WJCC Superintendent Search Will Be On Soon

By Amber Lester Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The Williamsburg-James City County School Board will soon begin the process to search for a new superintendent.

Superintendent Gary Mathews told the board in November that he planned to seek a job further south to be closer to his and his wife’s aging parents. At the time, he also told the members he would not seek an extension of his contract past 2011.

Elise Emanuel and Denise Koch will co-chair the search committee for a new superintendent. The board has not made any official plans about the search, but will vote whether or not to enlist the help of the Virginia School Board Association at its March 23 meeting, Koch said Wednesday. She said the search will probably begin in the fall.

Superintendent searches typically take between six months and a year, Koch said. She served on the board when Mathews was selected in 2005, and said that process took from December to April. The board will likely conduct a national search, placing ads with consultation from the VSBA.

If Mathews leaves before the search is completed, the board will have to consider naming an interim superintendent. “We don’t want to rush our search,” Koch said.

The board hasn’t discussed desired characteristics yet, but she said during the last search in 2005, the board asked the community for its input. The committee hopes to have a new superintendent in place by July 1, 2011.