Editor’s Note: This article is now complete.
Who will be Danville’s new school superintendent? We’ll find out tonight at the work session. SouthsideCentral has the only LIVE! coverage and we’re ready to go. Refresh the page often for the latest happenings, photos and commentary. We’ll clean this article up tonight in the editing process and add bonus coverage. Let’s get started!
Acting Superintendent Kathy Osborne is here. School Board members are starting to arrive.
We’re underway. Renee Hughes isn’t here yet. No one speaks at the public hearing about mandated policy changes.
More talks about policy changes for bullying and homeless students. The board has skipped over reports from human relations, instruction and the superintendent. Renee Hughes arrives at 6:10 PM.
211 students have limited English proficiency. 70 more have gone through the program and are being monitored. Board attorney Alan Spencer tells the board that the school system can enter into a partnership with Bright Futures. Cheryl Bryant leaves the meeting at 6:15 PM but will return.
The school board is planning a meeting with city council for a meeting in mid-January. January 13th is the proposed date. Personnel action items next. One teacher retiring tomorrow. One teacher resigning to go back to school, one resigning because her family is moving out of the area.
The board is finalizing the costs for BWP, the superintendent search firm. That passes 6-0. Here comes the big announcement…
There were over 50 qualified candidates. 3 sitting superintendents, 2 former superintendents and 1 deputy superintendent were the finalists.
Dr. Stanley Jones is the new superintendent.
Jones is from King & Queen County and grew up in Roanoke. His wife is from Patrick County. He will start on July 1st.
The position of Superintendent-Elect is the equivalent of a job offer and satisfies the 180-day time deadline. His contract is being negotiated over the next few days.
Here’s the official statement from the school system…
The Danville School Board announced Thursday evening, during its monthly work session, that Dr. Stanley B. Jones of Glen Allen, Virginia, will serve as the next superintendent of Danville Public Schools beginning July 1, 2015.
A nearly thirty-year veteran of public education in Virginia, Dr. Jones, 53, has served as Superintendent in King and Queen County on Virginia’s Middle Peninsula since August 2013. Under his leadership, King and Queen County Public Schools has expanded its career and technical offerings and increased dual-enrollment opportunities for its students.
In addition to his most recent experience in King and Queen County, Dr. Jones brings a wealth of instructional and leadership experience to Danville Public Schools. Prior to his appointment in King and Queen County, he served as Executive Director of Instruction for Spotsylvania County (Va.) Public Schools; Director of School Safety and Discipline Hearing Review Officer for Hanover County (Va.) Public Schools; and, for seven years, as Principal of Lee-Davis High School, also in Hanover County.
In his role at Lee-Davis, Dr. Jones guided his faculty, staff, and students through a number of public safety crises, including the school’s response to 9/11, the 2002 I-95 sniper attacks, and Hurricane Isabel. During his tenure, Lee-Davis also saw a dramatic increase in its Algebra 1 SOL pass rate from 5% to 92% across those seven years.
Dr. Jones has also served as the Minority Achievement Coordinator in Williamsburg-James City County (Va.) Public Schools. He began his career in student services positions with Radford University and Lynchburg College.
“We are thrilled to have Dr. Jones lead Danville Public Schools beginning in July. He brings a wealth of experience, tremendous skill, and incredible enthusiasm to the position, and we are confident that he will have immediate impact on student opportunities for learning,” said Dr. Ed Polhamus, Chairman of the Danville School Board.
The School Board engaged BWP & Associates to conduct a nationwide search for the division’s next leader. “The team at BWP did a terrific job in helping to identify candidates who had the right set of talents and experiences to help DPS prepare its students for today’s changing world. They provided us with a number of very qualified candidates, and our Board has worked very hard the last few months to identify the right person to help our division continue moving forward,” said Polhamus.
Dr. Jones said, “I am honored to have the opportunity to lead Danville Public Schools as its next superintendent. This community is blessed with bright students and talented educators, and I look forward to working with them to take our division’s performance to the next level.”
A native of Roanoke, Virginia, and married to a native of Patrick County, Dr. Jones continued, “In accepting this position, my wife and I feel like we are coming home. To say that I am excited about this next step is an understatement.”
Dr. Jones received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Secondary Education from Radford University; received his Master’s Degree in Guidance and Counseling, also from Radford University; completed coursework for administrative licensure at the College of William & Mary; and received his Ed.D. in Educational Administration from Virginia Tech.
And we’re done here. We’ll have a BreakDown article on tonight’s action coming soon.
I am interested in reports from human relations, instruction and the superintendent
Clarification in the article. They passed over it, not me.
So do u still think the new superintendent will be mr McDaniel
Where from ?
where does he NOW work/ will leave?
oh boy….another BLACK !!! I hope this one can cut the mustard and knows where the previous black man went wrong and won’t repeat the same mistakes…if so DPS will be the laffing stock of Virginia school systems. I bet they felt inclined to hire a BLACK. all those black voices would stockade future school board meetings crying racism. I bet the blacks are happy
Chill with the fact that he’s black. He’s been in Prince Edward County, King and Queen County, and Caroline County in the past 7 years. He doesn’t seem to be the type that will stay for a long time.
