Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 3, 1994 TAG: 9407050118
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Elizabeth Obenshain
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's a tad embarrassing, when demanding the best from students, that your newly hired superintendent gets a grade of D+ and the board itself only a slightly better C- from teachers, principals and staff for their performance this year.
To be fair, running a school system that satisfies everyone in Montgomery County is one tough job. This is an unusually diverse and complex county.
Two weeks ago, you may have noticed those divisions on this page when a letter by a Blacksburg resident roundly criticizing the superintendent was followed by a letter from a Riner woman fed up with Blacksburg's complaints. "If they are so smart," she wrote, why don't they start their own school system.
The town/county divisions, the competing needs among the county's communities, the disparity in income and education from one side of the county to the other all contribute to making the job of running the schools difficult and contentious.
But complexities aren't excuses.
After Superintendent Herman Bartlett's first year in office, he and the School Board have some major problems and issues to address.
1. The superintendent's communication skills and management style have not been a hit, to put it mildly, according to a climate survey of 450 teachers, 16 principals and 16 central office employees. At a time when business and government leaders are talking about teamwork and empowerment, a manager whose style prompts comments about "fear and intimidation" needs to take a serious look at how he is dealing with his employees. His supervisors - the School Board - should be seriously concerned when teachers feel demoralized rather than appreciated and inspired by their new leader.
A change in communication and management philosophy will not only help with the school staff, it will also improve relations and trust with the public and allow Bartlett and the School Board to communicate positive efforts they have under way.
2. The board also has a monumental task ahead in devising a workable plan for solving the county schools' construction and renovation needs, estimated at $69 million to $100 million in the years ahead.
A study released June 21 found crucial school construction needs in Riner and Shawsville, where all four elementary schools are overcrowded. It also documented school needs in every part of the county.
Balancing competing demands in Auburn and Christiansburg, Blacksburg and Shawsville will require thorough planning, fairness and diplomacy.
But the future of our schools doesn't just rest with the School Board and its superintendent - or with the Board of Supervisors that writes the big check each year for local school financing.
Ultimately, it's the decision each of us makes about the importance of education to our lives that will decide the quality of our schools.
The School Board and the supervisors are pretty savvy at reading the lips and minds of county taxpayers. Are we willing to pay for quality schools? For smaller classes? For more computers? For better vocational training? For counselors to help troubled children cope with the stress of fractured families as well as schoolroom demands?.
In the long run, my guess is we'll get the type of schools we're willing to pay for.
The challenge local leaders and those concerned about education face is to unite the disparate groups in this county, much as the Focus 2006 study did, and reach a consensus on the payoffs that a quality education will have for our county's children and our community as a whole.
Elizabeth Obenshain is the Roanoke Times & World-News New River editor.
by CNB