Liaison committee seeks to revitalize schools, communities

Coyner With three new members, including two first-time county officeholders, the committee charged with improving communications and coordination between the Board of Supervisors and the School Board is planning to work harder than ever this year.

The Joint Board of Supervisors/School Board Liaison Committee held its first meeting of the year last week and promptly doubled its meeting schedule to once a month from the previous bimonthly gatherings.

The new members – Carrie E. Coyner, elected in November as the Bermuda District member of the School Board; Tom Doland, who was returned in November to the School Board from the Matoaca District after a four-year absence; and Steve Elswick, newly elected Matoaca supervisor – joined continuing member and Bermuda Supervisor Dorothy Jaeckle in proposing a more active role for the committee.

In particular, at Coyner’s suggestion, the members and the two staff representatives – County Administrator James J.L. Stegmaier and School Superintendent Marcus J. Newsome – agreed to look for ways for the two boards to work together on revitalization programs.

Coyner noted that the school system is considering renovations at some older elementary and middle schools and suggested that giving a school a facelift without also revitalizing the surrounding neighborhoods will not yield the biggest benefits.

Elswick and Jaeckle said they have talked with the county Department of Real Estate Assessments recently about the relationship between schools’ quality rankings and surrounding property values.

Jaeckle said she received a report focusing on high schools and that “it’s clear there’s a difference, and people are attracted to certain high schools.”

Doland noted that when the new Matoaca High School opened, the quality and size of the new homes in the area increased sharply. “There’s a very strong correlation” between school quality and economic development, he said.

Stegmaier said coordinating revitalization efforts could be a big help to the county, which he said may be facing a growing “social divide” involving sharply differing understandings of citizens’ personal responsibilities. He said combining educational efforts with the work of the Social Services, Health, Public Safety and other departments could enable the county to tackle an issue that is unlikely to receive help from the federal or state governments.

Newsome said the revitalization program was “certainly worthy” but also “very big.” Coyner suggested that if the committee wants to make real headway on a project of that scale, the longstanding schedule of six meetings a year would not provide enough time. The committee agreed to begin meeting on the fourth Thursday of each month.

The group also agreed that they have an opportunity to improve the committee’s public image and the coordination between the two boards. At times in the past, Jaeckle said, some members were prone to “go off on tangents. That was one of the main reasons we didn’t accomplish as much as we needed to.”