ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996 TAG: 9606200047
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
For Herman Bartlett, the Montgomery County school superintendent who raised so much ire during his first year in office, the upcoming school year may be his last.
After two hours behind closed doors Tuesday night, a visibly frustrated Montgomery County School Board emerged to narrowly defeat an extension of Bartlett's contract for another two years.
His contract will end June 30, 1997. Until then, however, the board can bring up the contract extension issue again.
The tense 5-4 vote illustrated the division between the members elected last fall and those previously appointed by the Board of Supervisors.
Elected members Jim Klagge, Wat Hopkins and Bernie Jortner voted against the contract extension. Those three, along with Mike Smith, had financial and manpower support from the Montgomery County Education Association during their campaigns.
The school employees' group has openly expressed its discontent with Bartlett.
Klagge, in one of his regular e-mail updates issued Wednesday, wrote that Bartlett has accomplished a great deal. Working with him, he wrote, had been more positive than he anticipated before joining the board.
"However," Klagge continued, "I think our system can now move forward better with new leadership. That's why I voted the way I did."
Mary Beth Dunkenberger and Chairwoman Annette Perkins also voted against the extension.
Smith, along with Roy Vickers, Dave Moore and Vice Chairman Barry Worth, voted for the motion.
Smith could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The others said the two-year extension was a way to show unquestionable support for Bartlett and the long-term planning he has implemented.
Worth said most superintendents in the state have contracts that are renewed for three or four years.
"Anything less that that seems to say that [the board] is not satisfied," he said Wednesday.
When Bartlett began his tenure three years ago, "we didn't have a six-year plan, we didn't have a technology plan or a building plan - I could go on and on," Vickers said. Bartlett "has made a great turnaround."
After the first few months of his tenure, though, some parents and school employees criticized Bartlett for not embracing Focus 2006, the long-term plan for school improvement.
Vickers, who served as School Board chairman until January, said one of the major problems in the school system is a lack of consistency. Only one superintendent has lasted through more than one full contract in the past 20 years. In the mid-1980s, the system went through four superintendents in five years.
Moore said even though the split between board members may have been apparent, they pushed for a two-year extension to make a point.
"I think it was brought up to make it clear where everyone stood," he said.
Once the board returned from executive session at about 1 a.m. and the motion failed, Dunkenberger began to make another motion. Moore quickly made a motion to adjourn the meeting, and Dunkenberger never finished her sentence.
She said Wednesday that she had planned to offer a one-year extension for consideration. "The only thing I can say is I was not finished with the situation."
Dunkenberger said the one-year extension would better serve the "educational process in the county." She would not say whether she will bring the motion up again at a later meeting.
Bartlett said Wednesday he didn't want to comment on the board's decision, or on whether he would consider a one-year extension.
From the day he was hired, Bartlett has been under attack from a variety of people involved with the schools.
Teachers, principals and other staff said he created a controlling, hostile environment, using divisive measures to accomplish his goals. A climate survey released during his first year as superintendent gave Bartlett overall grades of D+, D-, and F from employees.
Some parents said they were just as frustrated with his lack of communication. In 1994, a petition signed by nearly 300 people urged the board to delay a planned one-year extension of Bartlett's original three-year contract. (That extension was granted by the board.)
Bartlett has kept a much lower public profile on the local political scene in the past year. This spring, for instance, Perkins briefed the Board of Supervisors on the school budget proposal, rather than the superintendent.
"Whether it was genuine or created," said Worth, "and I'm sure there's some of both, maybe things have been done and there was a big deal made out of nothing."
Regardless of the past three years, Worth said this round of contract deliberations is not "a dead issue. Someone could change their minds. That could happen."
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: From the day he was hired as Montgomery County'sby CNBsuperintendent of schools, Herman Bartlett has been under attack
from a variety of people involved with the schools.