DATE: Sunday, November 16, 1997             TAG: 9711160060

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CURRITUCK                         LENGTH:  104 lines

INCOMING SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT TO TRY NEW THINGS IN CURRITUCK

Parents here may have a hard time telling their children not to do their homework in front of the television set after Nov. 21.

That's when William L. ``Bill Dobney will succeed retiring W.R. ``Ronnie'' Capps as school superintendent. Dobney, who holds a doctorate in education from Virginia Tech, sometimes does his homework in front of the television.

Dobney, 49, has already devised several new strategies for the 3,000-student school system, many of them hatched while lying on the living room floor with papers stacked around him and a sitcom on the set. ``Family Matters'' with goofy Steve Urkel is a favorite.

Dobney is ``laid-back,'' said Diane Sawyer, Currituck County Schools public relations officer and Dobney's wife of 15 months. ``He's more of a jokester than people think.''

For the past five years, Dobney has served as Currituck County Schools' associate superintendent. He presents a serious side to those who don't know him, and his goals for the school system demonstrate a strong sense of order and discipline.

Dobney insisted upon having a video monitoring system put in the new high school and plans to have one installed in the middle school when the budget allows.

``In almost every school where video monitoring has been used, it has made the school safer, reduced vandalism and improved student behavior,'' Dobney said.

He wants to consolidate all the drug-education programs in the school into one program that focuses on the seventh-graders, he says, because that's where students from all the elementary schools in the county first come together.

The alternative school currently meets in mobile classrooms behind the high school. Dobney would rather the students with discipline problems meet somewhere other than where the trouble began.

Dobney will form a crisis management team to keep parents informed in case of an emergency or crime on a campus.

Dobney also plans to tighten up the dress code, but he won't make one up himself, then demand compliance. That's not his style, says Sawyer. He will appoint a committee of parents, staff and students and get everybody's ideas on the touchy subject.

``I believe I have a student-centered approach to education,'' Dobney said. ``I'm sure the teachers will enjoy it too.''

Sawyer says Dobney believes in keeping everybody informed, which has meant more work for her. She was feeling the weight of her new responsibilities lately, when Capps asked what was wrong.

``This new superintendent is getting on my nerves already'' she quipped.

After telling the story, she was quick to add peacemaking words.

``He's very open, and that way everybody will feel more ownership of the schools,'' Sawyer said. ``I know he's going to do a good job.''

Sandra Reynolds, now a teacher at Knotts Island Elementary School, was a student at Moyock Elementary when Dobney was principal there in 1985. She remembers how his leadership style shocked a couple of mischievous students sent to his office.

``He told them to come up with their own punishment,'' Reynolds said. ``They were taken aback by that.''

The students struggled for hours over what their punishment should be. They didn't want to be too hard on themselves, yet they didn't want to be too easy, either, in case Dobney rejected it and gave them something really bad. In the end, they successfully punished themselves, Reynolds said.

``They'll never forget that lesson,'' Reynolds said.

As a teacher, Reynolds has received help from Dobney to get her licensure in North Carolina.

``He's easy to talk to and always willing to talk,'' she said.

Dobney's transition should be a smooth one, said Capps, who also rose from assistant superintendent to superintendent in Currituck. But the job gets increasingly difficult. Capps admits he looks forward to Friday afternoon, when the weight will officially shift.

``Most people want to be liked by people,'' Capps said. ``You try to work with students, teachers, principals, the school board and the public at large. There's no way you're going to achieve that all the way.''

When Capps announced his retirement last spring, the school board deliberated over whether to hire someone from outside the county. Some parents initially wanted the school board to look elsewhere, but in the end, there was no resistance to the board's choice of Dobney.

``We had a strong response to stay within the county and a strong response in favor of Dr. Dobney,'' said Currituck County School Board Chairwoman Mary Ellen Maxwell.

``An outsider must go through an education process that takes time,'' Dobney said. ``It takes six months to two years to know what's going on in a community.''

Becoming the superintendent fulfills a goal Dobney has had since he taught his first class in his hometown of Wellington, Ohio. After visiting a friend in this area, he decided to move here, and he took a teaching job at Knotts Island Elementary School.

Dobney served under Capps as assistant superintendent for three years before taking the job of associate superintendent. While working in Currituck, Dobney has declined a couple of opportunities to take the head job in other counties.

Currituck County is a great place for two of Dobney's favorite pastimes - fishing and golf. The school system is just the right size for him. The weather is moderate and the people are nice, Dobney said.

``I didn't want to become a superintendent just anywhere.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

DREW WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot

Graphic

WILLIAM DOBNEY

[For complete graphic, please see microfilm] KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY

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