William Hughes
Bill Hughes is fearless. Perhaps his former training as a Marine or his many years living in Long Island made him so, but the man will openly speak his mind in any context – a feat that requires bravery when that context is the politically-divided Fluvanna County. Hughes, who was appointed in October to fill the vacancy left by the unexpected death of Doug Johnson, represents the Cunningham District. He has lived in Fluvanna seven years, after retiring here from the Village of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York where he held a variety of positions in the job-development field. But he wants to be clear that he’s in Fluvanna for good, “I’m going to give this 100 percent, I’m not going anywhere,” said Hughes.
Why is he running for school board?
Hughes was inspired to run for school board because of his two granddaughters, ages 13 and 10, who are in the Fluvanna County school system. “I felt that I needed to be involved. I look at them and I went to make sure that they have a good education, which I had promised their grandmother before she passed several years ago,” said Hughes. After serving for the last year on the board, Hughes was been impressed. “I liked what I saw was happening in the school system, particularly after hearing everyone complain about the debt of the new high school,” said Hughes. “There is a need to complete the job and continue the momentum of the vision for the schools. I want to be able to use my skills of my experiences to work with the school district and make it one of the best in the state of Virginia.”
What will he bring to the school board?
“We have issues right now,” said Hughes, naming the budget in particular. With dwindling state and federal resources, Hughes has been a strong advocate for a sustainable local budget since the day he joined the school board a year ago. “We need to do some solid planning without having to go through this process year after year – some long-range planning,” said Hughes. “I’d like to see the community have a better understanding of how public schools operate budget-wise, the intricacies of which are extremely difficult to understand from a novice point of view.” He’d also like to work for stronger pre-K programs, which prepare kids for elementary school, and more economic development to keep Fluvanna graduates in Fluvanna long-term. “We have a brain drain – the students educated in our schools leave the community because there is no way to make a living or raise their family as they grow,” said Hughes. As a former leader in both the public and private sectors, Hughes believes his training allows him to “know systems and procedures … work with individuals and communicate thoughts and ideas to get things done either behind the scenes or upfront.”
Why has school funding has become a contentious issue?
Hughes believes that school funding has become a contentious issue because the tax burden for schools is falling more and more on the shoulders of local county land taxes. “We don’t have an economic base,” said Hughes. “We depend on the homeowner for all taxes here in the county.” He also criticizes the Board of Supervisors for taking the responsibility of educating the county more seriously. “I understand the supervisors trying to keep taxes low, but there is another thing of not being responsible for the day-to-day operations of a county. The public education system is an obligation that is part of the local responsibility,” said Hughes. “We’re not an education advocacy group competing for funding, we’re elected officials. [Funding education] is a job that the citizens have elected us to do. If we’re not going to have economic development in a timely fashion, then at least let us have good schools so our kids will have an equal opportunity to face what we know they’ll have to face in this economy.”
What should the relationship be between the Board of Supervisors and the School Board?
“I would like to see our Board of Supervisors working with us, in terms of coming up with solutions to these problems,” said Hughes. “I have yet to hear them say that they want to help the schools. Some of them don’t go to school functions; we need their involvement and commitment to our schools rather than just money.” Hughes mentioned a recent Board of Supervisors meeting where he felt supervisors questioned the numbers of the Robinson, Farmer and Cox adversarial audit. “This whole mistrust factor, as if the school board is hiding something. Believe me, we’re being as transparent as we can possibly be.” Hughes believes that communication and a respectful environment could improve the relationship between the two boards. “Business is business, that’s the kind of relationship we should have. It should not be one of adversaries,” said Hughes. “I understand they may be hearing things in the community, but they want to hear the truth, ask us. Come look.” But above everything, Hughes believes in community involvement. “It is their tax dollars and I fully believe that the community should decide what types of schools it wants,” said Hughes. “It should not be the school board, it should not be the Board of Supervisors – it should be the community. You pay the tax, it belongs to you.”
Charles Rittenhouse
A 43-year resident of Fluvanna County, Charles Rittenhouse’s family has a long history with Fluvanna county schools. In some ways it’s no surprise he’s running for the school board seat in the Cunningham District. Both he and his father graduated from Carysbrook High School, and at one time there was a bus stop near Scottsville that picked up 19 of his cousins. And that’s not all. Rittenhouse Brothers Inc, his father’s construction company, built Cunningham Elementary, Central Elementary and the Annex to the Abrams Building. After graduating from high school, Rittenhouse attended some general studies courses at Piedmont Virginia Community College, but ultimately ended up going into construction. “It came naturally to me to follow in the family business,” said Rittenhouse, who still runs the small business. He believes it’s these strong Fluvanna connections and experience with running a business that will serve him on school board.
Why is he running for school board?
Rittenhouse is running for school board because he wants to see more transparency to the people of Fluvanna, and he is concerned about the direction of Fluvanna schools and Fluvanna taxpayers. Rittenhouse noted that line items in the budget are labeled as “miscellaneous,” which concerned him. “My wife works at a tax office, ‘miscellaneous’ would not fly with the IRS,” said Rittenhouse. Rittenhouse believes that his experience as a small businessman will serve him well during budgeting discussions. “The economy is not that good. I know how to stretch a dollar, and I have a different perspective on money,” said Rittenhouse.
What will he bring to the school board?
