CHARLESTON, W.Va. — In a move that left Kanawha County Board of Education President Ryan White shocked, the board voted to hire its next superintendent to replace longtime leader Dr. Ron Duerring on Wednesday.
During a special session meeting expected to discuss the plan for a search process, a motion was made and passed 3-2 to appoint Dr. Tom Williams, the current deputy superintendent in Kanawha County, as the next superintendent of the state’s most populous school system beginning July 1, 2020, under a one-year contract worth $150,000.
“It was not expected by me,” Ryan White, said.
“I thought we were going to go through a search and the other board members didn’t agree with that.”
Board member Jim Crawford first made a motion to appoint a Kanawha County Schools (KCS) superintendent for one year from “within” without naming anyone and then a motion to appoint Williams following Duerring’s retirement. Both motions passed 3-2.
Board members Becky Jordon and Tracy White – no relation to Ryan White – joined Crawford in favoring the move but White and Ric Cavender voted against it.
“Although he didn’t name the person when he made the first motion, he did state someone that was in house,” Tracy White said. “At that point, I think we have several qualified individuals in this building who are quite capable of taking the role once Dr. Duerring is gone.
“It wasn’t an issue of me of were they qualified, it’s choosing which one we were going to choose.”
Tracy White expressed the need for the county school system to hire someone who “already knows the system” because of the ongoing rebuilds of flooded schools.
She said it was the best decision to not drag out the process with a search.
“Now we will have five months that Dr. Williams can attend these FEMA meetings with Dr. Duerring and be side-by-side so when he (Duerring) does leave on June 30, Dr. Williams can step in July 1 and be up to speed to get our schools built,” Tracy White said.
“We need stability in our county. Ever since Dr. Duerring has made his retirement announcement, there has been a lot of questions and a lot of rumors. If we have a qualified person inside this building that can do the job, then absolutely we need to be hiring from within.”
The board was expected to pass a motion to use the services of Dr. Howard O’Cull with the West Virginia School Board Association during a search process. Thick packets were passed out by O’ Cull with pages of plans but it quickly became not needed.
On Friday, a special session was held where O’Cull discussed strategies for planning including important dates, statutory considerations, methodologies, sample job posting, sample qualification survey and more.
The board asked that he come up with a formal proposal and present at the special session on Wednesday, which is what the packets were for.
Ryan White told MetroNews he fully expected to move forward with the search process with O’Cull and Wednesday’s actions “blindsided” him.
“I trust Dr. Tom Williams but I think you need to look at all your options available before you make a decision such as this,” he said. “I think it’s a very important decision for Kanawha County Schools. I’m disappointed we didn’t look at what we had available.”
He further said there is nothing he can do to challenge the decision because the board vote is the one to decided who the superintendent is.
Williams, who has been the deputy superintendent for six years, was not present at the meeting.
Prior to his current position, he served as principal of St. Albans High School for ten years and as a teacher there for seven years. He has been an employee of Kanawha County Schools for 35 years, the school system said.
He was born and raised in South Charleston and was educated in the Kanawha County School system.
Williams holds a doctorate in education from West Virginia University. He currently resides in Kanawha County with his wife of 30 years, and have two children and one grandchild.
Duerring’s retirement is official on June 30 after 22 years in charge.