Paul Butler, the familiar face of the evening news on WBOC-TV, has accepted a position as Director of Communications and Community Outreach for the Wicomico County Board of Education.

The 54-year-old Salisbury native, who once owned a public relations firm, will begin working in the newly created position on July 3. His last day at WBOC will be Friday, June 30.

“We are thrilled to welcome Paul to our leadership team at Wicomico County Public Schools,” Superintendent Dr. Donna Hanlin said.

“Paul comes to our school system with an expansive background in broadcast journalism and public relations. As Director of Communications and Community Outreach, he will oversee our work to ensure transparency, build trust and communicate the good news that occurs in our schools every day,” she said.

“I’m glad to be able to join them. Education has always been important to me. My dad was a teacher and my brother was a principal,” Butler said.

“My role will be to showcase and spotlight all the good things that are happening in our schools, with the students, the staff and the schools, and building partnerships within the community. We have some good people who work in our school system. I graduated from Wicomico County schools. All my kids graduated from Wicomico County schools and so did my wife,” he said.

His annual salary will be $96,421.

He wasn’t searching for a new job, but was encouraged to apply for the position by a friend who saw it posted and believed he had the all the right qualifications.

“I have been working nights for 22 years, 3 to midnight every evening. All my kids are out of the house now, so I thought it was time to be home to spend some time with my wife, Valerie. My hours now will be 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,” he said.

“I am still under contract with WBOC but they were very gracious about letting me get out. This is an amazing company to work with,” he said.

Butler was at the TV station from 2005 to 2008, but left to spend more time with his three children. His son was in high school and he wanted to attend his sports games in the evenings.

He returned to WBOC in 2011 and has been there since, co-anchoring the 6 p.m., 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. news on WBOC and the 10 p.m. news on FOX 21. He was previously sports director for FOX 21.

Also during his career, he was sports anchor and reporter at WPMI in Mobile, Ala., and sports director at KTBS 3 in Shreveport, La., and ACC Country at FOX 18 WCCB in Charlotte, N.C.

For three seasons, he was sideline reporter for the NFL on FOX and covered NFL, NBA, NHL and NCAA championships.

After graduating from Wicomico High School, he began working in radio. During his 12 years in that field, he was at OC-104 in Ocean City and WKYS and WTEM, both in Washington, D.C.

A 1985 graduate of Salisbury University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in communications, he also studied at the University of Maryland College Park and Mary Washington University.