Special Election Edition--SURVEY RESULTS and ANALYSIS

November 4, 2007

Dear School Supporters,

If you saw the October 31 Virginia Gazette hopefully you saw our endorsement of Andy Bradshaw for Supervisor and James P. Nickols for School Board (yes, that’s James P. Nickols, the Gazette has been using an incorrect middle initial). If you didn’t see the essay, it can be found at the end of this message.

We perceived the races in Stonehouse to be the most critical and therefore decided to use our allotted ink to express our strong feelings about those races.

For those not in Stonehouse, there are items to note in the other races as well:

Berkeley

While Michael C. Brown did not answer our questionnaire he did say that guidance from county staff that included a mere 1.9% increase in the education budget is “a ruse and should be considered fodder,“ ”It is not realistic,” and “it’s ridiculous.” Unless the state comes up with quite a bit of money, he is very likely right and we have to respect him for saying so.

In their responses both Mary Jones and Carlton Stockton indicated it is important to fully fund the schools’ budget and they emphasized the need for the schools and the county to work collaboratively on budgeting and long range planning. Both supported competitive compensation for teachers and staff, expanded Pre-K for at-risk students and alternative education.

Having served on the planning commission, Jones is very familiar with the schools capital needs and thinks money could be saved on future design and construction of schools (but would they be as excellent as Warhill and Matoaka?) She would like to bring the schools more into the Comprehensive Plan process than they have been in the past. She questions the efficiency of bussing students between high schools rather than simply having core courses available at each school. Jones supports a performance based compensation system, a tricky proposition to implement in schools. She would encourage the division to revisit maximum capacities for schools, when some suggest our schools are already too large to have kids feel connected to their schools. Unfortunately, she believes that the school administration costs consume a large part of the school budget when, in fact, it is only 2.4% of the budget. Her desire to reform the “tax and spend mentality” she perceives in the county may limit her ability to provide funding for the schools given that a great deal of local funds will continue to be needed to maintain quality.

Stockton made a point of emphasizing the boundaries that should exist between the Board of Supervisors and the School Board, which is refreshing in light of some past efforts to muscle the School Board. He is placing his bets on a collaborative budget process where school and county officials are working together to determine a reasonable budget. However, the schools have an obligation to present a “budget of need” that is not typically in sync with the county budget guidance, which inevitably causes friction, so the scenario may not be as rosy as he might hope.

Roberts

In their responses both George Drummond and Bruce Goodson indicated schools should be appropriately funded, salaries for teachers and staff should be competitive, students should be inside schools--not in trailers, and Pre-K and alternative education should be supported.
Goodson supports use of eminent domain for schools as a last resort and used it to get the land for Matoaka. He supported the multipurpose building for CEO until the School Board scrapped it. He has generally been supportive of schools but can be held back on funding when influenced by other Board members. He was part of the Board that held up the third high.

Drummond, to his credit, went farther in support of preschool, not just for at-risk children but also for those children from low to middle income families who typically make too much to receive assistance. He indicated he would not support use of eminent domain, which is worrisome if it was ever again necessary. He also dislikes trailers to such an extent that he would consider larger class sizes instead. While trailers are not ideal, most would rather have trailers used than have class sizes increase.

You can still read candidates responses to the SSN Questionnaire at:http://supportschoolsnow.org

And now, the moment you all have been waiting for--the results of the Support Schools Now
survey:

1. Which Board of Supervisors candidate in the BERKELEY DISTRICT do you think will best support WJC Schools?

Michael C. Brown 25.7%
Mary K. Jones 14.3%
Carlton A. Stockton 60.0%

2. Which Board of Supervisors candidate in the ROBERTS DISTRICT do you think will best support WJC Schools?

George F. Drummond 70.4%
Bruce C. Goodson 29.6%

3. Which Board of Supervisors candidate in the STONEHOUSE DISTRICT do you think will best support WJC Schools?

M. Anderson "Andy" Bradshaw 73.5%
Gene Farley 2.9%
James G. "Jim" Kennedy 23.5%

4. Which School Board candidate in the STONEHOUSE DISTRICT do you think will best support WJC Schools?

James C. Nickols 84.2%
Ron Vaught 15.8%

Thanks to all those who participated! Here are some of your comments:

"I vote for Carlton Stockton, however, I believe Mary Jones is also a school supporter but I give the edge to Carlton."

