WOOD COUNTY, W.Va. — The next step in the search for a new superintendent of schools in Wood County will come during a Wednesday public forum.
Members of the Wood County Board of Education will be hearing from residents, school employees, community groups, leaders of civic organizations and others about what qualities and skills the next superintendent should have.
“Anyone can come and weigh in on the question,” said Howard O’Cull, executive director of the West Virginia School Board Association.
In February, the Wood County BOE voted not to renew current Superintendent John Flint’s contract which expires on June 30. He was hired in 2014.
O’Cull said the West Virginia School Board Association has worked with county boards, like Wood County’s, on superintendent hirings in the Mountain State since 1986.
“Each one of the searches is different in what the board may be wanting or what the board is contracting with us to do,” he told MetroNews.
“In most county board superintendent searches, there is a component whereby citizens come before the board and address the board in terms of the characteristics or the qualities or skill sets really that are wanted in the incoming superintendent.”
In Wood County, because of population, “Theirs is a little big larger scale,” O’Cull said.
Wednesday’s public forum was scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Wood County Board of Education office in Parkersburg.
Thomas Heywood, managing partner of Bowles Rice in Charleston, will be facilitating the forum.
At least initially, two hours were designated for the public forum with 3-5 minutes for speakers to address members of the Board.
Applications for the superintendent’s position are currently being accepted and members of the Wood County Board of Education will be presented with a report from Wednesday’s forum to review before a hiring decision is made.
May 27 is the deadline for a hire ahead of a potential start date for the next superintendent in Wood County on June 1.