Manassas Park City Schools Superintendent Dr. Bruce McDade reconsiders, will stay another year

Superintendent Bruce McDade came to Manassas Park City Schools following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He was set to leave with the coronavirus pandemic. His most recent contract with the school division was up in July, and he was set for a happy retirement after he announced February 25 that he would be leaving the school division at end of the academic school year. But now, plans have changed. In a post to Twitter on Tuesday, March 25, 2020, McDade announced that he will be staying on for one more year, extending his current contract at the request of the city school board. According to a press release from Manassas Park City Schools:

The MPCS School Board asked Dr. McDade to remain at his current post and delay his retirement by one year. “For continuity and consistency, particularly in these stressful times, the Board felt that the best course of action for our school community would be to ask Dr. McDade to remain at MPCS,” [School Board Chair Debbie] McIntyre- Yurkovich said. McDade agreed with the Board and said the decision to postpone retirement was fairly easy. “Never would I have envisioned that my final year at MPCS would include massive closures around the world,” said McDade. “I do not want to add undue stress to the School Board or to the staff and students of Manassas Park.”

Prior to announcing his delayed retirement, McDade had "been deeply involved" with the response to the coronavirus, and told Potomac Local News in an interview prior to his Twitter announcement that "I plan to give it my full attention right up until June 30," McDade said. McDade began working in the Manassas Park City Schools Division as a principal at Manassas Park Middle School.

"I have had 19 absolutely wonderful glorious years with Manassas Park City Schools," McDade said.

In 2010, McDade was selected as the next division’s superintendent -- the 8th superintendent in the history of Manassas Park. During his time in charge, McDade was part of the team that offered created the family market, which helps distribute food to as many as 700 needy families in the city on the third Thursday of every month, and he said that gave him a great deal of satisfaction to be around that.

"It's just a chance to give back to our community," McDade said.

Now, in the wake of the coronavirus, schools across Virginia have been shuttered for the remainder of the academic year. The family market, however, held in the parking lot of Manassas Park High School so families could continue to get food, with the help of the event sponsor Capital Area Food Bank. The family market food distribution is an addition to the prepackaged meals that are being distributed to residents in the wake of the coronavirus closure. McDade emphasized that throughout the pandemic, he has focused on the continuity of the school division’s food services city residents both young and old.

Student meal distribution will continue today at 4 pm at the main entrance of Manassas Park High School. Prepackaged grab-and-go meals are no charge for children ages 18 and under. Safe social distancing practices will be in effect. Follow volunteer direction upon arrival.

— MPCSchools (@MPCSVA) March 24, 2020

McDade came to Virginia from Canada to attend UVA, where he completed his Doctorate in Education with the intention of going back to Nova Scotia. But he desperately wanted to be a high school principal - and he found that opportunity here in the commonwealth. McDade was hired as an assistant principal at a school near Charlottesville and worked there for six years. When an opportunity opened within the Manassas Park City Schools in 2000, McDade applied and was hired. He and his wife, Norbi, then moved to Prince William County. After working as a principal at Manassas Park High School for five years, McDade went onto become an associate superintendent and then was named superintendent in 2010, a Manassas Park City Schools press release states. McDade Potomac Local News that while the search for the new superintendent was occurring prior to the announcement he was staying on for one more year, he was completely divorced from the new superintendent hiring process. There was a public hearing about the process the night of our interview, which he said he would not attend. "That's the way I want it," McDade said. The city will hire a new superintendent, eventually, and McDade says he’ll be happy to show that person the ropes. A total of 3,640 students were enrolled in Manassas Park City Schools at the start of the 2019-2020 school year, according to the Virginia Department of Education data. The school division has two elementary schools, one middle school, and a high school.