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Tonight
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Tim Hardesty said many of the right things Wednesday when he was hired as the new superintendent of Cabell County Schools. He may have said all the right things. Events and perceptions will determine if he did. One right thing he said was an olive branch to voters who overwhelmingly rejected the schoolsÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ excess levy proposal on last monthÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s primary election ballot.
In a news conference Wednesday after his appointment, Hardesty said it is clear voters will not support anything other than ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œfull fundingÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ of the parks and libraries, or a reinstatement of the 2018 excess levy.
The levy included more than $1.4 million for the Cabell County Public Library and more than $455,000 for the Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District, which library director Breana Bowen pleaded for during a meeting earlier this month.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIf we donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t fully fund the parks and the libraries, weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re not going to have a levy, so thereÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s no use to look at those numbers,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Hardesty said.
ItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s doubtful the Cabell County Board of Education would have hired Hardesty if he wasnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t prepared to make such a statement. The board is scheduled to meet at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday to discuss ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œpossible resolution of the levy issue,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ board President Rhonda Smalley announced at the end of WednesdayÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s meeting.
Until the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œpossible resolutionÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ is discussed openly and voted on, itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s too soon to say if the question of whether and how much the school board should use its excess levying authority to help fund the library and the park district has been settled.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe have to work together as a group, the parks and the libraries, whoever they designate, to sit down at the table. We just have to come together and make sure that we are taking care of all of us and making sure that the end goal is to meet the needs of our kids,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Hardesty said.
Again, Hardesty said the right thing.
The levy is the most pressing question facing the school board at the moment, but there are many others. The future of programs at Crossroads Academy is one. And the continuing decline of public confidence in the public school system in Cabell County and elsewhere is another.
If all goes well, the levy issue can be settled before the boardÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s new fiscal year begins July 1. After the events of the past 12 months, it would be good to see the boardÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s and the publicÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s attention focused more on the educational needs of students than on the politics of school finance.
