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Wirt BOE search for superintendent may expand

ELIZABETH – Members of the Wirt County Board of Education will meet next week to consider extending their search for a new superintendent. The board has set up a special meeting July 18 to review superintendent applications. Board president Jim Rader said he’d like to expand the search.

“My desire is to see a larger pool of applicants,” he said.

The board is searching for a superintendent following Dan Metz’s retirement announcement in May. Metz, who has worked in the Wirt County School System for 33 years, spent nine years as superintendent.

In January, Metz was given a one-year contract and a raise by board members. The one-year deal bumped his pay from almost $89,000 to $91,357. Metz’s contract was approved by a 3-2 vote. The 55-year-old Metz is eligible for retirement in August.

In May Metz notified board members via email of his retirement plans. His last day on the job in Wirt County will be Aug. 30. Wirt County is the only place Metz worked as an educator.

Wirt has the smallest population of any county in West Virginia and one of the smallest school systems in the state.

School officials began a search advertising the position in newspapers in Parkersburg and Charleston and through the state school board association.

Rader said officials have received only two applicants. He declined to identify the applicants until after next week’s meeting, stating the board has not yet decided to expand the search or act on the two applicants.

“If we try to get some more (applicants), we will try to have those to you,” he said. “We will wait to decide who we are going to interview before we release the names of the applicants.

“We would like to have a bigger pool to pick from,” he added.

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