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Dr. Donald C. Jones Jr. will become the next superintendent of Prince Edward County Public Schools. The current Cumberland superintendent was appointed by unanimous vote of the school board in a special called meeting on Friday, March 28. 

Dr. Jones will officially take over on July 1 of this year. His contract will run through June 30, 2029. In the regular meeting of the Cumberland School Board one day earlier, Jones officially tendered his resignation, so in Cumberland, they’re starting the process to search for his successor. Meanwhile in Prince Edward, school board members and Jones alike feel that he’s a good fit and the right person to help the district get where it needs to be. 

In a statement read by school board member Cainan Townsend at Friday’s meeting, the Prince Edward board outlined the multiple reasons why they chose Dr. Jones for the role. 

“During his educational career, Dr. Jones has made great strides toward matching the talent in rural communities with opportunities that don’t always exist in those communities,” the board’s statement says. “In his words, kids should not be punished by their zip code. A creative, out of the box thinker with robust experience in finance and strategic thinking, Dr. Jones brings a plethora of those experiences with him to Prince Edward County. He has often been praised for his ability to solve complex problems with limited resources and is seen as someone who can address diverse stakeholder needs.” 

More about Chip Jones and his background 

Jones comes to Prince Edward County from Cumberland, where he has worked for the last 21 years. He has served as an elementary and middle school teacher, an elementary and middle school principal, a director of finance and operations, an assistant superintendent and district superintendent. During his time in Cumberland, Jones was named Region 8 Superintendent of the Year in 2023 and has overseen constant test score growth in the classroom, along with improvements in sports and other extracurriculars. 

The Green Bay resident, who earned his bachelor’s of science and masters in education at Longwood University, is also known to Prince Edward residents in another way. He recently wrapped up a term as the board chairman for the Farmville Area Chamber of Commerce. 

Jones said these last 14 hours especially have been a whirlwind, but he’s excited to get started in Prince Edward. 

“Change is hard for everyone involved and there’s a lot of emotions that come with that because when someone new comes in, you think what’s next? We’ll work through it,” Jones said. “There’s lots of great things going on in Prince Edward County and Prince Edward County Public Schools. They’re great people, the people I’ve met, and we will do great things. It will be a process. There’s building projects going on, there’s new people coming in. It’s going to be good. I’m looking forward to it.”

Jones acknowledged that everything doesn’t change instantly and that there will be work involved with improving the school district. 

“It’s going to be a challenge, but we’re gonna work hard and we’re going to do it,” Jones said. 

‘This has been a whirlwind’ 

Dr. Jones will take over from Dr. Barbara Johnson, who stepped down on Monday, Sept. 30. In months prior, she had faced increased questions about the inability of the district schools to reach full accreditation. In Prince Edward, only the elementary school was fully accredited this year with no conditions. The high school, and especially the middle school, have continued to struggle. Those would be the challenges Jones referred to on Friday, what he officially inherits as of July 1. 

School board members said it’s been a long but successful process, as they worked to get the right candidate for Prince Edward. 

“This has been a whirlwind, the whole process,” Prince Edward School Board Chairperson Lucy Carson said. “We made it through, we went through the weeds. We had excellent candidates but he stood out over all of them.” 

School board members Doug Farley, Cainan Townsend and Harvey Tackett all thanked the residents who came to the town hall meetings, who asked questions and gave their own thoughts during the process. 

School Board Vice Chair Susan Kimbrough committed both individually and as a board that they would help Jones with whatever he needs to be successful. 

“We have the ability to be the division that people come to Prince Edward to find out how we did it, how we turned it around,” Kimbrough said. “We’ve got the resources, we’ve got the people, we’ve got great students and I know we can get there.”