ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 20, 1996 TAG: 9612200042
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: FINCASTLE
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITER
JACK THOMAS JR. said he wanted to bring teachers' salaries up to par for the area and to improve the bus routes.
Botetourt County's School Board ended a six-month search for a new superintendent Thursday morning, naming Appomattox County Superintendent Jack Thomas Jr. to the post.
Thomas, 48, takes over for 15-year superintendent Clarence McClure, who retired in June. Interim Superintendent Bob Reece will stay on until Thomas takes over Feb.1.
Thomas's salary will be $87,500 - about $15,000 more than in Appomattox - making him the highest-paid employee in the county. He signed a four-year contract.
The other finalist for the job, Johnson City, Tenn., Superintendent William Symons, pulled out of the Botetourt search last week, but School Board member Barrie Bunn said by the time the board learned Symons no longer was interested, they had already offered the job to Thomas.
Symons also is in the running for the superintendent's job in Charlottesville.
"Of the two candidates, we could have flipped a coin," said School Board Chairman Jim Ruhland.
In all, 56 people from as far away as California applied for the job. Twenty-five were sitting superintendents.
Thomas has been superintendent in Appomattox for five years. The Appomattox school system, with 2,337 students, is about half the size of Botetourt's.
Thomas had three years left on his contract in Appomattox, but that board voted Wednesday night to release him from it.
"It's a big disappointment for a lot of us," Appomattox School Board Chairman Richard Poe said. "It's a bad loss."
Thomas counts among his accomplishments there bringing technology to the system, including getting a computer in every classroom. He also said school employees received a 20 percent pay increase over the five years he was superintendent.
"He's leaving us a well-sailing ship," Appomattox School Board Member Kenneth McClenny said.
He'll walk into a budget fray when he arrives. Budget time is usually a tug of war in Botetourt, as it is everywhere else.
Last year, the School Board and the supervisors battled over a $1.2million shortfall in what the School Board requested. The School Board has since gone back to the well twice for more money to buy buses and hire more teachers.
But Thomas apparently got along well with the supervisors in Appomattox.
"Where I am now, it's pretty low-key," he said. "I won't tell you we're best friends, but we get along fine."
"He's the only one that's been able to do much with them," McClenny said.
Poe praised Thomas for his willingness to "stand up and take the heat and fight for what we ask for."
The challenges Thomas identified in Botetourt are bringing teachers' salaries up to par for the area and improving the bus routes, which have been a source of consternation for parents, kids, drivers and the School Board all year.
Beyond that, Thomas said he doesn't know what to expect. He identified the salary and transportation problems because he was asked about them.
"I don't know all the questions," he said. "I like to get out and move around and see what people think. I've always believed two heads are better than one. I like lots of opinions. I like delegating."
McClenny said that sounds about right. At budget time, for instance, Thomas asked the School Board and all department heads to make a list of what they wanted in the next year and came up with a budget based on those expressed needs.
Thomas was educated at the University of South Carolina and Valdosta State College before earning his doctorate from the University of Virginia. He has been a superintendent in Middlesex County, director of instruction in Southhampton County, and a teacher, assistant principal and administrator in charge of pupil personnel in Chesterfield County.
Thomas has two children, ages 9 and 12, who will finish the school year in Appomattox before moving to Botetourt.
School Board member Michael Beahm called Thomas "a good fit" for the county because of his friendliness and openness.
"I'm amazed at how easily we reached consensus," Vice Chairwoman Sally Eads said.
"But the final thing," Beahm said, "is that Appomattox didn't want to let him go. That's a good sign."
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Thomasby CNB