In a special called meeting this afternoon the Cumberland County Board of Education voted 5 to 4 to enter negotiations with William Stepp as the new Director of Schools.  This comes after Dr. Ina Maxwell announced she would be retiring at the end of the school year.  There were seven candidates interviewed over the past weekend.

Stepp is a native of Crossville. He’s the Principal of Upperman High School in Putnam County, a position he has held since 2015. The school was named a Reward School for Growth in 2018-’19.

In 2022, he was selected as a candidate in the Prospective Superintendents Academy sponsored by the Tennessee School Boards Association and Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents.

He is part of the Putnam County district leadership team and a co-facilitator of the Principal Pipeline.

He has held principal positions at Upperman Middle School and Cornerstone Middle School, and assistant principal positions at Avery Trace Middle School and Cookeville High School.

Stepp began his education career as assistant band director for Coffee County Schools and worked in Rutherford County Schools before joining Putnam County in 2003 as the band director at Avery Trace Middle School and assistant band director at Prescott Middle School and Cookeville High School.

He has held leadership positions with the Tennessee Music Educators Association Conference and Middle Tennessee Band and Orchestra Association Conference and served as president of the Putnam County Education Association in 2009. He is also a member of the Tennessee Army National Guard, with a current rank of chief warrant officer 3 for the 129th Army Band based in Nashville.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Tennessee Technological University, a master’s in music education from Florida State University, and educational specialist degree in instructional leadership from TTU.