"Candidate Stockton demonstrates a true concern for the welfare of the children of WJCC. He resume reflects his abilities to do what is necessary to move public schools in the right direction."

"Mr. Drummond has a greater sensitivity to the needs of all students and would require the schools to invest in improvements in technical education and not only college preparatory studies."

"Either [Drummond or Goodson] will be a school supporter. Bruce [Goodson] will hold them more accountable."

"Bradshaw has been supportive but Kennedy was hostile toward public schools when he was on the Board."

"Didn't like Kennedy last time he was in and I don't think he will do any better."

"Mr. Nickols actually took the time to respond and I feel he has a good grasp on the current school problems and with the school board vs. the county supervisors. We need a change in this district with someone who seems to CARE about the position he has been voted to uphold."

"Mr. Nickols attended the debate at the Library on Croaker Road on 17 Oct. He is articulate, has a sense of humor, and experience as a human resource specialist and pastor in being sensitive to the needs of ALL students. He entered the race as a write-in because of his frustration with Mr Vaught. Mr Vaught did not attend nor did he obtain even as the incumbant the signatures needed to appear on the ballot."

"When he has bothered to attend meetings, [Ron Vaught] has a record of combining disinterest with combativeness. That alone should cause one to vote for a "fresh face." Mr. Nickols is much much more than that. His personal educational background, his lifelong commitment to service, his intellect, and his consensus building approach to policy will make a profound impact on the board."

Please VOTE ON NOVEMBER 6 and thank you for supporting our schools!

Mike Ludwick
Support Schools Now

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Vote Bradshaw. Write-in James P. Nickols.

Citizens expect public officials to work respectfully with each other and the public to improve our schools and our community. On this score and others, in the Stonehouse district in James City County, the choices are clear.

Many residents may not recall the bad ol’ days of acrimony between the Board of Supervisors and the WJC School Board back when Jim Kennedy chaired the BOS. He refused to acknowledge the growth in the community and set the third high school back over a year and several million dollars as construction costs skyrocketed. After Kennedy’s departure and Bradshaw‘s arrival, the third high finally got on track. Bombastically bashing the schools, Kennedy burned bridges with the School Board, school administration, and the press.

Andy Bradshaw, on the other hand, has been a thoughtful, constructive, and analytical voice. He is supportive of schools, but with a critical eye. He supported preschool expansion because of the data presented showing the return on investment, but Bradshaw was critical of the School Board’s handling of the Center for Educational Opportunities (CEO). He backed the third high and the eighth elementary and has set the stage for two more schools when needed. What happens in the other BOS races matters (and you can find candidates’ responses to questions regarding schools at http://supportschoolsnow.org ), but should Bradshaw fall to Kennedy, the schools would be in unstable hands.

Another unstable force has been Ron Vaught, the Stonehouse representative on the WJC School Board. Elected without opposition in 2003, he lashes out at citizens (and even fellow board members) expressing concerns. On mandatory drug testing and CEO elimination, Vaught forged ahead regardless of the appropriate community outcry. He fought balanced redistricting and left Stonehouse Elementary overcrowded and Norge underutilized. He even had the audacity to accuse hard-working CEO teachers of not caring about their students.

It is difficult to improve upon the May 2006 editorial analysis of another local paper in which Vaught was described as “too frequently crude and generally acerbic,” “spouting off verbally in public,” and bemoaned “Vaught's personal attacks” lamenting that “his ill-mannered remarks contribute to an overall impression of School Board bedlam.” An April 2006 editorial read: “At any given minute, you expect Vaught's ever-rising personal thermometer to send him spinning backwards out of his chair…. When things don't go his way on the board, Vaught tries to shut off further discussion.” And this is the Vice- Chair of the School Board, the person in line to be the next Chair?

Jim Nickols would bring a calm, measured, and more thoughtful approach to the School Board. Nickols will ask critical questions, demand answers and genuinely listen to citizens, rather than demean them. His election would shift the balance of the School Board in a positive direction. The oversight role of the Board and its stature have diminished over the years, Nickols would restore that balance.

Mike Ludwick lives in James City and is the founder of Support Schools Now.