OPINION: Choice of new school super has to be right

This decision will perhaps be the most important one made in Barrow County this year and for years to come. Few positions are more important in a community than that of school superintendent. Without strong leadership at the top, school systems often flail and flounder.

Barrow County can’t afford to let that happen. With the exception of Clarke County, Barrow is surrounded by communities that have very strong schools. Oconee and Gwinnett counties are two of the top school systems in the state. Jackson County and the City of Jefferson systems are also among the top tier schools in the state.

So Barrow cannot afford to just coast in its education efforts. If the community wants to attract high-quality industries and an upscale population, it must make its schools more competitive with the surrounding area.

A lot of work toward that goal has already been done. The system has moved its standards up in recent years and area students are beginning to respond to that challenge.

But as long as Barrow lags other nearby school systems, the county will suffer.

Whomever the Barrow BOE chooses to be the new superintendent, that person should have a strong vision of where he or she wants to take Barrow’s education system in the coming years.

This decision will be critical to Barrow’s future. It has to be right.