Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 3, 1993 TAG: 9302030241
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SCHOOLS FINALIST IS CLOSE
The Roanoke School Board met in closed session Tuesday to consider narrowing its superintendent search to one.After the 1 1/2-hour session, however, board members would not say whether they had decided to make a contract offer to one of the two finalists.
"We won't make any announcement until we know a contract has been negotiated," board member Nelson Harris said before the closed session. "If [the finalist] agrees to salary and benefits, we'll get it final, then we can announce our decision."
By state law, the board must have a superintendent under contract by March 1.
The board had selected three finalists for the position that has been held for 12 years by Frank Tota, who is retiring at the end of the school year. One finalist, Willis B. McLeod, withdrew from the running last week, leaving Herbert R. Cottrill, an assistant superintendent for Charlottesville schools, and E. Wayne Harris, an area superintendent for Fairfax County schools, to vie for the post.
Harris appears to be the favored of those who met the applicants.
"He's almost too good to be true," one teacher said. "My greatest fear is that he will turn us down."
A guidance counselor gave Harris "two thumbs up." Another school employee, when asked which finalist he preferred, replied "Do you have to ask?" He, too, favored Harris.
Harris and Cottrill visited Roanoke in the past week, giving board members an opportunity to watch them interact with teachers, school administrators, city government officials and parents.
Though community input was in most cases limited to private conversation, two groups - the Roanoke Education Association and the Roanoke Central Council PTA - are preparing statements noting the strengths and weaknesses of both finalists.
Neither REA President Dorothy Cooper nor PTA council President Marsha Ellison would comment on the contents of their organizations' statements.
Roanoke City Councilman William White, a former School Board member who with other council members met with both finalists at luncheons, said he would offer comment to board members only if asked.
"I don't even think it's necessary," he said. "I'm confident they have the capability to make the right decision. I'm proud of the process they have used. I wish we could do things as well as they have done this."
Harris, who was born and raised in Salem, has been considered one of the most promising top administrators in Fairfax schools. He is an area superintendent working directly with Fairfax County School Superintendent Robert R. Spillane.
Before taking a yearlong leave of absence to participate in a doctorate program for urban superintendents at Harvard University in 1990, Harris oversaw roughly one-quarter of the county's public schools.
Harris has been considered a prime candidate to lead his own school district eventually and some even suggested him as a potential successor to Spillane.
Cottrill has 35 years of experience in education. He has held his current post as assistant superintendent for finance/personnel/data processing for Charlottesville schools for 10 years.
Cottrill began his career in education in 1958, as a teacher at a Wicomico County, Md., high school.