Chesterfield County schools chief James F. Lane has been named Virginia’s new head of public schools.
Gov. Ralph Northam announced Lane, 40, as the new superintendent of public instruction on Thursday, citing his experience in the classroom and central office as reasons for tapping him for one of the administration’s most critical appointments. The appointment is effective June 1.
“This is the best time to be in public education,” Lane said during the announcement.
The superintendent of public instruction oversees and administrates the state’s public school system. In 13 states the position is elected, while Virginia is one of 37 states where a public schools chief is appointed.
“Dr. Lane’s experience as a superintendent, school administrator and teacher has given him the deep grounding in education that a state superintendent needs,” Northam said.
Lane succeeds Steven R. Staples, an appointee of then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe who held the post from March 2014 until his retirement, which was effective Jan. 1. The appointment leaves Chesterfield without a permanent superintendent two years after Lane came to the system following a four-year stint at the helm of Goochland County Public Schools.
Shortly after Thursday’s announcement, the Chesterfield School Board said it plans to appoint Donald “Rusty” Fairheart, the current CCPS chief of staff, as interim superintendent at a special meeting on Tuesday. Fairheart served as the superintendent of Middlesex County from 2007 to 2011.
“I am humbled to be chosen to lead a school division already recognized as a state and national leader in public education,” Fairheart said in a statement. “Serving as chief of staff has allowed me to work closely with the School Board, and I am keenly aware of the expectations our community has for this school division.”
The Chesterfield School Board will vote Tuesday to accept Lane’s resignation and appoint Fairheart as the interim superintendent.
When Lane came to Chesterfield two years ago, he replaced a superintendent, current Petersburg Superintendent Marcus Newsome, who’d led the school system for a decade. He quickly became known for his focus on equity and rolling out initiatives. He counts among his successes achieving approval — after years of debate by School Board members — of a plan to push back Chesterfield high school start times, which were among the earliest in the state.
Lane’s signature efforts included pursuing a regional high school, CodeRVA, whose admission structure focused on inclusion. He also beefed up resources at struggling schools that had fallen short of state standards and expanded social emotional learning and trauma-informed care, citing the disparities that fall to the county’s increasing minority student population as reason for those efforts.
The evaluation system of potential gifted students also is undergoing significant shifts with the aim of breaking down racial barriers.
Lane successfully pushed for year-round school at one elementary school as a way to give greater support to the large minority population enrolled there. In addition, several school projects in communities in need of revitalization were switched from renovations to full rebuilds within his first year in charge.
He also oversaw the creation of an equity committee chaired by professors who had long studied racial segregation of schools and other equity matters. The committee’s report exposed systemic disparities within the school system, and the School Board tasked itself with making multiple adjustments as a result.
Lane’s new role will include implementing Virginia’s Every Student Succeeds Act plan, the replacement to the George W. Bush-era No Child Left Behind, which is set to go into effect next fall. Part of Virginia’s ESSA plan is its Standards of Accreditation, which are meant to assess school quality.
Northam tasked Lane with continuing the implementation of the new accreditation standards, which were approved in one of Staples’ final meetings as state superintendent.
In a call with reporters after his retirement was announced, Staples said choosing to step down was a family decision. His wife is retired, and Staples is a grandfather. Staples said he does not have any plans to consult, but added that “it will be difficult to get away from education entirely.”
Staples made $206,467 per year, while Lane was paid $221,000 per year as Chesterfield’s superintendent, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s salary database.
Steve Constantino, a former Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools superintendent, served as acting state superintendent after Staples’ departure.
Constantino will revert to his previous role of chief academic officer.
Lane has worked as an assistant principal, middle school principal and assistant superintendent in Virginia and North Carolina. He started as a band teacher in North Carolina in 2001. Before arriving in Goochland in 2012, he served as assistant superintendent and superintendent in Middlesex County.
“We welcome a leader as state superintendent who consults with us and involves teachers in the dialogue about what’s needed to help our schools thrive,” Virginia Education Association President Jim Livingston said in a statement.
Lane received his doctorate in education from the University of Virginia and has two master’s degrees, one from North Carolina State University and one from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also earned his bachelor’s.
Along with being superintendent, he has worked as an adjunct professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, James Madison University and the University of Richmond.
He and his wife, Sarah, have a son, Charlie, and a daughter, Kerrington.