School Board to begin interviews for new Superintendent; Busher spoke to funding, too

Busher soon to retire.

John Busher’s replacement will come from a field of 30 candidates and interviews will be from April 19- May 3. VSBA helped with the selection process.

Here are some statistics about those who applied for the job. (FROM BCPS website)

Summary of Applicants Botetourt County Public Schools

30 full applicants

Experience:

10current/former superintendents

 6 /associate/deputy superintendents

10 central office administrators

3 principal/building level administrators

24 men; 6 women

19Virginia applicants

11out-of-state applicants: NJ (2); NY (2); TN(2); IL (1); MD (1); NC (1);PA(1); PR (1)

As for Busher, he said at the April 9 Board meeting when addressing the budget, that revenue sharing and salaries are two issues the School Board and the County need to continue to address together in the future. Roanoke City, County, Salem and Alleghany participate in revenue sharing.

He and his school budget team will have to find $100,000 more in cuts as the county only funded an extra $400,000 in the the total budget. The school ask was $500,000

He lamented lack of budgeted facilities maintenance funds since 2013, the lack of a real solution to school bus purchases and that the county should remember the school mission statement is also the county’s mission statement. “Boteourt has finished first in the area in SOL’s for the past 4 years,” he said. “That says something about what we do here.”

Story and Photo Cathy Benson