Photo Provided Belmont-Harrison Joint Vocational School District’s new superintendent, Heather Austin, celebrates her new position with school board President Mike Fador.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Belmont-Harrison Joint Vocational School District Board of Education has announced the appointment of Heather Austin as its new superintendent.

The decision comes after current Superintendent Richard Schoene recently announced his plans to retire after 31 years in the district and 38 years in education. Schoene formally announced his retirement plans at the March 17 school board meeting and informed the board that his retirement will be effective Aug. 15.

Austin will take over as soon as Aug. 16.

With 26 years of dedicated service in education, Austin has cultivated a strong foundation in both classroom instruction and educational leadership. She began her teaching career at Bridgeport High School, where she spent seven years teaching mathematics and developing and delivering an engaging curriculum that fostered critical thinking and problem-solving skills among students. She continued her teaching career at the Harrison Career Center for three years, integrating real-world applications into math instruction to support career-technical education pathways.

Building on this experience, Austin transitioned into an administrative role, where she has served for 16 years as the director of Career-Technical Education for the vocational district. In this leadership capacity, she oversaw program development, curriculum alignment, staff supervision and community partnerships, ensuring that students received a high-quality, industry-relevant education that prepared them for the workforce. Her tenure was marked by a strong commitment to high-quality programming, academic excellence and student achievement in career-technical education.

“I am honored to accept the position of superintendent at the Belmont-Harrison Vocational School District. It’s a privilege to lead this district, dedicated to giving students the skills, knowledge and confidence to be successful in today’s workforce. I look forward to working alongside our teachers and staff as well as our business partners to continue to provide opportunities and innovation in career technical education,” Austin said.

Belmont-Harrison Vocational School District Marketing Coordinator Bill Glitch said he is excited that Austin was chosen as the schools’ new superintendent.

“She’s been here for several years in her position, and we interviewed three candidates, and she was one, and there were two outside candidates, and she was chosen,” he said. “The whole staff is excited about it because she’s very well liked, very professional, and has always done a great job.”

School board President Mike Fador agreed with Glitch, saying that he is thrilled to have Austin as the new superintendent.

“Her extensive experience in education and her commitment to career and technical education make her an ideal leader for our district,” he said.