LETTER: Former Superintendent Supports Dunham

October 31, 2013

DEAR EDITOR,

School Boards in Virginia are charged with three tasks: (1) Determine the policies that everyone must follow to keep the organization running smoothly; (2) Prepare and present to the public and Board of Supervisors a budget that will cover everything from pencils and erasers to salaries, buildings and equipment; and (3) Hire and supervise the Superintendent to manage the affairs of the organization.

Next week we will go to the polls to vote for Northampton County School Board members. I worked closely with school boards over 38 years in education in seven communities and two states, including 14 years as Northampton’s School Superintendent. I know what makes a school board work and what doesn’t.

The success of a school board depends on the support of the community it serves. It also depends on diversity among its members. That diversity allows for an exchange of views, a broader range of options, and extra security that issues are resolved in the most appropriate manner.

There have always been retired educators on the School Board. Many Board members have also come from the business community, and when we got really lucky we had an attorney on the Board as well.

CONTINUED FROM FIRST PAGE

The School Board employs an attorney whenever there is litigation, and legal questions can be answered by the Virginia School Board Association attorney if a board gets in trouble. But with policy, finance, and contract issues on the table much of the time, an attorney on the Board can do much to keep the Board out of trouble before it’s too late and too expensive. A legal point of view can be as valuable as an instructional point of view.

I am very familiar with, and appreciate, the contributions each of the candidates offer us. We are blessed to have a bright, well educated candidate who was a graduate of the Northampton Schools, as well as a current Northampton parent and qualified attorney in our community. Shannon Jones Dunham has distinguished herself as a competent lawyer and is willing to spend the time necessary for the betterment of education in Northampton. If I lived in District 1, I would vote for Shannon Jones Dunham.

DR. S. DAWN GOLDSTINE
Retired Northampton County Superintendent

Letters to the Editor are welcome, and a diversity of opinions is encouraged. Send submissions to [email protected].