MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Brenda Blackburn, the new superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools, moved into her home in Blacksburg a week ago with her dog, Rocco.

With renovations needed at Blacksburg High School and looming budget cuts, you might think Brenda Blackburn needs to jump right in when she begins work Monday as the new superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools.

But Blackburn, who school board members in November chose to succeed Tiffany Anderson, says she wants to take it slow and let district staff handle some of the issues.

"A superintendent doesn't do everything," she said.

Blackburn, formerly the associate superintendent of instruction for schools in Brevard County, Fla., will make $150,000 annually, according to her three-year contract. She is the division's third superintendent in 12 years.

The 62-year-old has not formally held the superintendent's title, but the work she did in that larger school district more than qualified her for the job, school board members said when they chose her.

Brevard County is the 10th largest district in Florida with 86 schools, eight charter schools and 17 alternative programs. Blackburn said she's looking forward to Montgomery County's smaller size with only 20 schools, because she'll be able to get to know people better.

Blackburn, who moved into her home in Blacksburg a week ago with her dog, Rocco, said she plans to trust current district staff to do their jobs while she gets her bearings and prepares her priorities.

Those include improving graduation rates and focusing on students' reading achievement down the line, she said, but she thinks the division is on a solid track.

In the meantime, she wants to get to know the community and staff and visit schools.

"If there's any business that's a people business, it's education," she said.

First, she'll meet with district and county staff. Those meeting already are scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday. She also plans to spend a day in each of the county's four high schools -- including a day with Blacksburg High students who now attend evening classes at Blacksburg Middle School -- visiting classrooms and getting a feel for the division's strands.

Blackburn spent much of the past week setting up her new home and her office in the division's headquarters in Christiansburg. On Wednesday, she brought in an area rug to spruce up the space formerly occupied by Walt Shannon.

On Thursday, she attended her first meet-and-greet, a breakfast at Radford University for area superintendents.

She said she and Shannon, who has been interim superintendent since July 1, have discussed some of the more important issues, such as Blacksburg High, the process for weather delays and the budget.

On Feb. 13, the gym roof at BHS collapsed. No one was injured, but a result is that students there were sent to Blacksburg Middle on an evening schedule. Students there lost five instructional days on top of the 11 all students have missed because of inclement weather. On top of that, the district is facing a $6 million revenue shortfall that could mean losses of the equivalent of at least 55 positions.

Shannon returns Monday to his job as assistant superintendent of operations.

He joked last week that he'd return all control to Blackburn.

"She's been around long enough," he said, explaining that she knows how to handle the duties. "I'm turning it over to her, and I'm going back to do my job."

In reality, Blackburn will rely heavily on Shannon, whose primary job does include work on the district's operating budget.

On Tuesday, at Blackburn's first school board meeting, Shannon is expected to discuss any business that needs to take place.

"Nobody expects me to know everything on day two of the job," Blackburn said.