Rittenhouse has strong connections to the county, and often overhears conversations about buses, teachers and classrooms that he believes would be useful to share with the board. “How can classrooms be better utilized? How can bus routes be more efficient? There have got to be other ways,” said Rittenhouse. Furthermore, Rittenhouse wants to support homeschooled families. His three grown children have all taken different educational paths. One graduated from Fluvanna schools, the other two were home schooled for a time and later attended private school. “We’ve done all the educational options, and home schooling is a big commitment,” said Rittenhouse, noting that there are growing opportunities for homeschooled students to plug into aspects of Fluvanna’s public education.
Why has school funding has become a contentious issue?
“The packets on the school budget are mind boggling, because there is so much information, but I know the budget has changed very little in the last few years and they’ve added the new high school. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out there is not going to be enough money,” said Rittenhouse. “I know [the school budget] is stretched really thin, but I can relate more with the teachers, because I understand more what it is to face hard economic times. You need to be able to keep your teachers, without good teachers you’re not going to be able to provide a good education. Teachers are essentially raising the children, a lot of [children] are spending more time with teachers than they are with their parents.”
What should the relationship be between the Board of Supervisors and the School Board?
“They ought to try to work together,” said Rittenhouse. “The school board just opened Abram’s academy and the Board of Supervisors didn’t know about that. To me it seemed like the School Board is pitting the Board of Supervisors as their enemy. That’s why I want to be on school board, to see what is going on. I would hope that I could bridge that gap.”
Carol Tracy Carr
It’s a good thing Carol Tracy Carr is running unopposed for school board, because a competitor would have a difficult time outshining her resume. Not only did she spend 10 years as a high school science teacher, but she also graduated with a law degree from the University of Richmond. Since then she’s worked in tax law and small business incorporation, but finally settled on legal counsel to universities the like of Georgetown, Princeton and Massachusetts’s Institute of Technology. Although she’s only lived in Lake Monticello for four years, she says she loves it here and is “committed to being here.”
Why is she running for school board?
Carr went through the Fluvanna Leadership Development Program, where she met key county leaders, including School Board Chair Camilla Washington. She later applied for the interim school board position (replacing Brian Phillips, who moved) after seeing the notice in the Fluvanna Review. Supervisor Joe Chesser, Carr’s neighbor, also encouraged her to submit the application at a monthly block party. Having served both as a teacher and as a lawyer for high schools and universities, “I’ve always wanted to serve on a school board,” said Carr. “It dawned on me that it would be great to experience that aspect of education, to actually be on a board, making decisions,” said Carr. After the interview with the school board, “I was so impressed that I left thinking, I really want this job, this isn’t just curiosity any more.” Carr has now served for six months, finishing Phillips’ term, and is running for her first election. “I swore I would never run for public office,” said Carr. “Now that I know what’s involved I wish I had done this earlier. One person can truly make a difference in this world.”
What will she bring to the school board?
Carr believes her analytical mind, her passion for a challenge, and her sense of optimism will be assets to the board. “It’s easy to get caught up in the emotion of the moment, but ultimately it takes someone with a good analytical mind and compassion. My background would work well within that,” said Carr. Carr enjoys the work of a challenge, describing her previous work in tax law as “like a sodoku puzzle.” In her short six-month interim position on school board, Carr has met her fair share of challenges. Shortly after joining in April, the Board of Supervisors made budget cuts that shocked the school system. “The learning curve was steep. It was a true baptism by fire, but it was exciting,” said Carr. “It was tough to cast some of those votes. The vote that was the hardest to make was the one about health insurance for teachers. I still regret that, but we are under a legal obligation to have a balanced budget. Our goal is to get those programs back, to have the most robust school system we can get.” Even after the contentious county budget struggle of the last six months, Carr believes things will work out for the best. “I am a firm believer that change always has the potential to make things better,” said Carr. “Even when things get dire, I have hope for the future.”
Why has school funding has become a contentious issue?
“I understand where all of the different factions of the community are coming from and what their vested interests are,” said Carr. “It’s a fascinating place to have a rural county like Fluvanna suddenly sprout Lake Monticello – which is really quite dense and the population is really quite varied from the rest of the county,” said Carr, who’s district is mostly within the boundaries of the Lake Monticello development. “I understand the wish to be more fiscally conservative, but I think fiscal stability and a top school system are compatible,” said Carr. “I am definitely factoring in that there are limits to what some people are able to pay in support of their school system, but the bottom line is, if we don’t have good schools, our property values are going to go down.” Carr says that out of the approximately 300 people in her district she has called during this campaign, only one thought too much money was being spent on schools. “I feel that I am very representative of the constituency of the Rivanna district,” said Carr.
What should the relationship be between the Board of Supervisors and the School Board?
“There needs to be a robust discourse between our two boards,” said Carr. “This should be done in public because the public needs to understand our thinking. It’s not easy making hard decisions that are going to affect hundreds and thousands of people, but that’s what we’re elected to do. We should still be accountable and transparent in that process.” Carr believes decisions should be based on facts, wisdom and a mutual understanding between the two boards, “as opposed to being reactive [to our passions].” Since Carr joined the school board, she has kept a public blog to communicate her opinions to her constituents, trying to be transparent with her decisions and welcoming input from the community. “I’m fully accessible to talk to groups, to answer questions, to have town halls,” said Carr. “If I can’t answer the question, I can find someone who can.”
