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Williams looks forward to taking over as superintendent of Kanawha County Schools

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It’s been a whirlwind last month for Kanawha County Schools but it has ended with Tom Williams being named Ron Duerring’s replacement as the next superintendent.

Williams, who is currently serving as the deputy superintendent for the school system, spoke to the media for the first time since being officially named to the head position on Wednesday. He will take over for Duerring on July 1.

“Between now and July, what I would like to do is areas I am not familiar with, be in on the day to day conversations with those. Closer to the time we get to July, the board will set goals and we will work to carry those goals out,” Williams said on Friday.

Following Duerring’s retirement announcement on January 16, the county board voted to surpass the search process in a motion with a 3-2 vote and name Williams as the next superintendent on January 29.

Dr. Tom Williams

He said he was surprised by the news that came out of that special session board meeting that was thought to layout a search strategy.

“I had expressed interest to the superintendent that I was interested in the position but I had not spoken to anyone else about it,” Williams said.

The same 3-2 vote, with board members Jim Crawford, Becky Jordon, Tracy White in favor and Ric Cavender and Board President Ryan White against, was made again at a public meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting was held after Ryan White asked for it citing concerns of violating state open meetings laws.

Cavender and Ryan White both said their vote was not against Williams but for the need to have a national search for the next superintendent.

Williams said on Friday he felt like he would have stood out if there was a search.

“Well I wasn’t involved in any of the process, that was a board decision,” he said of the decision to surpass a search.

“But I do feel that I was extremely qualified and I look forward to the challenge.”

Williams’ qualifications include more than three decades of working in Kanawha County Schools, the state’s largest school district. 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. Williams was born and raised in South Charleston and was educated in the Kanawha County School system, calling his next position a humbling but a challenging one.

“I am familiar with the system but it’s a long walk from my office as deputy to the superintendent’s office. Because then all of the responsibility is on your shoulders,” Williams said.

“That’ll be a big challenge for me to get into that mode of the buck stops here.”

Other challenges that Williams mentioned on Friday were calling snow days and the rebuild of the Elk River schools. He said he is familiar with the building process and is looking forward to moving those projects forward.

Williams will be under a one-year contract with a $150,000 salary but he said he would like to be in position for the long haul.

“That’s out of my hands, that’ll be a board decision. Hopefully, I will prove myself this year and they’ll want to do a continuing contract after that,” Williams said.

Duerring’s final day with the school system after 22 years in charge will be June 30. Williams said he is looking forward to working with Duerring in his finals days to make sure the school system continues to have students on the cutting edge.

“I think his (Duerring) patience and the way he deals with people is unreal,” Williams complemented Duerring. “He is very meticulous, down to the nth degree. I think my personality is similar to that.

“We may go about things differently but as long as you keep the focus on students and what is best for the kids, that is what matters.”





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