Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 28, 1993 TAG: 9302280176
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
MONTGOMERY SCHOOLS GET NEW SUPERINTENDENT
The new superintendent of schools in Montgomery County comes to the school system from Colonial Heights.Herman G. Bartlett Jr., a Galax native and Virginia Tech graduate, will return to Southwest Virginia on July 1 to take over the top school job in Montgomery County from Harold Dodge, who is leaving the post after five years.
"I feel like this is a wonderful career move for me," Bartlett said Saturday after the School Board approved his appointment. "Seldom in life do you make a career move that . . . you feel so comfortable with."
The board voted 8-1 Saturday to approve the hiring of Bartlett for a three-year term. He will be paid an annual salary of $80,000.
Annette Perkins, a retired county teacher and a Blacksburg resident, was the sole dissenter in Bartlett's appointment. She refused to explain why she opposed him.
"Obviously, I do not feel that he is the appropriate choice for our superintendent," Perkins said.
Bartlett had not originally been a finalist for the job, but he was one of six semifinalists picked from an original list of 90 applicants.
After two finalists visited the county and met with negative reviews from county parents and teachers, Bartlett was called back for a second interview.
Bartlett, 48, has been superintendent in Colonial Heights, a 2,500-student school division south of Richmond, since 1985. He was reappointed last week to that job by a 3-2 vote of that city's School Board. His salary there is $65,000.
Before Colonial Heights, Bartlett served four years as superintendent in Craig County. He holds bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from Virginia Tech and a postgraduate diploma from the University of Virginia. He and his wife, Susan, have two children, including a daughter who attends Virginia Tech.
Bartlett was picked for the Montgomery job over Richard Holzman, 53, former superintendent of the Middletown, N.J., school system, and Robert Rice, 54, one-time superintendent of the Anne Arundel County, Md., school system.
Working in Bartlett's favor was his knowledge of the area (he worked in county schools while at Tech) and his significant experience with Virginia school law and regulations, said Bob Goncz, vice chairman of the Montgomery County School Board.
"A superintendent has to fit right with the board and the county," Goncz said when asked why Bartlett was picked over the other two candidates.
Board Chairman Roy Vickers of Blacksburg said of Bartlett, "This is the only candidate who received wide support from the board."
Barry Worth, a board member from Christiansburg, said Bartlett had always been one of his top choices for the job.
"I'm glad we've decided on something," was the reaction of Gary McCoy, principal at Blacksburg Middle School and chairman of the county principals' association, after the choice was made at a special meeting Saturday afternoon.
As with the other candidates, concerns had been raised about Bartlett, said Linda Ives, president of the Montgomery County Education Association, but she said the association wants to work with him to improve education in the county.
Kimberle Badinelli, president of the county PTA council, noted that the PTAs would have preferred that the School Board look for a candidate within the school system who had knowledge of the educational issues facing the county, but said the PTAs were looking forward to working with Bartlett. She also regretted that the community did not get as much opportunity to meet with Bartlett as it had with the first two candidates.
Bartlett did not get to meet with as many community groups as did Holzman and Rice. A heavy snowstorm Thursday night may have held down attendance at a meeting held for that purpose.
The board hired Webb and Associates, a Chicago firm, for $10,000 to help it find a successor to Dodge, who leaves June 30.
After dissatisfaction developed with the original two finalists, some in the community suggested that the board try to keep Dodge on.
Goncz said one criterion that he had in searching for a new superintendent was that whomever was chosen at least be as skilled as Dodge, for whom he holds great respect.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.