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Whaley's final year on board has a mission

By ANDREW SKERRITT
Published January 8, 2008

Marge Whaley, 67, is serving her last year on the School Board.
	[Dan McDuffie | Times]

Marge Whaley loved working alongside the late Pasco school superintendent John Long. But there's one thing she could never persuade the veteran educator to do.

Each January she'd visit Long in his office and try to convince him that the fast growing district needed a strategic plan, a clear set of goals worth reaching for year after year.

In his eight years at the helm, Long oversaw the impressive growth and expansion of the school district, but he never liked committing his long-term goals to paper. That was just the way he was.

But if nothing else, Whaley, 67, is persistent.

So as she begins the final year of what has been an intriguing 32 years with the Pasco school district, she has unfinished business.

Before she leaves office in 11 months, she wants to see a strategic plan in place, so no matter who replaces her or who is superintendent, Pasco schools will be equipped to stay abreast of the rapid growth.

I know, the phrase strategic planning makes your eyes glaze over. In 16 years as a School Board member and just as long as a school health educator, Whaley has always championed the needs of students, including sex education, life-skills training, making sure they're eating healthfully in the cafeterias.

To Whaley, though, strategic planning represents the bull's eye and arrows that could help make Pasco a great school district.

"If you don't know where you are going, how do you know when you get there," she said. "Just raising test scores is not enough."

She talks with the passion that belies all the years and all the work. She chose not to run again because being on the School Board isn't as much fun as it used to be.

"It's time for a new, more energetic person," said Whaley, whose fourth and final term has been something of a personal and political struggle.

Many readers followed her battle with breast cancer in the pages of the Times. During that excruciating 18 months after her surgery and chemotherapy, Whaley still showed up for School Board meetings. Some days you'd find her at home lying on her recliner doing School Board work and taking phone calls.

After Whaley didn't support Long's successor, Heather Fiorentino, in her race for superintendent, the two women didn't exactly bond right away. Fiorentino's style still makes Whaley pine for the days when Long made sure board members were always kept informed about issues. Fiorentino prefers to make recommendations, then seek the board members' input. That has led to some dustups.

But on strategic planning, the two strong-willed politicos have found common ground. Fiorentino has worked very hard to gain community support for the new approach.

"It will happen," Whaley said.

There's no doubt in her words.

Andrew Skerritt can be reached at askerritt@sptimes.com or 813 909-4602 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4602.

[Last modified January 7, 2008, 20:19:45]