School Board: Search for New Superintendent Will Begin Soon

Arlington’s School Board says it will soon announce plans to “seek a superintendent who is an exceptional leader and educator.”

School Board Chair Reid Goldstein issued a statement this morning following last week’s surprise announcement that Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy was retiring. In the statement, Goldstein thanks Murphy “for his commitment to student success in Arlington over the past decade” and says plans to find his replacement are in the works.

Murphy, while retiring from APS, will continue to work: starting Sept. 1 he will be the new superintendent of Berkeley County Schools in West Virginia. Berkeley’s school system has an enrollment just under 20,000 students, compared to the more than 28,000 students enrolled in Arlington schools, according to the websites of both.

Goldstein’s full statement is below.

All of us on the School Board thank Dr. Murphy for his years of service in public education in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and for his commitment to student success in Arlington over the past decade. We wish him much good fortune in his retirement from APS and in his future endeavors.

The School Board is now moving forward and will soon announce plans to execute a search for a new superintendent and to fill other key vacancies in the school system. We are grateful that Dr. Murphy will continue in his role over the summer as we conduct this process. Arlington is an outstanding community, and we will seek a superintendent who is an exceptional leader and educator who will continue to advance our work for Arlington’s learners.

We view this as an opportunity to partner with staff, families and members of the community to select new leadership that will further strengthen APS. The School Board is committed to working with the community on a thoughtful and effective process to find a leader who will continue to inspire excellence, elevate our work and propel us forward as a school system.

We are a top school system in the Commonwealth of Virginia because of the quality of our instructional programs, teachers and staff. They are at the core of our success. We are ready to move forward on current initiatives, including new schools and programs opening in the fall, with new leadership and the talents and support of APS staff. With the recently adopted 2018-24 Strategic Plan as our guide, we are committed to maintaining our momentum during this transition to deliver on our tradition of excellence.

We will share more details on transition plans with the community as they become available.