Ties With Board, Land for Schools Are Key Issues

By Michael Alison Chandler (Contact)

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Forging stronger relationships with county supervisors and securing land for school construction are top concerns for most of the 16 candidates running for nine seats on the Loudoun County School Board.

Enrollment in the 54,000-student system is projected to increase by nearly 25 percent between now and 2011, and school officials say they will need to fund construction of 17 buildings to accommodate that growth. But fewer school sites are being donated by large developers, which makes the board's job of finding land and getting permit approval more complicated and time-consuming.

The board is responsible for setting school policies and overseeing site acquisition and construction. It also oversees the superintendent and establishes spending priorities for an operating budget that is nearly $700 million this year.

Land disputes have come to a head in the western part of the county, where the location of a new high school near Purcellville is tied up in litigation and the opening of an elementary school near Hamilton was delayed by a year.

In the Leesburg area, the school system is pursuing legal proceedings to condemn property for a high school, and an elementary school this fall opened two years behind schedule because of difficulties finding land.

Board candidates vying to represent those areas of the county said that finding appropriate sites and securing permits more efficiently would be among their top priorities. The process of getting school construction permits approved by the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors can take more than a year.

In the Blue Ridge District, incumbent Priscilla B. Godfrey said she would like to schedule regular meetings between supervisors and School Board members to discuss potential school sites. The longtime parent volunteer also said that Loudoun needs to develop a countywide plan specifying where future schools will be needed.

Her opponent, John R. Feegel, a collegiate lacrosse official who lost to Godfrey four years ago, said that he would not support continuing expensive and lengthy litigation over the proposed high school near Purcellville and that he would look closer to Lovettsville for an alternate site.

In the Catoctin District, incumbent Mark J. Nuzzaco, former president of the Stone Bridge High School PTSO, said he wants to work with supervisors to develop a more streamlined process for approving school sites that meet pre-determined criteria. Schools should get priority consideration during the permitting process, he said.

"I think we should at least give some thought to the fact that schools are public projects; they serve tremendous numbers of the population in the county," he said.

His opponent, Jennifer Bergel, a Loudoun high school teacher on leave, said community leaders and parents should be more involved throughout the process.

Farther east in the Dulles District, current board chairman and past county planning commissioner Robert F. DuPree Jr. agreed that finding sites for schools will be the biggest challenge for board members in the next term and that pursuing an expedited permitting process will be a priority.

His opponent, Kevin J. Turner, whose background is in management consulting, said more attention needs to be paid to what's happening inside classrooms, including keeping class sizes small and finding and retaining better-qualified teachers.

In the Ashburn area, lawyer Bob Ohneiser is running for a second term in the Broad Run District. He said he wants to increase communication with supervisors over land issues and make those conversations more transparent to the public.

He faces competition from Thomas A. "Tag" Greason, a telecommunications executive who is waging a write-in campaign that picked up momentum with endorsements from the county Republican committee and the local teachers association. Greason said he would focus on retaining experienced teachers and building strong working relationships with county supervisors and his board colleagues.

In the Sugarland Run District, Joseph M. Guzman faces two opponents in his bid for a second term. A deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Air Force, Guzman said he would like to see the school district become more flexible about putting additions on existing buildings as an alternative to new facilities. That would alleviate some of the demand for new buildings, he said, and also help provide full-day kindergarten to more students.

Ryan A. Myers, who works for a financial management company, said he would expand English as a Second Language programs to serve Loudoun's growing immigrant community. Stephen E. Hammond, a past president of the Dominion High School PTO, emphasized keeping teacher salaries competitive. Both of the Sugarland Run challengers said they would make sure that aging schools in the eastern Loudoun district are on par with newer schools in the west.

Thomas E. Reed is seeking his third term for the at-large seat. The business consultant said he would like to focus on implementing full-day kindergarten systemwide. His challenger, Herbert L. Bryan, chairman of the minority student advisory committee, said he wants to eliminate achievement gaps between white and minority students.

"The Loudoun County public school system is pretty good by most standards, but that is one of our weaknesses," Bryan said.

Three races are uncontested. J. Warren Geurin, facing his third term in the Sterling District, said he is committed to building programs for English language learners.

Tom C. Marshall, a retired teacher who lost the Leesburg District race by two votes to Sarah B. Smith four years ago, is running again and said he would like to create more incentives for teachers to work in Loudoun. Smith is not seeking reelection.

John Stevens, a software company founder who took over the Potomac District seat vacated by John A. Andrews II last year, said he thinks there should be monthly meetings at which supervisors and School Board members discuss land acquisition and budget issues.

"Nobody is well served by a lack of communication," Stevens said.

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