THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 2, 1994 TAG: 9410020076
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EASTVILLE LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
A woman with children in a private school has been appointed to the Northampton County School Board to fill the seat of a retired public school educator who is described as ``a community treasure.''
Parents are angry. They wonder how JoAnne Martin, the new board member, can understand or be dedicated to a school system that her children do not attend.
Martin takes the seat held for eight years by Clarence Arnold, who began teaching in county schools in 1936, and served as a principal before being named to the School Board.
Arnold got a three-sentence goodbye letter from Tom Harris, the county administrator. But Dawn Goldstine, the county school superintendent, said in an interview that the board was losing ``a community treasure.''
On Monday, the executive committee of Northampton County's NAACP held an emergency meeting to plan its response to Martin's appointment. President Jane Cabarrus said she had received so many complaints that her answering machine was constantly full.
``I feel it's a slap in my face, the procedure that (the supervisors) used,'' Cabarrus said. She said the controversy is not primarily a racial issue or a personal criticism of Martin, who has children in Broadwater Academy.
``I want them to know that this is not the end,'' Cabarrus said of the supervisors. ``Parents need to know that they essentially control the school system, because they own it.''
Susie Jones of Nassawadox, a white mother of three public school students, said many parents are unhappy with Martin's appointment.
``I think parents of children in public school find it to be a very discouraging incident,'' said Jones, who is active in the PTA. ``We work so hard to have a good public school system, and it doesn't look like the supervisors take it seriously.''
Tom Dixon, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, recommended Martin for Arnold's seat, even though she did not apply. He said the supervisors' efforts to find a qualified appointee showed the board's commitment to the county.
``Mrs. Martin has taken a pro-active interest in education by seeking out educational opportunities for her children,'' Dixon said. ``Nobody seems to have asked her what her views are on education.''
Dixon said none of the applicants had the right ``edge.'' He said the board was looking for someone who would be interested in ``educating the population without bankrupting the county.''
Martin, 42, could not be reached for comment. But her husband, Roger, defended his wife's appointment.
``I'll tell you my opinion,'' he said. ``She pays taxes in this county, and she ought to be able to sit on any board.''
Arnold said he was stunned when he got the short letter saying his eight years' service on the board would be honored, but that he was no longer a member.
``I couldn't believe that they would do something like that,'' he said. ``I felt washed out when I got it. I couldn't believe that they'd honor me and kick me in the slats.''
Goldstine said that she valued Arnold's service because of his ``wealth of knowledge and his generosity of spirit. I have the highest respect for him.''
Arnold never missed a board meeting, Goldstine said. He was Northampton's delegate to the Virginia School Board Association's annual legislative conference and had won the association's highest honors.
He is also on the telecommunications education board of WHRO, a public TV station.
And, Goldstine said, Arnold is particularly sensitive to the needs of the school system's children. He volunteers three days a week at the middle school computer lab.
Arnold's four-year board slot was to be filled by July 1. He and two other former School Board members, Matthew Cornish and David Watson, filed applications for the post by the advertised May 27 deadline.
Calvin Brickhouse, another retired black principal and a member of the county's Planning Commission, submitted his application for a School Board seat after the deadline.
He was told by county officials that he could not be considered.
The Board of Supervisors interviewed the three applicants, but did not fill the position by July 1 - the usual date of appointment. Then, on Sept. 12, Martin was voted in.
Dixon said it is ``patently untrue'' that the supervisors had bent any rules by passing over applicants to recruit Martin.
The appointment came during a time of tension between the supervisors and the School Board. The supervisors had refused to give the board $78,000 in sales tax revenues that Goldstine, the superintendent, already had budgeted for operating expenses.
The county used the money to pay part of a debt on two new schools.
County Administrator Tom Harris, who supported the supervisors' actions, said the controversy was unnecessary.
``Should not the governing body be doing what is in the best interests of the public?'' Harris said. ``Isn't that their obligation?''
Harris said that critics haven't given Martin a chance to perform, and should not judge her yet.
Meanwhile, Clarence Arnold is quietly hoping that he can get his seat back. In any case, he says he is not angry.
``I know I've done a good job, and that it was appreciated,'' he said. by CNB