File photo New Randolph County Schools superintendent Dr. Derek Lambert said he will attend today's state Board of Education meeting in Charleston.

ELKINS – New Superintendent Dr. Derek Lambert told the Randolph County Board of Education at Monday night’s meeting that he was heading to Charleston to get an update on the school district’s State of Emergency status.

During the Superintendent Reports section of the meeting, Lambert said he and Randolph County Schools Finance Director Brad Smith, along with Director of Personnel, Human Resources & Staff Development Mike DiPasquale, would be attending today’s State BOE meeting.

“We are planning to be at the State Board of Education meeting on Wednesday morning and we will find out if we have been released from the State of Emergency or not,” Lambert said. “I believe Brad (Smith), Mike (DiPasquale) and I are going to go down to Charleston that morning to be at the Board meeting.”

Under the New Business section of today’s West Virginia Board of Education meeting agenda, a discussion is scheduled on the topic of “Randolph County Schools State of Emergency Update.”

The agenda states that “The Office of Accountability will provide an update on the intervention in Randolph County Schools.”

Today’s State Board of Education meeting, at Capitol Building 6, is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. More information on the meeting can be obtained by visiting https://wvde.us.

Randolph County Schools was placed in a State of Emergency for a six-month period by the West Virginia Department of Education in June 2025 because of its inability to balance the 2026 budget.

Former Randolph County School’s Superintendent Dr. Shawn Dilly, who unexpectedly resigned this March, went before the State BOE in January looking to have the State of Emergency removed, but the West Virginia Board of Education voted at its monthly meeting to extend the Randolph County school system’s State of Emergency status for another six months.

The Randolph County BOE meeting on Monday was the first official meeting for Lambert and three new Randolph County Board of Education members. Lambert was sworn in on June 27 alongside new BOE members Denise Campbell, Peggy Young Ross and Randy Long.

Lambert was chosen for the superintendent position in late May and is replacing Terry George, who was appointed interim superintendent on March 21, the day after Dilly resigned.

Before coming to Randolph County, Lambert was the principal at Pendleton County High School, his alma mater, this past school year. He spent seven years with the West Virginia Department of Education working in multiple capacities before accepting the principal job in Pendleton County.

The next Randolph County Board of Education meeting will be July 21 at 5:30 p.m.