By Tara Bahrampour
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 24, 2006; B06
It's been two years since Alexandria School Superintendent Rebecca L. Perry was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, but the controversy has not died.
Even after Perry's apology and the renewal of her contract last year, the issue is simmering, most recently as a central issue in next month's School Board election.
"It's one of the reasons why I decided to run for School Board," Peter H. Smeallie III said last week at a forum for candidates seeking to represent the city's central section. Citing a lack of transparency and communication in the current administration, he said a new superintendent would bring "a fresh start, all the way around."
Some believe that the board's handling of Perry's arrest and subsequent recriminations are why so many members -- eight of nine -- have decided to step down. That opens the field for a whole new board, one likely to be less sympathetic to the superintendent, the only employee the board hires. Several of the 14 candidates running in the May 2 election have, like Smeallie, called a search for a new superintendent a top priority.
Schools have long been a hot topic in tightknit Alexandria. Its only high school, T.C. Williams, was made famous by a film about its efforts to integrate, and the system's student population of about 10,000 is one of the region's most diverse. Among parents, board races attract a lot of interest.
At Monday's forum, candidates Claire M. Eberwein and Yvonne A. Folkerts echoed Smeallie's sentiments, and Arthur E. Peabody Jr. said he thought that Perry should have resigned after her arrest. "That's just the honorable thing to do," he said, adding that the board's decision to keep Perry has made it harder for him to explain the ramifications of drinking and driving to his teenager.
Smeallie criticized the board for "turning inward" when it made its decision. At that point, he said, "communication between the School Board and the community began to fail."
For board races, Alexandria is divided into three sections, each represented by three board members. Candidates in each of the sections have criticized the board's decision. Peter F. Atherton, running in western Alexandria, has said the contract should not have been renewed. Blanche D. Maness, also from western Alexandria, has said the board did not give out enough information about its decision, and Sanford D. Horn, running in the eastern part, has said he would like to investigate whether Perry's actions violated her contract.
Many candidates said the superintendent issue has come up as they canvassed the city for votes.
"I'm being lobbied on both sides, by people who tell me she is a gifted administrator and others who say, 'Show her the door,' " said Elynn B. Simons, from central Alexandria, adding that she wanted to talk to Perry before forming an opinion. "If she is a gifted administrator, what is her plan for restoring the confidence of the community? And if not -- hello, search committee."
Peabody said most voters he has talked to have been "quite negative" about the renewal. Some candidates have brought up the possibility of buying out the remainder of Perry's contract, which ends in 2008. That would cost Alexandria about $400,000.
But Scott A. Newsham, running on the city's east side, said that among the hundreds of people he has canvassed, no one has brought up the issue. And Eileen Cassidy Rivera, running in the same district, said she was "not running to remove the superintendent," adding, "I do believe that the previous School Board, with the superintendent's guidance and assistance, has accomplished quite a bit."
Sheryl K. Gorsuch, also running in the east, said most voters have told her they would like to move on. "They are more inclined to judge the superintendent on her results," she said. "In the last five years, we went from two schools accredited to 14 out of 16 schools accredited."
Most outgoing board members have cited personal demands from work or family as reasons for stepping down. But member Sally Ann Baynard added that "the majority of the board was hammered from without by misinformed people and undermined from within by those with hidden agendas that did not include the welfare of our students."
Last month, three board members who supported Perry and are leaving published an open letter in The Washington Post, advising the incoming board to be humble and straight-talking and warning that "personnel matters are explosive."
"I think we were concerned about some of the things that were being said by some candidates," said Mark Wilkoff, one of the three. "A lot of the criticism was simply untrue -- that we hadn't made progress, that nothing was being done in the schools."
Perry would not comment for this article.
Gwen Lewis, one of two dissenting votes on Perry's contract renewal, said she might run again in the future and added that she hoped the new board would "understand that they have one employee, and that's the superintendent, and to not get so close [to her] that they can't be objective."
The one board member running for reelection, Charles H. Wilson, said he had planned to leave until he realized that everyone else was.
"I feel an awesome sense of responsibility," said Wilson, from western Alexandria. "I feel I am a sort of corporate memory, a voice of reason."
Wilson said he worried that some candidates were running on a single issue, which could lead to another generation of board infighting. "When someone comes on the board with an ax to grind," he said, "we lose our focus."
