Bath County Schools Welcome An Old Friend To A New Job

Warm Springs, VA – Bath County’s new school superintendent has been on the job for about three months now. Sue Hirsh has had a long career in the Bath County School System, but becoming superintendent was not her ultimate goal.

Hirsh has worked 32 years so far in the Bath School System. She began as a teacher at Valley Elementary in 1978. She’s also been the Director of Elementary Education and Preschool, the Principal at Valley Elementary School and the Director of Instruction and Personnel.

Currently, the enrollment in Bath County Schools is around 631 students. Enrollment is not growing and Hirsh says that’s a challenge, because student population affects programming and the cost of it. And that’s just one challenge Hirsh is facing.

“I think the biggest challenge right now though, is looking at the maintenance requirements of the division; matching them with my expectations as well as the expectations of everyone for safe and secure schools” says Hirsh “understanding a couple of parts of the budget that I have not had a direct control over before.”

Hirsh served as interim superintendent beginning on May 1 and then became superintendent July 1. She says that so far there have not been any surprises in her new job.

“I hope that I’ve been a good listener so far; I hope that when I say that I’m interested in their concerns that they recognize that’s exactly what I want to hear.”