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I’m concerned that people think it’s all over and done now. I read last week that Barbara Johnson will be stepping down from being superintendent of Prince Edward schools and that’s fine, but it doesn’t magically make everything better. The problems still exist. As I’ve said before, they’re bigger than one person. 

I’ve argued with plenty of folks on this point, even this past weekend at church. We need to be realistic about what it’s gonna take to fix these schools. And no, I’m not talking about the physical buildings (although both myself and my wife will be happy to see the promised traffic changes at the elementary school. It can be a headache, navigating through to drop off our granddaughter at times.) But when I say fix the schools, I mean turning this district into one that people want to bring their kids to. If you’ve got one fourth of your students being pulled out after elementary school, because parents just don’t trust teachers here in Prince Edward schools to do a good job, that’s a big problem. 

So yeah, it doesn’t all land on one person’s shoulders. I do think it was past time for a change, because that discussion with supervisors was the first real accountability I think anyone in administration has taken in a while, at least that we residents have seen. My thanks to Dr. Pride and Mr. Jones for holding the district accountable in your questioning.

But as I said, we have to be realistic that rebuilding this school district is a project for the long haul. It’s going to take time and, from what Dr. Johnson herself said to supervisors last month, more than likely we’re going to need to make changes in the classroom and in many leadership positions.

Knowing that, we will need to give the new superintendent, whoever he or she is, some space and some grace. We can’t pull up with pitchforks and torches if the numbers next year aren’t good. We will need to give them time to identify the issues and then make sure they have the authority and ability to make the needed changes. At the same time, they also can’t take too long. 

Scott Denny
Prince Edward