Board to select next Raleigh schools superintendent this week

Apr. 24—Raleigh County Schools' next superintendent will have a tie to the county it serves.

Of the three candidates interviewed by the Raleigh County Board of Education each was either born in Raleigh County, taught in a classroom in Raleigh County or worked in Raleigh County Schools' main office.

Interviews for superintendent took place Monday morning during a special board meeting in a conference room at the Beckley Raleigh County Convention Center.

The interviews were all conducted in executive session.

However, The Register-Herald was able to learn the identity of the candidates by speaking with them before or after they were interviewed by the board.

The three candidates for Raleigh County Schools superintendent, in the order they were interviewed, are Vaughn Rhudy, Allen Sexton and Serena Starcher.

Rhudy is a Raleigh County native, taught in Raleigh County Schools for 21 years and worked for the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) in the Assessment Office for the past 15 years.

He is currently the director of assessment in the Office of Accountability and Assessment for the WVDE, according to its website.

Sexton is also a Raleigh County native and previously taught in Raleigh County Schools as a special education teacher. He has also worked in the WVDE. Since 2014, he has served as the director of special education for Raleigh County Schools.

Starcher is originally from Putnam County, which is also where she got her start a teacher. She later worked for the WVDE and served as associate superintendent and interim superintendent for Fayette County Schools.

Since 2015, Starcher has served as an assistant superintendent for Raleigh County Schools.

Rhudy previously interviewed for the same position in 2014 when the board selected David Price for the position of county superintendent.

Rhudy said he would be honored to lead the county as its next superintendent.

"'I'm from Raleigh County," Rhudy said. "I live here. I grew up here. Raised my kids here ... it would be an opportunity for me to come home and to serve my community in a different way and to serve students because that's what I'm all about is doing what's best for students and helping them to succeed."

Rhudy said some of his goals as superintendent would be to improve student achievement, empower teachers and staff through professional learning opportunities and address the social and emotional needs of students.

Sexton said he chose to apply for the position of superintendent in the district where he already works because he wanted to be part of its continued success.

"One of my primary goals will be to increase access to social, emotional health for students in our schools," he said. "It's something that we need to increase — lot of increase in behaviors, and so we want to make sure we're supporting students the way they should be supported."

As a former special education teacher who now leads the Special Education Department for Raleigh County, Sexton said he would also continue to work to make sure that "all students have equal access to school that they deserve."

If selected as the next superintendent, Starcher said she would like to work on strengthening the relationship between the community and the school system which has diminished over the years partly due to Covid.

"I want to strengthen the relationship we have with our parents, students, communities, businesses — to make kids, to make families want to be a part of the public school system, and to offer students what they need to be successful upon graduation as they move on, whether it be to a career, to a college, to the military," she said. "That's what I want to do for all of them."

Starcher said she would also like to focus on improving student outcomes including attendance and graduation, decrease the dropout rate and work on achievements in math, reading and science.

Raleigh County Schools Board President Larry Ford said the board will hold a special board meeting Friday morning to vote on the next superintendent.

The new superintendent will replace David Price, who announced his retirement as school superintendent in late February.

Price has served as superintendent since 2014. His retirement will take effect June 30.

Email: jmoore@register-herald.com