ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, August 31, 1996 TAG: 9609030032
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
After three weeks of phone calls, petition drives and letters, angry parents from Riner Elementary School will have the chance to tell the entire Montgomery County School Board, once and for all, to keep their principal.
And what began as a request to keep Keith Rowland at the new elementary school in Riner has grown into harsh criticism of the superintendent.
The issue of who is principal could also put a huge federal technology grant for the school into question.
Pupils from both Riner and Bethel elementaries will attend the new school when it opens in two years. A committee of eight selected Jeff Perry, the Bethel principal, to head the new school.
Last week, Rowland withdrew his application to be principal and has told community members to stop demanding that the board reconsider him.
But it seems to be out of his hands.
Tuesday night, dozens of parents plan to announce publicly what they've told individual School Board members since Perry was chosen: The selection of the new principal was unfair, and Superintendent Herman Bartlett is responsible.
"Everything that's upsetting us didn't come from someone else, it's how [Bartlett] handled the whole situation," said Bill Aldridge, Riner PTA president.
Aldridge served on the selection committee for the new principal, along with the Bethel PTA president, two teachers, two assistant superintendents, and Bartlett.
Though Aldridge said the process was seemingly a democratic one, not enough community residents were allowed to participate. Aldridge and other parents say they believe Bartlett manipulated the choice of members so he could control the outcome.
But Assistant Superintendent John Martin selected the members, and Bartlett had said previously that this type of committee is used for every principal hire.
"I think they feel that this is a different situation in that two schools [are] being combined," said School Board Vice Chairman Barry Worth, who represents the Riner area. "I think they thought the process would be different."
Worth met with parents Thursday. He said the School Board hasn't had time to look into the issue until now, but will discuss the issue Tuesday night during an executive session.
Worth is feeling added pressure because his seat is up for election in one year. Though Bartlett's contract ends in June, Worth previously had said he might consider a one-year extension of that contract. If such an extension passes and Worth decides to run for re-election, Aldridge said, some residents might not continue to support him.
Since Bartlett came to Montgomery County three years ago, he has found himself at odds with some school groups. Aldridge said he's hearing from people in Christiansburg, Shawsville and Blacksburg who support efforts to stand up to the superintendent.
"It sends a real big message to other schools like, 'Wow, if this could happen to [Rowland] after all the good he's done, it could happen to us,'" he said.
The board might also discuss extending Bartlett's contract in executive session Tuesday.
Parents have said they support Rowland because he's improved the school. Student scores have improved and attendance is up, they say. Parents like to volunteer at school and teachers enjoy working there.
Recently, Rowland has helped apply for a large federal grant that would not only bring computers to an entire classroom, but allow parents to keep computers in their home. Administrators are still waiting to hear whether the federal government has approved the grant, but preparations are already under way to implement it at Riner.
Though Rowland would still be principal at Riner for the first two years of the grant, Virginia Tech professor Roger Ehrich, who will head the project, said the change puts him in an awkward situation.
Rowland "is naturally involved," he said. "Supposing he takes another job, then where are we?"
Ehrich said he had talked to Chairwoman Annette Perkins. Perkins said she also received a letter from Ehrich regarding the grant and Rowland's involvement in it.
The School Board meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in its office at 200 Junkin St. in Christiansburg.
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