Schmidlen

ELKINS – Randolph County Superintendent of Schools Debra Schmidlen is planning to retire by the end of the fiscal year.

The Randolph County Board of Education is scheduled to vote on approving Schmidlen’s retirement during the next BOE meeting, set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Her retirement would be effective on June 30.

Schmidlen has served 35 years in the Randolph County Schools system, with the last five years as superintendent.

Contacted by The Inter-Mountain Friday, Schmidlen said she would prefer to speak publicly after the Board of Education’s vote on Tuesday.

During her tenure with RCS, Schmidlen has served as a Title 1 teacher from 1989 until 2005; a secondary school principal at Harman School from 2005 until 2010; and an elementary school principal at Third Ward Elementary from 2010 until 2017.

She was named superintendent in May 2019, after serving as assistant superintendent for two years.