Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 7, 1993 TAG: 9301070187
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
PTA GROUP ANGRY AT SCHOOL BOARD
Roanoke Central Council PTA admonished members of the city School Board on Tuesday for what it viewed as a lack of interest in the council's desire to participate in the selection of a new school superintendent.Its concern arose from the board's response to a letter from PTA council President Marsha Ellison. She wrote the School Board in November requesting that parents and parent representatives be allowed to participate in the final screening and selection process.
The response - in which board Chairman Finn Pincus wrote that it would be "unfair to include only selected groups in the interview process" and doing so "could compromise candidate selection" - angered PTA council members.
The board on Tuesday whittled a list of 42 applicants to nine semifinalists. The board has not decided on a screening structure but expects to interview the nine this month. Two or three will be selected as finalists.
The board's suggestion that the finalists meet with community leaders, school administrators and interested citizens, possibly in a reception-like setting, had prompted Ellison's letter. Ellison was concerned that such an atmosphere would allow only cursory contact with the finalists.
Her letter asked that representatives chosen by the PTA be invited to interview the final candidates along with the School Board.
But board members on Tuesday repeated their hesitance to do so, mainly out of concern that applicant's identities stay confidential.
"I can understand your feeling of involvement but to say that we are not interested is unfair," Pincus said. "We are concerned with confidentiality." Pincus said some of the applicants went to great lengths to avoid their current employer discovering they had applied.
Board member James Turner said he wondered how the board would determine which groups would be allowed to participate and which would not.
"Where do we draw the line?" he asked. "You've got to draw it somewhere. Since we couldn't be all-inclusive, we'll make the decision ourselves."
PTA council member Estelle McCadden said she worried that a lack of participation on the group's part could lead to trouble.
"If you don't let us help, I fear there will be trouble in this land," she said. "We don't want one to two years to pass before we warm up to [the new superintendent]. We want to be all warmed up when [the superintendent] gets here."
Pincus said the board expects to firm up its screening structure soon. State law requires the board to have a new superintendent under contract by March 1.