Oak Ridge schools name SEMO alumnus as new superintendent

Bethany Deal will succeed Adrian Eftink on July 1 as superintendent of the Oak Ridge R-VI schools, the district has announced.

Eftink, who has served in administrative roles for nearly 20 years at Oak Ridge, is departing to become superintendent of the Woodland Schools in Marble Hill, Missouri.

Deal, who holds master's degrees from Missouri Baptist University and Southeast Missouri State University, comes to Oak Ridge after serving as superintendent of the Richwoods R-VIII district since 2015.

Deal has also served in teaching and administrative roles in Kingston, Potosi, Caledonia and Dexter, Missouri.

According to a news release, Deal has been married 26 years to Russell Deal, a Sikeston native, and the couple has four children and three grandchildren.

The incoming Oak Ridge administrator won the 2018 award for new superintendent of the year in the South-Central region from the Missouri Association of School Administrators.

Deal is currently working to finish her doctorate in educational leadership from William Woods University, the release said.