Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 24, 1993                   TAG: 9306240188
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

AS NEW SCHOOL CHIEF COMES, LOCAL OFFICIAL GOES TO TAKE HIS OLD JOB

Jim Ruffa, Montgomery County's director of secondary education, is on his way to Colonial Heights, where he will become superintendent of schools July 1.

Ruffa replaces Herman Bartlett Jr., who on the same day moves from the superintendent's job at Colonial Heights to succeed Harold Dodge as superintendent in Montgomery County.

Ruffa announced his resignation Tuesday.

A Petersburg native, Ruffa, 45, will be going home when he moves to the Petersburg suburb. He was principal at Prince George County High School near Petersburg before he moved to Montgomery County in August 1991 as director of secondary education.

Linda, Ruffa's wife, has taught at Elliston-Lafayette Elementary School. They have a son, Jay, at Christiansburg High School and a daughter, Elisabeth, at Christiansburg Middle School.

Ruffa became acquainted with Montgomery County as a doctoral student at Virginia Tech, where Dodge - who taught part-time at Tech - served on his dissertation committee.

He leaves the county with some regret.

"In a very short period of time I've become attached and committed to the school division and community," Ruffa said. "I leave with mixed emotions."

He said he turned down an assistant superintendent's job in another school division to come to Montgomery County because he thought the challenges would help him better in his goal to become a superintendent.

Ruffa, in an interview Wednesday, mentioned the diversity of the county's population and said it should serve as a source of strength rather than of division.

In doing his job, he said he tried to ensure that Auburn and Shawsville, the county's rural and smaller secondary schools, got "more than their share" of supplies and funding than their larger neighbors in Christiansburg and Blacksburg.

"My philosophy has been to get every school what they need, not necessarily the same things," Ruffa said.

Ruffa said Dodge was an outstanding superintendent in many ways and he appreciated the opportunity to learn from him.

Dodge said that Ruffa did a good job for the Montgomery system and believes he will serve Colonial Heights well. As a secondary director in Montgomery County, Ruffa oversees more students, 4,000, than Colonial Heights has in its entire system, 2,700, Dodge said. He said he pointed that out in a letter to the city's School Board.

Some of the things that have been accomplished during Ruffa's stay in Montgomery County of which he is particularly proud include:

Full computerization of the libraries in all six of the county's secondary schools.

Automation of the attendance roll and grading in all secondary schools.

Revision of the language arts and math curriculum in grades 6-12.

Creation of an instruction advisory committee for secondary education, made up of 15 secondary teachers.

Additionally, Ruffa said he was much involved in the county's move toward site-based decision making in the schools and the restructuring under way in the high schools and middle schools.

Ruffa said he regretted the negative reaction from some parents to proposed changes in the high school curriculum and scheduling. The school administration put those changes on hold for a year, but Ruffa said he hopes the school system continues its efforts at restructuring.