It would be a very wise move for the Prince Edward County School Board to allow Longwood University’s W. Taylor Reveley IV to act as the sole search partner in presenting potential candidates for the position of superintendent of schools.

And present candidates is exactly what Reveley wants to do, not hand-pick who the next school chief will be or dictate in anyway whom to pick.

The Code of Virginia clearly lays out who this person will work for, despite some board members thinking ignorantly that if Longwood is involved, the superintendent could serve “two masters.”

Spending $13,500 to use both BWP and Associates and  Reveley is unnecessary and irrational.

Some school board members came to last week’s called meeting torn between using Reveley and BWP, as evidenced by the 4-3-1 vote in favor of using the two entities.

Despite Reveley’s Chief of Staff Justin Pope warning about the pitfalls of such an arrangement, the board decided to move forward with its decision, which has produced yet another special called meeting to discuss the matter, which means the unnecessary spending of more tax dollars.

“I think he (Reveley) would have some concerns about the setup of such an arrangement,” Pope told the board about the proposal to use two search partners.

Pope said there’s a “real danger of confused roles and responsibilities when you have any kind of a joint search.”

We agree that the school board is wading into dangerous and confusing waters in wanting to use both Reveley and BWP to find candidates.

It’s our sincere hope that the Prince Edward School Board will come to the Wednesday meeting with clearer direction and the understanding that choosing Longwood is not only in the board’s best interests, but that of the entire community.