The Board acted this evening to satisfy provisions of state law requiring the appointment of a superintendent prior to July 1, 1999. Meetings by the public with Dr. Weast on July 12 and a site visit by members of the Board will still take place. Dr. Paul L. Vance will continue as superintendent of schools pending final transition arrangements.

In its resolution approving the appointment, the Board said it believes Dr. Weast "is highly qualified to assume the responsibilities of superintendent and meets the expectations of the key stakeholders, including staff, parents, students, and the larger business and civic community."

The Board noted that Dr. Weast, who is the superintendent of the Guilford County Schools in Greensboro, North Carolina, was selected after a nationwide search for a successor to Dr. Vance.

The following is from an earlier announcement today:

The Board announced the scheduling of a series of public meetings on July 12 for the community to meet Dr. Weast prior to his assuming the job as superintendent. The meetings will include small group sessions during the day with parent, business, education, civic, and community leaders, followed by a larger session for the general public at 8:00 p.m. at the CESC auditorium.

"We are exceptionally pleased to have identified Dr. Weast as a finalist who could bring his vast experiences as a superintendent in helping us achieve a vision of a world class school system for Montgomery County," said Reginald Felton, president of the Board of Education. "Dr. Weast would build upon an already strong academic program and a high caliber of school-based instructional leadership to foster the innovation necessary for the next century."

Dr. Weast has been superintendent in Guilford County since 1993. Guilford County is North Carolina's third largest school district, with 94 schools and 61,000 students, in a metropolitan area with a population of 1.2 million residents that includes the cities of Greensboro and High Point.

Dr. Weast was also superintendent in other school districts in Kansas, Montana, North Carolina and South Dakota, beginning in 1976. He has been a secondary school principal and teacher and a university professor. He holds a doctorate in educational administration from Oklahoma State University and other graduate and undergraduate degrees from Pittsburg State University, Kansas, as well as continued professional development at Harvard University, Duke University, and the University of Southern California.

Named superintendent of the year in 1999 in North Carolina, Dr. Weast has overseen significant change in Guilford County Schools, including school district mergers, budgetary reform, and student achievement gains. He is the author of numerous educational research articles and has been a conference presenter on educational leadership, instructional innovation, and school improvement, among other topics.