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Back in October, Dr. John Keeler announced plans to step down as superintendent of Buckingham County Public Schools. Now the school board has laid out plans for how his replacement will be chosen. 

On Thursday, Dec. 12, the Buckingham County School Board announced that they want the public to be involved in the search for the next superintendent. Mainly, they want people to share what qualifications are important in a candidate. To get that input, the board members created a survey, available at both https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BuckinghamSearch2025 and on the home page of the division web site. For those who want a printed copy instead, you can pick one up at the school board administration office, any of the schools in Buckingham or at the Buckingham public library. The deadline to complete and turn in the survey is Jan. 12, 2025. 

In addition to the surveys, the Buckingham School Board plans to hold a public hearing, where they can also get input from residents about the hunt for a new superintendent. That’ll take place on Wednesday, Jan. 15, starting at 5 p.m. in the Buckingham County Middle School Cafeteria. The school is located at 1184 High School Road in Buckingham. 

“The appointment of a new superintendent is one of the most important responsibilities entrusted to a school board, and it is our priority to ensure that the public has an active role in this selection process,” stated Joii Goodman. He serves as the current School Board Chairman. “We encourage parents, staff, and residents to participate by completing the survey or attending the public hearing.”

The school board has also 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. 

A time to step down in Buckingham

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, which will be on June 30, 2025. 

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. 

One more resignation 

Keeler wasn’t the only one who announced plans to step down in that October meeting. The school board also learned they’ll be losing District 1 member Jennifer Spessard at the end of 2024. In October, Spessard told the board that after a health scare, her family had been urging her to cut back. As part of that, she’s stepping down on Jan. 1, 2025. 

The process is a bit different to select new school board members. This has to be someone who lives in District 1, same as Spessard. Currently, the school district is taking applications, asking people to submit for the position but with some rules attached. First, your statement of interest can’t be more than 300 words and needs to include 25 signatures from registered voters in District 1. You have to submit that and a resume to the Clerk of the Buckingham County School Board at 15595 West James Anderson Highway, Buckingham Virginia 23921. The deadline to turn it in is 5 p.m. on Jan. 14, 2025. 

Once they get all the candidates in, the school board will release all the information, including the different resumes. Residents are then invited to read through, choose a favorite and inform their board member about which one they prefer. The board will then meet on Feb. 5 in closed session to interview applicants, with a final decision being made at the regular meeting on Feb. 12.