by Shawn Nowlin
The Roanoke City School Board (RCPS) recently lengthened the contract of Superintendent Verletta White. Originally set to expire in 2024, White’s contract has been extended through 2026. Among White’s responsibilities as superintendent include implementing the Board’s vision in addition to hiring, supervising, and managing central staff and RCPS personnel. Dr. Rita Bishop, White’s predecessor, served in the role for 13 years.
Hired two years ago, White’s 2020 contract paid $217,000 annually and called for a $10,000 annual annuity payment. That salary was one of the highest of any superintendent in Virginia
. Full details of her new contract have yet to be released publicly.
Already having overseen three high school graduation ceremonies, it didn’t White long to make her presence felt in the community. When a student was shot outside of Roanoke’s Berglund Center as his classmates were inside rehearsing their graduation ceremony on June 9, 2021, White took immediate action.
“Today’s decision about tomorrow and Friday’s graduation did not come lightly. We had to think about all the safety precautions and ready or not we were ready. We decided to partner with t
the police department to make sure that additional police will be present,” she said at the time.
During this year’s occasion, White told the graduates, “Don’t let anyone tell you what you can’t do because you’ve already done it. You have everything inside of you and you have been prepared for success.”
In May, White earned the prestigious Sheila S. Strauss Art Venture Award, which recognizes a woman for her outstanding leadership in arts education and volunteerism in partnership with the Taubman Museum of Art. White has said the feedback she’s received through comments both via email and in person has been “very much valued.”
White’s teaching career began in Baltimore City in 1992. Thirty-eight months later, she accepted a teaching position in the nation’s 25 largest school district, Baltimore County. Throughout her career, White served as a teacher, teacher mentor, assistant principal, principal, Central Office administrator, and chief academic officer.
Once she obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in education from Towson University, White continued her education at the College of Notre Dame in Maryland, graduating with a Leadership in Teaching Masters of Arts Degree.
Approximately 14,000 students were enrolled in Roanoke City Public Schools during the 2021-22 academic year. The ethnicity breakdown is as follows: 41.5 percent Black, 32 percent white, 17.2 percent Hispanic, 5.8 percent two or more races, and 3.4 percent Asian or another race. The upcoming academic school year starts on August 23 and White says she couldn’t be more excited.
