ST. ALBANS, W.Va. — Lincoln County Schools has selected a veteran Kanawha County educator for its next superintendent.
Jeff Kelley, the principal at St. Albans High School, was confirmed to the position by the Lincoln County School Board on Tuesday.
“I am excited and eager to get down there and do work. I’m going to miss my situation at St. Albans, I love the people there, the community the kids and the staff,” Kelley said.
Kelley said he arrived at St. Albans High School for the 2006-2007 school year as an assistant principal. He took over as principal of the school in 2010.
He told 580-WCHS he never envisioned himself in a superintendent position when his career started.
“I became a teacher and all of a sudden I wanted to be an assistant principal and I did there. Then I wanted to become a principal so I guess it’s the next step. I could have never imagined that this is where I would be.”
Following the announcement, St. Albans Mayor Scott James posted on social media, “I would like to publicly congratulate SAHS Principal, Jeff Kelley, for being hired as the new Lincoln County Schools Superintendent! I am proud of him and know that he will do a great job! Thank you Jeff for all you have done for our high school and community! St. Albans’ loss is Lincoln County’s gain. God Bless and good luck Jeff!”
Kelley will take over as the superintendent on July 1 and said he will deeply miss the people of St. Albans.
“Those people down there are some of the greatest people I’ve ever met. They are fantastic, they have good solid core values and believe in things like hard work and integrity. That is ultimately what makes it great,” Kelley said.
“I have a lot of friends down there and I am going to miss them a lot.”