The Nelson County School Board has received 41 full applications for a new superintendent in their search for a new leader for the school division to replace Superintendent Jeff Comer, who is retiring July 1.

Board chair Dave Francis, who represents the Central District, said board members are happy with the search so far and hope to wrap up the process in May, which “will still allow time to transition between Comer and the new superintendent.”

The Virginia School Boards Association is assisting the board in its search for a superintendent to lead the 1,880-student division. Superintendents play a leadership role in proposing a school division budget, among other duties.

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Of the 41 full applications the school division received, eight people are current or former superintendents; eight are assistant, associate or deputy superintendents; 16 are central office administrators; eight are principals or building-level administrators; and one applicant’s experience was marked as “other,” according to a summary of applicants in a news release from the school board. Francis said there are no internal applicants.

The news release also states demographics of applicants: 30 men and 11 women; 27 Virginia applicants and 14 out-of-state applicants, including from Tennessee and Pennsylvania.

“You’ve got varying backgrounds and levels of experience; it still falls back to who we feel is the most qualified to meet the needs here in Nelson County,” Francis said. “... I will be hopeful we’ll wrap [the process] up before school lets out.”

Nelson County schools officials received 180 responses to an online survey about qualifications for the new superintendent that closed in February and also heard from 15 people who provided input on desired qualifications at a February public hearing.

“So we had feedback from staff and the public, and we certainly took all that [into consideration] as we look at candidates; we look at their input,” Francis said.