Tough talks

When Dr. Jonathan Lewis arrived in Fauquier some four years ago, then Times-Democrat education reporter Alice Felts told us of his first budget cycle that there was, indeed, a new sheriff in town, and that the talks with the supervisors about school needs were more cooperative and collegial than any others in her experience.

What was new and different and refreshing, she said, was the sense that the superintendent of schools seemed to recognize that the school system was but one of many competing claims on the supervisors’ time and effort. And money.

An important claim, to be sure. But every other department and agency facing the ax doubtless felt the same way about their missions.

That spirit of cooperation and community-mindedness did not change over the ensuing years of the deep recession, and Dr. Lewis, in our estimation, demonstrated a very good grasp of the concept that turnips don’t yield blood, no matter how hard you squeeze.

He has done an excellent job of funneling limited funds to the most important task at hand – educating our children – while finding ways to appease his own board and the 1,880 employees of the school system which he oversees.

Times are changing once again, for the better, as we report in the second editorial, below. County tax revenue is up, and as a respite from four years of cutting, the supervisors this year may have the pleasantly satisfying task of restoring some of the money that has been whacked from various departmental budgets as we struggled through difficult economic times.

The supervisors’ pleasant satisfaction with this task will be compromised, no doubt, by the many competing claims for their time and effort. And money.

Knowing what we do of Dr. Lewis after four years of observation, we are completely confident that the chats with the supervisors will be cooperative and collegial. They are also likely to be a good deal firmer, at least from his side.

Teachers and other school employees are getting restless and are looking to their boss to make that edginess apparent to the powers that be.

We are supporting that effort, as we wrote here on Friday. Support of education that is at least as excellent as other school systems in the northern Piedmont and the edge of the metropolitan area has long been a plank in the editorial platform of this newspaper. Without an infusion of money – including more money to pay good, quality educators – that level of excellence is in jeopardy, as Dr. Lewis noted in his long and informative letter last Wednesday.

The school board has set five goals for this budget cycle, including increasing employee compensation, which tops the list.

The notion that we can prepare our children to compete in a global economy in the modern-day equivalent of a one-room schoolhouse is ridiculous on its face.

Dr. Lewis recognizes that, as does this newspaper, and, reportedly, so do the overwhelming majority of residents who have taken the time and effort to contact their school board representatives.

Now it’s up to the board of supervisors.