THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 5, 1995 TAG: 9512050287
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GROVE CITY, OHIO LENGTH: Long : 150 lines
Not long after Bob Bowers took the helm of the South-Western City School District in 1987, he began a review of the curriculum and did his best not to cringe.
Some history books made no mention of men landing on the moon. Computers were generally found only in administrators' offices - if at all - and the vocational education program was limited to preparing students for welding or home economics and little else.
What he's done in the eight years since to improve those conditions has won him near-unanimous praise from his bosses, staff and the community of this mostly rural suburb of Columbus.
It's also won him a trip to Virginia Beach, where he'll be interviewed today and Wednesday as one of three finalists for the superintendent's post of the state's second-largest school district.
Overseeing the Beach's 72,000 students and troubled $340 million budget would be a major step up for Bowers. He now earns $94,500 as leader of this central Ohio district's 17,800 students and $83 million budget.
Sidney L. Faucette was earning $120,000 as Virginia Beach superintendent before he left in July to head the schools in Gwinnett County, Ga., outside Atlanta.
Bowers arrives for his interview one day after a special grand jury began its investigation into the Beach school district's $12.1 million spending deficit for 1994-95.
This 43-year-old Tennessee native is the 11th of 12 children and the first in his family to graduate from a four-year college. He then spent most of his years as an educator in western North Carolina.
He has tackled problems before.
When he took his present position, the overall dropout rate hovered at 35 percent, exceptionally high for a non-urban district. The dropout rate has dropped to about 20 percent; the district's goal is 15 percent.
``Our vocational education program had not changed in 15 years,'' Bowers said. ``The technical school kids would spend three hours a day welding while the teachers were training them to be welding entrepreneurs. This was not working. Most of these students would not be getting jobs as welders, much less opening their own businesses.
``We were basically teaching them to be good laborers,'' he said.
Today, while welding is still taught and home economics is not, students not bound for college are enrolled in industrial technology courses that focus on communication and business skills rather than simply wielding a welding torch.
Bowers also has made sure the history books are up to date and computers are common in elementary classrooms. The district is on its first building program since 1970, and the core curriculum is now reviewed every five years. Graduation requirements have been raised and high school students must now take four years of English instead of the traditional three.
Ask anyone where the credit lies for the turnaround and the universal answer is Bowers.
``I think he's the finest, most ethical, most likable person I've ever met,'' said Alan R. Hutchinson, the district's treasurer. ``I've worked with a lot of superintendents in the 15 years I've been in education, and there's no other like him. . . .
``We went from a dictatorial, autocratic, almost Machiavellian superintendent to one who relies on open dialogue, cooperation and consensus-building.''
Bowers even draws praise from the local president of the teachers union.
``He believes in the team approach to managing,'' said Al Adcock, president of South-Western Education Association, which represents 1,100 teachers, janitors and other union workers. ``We're capable of disagreeing. I don't mean to sound like I'm not an advocate for my people. But in dealing with superintendents over the years, I would prefer to deal with this one.''
If Bowers were hired for the job in Virginia Beach, he would quickly find himself in command of a district far larger and more complex than the district he now heads.
The South-Western district, on the far southwest side of Columbus, is home to 100,000 residents and has shared in some of the phenomenal growth that has transformed the Columbus metropolitan region into Ohio's largest.
The community includes a mix of rural, suburban and light industry. Only 14.7 percent of the population have a college degree or higher, while 11 percent have less than a high school diploma.
The effect has been a less than enthusiastic embrace of public education by the area's taxpayers. Ohio school districts have the authority to levy taxes, but in communities with no tradition of educational excellence, voters are reluctant to approve higher taxes.
Complicating the situation is the state's formula for funding schools, which is based, in part, on how much the community agrees to levy taxes. Those that levy more, get more from Ohio; those that do not, suffer.
``The rich get richer and the poor get poorer,'' said former school board member Diana Hannon-Forrester, who has been a gentle critic of Bowers. ``South-Western is not a rich district, and so you are constantly working against yourself.''
While the district had problems before Bowers, it still managed to graduate merit scholars and place a few students in Ivy League schools. It did, as many pointed out, the best job it could with the limited money.
But if it was to graduate students who could compete in an exceedingly complex world, Bowers argued that more had to be done, and that meant raise taxes.
To prepare the public, Bowers turned to veteran district treasurer Wayne M. Bettendorf, who was considered an expert in school finance. Bowers had him overhaul the financial reporting system so that voters could clearly see the need for money and where it would be spent.
The financial plan that he and Bowers put together was considered crucial to educating the public about the need for more money, although Bettendorf gives Bowers the credit.
``Bob was instrumental in bringing the district's accounting up to date,'' said Bettendorf, who is now financial officer for the Harrison School District in Colorado Springs, Colo. ``We were only the second district in Ohio to create a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, which showed the complete accounting of the district.''
Under Bowers, the district also began developing regular five-year financial forecasts that Bettendorf said helped the community better understand the district's urgent need for more money.
The reporting paid off with the district winning - for seven years straight - the Excellence in Financial Reporting Award, the top prize given by the Chicago-based Government Finance Officers Association.
The effort earned the district more than prizes, however. For the first time in 11 years, voters approved an operating levy in 1987 for $7.5 million. Then in 1992 they approved a crucial construction levy of $35 million to finance the construction and renovation of schools, some of them built in the 1920s. Finally, voters rewarded the district a third time with another operating levy in 1993.
This most recent tax increase was crucial because of another oddity in Ohio school finance: districts can go to local banks and borrow money against future income when they overspend their budgets. Unlike Virginia, school districts in Ohio can run a deficit.
Bowers explained that $4.6 million of the $12 million levy approved by voters in 1993 was used to pay off a loan that the district had secured with a local bank.
If there's a doubt about whether Bowers could adapt to the larger, more complex Beach district, Bettendorf doesn't share it.
``Before I worked there, I was at a school district with 5,000 students. From a financial standpoint, the policies, procedures and concepts are the same. There's just a lot more zeroes involved, if you will. It does get a bit more complicated, but I have no doubt he can do the job.''
For Bowers, one concern is trying to work with a larger and potentially more divisive School Board. South-Western's board has five members; Virginia Beach's has 11.
``A board that size does make me a little nervous,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Bob Bowers, superintendent of South-Western City School District
in Grove City, Ohio, returns to meet with board members and a
community committee for a final round of interviews for the job of
Virginia Beach schools superintendent.
NEAL C. LAURON
KEYWORDS: PROFILE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT CANDIDATE VIRGINIA BEACH
SCHOOL BOARD by CNB