HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Cabell County School Superintendent Ryan Saxe is headed to the Eastern Panhandle.
Saxe was hired Monday night by the Berkeley County Board of Education to be that system’s next school superintendent.
The board approved a three-year contract. The Berkeley County BOE announced it may it would not be renewing the contract of Superintendent Ronald Stephens.
Saxe, a Cabell County native and an alum of Cabell-Midland High School, returned home to West Virginia from Florida in 2017 take the superintendent’s job in Cabell County.
“I think the allure of coming back to my West Virginia roots and providing leadership to Cabell County Schools is just something that I take such pride in,” Saxe told MetroNews at the time.
Saxe will be paid $198,000 in the first year of his contract in Berkeley County. That will increase to $203,000 in year two and $210,000 in year three.
Saxe has been in the middle of a controversy in recent months in connection with school system funding for the public library system and Huntington parks. Voters rejected a school system excess levy in May and negotiations have been underway to determine the level of funding for the two groups in the next try for the excess levy renewal in November.
Berkeley County Schools is dealing with its own controversy. A state of emergency was declared by the state Board of Education in May in connection with behavioral and academic progress issues at North Martinsburg Middle School. The state BOE approved a plan of action last week.
The Cabell County Board of Education is scheduled to meet Wednesday to choose a new superintendent.