MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — For the well-traveled Eddie Campbell, Monongalia County is, in many ways, a return home.
The Tucker County Superintendent has been announced as the successor to long-time Monongalia County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Devono.
“To be able to follow in the footsteps of Dr. Frank Devono and the accomplishments that he’s had there with his staff in Monongalia County — to be able to carry that baton forward really is what drew me to the county,” Campbell said.
Devono is set to retire after 12 years as Monongalia County’s Superintendent at the end of June — and was prepared to stay on longer in an interim role if the Board of Education was unable to make a hire before a looming June 1 deadline.
“I’m a little melancholy to be leaving,” Devono told The Dominion Post, “but we have a great superintendent coming in and I’m excited for that.”
Campbell earned graduate and doctoral degrees in education at George Mason University and the University of Virginia, but his academic career really begins in 1988 after earning a history degree from WVU.
“Monongalia County, without a doubt, is the premier school system in the state of West Virginia — if not one of the most innovative and great school districts in the United States,” Campbell said.
Along the way, the Wheeling-native has taught in Virginia, Alaska, West Virginia, and China.
Even for Campbell, who has a lengthy resume, he said Frank Devono’s tenure will be a tough act to follow.
“It is absolutely intimidating,” he said. “But it is the challenge that I looked at and I said that I have learned for the last seven years how to be a superintendent. And I have learned from the some of the best, including Frank.”
Campbell takes over at a time when Monongalia County schools are particularly healthy, but is dealing with tremendous student growth.
“I look at my role, really, as working with the group of individuals that you bring together to make the school system flow as best as possible so that you’re getting the best educational programs in place for your kids,” Campbell said.
Campbell said his job isn’t simply to monitor the day-to-day operations of the schools. Rather, he said he needs to build and maintain an elite staff. Campbell said he already has a head start on that, though.
“That is in place right now in Monongalia County,” he said. “For me to be able to continue to utilize that and really allow those people to excel in the positions that they’re in is going to be a primary focus for me.”
Campbell signed a 2-year contract and will be paid $150,000 per year.