The Bedford County school district will lose another longtime educator and top-level administrator after this school year.
Assistant Superintendent Bobbi Johnson will become superintendent of the Culpeper school system as of July 1, Bedford County Schools announced Wednesday.
Bedford Superintendent James Blevins also is leaving the school system this summer when he retires after 10 years as superintendent.
He will be succeeded by incoming Superintendent Douglas R. Schuch, who currently serves as executive director of strategic planning and accountability in the Stafford County school division.
Johnson, 51, has been with the division since 1992 and will stay on through the end of June.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity, but gosh it’s hard to leave after this long,” she said in an interview Wednesday.
Johnson has served in area school systems since becoming an elementary teacher in Lynchburg City Schools in 1981. She joined the Bedford district in 1992 as the primary schools coordinator, and also served as an elementary principal and director of instruction before becoming assistant superintendent in 2000.
“I feel that this is my family, and there’s so many strong people,” Johnson said. “We’ve gone through a lot together.”
Bedford schools spokesman Ryan Edwards said Wednesday that Schuch will decide on a new assistant superintendent after he “gets settled” in his new position.
Johnson, who was selected for her current position by Blevins, said that’s the usual process.
She said Wednesday that “the leadership in place is so strong that anyone coming in will get all the support they need to be successful.”
“I just think we’ve come so far as a division, and that is a testament to the good people. And that extends beyond the school board office. I’m talking about administrators, strong lead teachers. I can just see the vision coming together.”
Blevins also said he was “comfortable” with the position of the school system.
“We both have worked very hard,” he said, “and we feel that the people we have coming in should be able to carry on.”
He said he was happy for Johnson as she takes on the new position.
“I think she’s going to be a wonderful superintendent for Culpeper,” he said. “She listens to parents in the community, and she has a strong belief that every student can learn and can be successful in school. The parents and everyone else just love her.”
The Culpeper County School Board on Monday voted 6-0, with one member absent, to approve Johnson’s appointment.
She will be the county’s first female superintendent.
Culpeper School Board Chairman George Dasher said Johnson “is the complete package and possesses all of the leadership, fiscal and instructional skills deemed necessary by the board.”
The district’s spokeswoman Marla McKenna said the school board and Johnson are still working out the details of her contract, including salary and benefits package. Johnson’s annual pay rate will be between $145,000 and $155,000.
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