Derek R. Lambert, Ed.D., was sworn in as superintendent of Randolph County Schools^↗ET on July 1. Eight days later, the West Virginia Board of Education voted to release the district from the state of emergency it had been under since June 2025. The motion that freed Randolph County did not simply close the file. It asked the district to keep going, toward what State Superintendent Michele Blatt described as "improved academic achievement and student outcomes."

It is also the first thing Lambert names when he is asked about his priorities.

"My top priority is simple: improving outcomes for every student," he wrote in response to questions from EdTribune. "Randolph County's students can achieve and are achieving at a higher level than our current ranking suggests."

On one part of that, the state's own data agrees with him. Across the two outcomes West Virginia reports for every district year after year, completion and attendance, Randolph County Schools has been ahead of the statewide figure for as long as those numbers have been published.

The Record He Inherits

Randolph County's four-year cohort graduation rate was 93.4% in 2024-25, against 92.6% statewide. That is not a one-year result. In all eight years of published four-year graduation data, from 2017-18 through 2024-25, the county's rate has come in above the statewide rate. It ranked 26th among the state's 55 county school systems last year, and it has been as high as 96.9%.

The strength runs deeper than the headline number. Students who receive special education services in Randolph County graduated at 91.1% in 2024-25, 4.7 percentage points above the statewide 86.4%. Students who are economically disadvantaged graduated at 88.6%, against 87.5% statewide. The two schools in the county with a reported 2024-25 rate both cleared 92%: Tygarts Valley Middle/High School at 93.8% and Elkins High School at 92.8%. The state reported no 2024-25 rate for Harman or Pickens.

Attendance runs the same way. Randolph County students attended at 93.1% in 2024-25 against 92.3% statewide, the eighth straight year the county has been above the state line. Both the district and the state have posted three consecutive annual increases since the 2021-22 low, so Randolph County is riding a statewide recovery rather than running against it. It still starts each of those years from a higher place, 21st among the 55 county systems last year.

The Number He Brought Up Himself

Then there is the measure Lambert raised without being asked.

Randolph County's students reached proficiency at 35.6% in English language arts in 2024-25, compared with 47.5% statewide. In math the county was at 21.1% against 38.0%, and in science 18.5% against 29.8%. Among the 55 county school systems, that put Randolph County 52nd in English language arts, 54th in math and 53rd in science.

The English language arts line has moved the right way three years running, from 33.5% in 2022-23 to 34.8% and then 35.6%. Math and science have not. West Virginia publishes district assessment results as percentages without student counts, so there is no way to say from the state data how many students sit behind each of those rates or how much of the movement is a single grade level.

Lambert says the work on that gap begins with staff.

"This work begins by investing in our people," he wrote. "Our teachers, service personnel, administrators, and support staff are the foundation upon which to build. My role is to provide them with the resources and support they need to do their best work."

The staffing behind that sentence runs on a thin margin. In 2025-26 the district employed 262.9 full-time equivalent classroom teachers, 208 service personnel and 539.4 total personnel. Its student-to-teacher ratio was slightly lower than the state's, 12.75 against 13.06. Its pay was lower too. The average teacher contract salary in Randolph County was $56,623, which ranked 28th among the 55 county systems and sat $1,658 below the statewide average of $58,281. Starting pay was $43,815 against $45,341 statewide. Those are the personnel figures for the school year that just ended, before the reductions the district made for 2026-27.

What the Balanced Budget Cost

Those reductions are the reason the emergency ended. Lambert has said publicly that the board "made the decision to close two schools and implement extensive personnel reductions," including the elimination of 46.5 total positions, and that preliminary figures put the district's unassigned general current expense balance above $4 million at the end of fiscal 2026.

The pressure behind those decisions is visible in the enrollment file. Randolph County enrolled 3,351 students in 2025-26, down 943 students, or 22.0%, from 4,294 in 2010-11. West Virginia as a whole fell 16.7% over the same years. The county lost 137 students in the latest year alone, a 3.9% drop.

Net enrollment is what the state's Public School Support Program counts when it allots professional educators and service personnel to a county, which is why a decade of that pattern arrives as a closure list and a reduction in force rather than as a chart. It is also the arithmetic Lambert's second year will be built on.

Listening First

Lambert came to Elkins from Pendleton County High School, where he was principal and where he had once been a student. Before that he spent seven years with the West Virginia Department of Education. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Maine, a master's from West Virginia University and a doctorate from the University of Phoenix. The Randolph County board approved him 4-0 in May on a two-year contract, after Shawn Dilly resigned in March and Terry George served as interim superintendent through June.

For a leader with that much time inside the state's education agency, the first move he describes is a listening tour.

"The people of Randolph County know this school system better than anyone else, and I believe the best leaders begin by listening," he wrote. "During my first months, I want to spend time in our schools, classrooms, and communities learning from our teachers, service personnel, administrators, students, parents, and community partners. As time permits, I have been visiting our marching bands and athletic teams."

He described what he wants out of those visits in two directions. "I want to hear what is working well so we can build upon those successes," he wrote. "I also want to understand where people see opportunities for improvement and what ideas they have for moving our district forward. Some of our best solutions already exist within our schools, and I want to ensure every voice has an opportunity to be heard."

Asked what drew him to the job, he answered with the workforce rather than the balance sheet. "I believe that great school systems are built by great people, and Randolph County has talented educators, dedicated service personnel, supportive families, and students with tremendous potential."

The Measure That Comes Next

The state board's release of Randolph County came with a direction attached, and it points at the one indicator where the county sits near the bottom of the state rather than above the statewide figure. Graduation and attendance are already there. Proficiency is the assignment.

Lambert has two years on his contract, a board with three members elected in May who took office the same day he did, and a district that just proved it can close a budget gap. Whether it can move a reading score is a different problem, and one that will not resolve in a single testing cycle.

"I am excited about the future because I believe the potential of Randolph County Schools is far greater than what any ranking or statistic can measure," he wrote.

The 2026-27 assessment results, the first covering a full school year with him in the job, are where anyone will look first.

Graduation, attendance, assessment and enrollment figures come from the West Virginia Department of Education, and staffing figures from its 2025-26 school finance data.

Detailed code that reproduces the analysis and figures in this article is available exclusively to EdTribune subscribers.