Members of the Prince Edward County School Board unanimously agreed to employ BWP and Associates in the search for the division’s next superintendent while agreeing to form a search committee, consisting of Longwood University President W. Taylor Reveley IV, School Board Chairman Russell Dove and Commonwealth’s Attorney Megan Clark.

The action came during a special called meeting Wednesday.

“It was a delight to see a unanimous vote by the board tonight, and I’m delighted to be helpful in the process,” said Reveley, who offered to perform a national search for free to the board, using university resources and his own. “This truly is a golden moment for the community.”

For several weeks now, the school board has been hearing presentations from search entities and discussing which to choose. Along with Reveley, BWP pitched a national search proposal to the board, costing $13,500. The Virginia School Board Association also sought to perform the search.

According to Dove, Reveley will use his networks to encourage candidates to apply for the position, which is being vacated on June 30 by Dr. David Smith. The university will bear the costs of bringing candidates to interview and will support school board members who want to visit the school divisions of the finalists.

“This committee will work with BWP to develop a slate of potential candidates for interview,” said Dove, who will serve as chairman of the search committee. The slate will then be presented to the full school board for consideration.

Dove said that BWP was happy with the members chosen to serve on the search committee. He said committee members were chosen based on standards set forth by the firm.

“BWP wanted individuals they thought that would maintain confidentiality,” Dove said.

“I’m glad that Longwood has agreed to do that for us,” said Hampden District Representative Beulah Womack.

“I think it’s admirable that the entities agreed to work together,” Farmville District Representative Sherry Honeycutt said. Last week, Honeycutt proposed that Longwood’s Reveley and BWP work together to conduct the search. Her motion passed 4-3-1.

Leigh District Representative Dr. Timothy Corbett said he appreciated the efforts put forth by Reveley to help in the search process.

“The search committee will help recruit candidates in a national search and do an initial review of the candidate pool before recommending candidates to the school board for interviews by the board,” Reveley said, “and the board will then make the hiring decision from amongst the finalists.”

Dove said there would be no additional fees imposed by BWP in conducting the search aside from the $13,500 the firm will charge.

“We all look forward to a good process,” said Dove.