After 15 years of service and a recent Twitter scandal, Prince William County Schools Superintendant Dr. Steven L. Walts announced that he is planning to retire on July 1, 2021, when his contract with the school division expires and his daughter graduates from high school.
This announcement was made to both the school board, as well as to parents and students via email. In his resignation announcement, he detailed his accomplishments.
“I think my proudest achievement was to recommend to the 2005-06 School Board, full-day kindergarten for every student after my first year. The budget was good that year, and we were able to complete this initiative, the very next year,” stated Walts.
Walts’ announcement comes nearly a year before he plans to step down, because, as he states, he wanted to “ensure the School Board has the time to select the next great Superintendent for Prince William County Public Schools.”
His resignation comes announcement comes as he and the school board have become embroiled in a scandal involving Walts’ now-deactivated Twitter account. According to the school division, he participated in over 2,000 private conversations, mostly with students, on Twitter. School officials in May launched an investigation into Walts’ usage of his Twitter account, as his actions could be a violation of the school district’s electronic communication policy.
While the investigation into Walts’ Twitter account is complete, the findings of the probe have not been made public. Walts’ resignation announcement made no mention of the investigation into his social media account.
Additionally, Walts and the Prince William School Board are currently being sued for $2.3 million over a video he posted on his Twitter in relation to this by former school board Chairman Ryan Sawyers. The video was of Walts announcing the suspension of his Twitter account after pressure was mounting from the allegations against him. In the now-deleted video, Walts called the allegations against him an attempt to ‘smear and slander him for political purposes,’ presumably in reference to former Chairman Sawyers.
More information on Walts’ retirement can be found on the school division’s website.
Walts has led the school division since 2005 after coming to Prince William County from Greece, N.Y. The school division has 92,000 students and is the second-largest school system in Virginia.
Prince William County Public School students will be headed back to class virtually, at least for the first nine weeks of school, starting September 8.
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Featuring special guest musicians from The Chesapeake Youth Orchestra,
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