to react to Keeler’s own retirement plans and come up with a succession plan. 

What happens next in the process? 

“So now the exciting part is coming,” Goodman said. “We’re done with all the technicalities. Now once this gets sent in, people can apply.” 

Applications will be taken through Feb. 14. Then the school board will comb through the applicants and choose some to interview.