Lynchburg parents explain what they want to see from new superintendent

LCS officially announces Dr. Crystal Edwards as new superintendent

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Lynchburg City Schools has officially announced its new superintendent; Dr. Crystal Edwards has taken the position. Edwards previously worked as the superintendent of Lawrence Township Public Schools in New Jersey for 12 years. She's worked in the education field for 29 years, mainly as a science teacher. Edwards has a doctorate in educational leadership. WSLS spoke with Lynchburg parents about what they'd like to see from new superintendent.

Whitney Woodruff and Rebekah Wright-Pruett both have children in Lynchburg City Schools. Woodruff moved to the Hill City a year ago and has a daughter in Head Start. 

"I want the superintendent to now get on with just one accord with parents. We need to be in one accord,” Woodruff said. 

Wright-Pruett's whose daughter, Ava, is a first-grader at Sandusky Elementary School, wants to see a superintendent focused on helping younger children succeed in music and arts.

"I want her to have something she can carry with her. In today's times, you never know how safe she's going to be in areas or how comfortable she'll be. And when she has music and art, something she can carry away with her everywhere she goes, that's going to be a monumental, important thing for her,” Wright-Pruett said.

Some of the parents WSLS spoke said one of their main concerns is the achievement gap in Lynchburg City Schools and they hope Edwards will be able to address that problem.

"Like I said, that's kind of fearful for me. As being a parent of two young kids. I'm kind of scared I'll have to home-school my kids,” Woodruff said.

In September, seven Lynchburg City Schools reached full accreditation. School officials said that number doubled from the 2014-2015 school year, but the district still has nine schools that are not fully accredited.

For Wright-Pruett, whose daughter is only in elementary school, this problem is concerning. 

"I'm hoping to see some changes with the accreditation issue. I don't like the idea of having to send her to public school at this point. I'm hoping to save enough money so we can send her to private school but we'll just have to take it one step at a time,” Wright-Pruett said.
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