BUCKINGHAM – On Monday morning the Buckingham County School Board took a giant step in its search for a new superintendent. The school system's current superintendent, Dr. Gary Blair, is retiring effective June 30.

Meeting with Gina Patterson, Deputy Director of the Virginia School Boards Association, and Barbara Coyle, VSBA Executive Director, the board, in a closed session, reviewed applications from candidates for the position.

Subsequently, the board is now ready to begin the interview phase of its search.

During a phone conversation on Monday afternoon, Chairman Acie Allen provided an overview of the meeting.

He reported that there were 29 inquiries about the position and 19 full applications were submitted. .

A profile of the summary of the applicants indicates that six are current or former superintendents. Two are assistant/deputy superintendents; and four are central office administrators. Six of the applicants are principals or building-level administrators; and one falls into the category of an individual who either has held a senior leadership position such as a CEO, chief executive officer, or has served as a senior military officer.

Noting that the last category does not require the applicant to be on the superintendents' list, Allen said all of the other 18 candidates are either on the list or eligible for it. He explained that some of those who are not currently on the eligibility list are from out-of-state.

According to Allen, 12 of the applicants are men and seven are women. Fourteen are white and five are non-white.

Geographically, 13 are from Virginia, one from Maryland, one each from Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Colorado.

“And that is the pool and now we will be setting up interviews with some of them,” stated Allen.

“We are very pleased with both the size and quality of the applicant pool,” shared Allen. “We look forward to getting a really good candidate.

He said the board anticipates conducting interviews from July 2 through July 16, and will extend the time-period if necessary.
According to the timeline, the board established in early May, it hopes to make the announcement of the person selected in August.