Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 6, 1990 TAG: 9005040622
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV12 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Long
Bruce Hedrick Jr. and Richard Weiss also have applied for the School Board's Central District seat, which includes the Pearisburg area.
The Board of Supervisors will interview the candidates in private Monday night. County residents will have their chance to comment at a public hearing May 23, before the appointment is made.
School Board appointments are for four years, beginning July 1.
Gillispie, who has been on the board since 1982, said the county would benefit by reappointing him because of the recent turnover on the board. Arthur Wheeler and Pamela Kurstedt lost their School Board seats over the last two years.
In both cases, the incumbents were voted out by Bobby Compton, Willard Gowdy and Martin Williams, three supervisors who became supervisors in January 1988.
They have said that they were doing what they believed was best for the county and not acting on any plan to rid the county of sitting School Board members.
Veteran Supervisors Hub Brown and Ted Timberlake supported reappointing Wheeler and Kurstedt.
Although not overconfident, Gillispie said he feels good about his chances of being reappointed.
"I would like to think I've done a good job," he said.
"A lot of people [have been] calling because they're concerned" he may lose his seat like Kurstedt, who had a large, vocal show of support at a public hearing before the supervisors voted to replace her.
Gillispie believes he represents the entire county on the School Board, not just the Central District.
He said the board and the supervisors had developed a closer working relationship over the past year and, for the first time in his memory, the School Board submitted a balanced budget proposal for the next fiscal year.
"I would hope the citizens and the taxpayers appreciate that," he said.
Consolidating Narrows and Giles high schools was a hot topic last June and Gillispie said it's sure to come up again. While trying to stay open-minded, he said "we've got to put the children first and I think that's been overlooked."
Gillispie wants to continuing working with other board members to build on the advances that have been made.
He pointed to the system's good relationship with local colleges, its involvement with a magnet school starting in the New River Valley and to the new electronic classroom program beamed in by satellite.
He's also pleased that the school system has increased the number of computers available to students.
Hedrick, who lives just outside the town limits of Pearisburg, is a filament production manager at Hoescht-Celanese.
He said he decided to apply after being contacted by Timberlake, the Central District supervisor, in late March.
He said Timberlake told him that others had mentioned him as a good candidate and asked him to consider applying for the seat.
Besides Timberlake's call, Hedrick said that, as a parent, he also was prompted by a "vested interest" in the school system.
Hedrick, who holds three college degrees including a master's of business administration, wants to emphasize both vocational education and preparing students for college.
He wants to keep high school graduates in the county by attracting small business and industry to employ them. To do that, he said, graduates must have the necessary training and education to go to work.
Hedrick mentioned the decision to close King Johnston and Rich Creek elementary schools as another reason he applied. If the School Board found that closing the schools would save $300,000, he said, then "how many years in the past could we have been saving money?"
He stressed the need for a fiscally conscious School Board that takes into account that many county residents are on a fixed income.
"We can get more out of the dollars that are available without taxing people to the point they become anti-education," he said.
Hedrick is a graduate of the county's first leadership development program, works with the United Way and is a past chairman of its budgets and admissions committee.
He hinted that School Board decisions might be compromised by members - not just Gillispie - who are local business people. People in that position run the risk of "negative business consequences," in making certain controversial decisions, he said.
He favors consolidation of schools "if it improves the school system we've got." And he said the county will have to decide how to approach a state mandate to develop a middle school curriculum.
Like Gillispie, Hedrick called for a united county identity rather looking out for the interests of one particular district, community or town.
Weiss, a Staffordsville resident and head of Wytheville Community College's police science department, said his background and interest in education prompted him to apply for the School Board.
He said he believes he could "make a positive contribution," to the board, although he is generally satisfied with the system now.
"I just feel like we need to provide the best education we can for our kids. As a board member, that's what I'd try to accomplish."
Weiss said he was not prepared to speak on specific issues facing the School Board, however.
Weiss has a master's in education administration supervision and is pursuing another master's in criminal justice at Radford University. He is assistant superintendent of his church's Sunday school and a member of its board of trustees.
by CNB