By Alexa Epitropoulos | [email protected]

Alexandria City Public Schools has appointed a new director of transportation.

Interim Superintendent Dr. Lois Berlin appointed Charles Stone to the position on Friday. A press release from ACPS said Stone is a longtime transportation leader, with experience managing transportation systems for both the military and school systems in Texas and Colorado.

Stone most recently worked at Denver Public Schools in Colorado, where he served as manager of route planning, according to his LinkedIn profile. The news release said he had worked as director of transportation in Mansfield, Texas, where he led transportation and alternative fuel initiatives at Mansfield Independent School District.

The news release said that during his time in the U.S. Army he reached the rank of major and led initiatives related to the “strategic move of troops and equipment in Europe.” He retired after nearly 20 years of service in 1992, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The press release said Stone specifically had experience working in “rapidly growing school divisions” with growing student populations that are embarking on reorganizing school attendance boundaries. ACPS has long contended with a fast growing student population, and will redistrict its boundaries in 2018.

“Mr. Stone brings a wealth of experience in managing complex transportation needs in evolving situations. This will be immensely important as we bring the new West End Elementary School online and implement redistricting in the 2018-19 school year. His experience will be invaluable as we navigate through these transitions,” Berlin said in a news release.

The news release said he holds a master’s degree in business administration from LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas.

He will begin his role on Jan. 2, 2018, according to the news release.