It’s spelled laughing, not laffing…SMH! I’m also believing that you are WHITE!
spell out your words what the ———– is SMH??? speak/type English not in 20 year old text short cuts—at least my spelling of LAUGHING U understood. my race? an American and Human Being is all that is important.
eye guess we will have to rehash and redo all of those meet greet and tell the new man your ideas in the hot summer. if he even shows up. seems a lot of time wasted as he will only have one month to administer the new school year. u’d think DPS would learn from their past mistakes. this man will not be part of the budget brawl with city council….Stay tuned to city council’s take on the new superintendent NOT arriving til JULY 1 !!! the city council already got a thumb and firm hand on the school system and their shenanigans. what a joke for the employees. I can see 2months to get here but 6 ?????
. He will start on July 1st.??? what a rip off and joke. he could find something else by then. that’s an embarrassment ALREADY !!!
He won’t. He has to finish his current contract.
don’t matter to me—-DPS board ought to have gotten a new person here ASAP considering the hot pot they are in and always in !!! what is this man’s CURRENT position where he is leaving.
the general public and Danville residents will not accept and understand this 180 day law for him to get to Danville. they will not understand why he won’t be here til July 1.
I think anyone who can correctly spell “laughing” can appreciate that schools and therefore entire school systems tend to run on a school calendar type of year.
Dear Trevor….Are you a total racist idiot or do you just have some form of mild mental retardation?
if u don’t like what I type—-skip my postings as people change a tv station with a remote control. don’t take this site seriously. 30 days from now no one will remember what is on here for this topic. grow up
Take this site quite seriously.
Trevor,
You stated that “it don’t matter to me,” and you are correct. You don’t matter and that’s why no one took your misguided thoughts into consideration.
Also, please be sure to do a spell and grammar check, especially before correcting others.
Oh, and, the next time you want to make comments about the “BLACKS” be sure to list your full name.
FORGET YOU !!! where is YOUR FULL NAME—I suggest you live on facebook and correct their spelling and grammar too. You seem to have a calling for it. once again FORGET YOU. You can also think of another “F” word instead of FORGET. do some substituting while you correct my words !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the love of God people stop with the childish crap. So what if he’s black. Doesn’t matter if he is if he can do the job, but politically they may have had no choice; up to your personal beliefs. It’s not ridiculous that he won’t start until July because teachers / administrators work specific calendar days due to their contracts and depending on what their “perks” are in the contract dictates the feasibility of breaking it or not breaking it. Also there are plenty of people in Danville who either work under or live under contract, so don’t short change the intelligence of people just because this is Danville. You might come across as the one where ” the wheels turning, but the hamsters dead.”
It is good that he is staying to finish out his contract in King and Queen County. Shows some class. HOWEVER he was only there one year and this will be his fourth job in 7 years. A bit of a concern but lets give him a break for now…..
4th job meaning that he was a principal, then was in a central office position lower than Superintendent, and then became Superintendent of a school system smaller than the one Danville has? Wow that’s stunning. Why would Danville ever want somebody who is competent enough to be advancing up through the ranks?
It’s vitally important to give the guy a fair chance
Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.
It would have been much smarter to just do that with the guy who came before him, but sure it would be a great idea for folks to learn that lesson now rather than later.
Disagree. Newsome went against his employer’s wishes.
aye menzzzzzzzzzzzzz Lee….aye menzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz well said
the blacks won’t care if he is out of graduate school—they got what they hoped ferrrr—a black superintendent.
Never thought I’d see a day when Danville was going to King and Queen County for a Sup’t of Schools. Isn’t that the smallest school system in the state?
I wish him well, and I hope he improves the school system. But I’m a bit disappointed that we didn’t get a sup’t from a more urban locale that has some of the same challenges as Danville.
aye menzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Jerry aye menzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..well saydd
Discipline…. I hope he’s strong on discipline! That’s Our systems biggest problem. If he can get the discipline problem under control… The students will be able to learn! Teachers will be able to teach! And principals will be able to lead their schools! Get the kids out of the main classrooms that have no discipline…..teach them respect for themselves and others…. That’s the biggest gift DPS can give them for their future! Then they can learn and graduate with knowledge towards the next step in life! Discipline in our schools is the #1 priority in my opinion. I wish Dr. Jones the best and hope he can lead DPS in the right direction for ALL students!
When did it become the responsibility of the school system to teach discipline and respect for others? It is the responsibility of the school system to educate students. Parents should teach discipline and respect for others.
I agree but discipline is a symptom. The problems with our community go much deeper.
Sounds like he will fit right in: ” Jones has served as superintendent since August 2013. According to a news release from King and Queen Public Schools, he has overseen numerous accomplishments during his tenure,…………….,etc,, a significant reduction in discipline suspensions, …………………………………..etc, improved graduation rates, – See more at: http://www.tidewaterreview.com/news/va-tr-byline-kq-school-superintendent-resigning-1224-20141218,0,698876.story#sthash.ICp1BEgp.dpuf”
Sounds like he will fit right in:
1. He will follow current policy, no referrals, no suspensions.
2. He will reduce passing to 50, you can’t be tardy even if you miss the first 50 minutes or class, and you can skip classes when you choose.
He will be perfect!