Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 24, 1993 TAG: 9302240229
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Long
MONTGOMERY'S SCHOOL FINALISTS UNDER FIRE
Montgomery County's School Board closeted itself Tuesday night for a tough deliberation over two finalists for superintendent of schools.Neither of the candidates has the support of Montgomery County PTAs, teachers or school principals.
Under consideration are Richard B. Holzman, 53, who was dismissed from a superintendent's job in Middletown Township, N.J., in October; and Robert C. Rice, 54, a former superintendent of Anne Arundel County Public Schools in Annapolis, Md., who left that post in 1988 after his board divided in its support for him.
The School Board hired Webb and Associates, a Chicago firm, to conduct the search for a new superintendent. The same firm was used when the board hired Superintendent Harold Dodge five years ago.
The board agreed to pay the firm roughly $10,000 in three installments to come up with the list of candidates from which it picked the two finalists.
It was an expensive process, and its successful outcome seems less than guaranteed.
School Board Chairman Roy Vickers said that although organized groups have opposed the candidates, the two have received some support from local residents who have contacted him.
Vickers said he doubted the School Board would make a decision on whether to offer the job to either man during Tuesday night's meeting.
But the board faces a March 1 deadline to offer a contract to someone to succeed Dodge or face the possibility of having State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joseph Spagnolo name a superintendent for the county.
Some, dissatisfied with both finalists, have suggested that the board ask Dodge to stay on.
Dodge said he has been approached by one or two School Board members who asked him if he would be willing to stay for a year or two.
Dodge has announced he will leave his post for personal reasons June 30 and has been looking for other jobs. But, he said Tuesday, "I have never left anybody in a lurch."
The County PTA Council and the Montgomery County Principals' Association have written letters asking the School Board to reject both Holzman and Rice.
Kimberle Badinelli of Blacksburg, president of the PTA council, said the group believes neither candidate is the "right fit" for Montgomery County's school system.
The PTAs don't feel that now is the right time for the school system to be changing directions, Badinelli said. The council recommended that the board pick a successor to Dodge from within the system.
Badinelli said the new superintendent should have a background in the 2006 educational planning process and in the budget and social issues - such as the debate over holiday names - facing the county schools.
The PTA decision to oppose both finalists is based on their visits to the county last week and conversations the group has had with PTA members in the school systems where the two men formerly worked.
The principals' association felt that the choice of either man would not be in the county's best interest, said Gary McCoy, the association's president and principal at Blacksburg Middle School.
Because of a lack of time, the principals recommended that the board look for a superintendent from within the system.
The Montgomery County Education Association, which represents the majority of the county's teachers, also is not satisfied with either candidate, said association President Linda Ives.
The unanimous decision not to endorse a finalist was based on contacts the association has had with teachers where the candidates formerly worked and on the candidates' meetings with county residents, Ives said.
Holzman took over the financially strapped Middletown school district of 10,000 students in 1990. Previously, he had been superintendent in Schenectady, N.Y., where the school board had voted in 1990 not to extend his contract.
The Middletown board cited "philosophical differences," as the reason for its vote to remove Holzman from office, according to an account in the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press. The vote brought to an end what had become an increasingly stormy relationship among Holzman, board members, union representatives and some members of the public, the newspaper said.
Holzman, a Long Island native, holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Hofstra University, has done graduate work at Columbia and Harvard and holds a doctorate of education from the University of Massachusetts.
Rice, 54, had been superintendent in St. Charles Parish, La., and Estherville, Iowa, before going to Maryland in 1984.
He withdrew his name from consideration for a second term as superintendent of the 65,000-student Anne Arundel County system in February 1988 after the School Board tied 4-4 on a straw vote to renew his four-year contract.
The previous December, the American Association of School Administrators had named Rice as Maryland's Superintendent of the Year.
In Anne Arundel County, Rice favored requiring students to have a 1.6 grade-point average to participate in any extracurricular activity. In fact, he said, the requirement should be a 2.0 average.
In late 1988, the Montgomery County School Board tried to require a 2.0 average to participate in extracurricular activities but was forced by public protest to abandon the idea.
If the board decides to offer a contract to either Holzman or Rice, it still would have to contact the successful candidate and see if he would accept the job and at what salary.
The School Board has not announced a salary range for a new superintendent. Dodge's salary this year is around $83,000; he also has a pension plan and is supplied with a county car.