OUR VIEW: School Board makes two good decisions

Staff Editorial
Published: September 14, 2008

» SUMMARY: The School Board is right to move forward with its search for a new superintendent with expedience; the board is also right in deciding to wait to hire a part-time vision facilitator.

In these challenging economic times, elected officials — no less than individuals and businesses — need to exercise caution in how they spend their money. We commend the Culpeper County School Board for two fiscal decisions it made last week.

The board moved forward with its search to find a replacement for former superintendent David Cox by appointing an administrative committee. Cox and the board parted ways following the 2007-08 school year; Cox will serve as a consultant this year with full salary and benefits.

The School Board is also responsible for two additional years remaining on his contract if he is not hired elsewhere as a superintendent after this year.

With Larry Carter serving as acting administrator — and getting a significant salary bump to do so — it behooves the School Board to find Cox’s successor quickly. As it is there may come a time when the board is actually paying three superintendents.

The facilitator issue is another thorny one. After some of its recent actions, the board could probably benefit from outside advice on how to better implement its vision for Culpeper County Public Schools. Still, with two superintendents already on the payroll and teachers and certified personnel smarting from not receiving a pay raise this year, putting a facilitator on the payroll — even in a part-time roll — is not the way to go.

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CROSSWALKS: In another money-related issue, the Town Council Tuesday approved spending almost $124,000 to install nine brick crosswalks downtown.

The project continues the work that has already been done with other crosswalks on the north and east sides of Main Street.

When folks are fighting hard to stay afloat financially, this project may look frivolous. Still, it completes the downtown upgrade — and downtown is a big tourist draw — and the council had the money available.

We agree with the decision to invest in the project.