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“The motto of the schools is, ‘Together we are Rockbridge.’ Well, my favorite word is inspire, because it’s more than seeing something or just being a part of something. So, my motto has been, ‘Together we are inspiring Rockbridge’,” said Kathy Burant, who is running for reelection to the Natural Bridge seat of the Rockbridge County School Board.
“And the job is not finished. There’s still so much to do, and I absolutely love it.”
Burant, who spent 13 years in Rockbridge County Public Schools as both a teacher and administrator and served as the director of Career and Technical Education for Stafford County Schools for six years, was first elected to the Board in 2020 through a write-in campaign.
In her term, she witnessed both challenges and growth in Rockbridge schools.
“We navigated through the pandemic; I think that was huge. It was something completely different for all of us,” she said, acknowledging that effects continue. “We’re still in post-pandemic mode. So making sure that our students are able to recover the lost learning is paramount. We have to find every possible way to make sure they recover.”
Despite these difficulties, Burant finds much to be proud of, including improved safety measures, having school resource officers at all county schools, and expanded alternative education programs at middle and high school levels.
Because of her background in career and technical education, Burant was particularly happy to see construction on the Rockbridge Innovation Center, formerly the Floyd S. Kay Technical Center, start earlier this year.
“I was the assistant principal in charge of [technical education], and we were always trying to do things to brighten up the space, doing all kinds of things to make it an attractive, fun place for the kids to be,” she recalled.
“Because of my experience as the director of career and tech ed, I’ve built buildings, I’ve revamped programs, I actually piloted a biomedical science program in Stafford County. I had a lot of experience,” she said. “That was my passion and my background, so I’ve really enjoyed doing that, using my expertise and my ideas to help with the renovations.”
If reelected, Burant wants to see this project continue, and to see growth in experiencebased learning more broadly.
“I’m really passionate about students experiencing what they learn — feeling, touching, relating to people — there’s just so many things that you can learn when you do something, rather than just rote learning,” she said. “I’m really passionate about STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math]. I think that’s where this experience, besides tech ed, comes in. If you can taste it, feel it, touch it, manipulate it, you can understand it.”
When it comes to recruiting teachers, Burant says that competitive pay is crucial, and an area in which Rockbridge is improving.
“Salaries are a high priority. We want to be able to get highly qualified graduates to come here,” she said. “Every year, we’ve improved on sala ries and benefits, which is huge, in this area in particular. We’re constantly competing with all the different school divisions around us.”
She believes the community is key, both for attracting new teachers and for bringing students back.
“We also have great relationships with businesses and organizations. We’re all working collectively to make sure that our students get the best experience possible, but also that we attract those same kids that graduate to come back and live and work here,” said Burant.
Community connections will also be important for student mental health.
“We have great communication and cooperation between Rockbridge Area Health Center and ourselves, same with the Rockbridge Area Community Services board. Those have been going on for years. We keep fining new needs for each other and we’re expanding on those needs,” she said.
