Was there really a need for a spokesperson for the Winchester Public Schools?
I am very much aware it’s a combo deal where the majority of the individual’s time is spent working for WPS and less than half of their other time will be working in the Winchester Parks and Recreation Department.
No matter how you divide it up, $84,000 is all tax dollars being spent.
Were there any other critical needs within the system that need to be addressed?
Now, I totally agree that Loudoun County Public Schools would have a dire need of such a spokesperson with a budget of approximately $1.6 billion dollars. The numbers justify the need for such a position in Loudoun based on the following:
LCPS as of February 2020 had 94 schools, 83,936 students, 5,784 teachers and 6,121 staff. LCPS has two educational centers not included in that school total: Academies of Loudoun and The North Star School.
To make it current, LCPS has 95 schools now with the opening of another high school, Aldie’s Lightridge High School, which opened in the fall of 2021.
WPS has a total of six schools, including four elementary schools, one combo intermediate/middle school, one high school, plus the Emil & Grace Shihadeh Innovation Center.
WPS Superintendent Jason Van Heukelum said in an interview with The Winchester Star that the division has long wanted to hire a spokesperson and budgeted for it in 2020, but the pandemic postponed filling the position.
“I’ve never been a superintendent who tries to hide in my office and that will continue. I can and do speak for not only myself but the school division,” he told The Star. “But the volume of need for communicating is just something we need to do a better job at.”
To close: Do the numbers justify the need? Would the $84,000 annual expense be better suited for more critical needs within the city system?
Furthermore, do we need a new superintendent who can effectively communicate to the public and oversee 6 schools?
