Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times

Bedford County School's next superintendent, Doug Schuch.

Doug Schuch, the next superintendent of Bedford County schools, started his transition by visiting half of the schools in the division last week, meeting with school officials and buying a home in the county.

Schuch comes from Stafford County schools, where he is the director of strategic planning and accountability.

He officially takes the helm July 1 after the retirement of Jim Blevins, who has led the school system for 11 years. Schuch watched as his hire in late February caused a school board stir.

The night Schuch's hire was approved, former Moneta District school board representative Talbot Huff resigned, saying he could not support it.

Later the school board admitted it did not meet Virginia Freedom of Information requirements when Schuch was not identified by name when the public vote was taken. Schuch was in Roanoke this week for the Virginia Association of School Superintendents conference and sat down for a question and answer session.

Q: When you came to Bedford County, what was the first thing you noticed?

A: I guess what caught my eye was the D-Day Memorial and the visitor center and just how beautiful the mountains were.

Q: Are there any changes you already plan to make when you start July 1?

A: No, not at this point. But the transition activities will guide that. Typically coming in as a new superintendent July 1, one of the nice things is the budget is set. And staffing is set. By the same token, with Dr. Blevins and Dr. [Bobbi] Johnson leaving, I have lot of information to gather to make informed decisions.

Q: In your professional experience, what is the most difficult thing you have ever had to do?

A: I think the most challenging -- what comes to mind first in general -- is when you have employees that aren't performing to your expectations.

Probably more recently, and something that got a lot of press coverage up our way, we did a complete divisionwide study of elementary and middle school attendance areas and facilities.

After the final analysis the school board elected not to do it. It was a very challenging issue because we were doing what we believed was the right thing to do. Some of the schools were quite under capacity for what they are designed for. Families and communities get attached to their schools and they were not always calm.

Q: On the flip side, what are you most proud of?

A: Teaching. Occasionally as a teacher a student will come back a year or two after they graduated or they will send you a letter. I still keep those letters. It is so rewarding to know after the fact the work you did with students and the work they did actually kind of paid off for them in the long run.

Q: What did you think of the situation surrounding your hiring, including one school board member's resignation and the board's admission of violating the Virginia Freedom of Information Act?

A: I would really rather not comment on the FOIA issue. With the other situation I certainly did not expect to happen what happened. But I certainly understand things like this do happen from time to time. I certainly respect Mr. Huff and his decision to resign from the school board. I am happy Mr. [Dave] Vaden has now been appointed and the work of the school system keeps going on.

Q: When it comes to drafting the 2010-11 budget, what is your plan for the 42 teaching positions for the upcoming school year saved by the one-time federal stimulus funding?

A: Everything in the current budget I am taking deliberate steps to study. Not just the 2009 budget or the 2010 fiscal year budget but looking back historically at all the building blocks of the budgets here in Bedford County. I need to ground myself on past practices and current practices before I can determine future practices.

I think everyone right now is kind of proceeding with caution with the stimulus money because it is a completely new dynamic we have never had to deal with.

Q: Bedford County schools face a number of maintenance and construction needs. How will you approach this?

A: It starts with reviewing kind of what those issues and needs are. You have to have your overall mission, vision and goals set so when resources are diminishing you can make deliberate and purposeful decisions as to where the resources should be.

Q: How will you seek to retain enrollment in the schools while growth in the county stalls or declines?

A: I am not sure that is the job of the superintendent or the school system. What I think is more important is making sure that you understand exactly what enrollment trends are and maintain the robust ability to forecast.

Q: As a father, what is most important for your daughters' education?

A: As a father and an educator -- and it is hard to separate those two -- I think I want what all parents want: a safe environment, a positive and encouraging environment, and I want them to be held to high standards, both academically and as a citizen.

Q: Will your daughters attend Bedford County schools?

A: Yes, Emily will be at Otter River [Elementary School] and Juliane at Forest Middle [School].

Q: Who are your mentors? Whom do you admire?

A: I have a number of mentors. The superintendent I work with right now, David Sawyer, has been the most influential in terms of the superintendency. He is in his 60s. He has been a superintendent in Virginia, South Carolina, Florida and Oklahoma. With his age and years of experience he has just been so influential in inspiring me.

I have been fortunate enough to know Wayne Harris [a former superintendent of Roanoke schools] for the last four years through the Virginia Aspiring School Superintendents Institute, run by COTA [Virginia Tech's Center for Organizational and Technological Advancement], Tech and Radford [University]. He has had a great influence on me coming to another part of the state and grounding me in that way.

Larry Warrenfeltz was great in the sense that not only was he a great naval leader and officer but he had his doctorate. I remember telling him I was considering leaving the Navy to go into education. He told me to make sure I got my master's and encouraged me to get my doctorate. He urged me to consider leadership positions.

That was so refreshing because so many folks, if you told them you were going into another profession, they would do everything in their power to change your mind. But he knew I would be more fulfilled, and he was also genuine enough in being concerned in my future and my future as an educator.