Pressures Mount for Chief Of Prince William Schools

Also, Walts remains a defendant in a federal lawsuit filed by a Greece teacher alleging that he and former Greece school officials engaged in age discrimination. The teacher, Mary Donlon, is seeking more than $1 million in damages. Walts might have to travel to New York this year to be deposed, said Jim Bilik, a senior counsel with New York State United Teachers, representing Donlon.

Walts, a lifelong educator born in Kansas, was hired in spring 2005 as the School Board's second choice. He immediately impressed parents with his energy and effusive personality, visiting all of the county's 80-plus schools each year, sometimes more than once. Many principals say they like how he supports their independence, while some parents say he can be disarmingly chatty, especially when he has his own parenting questions as father of a young girl.

Under Walts, the county has brought all-day kindergarten to every elementary school, an initiative begun under his predecessor, the late Edward L. Kelly. At a handful of elementary schools, Walts also launched the prestigious International Baccalaureate program, rare at those grade levels.

In the past year, some parents and teachers criticized Walts for a new math program, saying he is too thin-skinned and does not engage them enough about their concerns. The series, "Investigations in Number, Data, and Space," published by Pearson Education, stresses problem-solving with creative techniques, such as drawing pictures and using objects rather than memorizing algorithms and stacking numbers.

School officials say the program readies students for algebra, deepening their understanding of computation and ultimately boosting SAT scores.

But the School Board, responding to backlash from parents, has indicated it wants to review new SOL math scores this year and decide the program's fate. Parents Alexis Miller, a former CIA contractor, and Greg Barlow, retired from the Pentagon, have peppered the school system with Freedom of Information Act requests related to the adoption of "Investigations" and obtained more than 1,000 names on a petition asking the School Board to scale back the program or eliminate it.

Miller said Walts has resisted overtures to discuss the issue. "He has always pushed it back down to other people," Miller said. "When we try to push to get more impartial and objective viewpoints, he has done everything to stonewall and throw roadblocks in our path."

In May, a prominent Fairfax math teacher, Vern Williams, who served on a National Mathematics Advisory Panel, appeared at a board meeting at the invitation of a board member to speak critically about programs like "Investigations."

Walts tried, according to board members, to persuade the board to postpone Williams's address until Walts could arrange for a joint appearance with another national math expert who advocates such approaches as "Investigations." But the board decided to hear Williams.

"I thought, 'This gentleman has driven down here from Fairfax County. Why would we send him home?' " board member Betty Covington (Dumfries) said. "We've already heard from staff as to why 'Investigations' is a good program."

Another potential trouble for Walts emerged in the spring when associate superintendents George Kisha and Melvin Brown, who were each paid more than $150,000 a year, resigned abruptly. The school system gave no public explanation for their departures. Kisha, the system's top financial official, who had been hired by Walts, left near the end of the budget cycle. Kisha said in an interview that he had planned to retire from education.

Brown, whom Walts had promoted to oversee a large cluster of schools, also left before the end of the school year. He said he left to work closer to home and is now a Spotsylvania County middle school principal.

Many parents say overcrowding is Prince William's chief vulnerability, especially at Brentsville District High, one of the county's more popular and high-performing schools. This year, for the first time, school officials were forced to deny transfer requests from students outside the school's boundary who wanted to take its prestigious Cambridge courses.

Some parents tried reaching out to Walts, including Lynn Heller, 49, who tried unsuccessfully to enroll her fourth son at the school. "I said, 'Let's go to the guy who makes decisions.' I asked for a meeting with Walts, and his secretary told me he couldn't speak with me -- and that he's not in enough to meet with people. Did he even get my message?"