Oct. 16, 2025 Editor, The News-Gazette: Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden once said, “The sharing of ideas, information, creativity, responsibilities, and tasks is a priority of good leadership. The only thing that is not shared is blame. A strong leader accepts blame and gives the credit (when deserved) to others.”
In the Oct. 15 edition of The News-Gazette, the Rockbridge County superintendent seemed to have a different model of leadership in mind when he addressed “confusion” over a proposed high school schedule change. He blamed “a handful of staff members” for “prematurely” sharing information with students and “in the process, sharing some inaccurate information.”
If the administration’s idea of leadership is to deflect blame onto teachers while sidelining stakeholder concerns over a “proposed” plan to rush an overhaul of the high school schedule by fall 2026, then our schools face a deeper problem than “how to best structure instructional time.” Leadership means owning mistakes, including the lack of “accurate details” surrounding this process, not assigning fault. The question now is: who will take responsibility for the growing disconnect between the school system and the community it serves? BRENT HIERMAN Rockbridge County
