Interim Superintendent

The Chesterfield County School Board named Dr. John T. Murray as interim superintendent of Chesterfield County Public Schools, effective Sept. 1, 2024, upon the retirement of Dr. Mervin B. Daugherty on Aug. 31, 2024. The board took action to appoint Dr. Murray during the board's regular August meeting. He will serve in this role until the superintendent search is complete and a new superintendent begins work.

“Dr. Murray has a deep understanding of our schools and the Chesterfield community, and the Board is confident that his leadership will provide steady guidance and support for our school division. The School Board looks forward to working with Dr. Murray to ensure a successful and productive start to the school year.” said School Board Chair Dot Heffron.

Most recently, Dr. Murray served as deputy superintendent for the school division, but he has held many roles during his career here at CCPS, including executive director of constituent services; director of middle school leadership; principal of Matoaca High, principal of Carver Middle; assistant principal at Matoaca Middle; assistant principal at Robious Middle; and seventh grade history and language arts teacher. 

“Our school division is in a time of transition, but our goals and our daily work remains the same. We are here to ensure our students receive the best possible education and grow into successful adults. With a spirit of collaboration and support, our schools, our students and our staff will continue to thrive.” said Dr. Murray.

Dr. Mervin B. Daugherty, who served as the school division’s leader for the past six years, announced his retirement earlier this year.

Dr. John Murray

Dr. John T. Murray

Superintendent Search

Superintendent Mervin B. Daugherty retired on Aug. 31, 2024. In conjunction with a consultant, a nationwide superintendent search began in May 2024, but the right leader for Chesterfield County Public Schools has not yet been identified. As of October 2024, the School Board is working through an informal request-for-proposal process to engage a new consulting firm to take charge of the search. The School Board expects to have a new leader in place by July 1, 2025. Additional details and information about next steps in the superintendent search process will be added when it is available.

The School Board shared the following message about the search on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024:

The superintendent search continues for Chesterfield County Public Schools 

Dr. John Murray will continue as interim superintendent through the 2024-25 school year 

The nationwide search for our next superintendent continues, and we expect to have a new leader in place for our school division by July 1, 2025. During this time, Dr. John Murray will continue as the interim superintendent for Chesterfield County Public Schools through the remainder of the 2024-25 school year. Dr. Murray is an accomplished, experienced and thoughtful educational leader who is doing outstanding work. 

Here is more information about the superintendent search process and what is planned in the coming weeks. The School Board hired a consultant in May to guide our superintendent search. While we encountered a few great candidates during that process, we have not yet found the right person to become the next superintendent of Chesterfield County Public Schools. 

Our students and staff members are too important to rush into a commitment that does not guarantee a strong and successful future for our school division. The board is currently working through an informal request-for-proposal process to engage a new consulting firm to take charge of the search, and we are confident that we will identify the next person to lead Chesterfield County Public Schools. More information about next steps in the superintendent search process will be shared once finalized.

At the beginning of our superintendent search, we sought advice from families, employees and partners about what this community values and what this community wants in a superintendent. The School Board will continue to be guided by that input, which showed that Chesterfield County wants as superintendent a strong, exceptional educational leader who is engaging and collaborative and who connects with all stakeholders to build on the school district’s academic success.

The School Board would like to express our thanks to Dr. Murray, our staff and our families for your patience in this transitional period for our school system.

Information about the initial superintendent search process

In May 2024, the School Board hired a consulting firm to conduct a national search for the next superintendent. The search firm helped the School Board determine the characteristics being sought in a superintendent, and identified a pool of candidates to be interviewed. The process to determine the characteristics of the next superintendent included input from school system employees, school families and the community through in-person and virtual meetings as well as an online survey.

Initial process overview

The initial superintendent search process included the following steps:

Feedback was solicited from the School Board, employees of Chesterfield County Public Schools, families, students and the community through interviews, community meetings, focus groups and online surveys (available in English and Spanish). Information from these interactions helped the School Board develop a leadership profile and selection criteria that aligned with the priorities of the community and that meet the unique needs of the school division.

  • An online survey was open during the engagement period to any stakeholder who wished to provide feedback on the superintendent search.

  • Six in-person community meetings were held (one in each magisterial district and one for Spanish-speaking community members).

  • Multiple virtual meetings were held for different stakeholder groups.

Based on the information gathered, the search firm identified and recruited leaders they believed would be a good fit for Chesterfield County Public Schools. The School Board was provided a slate of candidates based on the leadership profile established by the School Board using information gathered in the engagement phase. Candidates were brought forward for consideration by the School Board, and interviews were conducted.

Initial reports

Feedback provided by community members and staff members through focus groups and a survey are available below.