BWP and Associates leads search for next Staunton Schools Superintendent

Staunton School Board voted in a special meeting on March 4 to hire BWP and Associates (BWP) to lead the search for Staunton Schools‘ next superintendent.

BWP is a national search firm specializing in school superintendent recruitment.

Staunton Schools Superintendent Garett Smith announced his retirement last month, which is effective June 30.

The school board will work with Kevin Castner and E. Wayne Harris of BWP, both retired superintendents, who both successfully recruited Staunton‘s last two superintendents and have helped school divisions across Virginia and beyond recruit and hire more than 60 superintendents.

Castner and Harris met with the school board last night during its regular business meeting to discuss the process and timeline for recruitment. Given the June 30 deadline, Castner told board members they would be working on a “tight but doable” expedited timeline and to expect significant interest in the position because of Staunton‘s positive reputation.

At the meeting, the board agreed to host community engagement forums and stakeholder meetings in early April to receive input from the Staunton learning community and the broader Staunton community about the qualities they want in the next superintendent. Locations, dates and times for the meetings are still being determined and will be announced soon.

An online community survey will gather public input.

“Community engagement is a very important part of this process. A critical first step is to provide multiple opportunities to hear from all of our stakeholders— students, staff, families, school clubs and organizations, elected officials and the Staunton community,” Staunton School Board Chair Kristin Siegel said.

The public engagement process is central to BWP’s understanding of the school division’s strengths, challenges and needs, to help recruit the best slate of candidates for the job and build community understanding and support.

“There is no duty more important to the board than selecting the right leader for our school division. It’s essential that we continue the progress we’ve made over the last eight years and build on the division’s successes and achievements under Dr. Smith’s leadership. We look forward to engaging with and hearing from our community about their priorities for the next superintendent,” Siegel said.

BWP will present the results of the feedback they gather from the community engagement process to the school board during its April 14 regular business meeting, along with a draft profile of the desired leadership characteristics.

The public is encouraged to visit the superintendent search page on the Staunton Schools‘ website throughout the search process to find relevant materials, timelines and information about public forums and meeting schedules.