York County School Board and VSBA set superintendent-search timeline, open public survey

York County School Board members met Oct. 8 with representatives of the Virginia School Boards Association to finalize outreach and scheduling for the division's superintendent search, agreeing on a public hearing Oct. 27, a survey deadline of Oct. 31, a qualifications meeting on Nov. 5, an application window from Nov. 10 to Dec. 10, and a second review meeting on Dec. 18.

The process is intended to produce a public position announcement and to gather community, staff and student input that the board will use to craft minimum and preferred qualifications for applicants. "We're here to guide you through the process," Samantha Bozeman, deputy executive director of the Virginia School Boards Association, told the board. Bozeman and Bella Corpo, the association's member engagement specialist, outlined how VSBA will host the online survey, distribute the position announcement and manage application intake and initial vetting.

The board discussed confidentiality for applicants and Virginia rules on disclosure. Bozeman said Virginia law does not require boards to publish the names of all applicants; the board will see every applicant's packet, but only the finalist(s) are typically named publicly. "The only name that is public is your finalist and who you signed that contract with when you come out at the end," she said.

Bozeman reviewed licensure requirements for candidates and a state licensing option commonly called "option 4," which allows a board to recommend licensure based on specified education and experience when an applicant is otherwise eligible. She told the board that applicants may be interviewed without a Virginia superintendent license but cannot be hired unless licensed; boards can request a license pathway for a chosen candidate before hiring.

Board members and VSBA staff also discussed residency expectations and how those should appear in the position announcement if the board will require the superintendent to live in the county or to establish residency within a set period after hire. Bozeman said residency is a policy choice for the board to include in the announcement and, if required, it would be enforced through the employment contract.

The VSBA walked the board through the planned public outreach tools: an online survey the association will host, optional hard-copy surveys to be returned to the clerk and scanned to VSBA, a draft news release and suggestions for social-media and text-alert distribution. Bozeman described the survey as customizable and said results will be reported both collectively and segmented by respondent type (parents, teachers, staff, students and others) so the board can see how each group responded.

On vetting, VSBA staff said the association will perform reference checks and collect applicants' materials; the board will receive access to the online application system at 9 a.m. the day after the application window closes. "Please do not call their references," Bozeman said, explaining VSBA conducts reference checks to keep the process fair and to ensure all board members receive the same information. VSBA noted it does not currently run criminal background checks as part of its standard service but acknowledged that national discussion about background checks is ongoing.

The association recommended practical interview planning: no more than four first-round interviews in a single day to avoid fatigue, considering evenings or Saturdays for candidates who are employed, and preparing identical first-round questions to ensure consistent comparisons across candidates. Bozeman also reviewed sample contract language and urged attention to clauses that could create long-term financial obligations for the board.

Next steps the board agreed to during the meeting: finalize survey questions and the draft news release for VSBA to publish; hold the public hearing Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.; close the public survey Oct. 31; meet Nov. 5 at 11:30 a.m. to set required and preferred qualifications and submit those to VSBA by Nov. 7; open applications Nov. 10 and close them Dec. 10 (applications available to board members starting the morning of Dec. 11); and reconvene Dec. 18 at 11 a.m. for the VSBA'facilitated applicant review (the board will go into closed session to discuss specific applicants and return to open session to certify actions). The board and VSBA also discussed potential interview windows in January and February and the contract-negotiation step that precedes any final public announcement.

The board asked VSBA to provide editable word versions of the draft announcement and the timeline; the clerk will distribute materials internally and VSBA will post the survey once the board approves the final text. VSBA provided contact information for follow-up questions and said staff would be available through the duration of the search.

The meeting concluded with those next steps noted; no roll-call or formal recorded vote on the timeline was taken during the public meeting.