This may prove to be a pivotal year for the school divisions in Gloucester and Mathews counties. School boards in both counties have the same daunting task facing them in the coming months—finding the right person for the head job.

In January, over the span of less than a week, Mathews Superintendent of Schools Nancy Welch announced she will be stepping down on Sept. 1 and Gloucester Superintendent of Schools Dr. Walter R. Clemons told his board that will be retiring even earlier, on July 1. In Mathews, a link to an online citizen survey asking residents the qualities they’d like to see in their next superintendent can be found on the division’s main page, www.mathews.k12.va.us.

Selecting the next superintendent is just one item on the two boards’ agendas. Right now, both are busy putting the final touches on their budgets for the 2023-24 school year. And both grapple with a myriad of issues, from instruction to enrollment to aging facilities, on a daily basis.

Added to all t...