The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley Randolph County Circuit Court Judge Jaymie Godwin Wilfong, right, swore in new Randolph County Schools superintendent Dr. Derek Lambert during Tuesday's meeting at the Central Office.

ELKINS – New Randolph County Schools superintendent Dr. Derek Lambert and three new board members were sworn in during Tuesday evening’s regular Board of Education meeting held at the Central Office.     

Randolph County Circuit Court Judge Jaymie Godwin Wilfong swore in Lambert, along with the newly elected members of the BOE, which include Denise Campbell, Peggy Young Ross and Randy Long.   

Lambert was chosen as new superintendent back in late May and is replacing Terry George, who was appointed interim superintendent on March 21, one day after Superintendent Dr. Shawn Dilly resigned. 

Lambert was the principal at Pendleton County High School, his alma mater, this past school year and spent seven years with the West Virginia Department of Education before that working in multiple capacities.     

“I want to congratulate our new board members and welcome you aboard at Randolph County Schools,”George said. “And I want to congratulate Dr. Lambert, I’ve had the opportunity to spend a few days with him in some meetings…We are looking forward to doing some really good things here in the future and he (Lambert) has some great ideas and some things he’d like to see happen in the county.”     

Before swearing in the three new board members, Godwin said, “I think I’ve already told everybody in this small group that there is not enough compensation in the world to do this job, unless you are doing it for the right reasons. I’m happy to know all three of you and I’m happy to know that you’re going to be in this position and carrying this duty forward.”     

The new BOE members, who won their seats during the Primary Election in May, will replace Dr. Phil Chua, Dr. Sherri Collett and Janie Newlon. Campbell and Ross will both represent the Cheat District, while Long will represent the Tygart District.      

“I want to say thank you to the board, it has been a pleasure working with you folks,” George said. “You have made some bold and tough decisions in the last three months and I want to commend you for that. You have been an absolute joy to work with and you’ve cooperated here with our staff and with me. We’ve accomplished a great deal here in three months and you folks are to be commended for that…I want to thank Dr. Collett, Dr. Chua, and Miss Newlon for the service they’ve given the county in the past — you will be missed…I want to encourage the new board members to work with Dr. Lambert, President (Rachel) Burns, and (Ed) Mr. Daniels. There are a lot of good things that are happening in Randolph County right now and let’s keep that momentum going.”   

The next regular Randolph County Board of Education meeting will be held on July 6 at 5:30 p.m.  

The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley
Randolph County Circuit Court Judge Jaymie Godwin Wilfong, right, swore in new Randolph County Board of Education members, from left, Randy Long, Denise Campbell, and Peggy Young Ross, during Tuesday’s BOE meeting.