Did you know that this fall, seven school divisions across Hampton Roads started the school year with a new superintendent? In October, we welcomed them to WHRO for their first meeting as part of the HRETA Superintendents Advisory Council.

Unique in our ownership structure, WHRO is owned and operated by 19 local public school divisions who came together to form the Hampton Roads Educational Telecommunications Association (HRETA). We meet regularly with the superintendents from these divisions, and their leadership and guidance helped bring us to where we are today.

The new superintendent for Accomack County Public Schools, Kregg Cuellar, comes to Hampton Roads most recently from Des Moines, Iowa, where he was the chief of schools. Two more superintendents to join HRETA from out-of-state school divisions include Aaron Spence, superintendent of Virginia Beach City Public Schools, and Victor Shandor, superintendent of York County Schools.

There are a few familiar faces too. Walter Clemmons, the incoming superintendent of Gloucester County Public Schools, was previously the superintendent for Northampton County Public Schools, which is also a HRETA member school. Charles “Eddie” Lawrence, who was the secondary education coordinator for Accomack County Public Schools, took over as superintendent in Northampton.

Willie James Bell, Jr., previously the director of instruction for Sussex County Public Schools, has been named superintendent of Franklin City Public Schools. And lastly, Patricia Fisher has taken over as interim superintendent of Portsmouth Public Schools until a new superintendent is selected.

While several outgoing superintendents retired after more than a decade in their positions, others moved on to assume new roles in other school districts throughout the Commonwealth and in other states. Whatever the circumstance, more than one-third of our owner school divisions have a new leader this year, and we can’t wait to collaborate with each of them on new ideas and initiatives to benefit Hampton Roads students and teachers!