Additional funds approved to cover empty superintendent position

The Warren County School Board approved the appointment of Melody Sheppard, currently WCPS assistant superintendent for administration, as interim superintendent effective January 1, 2020, until a new superintendent is hired next year. Photo by Mark Williams, Royal Examiner.

It’s going to cost Warren County Public Schools (WCPS) $3,250 a month in extra stipends to cover the superintendent position vacated last month by Greg Drescher, who was put on paid administrative leave after he was indicted along with more than a dozen other local individuals in the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority (EDA) financial scandal.

The Warren County School Board during its Wednesday, October 16 meeting approved the appointment of Melody Sheppard, currently WCPS assistant superintendent for administration, as interim superintendent effective January 1, 2020, until a new superintendent is hired next year.

In addition to Sheppard’s normal pay, School Board members also approved a $1,750 per month stipend that Sheppard will start receiving this month for taking on the superintendent duties. The stipend will continue until a new superintendent is hired.

At the same time, Drescher still continues to pull in a paycheck on his six-figure salary until the end of the year.

Extra compensation also was granted for two other WCPS employees who are stepping in to help with some of Sheppard’s current duties.

Board members approved a $750 stipend per month for both Greg Livesay, WCPS director of facilities, and George Smith, Jr., WCPS director of personnel, who will be assuming additional temporary responsibilities over the next several months until a new superintendent is employed.

Livesay will take on responsibilities including but not limited to oversight of custodial services and regular site inspections; procurement for the custodial services company for the 2020-2021 school year; coordinator of the A. S. Rhodes Elementary School renovation project; and contact person for the school grounds maintenance, Sheppard said.

Smith will assume responsibilities for oversight of the transportation department, coordinator of use of facilities, and coordinator of Freedom of Information Act requests, among other duties, according to Sheppard.

Members voted unanimously to approve Sheppard’s appointment and monthly stipend, as well as the monthly stipend for both Livesay and Smith.

Regarding the search for a new WCPS superintendent, the process is now officially under way.

WCPS Finance Director Robert Ballentine explains procedures for the superintendent search.

During the board’s work session portion of the meeting, WCPS Finance Director Robert Ballentine, who is also clerk of the School Board, provided members with a draft schedule for starting the superintendent search that shows how the process would work.

“It would allow for the search firm to be selected and under contract by year’s end,” Ballentine said.

Ballentine noted that School Board Small Purchasing policy allows for “single or term contracts for professional services without requiring competitive negotiation, provided the aggregate or the sum of all phases is not expected to exceed $60,000.”

The previous superintendent search consulting contract was for $8,500 and the current one should be well under the $60,000 threshold for requiring a formal Request for Proposals (RFP), he said.

However, for transparency purposes — and to allow for the greatest possible competition — Ballentine said it may be advisable to issue an RFP.

The existing RFP for the previous contract could be updated with minimal changes, reviewed by legal counsel, and advertised within a short period of time, he added. Then the RFP could be advertised in local newspapers, as well as on the state procurement webpage, eVA.

The remainder on the timeline, 2020, could be finalized based on the recommendations of the chosen consultant, suggested Ballentine.

If the School Board wants to follow this route and particularly the timeline, he told members it was necessary to authorize staff to begin the process at Wednesday night’s meeting.

And board members gave him the go-ahead to get the ball rolling.