District hires new superintendent

After interviewing three candidates, a new leader for Kimball Public Schools has been hired and is expected to start July 1, 2018.

Dr. Elizabeth Owens, of Ivanhoe, Va., will be taking over as Kimball Public Schools’ Superintendent.

The Kimball School Board held a public meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 27 to approve Owens’ contract for two years.

Owens completed her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with a concentration in philosophy at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, Va. She followed with a master’s degree in special education at East Tennessee State University and then became an educational specialist in educational leadership and policies at Virginia Polytechnical Institute and State University. Finally, she received her educational doctorate at East Tennessee State University.

She began working as a special education teacher at Wise County Public Schools in 1989 and in 1992 she became that district’s vocational evaluator and transition coordinator. She became the coordinator of the Regional Learning Academy at Wise County Public Schools in 1995 and three years later Owens was named the principal. As such, she supervised nine program options serving three school districts.

In 2000 Owens became a supervisor at Washington County Public Schools in Abingdon, Va., and in 2006 she took on the superintendent duties at Grayson County Public Schools in Independence, Va.

She moved to Richmond, Va., and became a school improvement contractor for the Virginia Department of Education in 2012, a position she has maintained until accepting the position in Kimball.