We at the Chronicle wish a warm welcome to Bondy Shay Gibson, who was named at the county’s new Superintendent of Schools this week. She comes to Jefferson with an impressive list of qualifications and we certainly wish her well as she adjusts to live in Jefferson County.

We commend the Board of Education for their diligence in searching out the best candidate for the position. Selecting someone with such high qualifications will allow things to move forward in a productive and positive manner.

Ms. Gibson will face many learning curves as she settles in; however, we are sure that she is up to the challenge. We encourage her to take all the time necessary to learn about each and every school now under her care and decipher the pluses and minuses of each individually.

While “consistency” among schools has been stressed of late, we encourage the new superintendent to see the differences as well as there are many that make our school system shine. Forcing uniformity may not always be the best route and we are sure that as Ms. Gibson visits each school and learns the history of each, she will see that often what is good for one may not work at another.

We encourage parents in the county to come out to board meetings and observe and learn about our new leader. Introductions are good in making sure she feels welcome as well as showing that we care about the education of our children.

We sincerely hope that the transition and move is a smooth one and that the summer months ahead will allow for some relaxation as well as work for the next school year and beyond.