By Staff Reports
Patrick Schools Superintendent Bill Sroufe on Tuesday said he will step down from his current position in Patrick.
Sroufe would have started his seventh year as superintendent in Patrick. The average tenure of superintendents in Virginia is 3.5 years. “I just think there comes a time when people need a change.”
He accepted an offer from the Colonial Heights School Board to serve in the top slot of that school division, effective July 1.
“I didn’t seek any superintendency. I sought what was right for me and my family,” Sroufe said.
He will work through June 30 in Patrick.
His three-year contract with the Colonial Heights division was unanimously approved, according to a release from the Colonial Heights School division. Sroufe will be paid $147,000 to start in the new post.
Sroufe is an award-winning educator with 20 years of experience in public education, the release from the Colonial Heights division stated.
“I didn’t get into this field for adults. I got into this business to make things better for kids,” Sroufe said, adding that “I’m grateful for the work we did” in Patrick.
During Sroufe’s tenure, student performance increased, from 75th to 19th in Virginia. The division also implemented a 1:1 Chromebooks initiative, has one of the highest bandwidths in southwest Virginia and soon will have a state-of-the-art welding program through a partnership with Patrick Henry Community College.
A company that recently left Patrick County to locate in Floyd County cited a welding program in Floyd schools as among their reasons for the relocation.
In addition to his work in education, Sroufe has written three books: “Words from a Journal,” in 2014 and “Starting a Conversation: Poems and Prose,” in 2017, according to the release from Colonial Heights. His current book is “Everyone Needs a Mrs. Bailey” in 2018. In his memoir, Sroufe shares how one teacher helped him find the courage to rise above the chaos and evil in his life to create one with purpose and triumph; and how we can all become champions for the children in our care, the release stated.
A former U.S. Air Force journalist, Sroufe also has written features for Airman Magazine, The Pilot, and The Roanoke Times, according to the release.
Sroufe has a BS and MS Ed from Old Dominion University and holds a Doctorate in Education with a major in Educational Leadership from Liberty University.
Sroufe, 50, began his career in education in 1998 as a physical science teacher at Northside Middle School in Roanoke. In 2017, he was named Region 6 Superintendent of the Year.
He has taught eighth through twelfth grade physical science, world geography, information technology and civics in Virginia. Sroufe is married to Maureen Sroufe and they have three children, two of which will attend school in Colonial Heights, the release stated.
