Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Pulaski Co. names new schools superintendent
PULASKI -- Pulaski County's newest superintendent, Robert. T. Becker Jr., will start in the district July 1.
On Monday, the school board approved Becker's contract and introduced him to staff at a school board meeting.
Details of the contract were not immediately provided.
The community did not get to vet Becker, or any other finalists for the position.
Becker spent part of Tuesday with school board office staffers again.
Last year, the school board hired the Virginia School Boards Association to assist in the search to replace Don Stowers, who retired as superintendent in December.
The school board received 21 applicants and narrowed its search to five. Chairman Paul Phillips would not say who those finalists were, saying it would be a personnel concern.
He said the school board asked for community input through online and paper surveys, but that it never "committed" to having community forums. Before Montgomery County hired Brenda Blackburn as its schools superintendent, board members had question-and-answer sessions with the division's three finalists.
State law allows school boards to make personnel decisions in private, but it does not require them to do so.
Becker comes to Southwest Virginia from Williamsburg-James City Schools, where he is the assistant superintendent of operations.
Phillips said it was Becker's background in finance, and his school division's Standards of Learning improvement, that sold him as a candidate for the job.
On Monday, the school board approved Becker's contract and introduced him to staff at a school board meeting.
Details of the contract were not immediately provided.
The community did not get to vet Becker, or any other finalists for the position.
Becker spent part of Tuesday with school board office staffers again.
Last year, the school board hired the Virginia School Boards Association to assist in the search to replace Don Stowers, who retired as superintendent in December.
The school board received 21 applicants and narrowed its search to five. Chairman Paul Phillips would not say who those finalists were, saying it would be a personnel concern.
He said the school board asked for community input through online and paper surveys, but that it never "committed" to having community forums. Before Montgomery County hired Brenda Blackburn as its schools superintendent, board members had question-and-answer sessions with the division's three finalists.
State law allows school boards to make personnel decisions in private, but it does not require them to do so.
Becker comes to Southwest Virginia from Williamsburg-James City Schools, where he is the assistant superintendent of operations.
Phillips said it was Becker's background in finance, and his school division's Standards of Learning improvement, that sold him as a candidate for the job.
