Back in August it was announced that Superintendent Steven Walts will retire at the end of the 2020-21 school year. Now, the process has began for his replacement, and the Prince William County School Board is hosting a series of virtual meetings to gauge feedback as to who should step into the role going forward. According to a statement released on November 20, the Board has retained the services of BWP & Associates, a national search firm which specializes in assisting local school boards that are seeking highly qualified superintendents. As part of that search, the School Board and BWP are encouraging all PWCS stakeholders to participate in the community engagement portion of the search.

The agenda for these forums and meetings will be limited to public input on the following three questions:

1.  What do you see as the greatest strengths of PWCS?
2.  What do you see as the greatest challenges faced by PWCS?
3. What qualities and characteristics does the next superintendent of PWCS need to possess and demonstrate?

The community’s response to these questions will be used to develop the profile of the next PWCS superintendent and identify candidates who meet that profile. BWP will present to the School Board on December 17, 2020, a Community Engagement Report, which will include a draft Leadership Profile based upon the Superintendent Search Survey and the input gathered from the December 1-3 Community Engagement forums and meetings. 

The Community Engagement Schedule is available on the Division’s website. Due to the pandemic and related safety and logistical obstacles, all meetings and forums will be virtual in order to provide the community with the safest environment possible and still obtain public input into the search process.

All citizens are encouraged to participate in one of the virtual Open Community Forums scheduled on:

Tuesday, December 1, 2020
6-8:00 p.m.

Thursday, December 3, 2020
6-8:00 p.m.

Participants may find further information regarding the search process and register to access any applicable stakeholder meetings and the community forums listed on the Community Engagement Schedule on the Superintendent Search webpage of the School Division’s website no later than 48 hours before the meeting. All registrants will receive a link prior to the start of the meeting. 

They are also encouraged to complete the online survey form regarding the superintendent search (survey window is November 23-December 10, 2020), which will be available on the School Division’s website starting the week of November 23. In addition, emails for input can be sent to to BWP & Associates at kccastner@yahoo.com.