The Goochland School Board, at its April 11, 2023, meeting, voted to engage BWP & Associates (BWP) to manage the search for the next superintendent of schools. Kevin Castner, Ed.D., and E. Wayne Harris, Ed.D., of BWP, a national search firm, worked with the Goochland School Board in 2016 when they identified Jeremy Raley, Ed.D., as one of the candidates who was an excellent match for Goochland County.
“Community engagement is a very important part of this process,” said School Board Chair Sandra Barefoot-Reid. A critical first step is to identify the characteristics the Board will be looking for in a new superintendent.
The objectives of the public engagement process are threefold:
- To learn the strengths, needs, and issues of the school system to better recruit a slate of candidates to meet the division’s needs.
- To be able to describe the division’s strengths, needs, and issues to recruited candidates.
- To engage in the process in such a way that will build community understanding and support for the search.
“There is no more important decision we will make than selecting the right superintendent for our school division,” continued Barefoot-Reid. “We are requesting assistance by inviting members of both the Goochland school community and members of the broader Goochland community to participate in stakeholder meetings and open community forums in an organized series of meetings.”
As part of the process, BWP will conduct a number of meetings with key leaders in the schools and the community to hone the leadership profile for the search. The Board also encourages input from parents and community members. An online survey regarding the superintendent search is also now available online. The survey will be open through May 6, 2023.
The search process is already underway. The division will post additional information regarding the superintendent search process on the division website.