Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 3, 1994 TAG: 9402030228
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Donald L. Martin, superintendent of the 17,000-student district of Salisbury/Rowan County, said Wednesday he had been contacted by the School Board and asked for an interview.
His was one of three names overheard during a closeddoor session last week when School Board members spoke so loudly they could be heard in the hallway. The other two whose names were heard were Deanna Gordon, Roanoke County assistant superintendent, and Ken Walker, superintendent of Halifax and South Boston.
Walker is also chief spokesman for a coalition of rural and inner-city school divisions that is suing the state over educational-funding disparities.
After Walker's name was reported Friday, school administrators told the Roanoke Times & World-News that reporters would be asked to wait in a second hallway, farther from the board room, during private board meetings.
Martin said he had scheduled an interview with the School Board but would not say when. School Board Chairman Frank Thomas announced last week that the board would interview eight candidates - four from within the county school system - during the first two weeks of February.
Thomas would not comment on Martin's candidacy Wednesday. He said the board planned to make its final choice this month, and that it would announce the new superintendent Feb. 24.
Another possible candidate for the position, being vacated by retiring Superintendent Bayes Wilson, is Garland Life, director of instruction. Life applied for the job along with Wilson 13 years ago but would not comment when asked if he had applied again this year.
Martin, 42, has been superintendent of Rowan County and the city of Salisbury since 1989. Salisbury, the county seat, is 45 miles from Charlotte and 35 miles from Winston-Salem.
According to the Charlotte Business Journal, Martin oversaw the restructuring of the school system's applied technology classes into a degree program in partnership with local businesses and colleges two years ago. The program, which prepares students for jobs in automotive technology, early childhood development and food services, among other fields, won an Award of Excellence from the North Carolina Association of Volunteers and Partners in Education in 1992.
Before taking the job in Rowan County, Martin was superintendent of schools in Nicholasville, Ky.
by CNB