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Flynn seeks first term
BY ANNE ADAMS • STAFF WRITER
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MONTEREY - Jack Flynn has recently had a taste of county leadership, and the experience has motivated him to do more. He believes his experience and business background would be useful for guiding education policy in Highland County, and seeks his first term on the Highland County School Board.
"Folks talk about community service around here," he said. "I got involved in the comprehensive plan committee and that was my first real long-term service thing. I really liked the experience working with different folks; everybody is volunteering There was a sense of service I learned that went beyond the community social events like the Maple Festival, so the more I got to talking to people the more I realized people are all the time going on the EDA, planning commission, recreation commission, all the time working. I decided if I was going to do something like that, I wanted to do something that had more impact as a volunteer. So when the (current) school board members announced that they were not going to seek reelection, I thought maybe that's a good place."
Flynn is no stranger to education issues, having served on a couple of boards in Richmond related to the field and grown up the second oldest in a large family. He served on the board for an after-school child development center for disadvantaged youth, mostly from inner city Richmond. "That was my first real taste of board work where you are developing policy and you are developing budgets but you don't have hands on responsibility," he said. The other was an international agency that served AIDS orphans in Africa, and ultimately created a model for a village in which the elderly could live with children. "In working with that global organization ... I learned some really good lessons about looking locally for some solutions to the challenges that are right in your back yard," he said.
When he and his wife Pam came to Highland County a few years ago, "I needed to look at something here in Highland to do. And I really do think the most important thing we can do is provide interest and support for children," he said. "I'm one of 10 children, and that's the lesson I learned from my mom and dad ... It just seemed normal to us growing up but what I learned was, the things that make a difference in the development of children and teenagers has a lot more to do with effort and time. It's not about things ... (What) you carry with you are really the lessons you learn from other people; you learn them from teachers and you learn them in church, so ... all these things sort of came together."
Flynn said a well-balanced school board can be a strength. "One of the things about being on the school board that's important is that as an individual, you don't have any authority. But as a board, you can make an impact. That leads me to believe that maybe the best constitution of the board would be one that has three people with differing strengths and weaknesses so they balance each other out.
"I think what I bring to it is the business background and a history of developing creative solutions to problems or challenges and then converting them into policy," he said. "I think what I bring to it is the development of solutions. I have budget experience and personnel experience, from a business background."
Changes on the board
Despite the enormous challenges faced by the current school board, Flynn is encouraged by where things stand now. "In retrospect, they came out of it all right and that's a good lesson ... we now have a great superintendent and good school board/supervisor communications. The standards, we do all right on. At this time, when they're ready to hand it off, things are in pretty good shape," Flynn said. "Yes, there are physical plant issues with the buildings, but the budget went from a shortfall to now when they're at the end and they didn't use all the money." Flynn has met Blair, and says the two have had some interesting conversations about the school system. "That was all part of my deciding to do this. I definitely got a sense that the situation was not just stable but positive," he said.
To prepare for a possible board seat, Flynn said he reread Recorder articles and did research on how Highland's system compares to others in Virginia. "I looked at things countywide and statewide," he said. "We have to do what people tell us to do so often in education, and the Virginia School Boards Association has proven to be a terrific resource also. The information I've gotten from them is of a comparative nature - how we stack up against other counties ... and also some guidance and direction about issues, what's coming down. There are opportunities."
While he has not yet attended school board meetings, he said he does support the schools in a variety of fundraising efforts.
"One of the things that's clearly different (about me) is that I don't have a child in the system, never had a child in this system. But board members have to represent lots of constituencies even though they are advocating for the students. I think that's another part that I bring to this is communication, not only between the board and supervisors, but also taxpayers are owed good communication because a significant part of our resources goes to the school," he said.
Flynn said the No. 1 issue he hears from county residents about the school system has to do with maintaining professional leadership and a professional process. "They want to make sure that it doesn't ever go back to the way it was a few years ago when things were bad," he said. "They believe that was a disservice to the community and to the students. They expect a manner of professionalism to be there to ensure those things are handled in the manner they should be. More than anything, they want civility to reign."
