Lie or Mistake?

[DavidHume]

http://www.roanoke.com/news/politics/mon...08c4f.html

Curious what thoughts folk have on this story. Is her story believable? Isn't it obvious when you graduate? Or is the process of graduating different now?

[sanantone]

She lied about having an associate's degree?

[DavidHume]

She lied about having an associate's degree?

It does seem like a weird thing to lie about. And weirder for it to be the political scandal issue in an election

[davewill]

Yeah, she lied about having an associate's. It sounds like she's trying to transfer credits back from Virginia Tech (where I guess she didn't graduate, either) to qualify for an associate's now, so she can try to convince folks it was just a paperwork snafu.

[jsd]

Seems like an obvious lie. Graduation is a deliberate process you have to apply and get approval for. Seems like a pretty petty lie... And maybe for a school board slot, you should be shooting for a little bit more than an associates degree.

[bjcheung77]

Ouch, from reading that news article - it's a lie, not a mistake. If it was a mistake, it would be the school accidentally sending out an email notification that she did graduate when she has not.

It's a lie - even though the school may have "changed" their system from quarterly to a semester system, she still would have needed to apply for graduation and have approval. How can that screw things up?!

[bluebooger]

.. And maybe for a school board slot, you should be shooting for a little bit more than an associates degree.

what does the county school board actually do ? 

I doubt they set curriculum or choose text books or teachers 

would they even be involved in budgets ? 
that sounds like something that would be set at the state or town level 

I grew up in a small town that was part of a small county (maybe 6 towns of 5k each and each town separated by 5 to 10 miles from the next) 
I don't remember if our country had a school board, but I can't imagine it would have made much sense

[jsd]

According to this site, they do all of those things.

https://www.nsba.org/about-us/frequently-asked-questions

What is a school board's most important responsibility?
The most important responsibility of school boards is to work with their communities to improve student achievement in their local public schools. School boards derive their power and authority from the state. In compliance with state and federal laws, school boards establish policies and regulations by which their local schools are governed.
Your school board is responsible for:

• employing the superintendent
  
• developing and adopting policies, curriculum, and the budget;
  
• overseeing facilities issues; and
  
• adopting collective bargaining agreements.
  

[aviator guy]

what does the county school board actually do ? 

I doubt they set curriculum or choose text books or teachers 

would they even be involved in budgets ? 
that sounds like something that would be set at the state or town level 

I grew up in a small town that was part of a small county (maybe 6 towns of 5k each and each town separated by 5 to 10 miles from the next) 
I don't remember if our country had a school board, but I can't imagine it would have made much sense

Virginia is a little different than most states in that counties are their own entity and cities are independent of counties and are geographically separate from cities.  Some (but not all) counties have "incorporated towns" within them, which is much closer to the city/county relationship found in most other states.  In Virginia, towns don't typically (at least I'm not aware of any) have their own school district but utilize the school system of the county in which they are incorporated.  The town will likely have its own public works/roads/utilities/recreation etc departments. It may or may not have its own police (but not sheriff, which would be provided by the county in which it is incorporated) and fire departments, or it may utilize the county sheriff and county (paid or volunteer) fire department(s).

That being said, a county school board would be involved with most of the issues you mentioned, including budgets.  They would be responsible for oversight of the county school system, and in the case of Montgomery county, 20 different elementary, middle and high schools (if Wikipedia is correct).

[Nixi]

"On Monday evening, the campaign issued a statement calling the issue a minor oversight.”

LOL, this is just too funny