Pulaski County Public Schools and the Pulaski County School Board are pleased to announce the hiring of Mr. Richard Thomas as the new Director of Human Resources. The decision was made official with a vote by the School Board at their January 2024 meeting.
Mr. Thomas is no stranger to Pulaski County Public Schools. During the 2019-2020 school year he served as the interim principal at Pulaski County High School as they conducted their search for a new leader. During the 2020-21 school year he served as an administrative coach for the school system on a part-time basis. When Covid hit, he served as the Covid Coordinator for PCPS employees and staff, scheduling and ensuring regular testing took place. Last year, he continued working part-time as an administrative coach for the school system.
"We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Richie Thomas to Pulaski County Public Schools (PCPS) as the new human resource director," Superintendent of PCPS Mr. Rob Graham said. “Mr. Thomas brings an enormous amount of educational experience to PCPS having served in many positions including teacher, coach, building administrator and human resource director throughout his career. In addition, he has previous experience working in PCPS and has established relationships within our school community that will be beneficial to all. Most importantly, Mr. Thomas' positive attitude, sense of humor, caring personality and extremely hard work ethic are strong skills that make him an outstanding fit in PCPS. We are grateful that he has chosen to serve in this role in this special school division!"
Thomas has served in a wide variety of positions throughout his career in education. From 1994 to 2001 her served as a teacher, athletic director, and head coach for the football team at Patrick Henry-Glade Springs High School. From there, he served as the assistant principal at Fort Chiswell High School for a year, then served as the principal at Fort Chiswell Middle School from 2002-2005.
In July 2005, he began a new position as the Director of Human Resources for Wythe County Public Schools. He continued in that position until 2019.
Richard Thomas is a 1984 graduate of Patrick Henry-Glade Springs High School. He went on the receive his Bachelors in Health and Physical Education from Emory and Henry College in 1989. He received his Master’s in Educational Leadership from Radford University in 2001.
“Over the past few years, I have enjoyed working for Pulaski County Public Schools in several part-time positions,” Mr. Thomas said. “I am very excited to continue this endeavor in a new position. Although the specifics of this job are not new to me, it is a pleasure to continue working closely with the employees of PCPS. My decision to come out of retirement has been significantly reinforced this week after working alongside wonderful colleagues, fine educators, and bright students.”