In addition, he said some are also still worried about the drop in the number of students here. "I think people are concerned about what will happen long term at the school because of the possibility of declining enrollment, and it's almost as if folks aren't sure if they want (officials) to plan for it because they don't want it to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I understand that thinking, but I think it's the board's responsibility to always keep in mind the importance of that number, and to respond to the impact it has."
Flynn said he's not sure whether to be pessimistic or optimistic about student enrollment. "I think I'm more of a realist. I say, let's see what happens and then deal with it," he said.
Flynn said one of his strengths is finding creative solutions, and while he would consider new approaches to education in Highland, he's cautious. "I think that is something that sounds better than it would be," he said. "Running an experiment on kids in education has a detrimental effect," he said. "It runs the risk that any benefit down the road is at a cost, and the cost is upsetting the learning path of the people we're here to take care of."
Students need the basics, he said. "I think we shortchange our children when we don't hold them to more rigid academic standards ... there's a lot of value in helping young people learn to think. In order to think, they need to study how things have been done, what people have written, what kind of music's been composed, what kind of scientific beliefs we had at one time and how those were debunked ... all of that history takes time to teach."
That doesn't mean he's a huge fan of Virginia's standards of learning, though. "I'd rather, to the extent possible, that local communities had more say than the state (in local education), and certainly the federal government, but those programs are in place and we have to deal with them. I still think, in the context of dealing with those programs, you can promote strong foundational learning."
The current three board members announced early this year they would not seek reelection, creating a full turnover of the board beginning in January. Flynn said staggered terms must be considered this time to avoid this situation in the future. Issues like the state's composite index formula for funding are one of the main reasons he supports staggered terms. Such topics are complex, he said, "and they need to be monitored regularly. That speaks to the need ... you'd have the benefit of previous discussions."
While he respects the tenets of Virginia's Freedom of Information Act, Flynn said he does wish the board had more members to avoid violations, so that "person to person, the board could communicate off stage about issues to do more brainstorming and knocking things around. The fact that you cannot have that conversation and everything needs to be said for the first time in a meeting, I think slows down the development process, but that has to be respected ... what is important is to have a consistent policy so that when information is offered up, you're doing it in a manner from case to case that's consistent," he said.
Flynn would also like to see an improvement in vocational training. "I think we're doing all right, but I would like to see as much emphasis as possible to train students for trade work as for academic pursuits. I think that's important," he said. "I think sometimes helping prepare people for a trade career other than an academic doesn't necessarily mean they're going to learn that trade in high school. So if someone wants to be an electrician, they want to go on and apprentice somewhere, they need good math skills, and they need certain good science principles and things like that. There are times when students are on two different paths - some to go on to college, and some to go on to trade development - and there are times when they should be in the same class."
If elected, Flynn said he would not be a micro-manager of school operations. "I like to delegate. I believe strongly that you have many people to come up with creative solutions and do their jobs well ... that was always a hallmark of my management style."
Flynn said he has nothing in his personal or private life that would create a conflict of interest as a school board member, and as for his weaknesses, he said, "I always leave those to other people to determine."
Flynn said the board must rely on administrators to implement board policies. "That really goes to the trust in superintendent and administration and staff ... the development of policy is a board responsibility, but the reasons policies are developed have to do with the way these folks are serving the students," he said.
"I consider myself a come-here who decided to stay here. We feel committed to the community I feel a sense of responsibility to contribute in some way," he added.
About the candidate
¦ Jack Flynn, 56 ¦ Came to Monterey a few years ago with wife, Pam, and the couple has opened two businesses, Mill Alley Art & Frame, now open nearly three years, and Monterey Cottage, opened in Monterey only a few weeks ago. ¦ One grown son who lives in South Carolina ¦ Earned 155 credit hours in colleges from James Madison University to Auburn but never finalized a college degree ¦ Serves on the Highland County Comprehensive Plan Review Committee
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