THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 1, 1996 TAG: 9608010438
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 96 lines
Concerned about a brain drain, the School Board has asked the administration to investigate why several district veterans left Portsmouth for jobs in surrounding school districts.
The board also told the administration to prepare a salary study showing how much Portsmouth would have to spend to place its professional staff's salaries more in line with those in other area cities.
The latest wave of departures - two principals and an assistant principal in a two-week period - prompted the board to request a closer look at recent resignations.
The board felt compelled to act because the resigning administrators were considered among the district's most effective, said Board Chairman Byron P. Kloeppel.
The recent flight of several highly regarded administrators and teachers was one of the hottest topics discussed at the board's retreat last weekend.
The board and Superintendent Richard D. Trumble discussed the matter for nearly two hours behind closed doors.
Kloeppel said the board wanted to examine ways to curb the exodus of seasoned veterans whose experience and intimate knowledge of the system follow them out the door whenever they leave the district.
``This is extremely important,'' he said. ``We just can't continue to lose some of our best people.''
Among those who resigned this summer:
James Victory, the former principal of James Hurst Elementary, he left the district in late June for a job as principal of Hampton's C. Alton Lindsay Middle School. He worked in Portsmouth for nearly 19 years.
About a week later, former Woodrow Wilson High Principal Lindell Wallace, a 32-year Portsmouth veteran, resigned.
He's now assistant superintendent for middle school education in Virginia Beach.
Shortly after that, former I.C. Norcom High Assistant Principal John R. Sykes III, a 12-year veteran, left the district for a job as assistant principal at Chesapeake's Western Branch Middle.
The district's only certified public accountant, Pam J. Parker, will leave in about two weeks, for a job in the Chesapeake district.
Fewer district workers left Portsmouth in 1995-96 compared with the previous year. Still, the numbers have risen sharply.
This past school year, 152 workers resigned. That was down from 163 in 1994-95, but up from 127 two years ago. (Resignations after June 30 are included in the following school year's tally.)
This past school year, 36 percent of the workers who resigned did so because of ``other employment,'' up from 32 percent in 1993-94. Schools feel the ripple effects, said PTA Council President Lucy Thompson.
``When you lose those you consider the best administrators and put in people who aren't familiar with the system or who have to start from scratch in terms of building brand new relationships with the community and a school's staff, it's like starting with a negative,'' she said.
``It takes time before everything is back on track - time that's crucial to the kids.''
Trumble could not be reached for comment this week. But the superintendent said he would give the board the salary information and the results of the investigation in the near future, Kloeppel said.
That's especially the case when the district they're leaving has, like Portsmouth, downsized and tightened its belt in key areas ranging from classroom supplies to staff training just to make ends meet.
Portsmouth educators' salaries are among the region's lowest.
But the School Board is not convinced that money is always the driving force behind the flight.
The board simply wants some hard data, which may factor into future decisions, he said.
For instance, the board may share information from the salary study with the City Council, in an effort to bolster its case for increased city revenue for the 1997-98 year.
Former district veterans said they left for a variety of reasons.
Most of their reasons touched on what they described as ``limited'' opportunities to advance to jobs in the central office or as principals.
Wallace, for example, said he wanted a job that would allow him to impact more students.
``I felt I could do a system more justice out of a box,'' he said, referring to his desire to work on a broader level, outside of one particular school.
Others complained about workloads that increased when colleagues left and jobs were not filled, or what they described as an anxiety-filled work environment - akin to hearing a mortar shell whining in flight and then bracing for the hit.
James T. Roberts, a Portsmouth resident and the Portsmouth district's former business affairs director, took a job as budget director in the Chesapeake district last year.
Having spent nearly 30 years in Portsmouth, he said he still believed the city had a good school system.
But squabbles with the council over local money for education, and frequently having to cut muscle to stay in the black took their toll, he said.
``It's just nice being in a place where there are more opportunities to grow and develop,'' Roberts said.
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH SCHOOLS PORTSMOUTH SCHOOL BOARD TEACHERS
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