by Kate Evans
The Morgan County School Board unanimously approved Kristen Tuttle as Morgan County Schools Interim Superintendent beginning July 1 through June 30, 2020 at their June 4 meeting.
School Superintendent Dr. Erich May accepted a superintendent position in Pennsylvania and is leaving June 30. He has been the county’s school chief for two years.
Tuttle was the sole candidate the school board interviewed for the interim superintendent position at a May 29 special meeting. No other candidates were interviewed. Five candidates applied for the position, said school officials. They didn’t name the other applicants.
The school board decided to pursue hiring an interim superintendent, saying there wasn’t enough time to advertise, interview and choose someone for a multiyear superintendent position before a June 1 state deadline.
The board will decide this winter when to post for the multiyear superintendent position, said school board president Aaron Close. That will give them have plenty of time to consider a multiyear candidate and have a superintendent in place before June 30, 2020.
Close said the transition would be smooth with Tuttle’s hiring and would bring consistency to the school system.
Tuttle was Assistant Superintendent for Morgan County Schools from July 2015 to June 2017. She left to take an Assistant Principal position at Handley High School with Winchester Public Schools but was then hired as Winchester Public Schools Director of Human Resources from July 2017 until August 2018. Tuttle returned to Morgan County Schools last August as the Berkeley Springs High School business education teacher.
Tuttle served as Berkeley Springs High School Principal from August, 2014 to July, 2015 and as Secondary Education and Career Technical Education Director from June, 2013 until August, 2014. She was Assistant Principal at Berkeley Springs High School from July 2011 to June 2013 and also taught business education at the school from 2006 until June 2011.
Education
Tuttle has a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in human resource management and a minor in communications from West Virginia University. She received her master’s degree in teaching from Marshall University in 2009
and her educational leadership certificate from Salem International University in 2010.
Director, other experience
In her year as Secondary Education and Career Technical Education Director, Tuttle directed middle school and high school curriculum, instruction and professional development programs and supervised alternative education programs.
As Assistant Principal, Tuttle implemented and administrated the Support for Personalized Learning program and coordinated special education.
As high school business education teacher, Tuttle implemented the innovative High School of Business program, which offered honors-level business education courses for students majoring in business.
