Thursday marks not only Roanoke County students’ return to the classroom but also Jamie Soltis’ first day of school as superintendent.
Soltis succeeds Ken Nicely, who retired in June.
A long-time educator, Soltis, 53, started his career with Roanoke County as a science teacher in 1999. He rose through the ranks as assistant principal, principal and director of secondary instruction before leaving for Salem City Schools for two years.
He returned to Roanoke County as deputy superintendent in 2024. Soltis said he has big shoes to fill and though he hopes to continue the school division’s success in many areas, the former wrestling coach also has plans for leaving his own impact as the school division navigates declining enrollment, funding shortfalls, changes in standards and maintaining student achievement.
Cardinal News education reporter Meghan Mangrum sat down with Soltis to get his thoughts on school funding, AI and the meaning behind his personal motto: “leave no doubt.”
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What are your top three priorities for your first year?
Safety is always going to be number one because we want to keep our kids safe.
Number two is going to be continuing to evolve our “Opportunity Ready” initiative to where we actually put in systems to guarantee that every kid in every classroom, in every school, has the opportunity to acquire the opportunity-ready skills, including critical thinking, communication, citizenship and collaboration.
And then the third initiative would probably be teacher pay and really trying to focus on working with [Roanoke County] to make sure that we are competitive.
Q: What would an evolution of the “Opportunity Ready to Graduate” program look like?
Basically, that’s expanding it and mapping it out across the curriculum to figure out in what grade you are going to focus on which skill. It involves partnering with business and industry to provide kids with opportunities outside the classroom to learn how the content applies to the real world, as well as bringing business and industry into our classrooms and say ‘What’s a project you’re working on that maybe will apply to this geometry class or this math class,’ so that the kids get the real world connection of why this content matters.
We have to ensure all of our kids develop these uniquely human skills, because that’s what’s going to separate them in the workforce.
Q: You mentioned teacher pay; what are ways or goals you have to support teachers and staff?
One of the things we really need to focus on is really looking at our budget and looking at what we’re putting our money into, what output that’s leading to and what impact that’s having on student achievement.
In order for us to continue to be the best, we need to rank competitively with all the other school divisions in our region with regards to pay and benefits. So, one of my goals is to really be purposeful in our budget building to make sure that that is our priority because Roanoke County is an amazing place to be, but financially it’s hard right now. We need to reward our people for the work they’re doing — not just teachers either. School employees are some of the most undervalued pay-wise, and they have some of the biggest impact.
Q: Is this something you’ve already started having conversations with the county board of supervisors, your funding body, about?
So, our school board has always tried to prioritize teacher pay, but there’s a limited pot of money. We want to make sure that we have the support staff we need for teachers to be effective, but at the same time, every position we add is a cost that takes away from our ability to implement raises, so it’s all in figuring out what’s the best balance.
We continue to advocate with our county administrator [Richard] Caywood, because I understand the county has its priorities, but we can’t lose sight that it’s the schools that are the foundation of any community, and that we need to have amazing schools.
And I am a little nervous of the rumors we keep hearing about title grants getting cut at the federal level. That’s concerning because we use that money to provide professional development for our teachers and to provide staff for title one schools that are in need of more support. It would be a major blow to us if that happens, and this was the first year we ended up getting less funding than we were anticipating through our revenue-sharing agreement with the county.
At the end of the day, my job is to advocate for the kids, and I will advocate to make sure that our kids get everything they need to have the best education.
Q: As we see other nearby school divisions grapple with budget cuts and school closures, what does the future look like for Roanoke County schools?
It’s hard to predict the future, but you can look around and see certain parts of the state are thriving. When I lived in Northern Virginia, it seemed like every two weeks they were popping up a brand new school, whereas in Southwest Virginia, there’s been a lot of consolidation. I think of Southern Gap High School in Grundy; that’s one of the latest ones.
We are battling declining birth rates nationwide, and declining enrollment is a challenge all schools are starting to see. We get state money based on average daily membership (ADM), a measure of enrollment, so as our ADM drops, that’s less state revenue.
But if you lose 30 kids at a school, the cost to run that school doesn’t change, or if you lose five kids on a bus, you’ve still got to run the bus.
So we have to look strategically as we move forward and ask ourselves, is the best path forward to continue operating 26 school buildings, or is there a way to save money in the future?
Q: This year is the first that local communities can levy a 1% sales tax for additional funding for school construction. Is that something you think Roanoke County has an appetite for?
I don’t think that the board of supervisors has an appetite to toss that out there, and I’m not sure that our [school] board is ready. We want to learn more about it and see how it goes… because anytime you talk about raising taxes, it’s potentially a political pothole.
Q: Roanoke County Public Schools in some ways has been outperforming its peers in the state in terms of student performance. Earlier this summer, the school division was recognized as a “district on the rise” in the latest Education Scorecard for student growth in reading and math. How do you plan to sustain student achievement or even grow it?
As I coach, I want to be the best, right? So that’s all about following the process we know will ensure our kids achieve to the greatest of their abilities. That entails making sure our kids have the resources they need to be successful, like high-quality teachers and instructional assistants.
We have to continue to make sure we’re meeting the level of rigor that is coming up with new state standards tests, but also balancing that with our “opportunity ready skills” so that our kids aren’t just test ready, but they’re real world ready. Staying true to that mission and making sure that our systems are aligned and everything’s going in that direction to achieve that goal, then the results will take care of themselves.
Q: What is your philosophy around artificial intelligence? How do you envision it being used by students and staff?
I don’t believe you can stick your head in the sand and pretend AI is not here to stay. However, we have to be really careful on putting guardrails in around when [students] can use AI.
We’ve built that out progression-wise through the grades, all the way up to high school. They need to be able to use AI as a tool, but then learn that you have to go back as the human and edit it because it’s not always right, and continue to develop human skills that allow it to be a tool, but not use it as a replacement.
Q: Are you feeling a pressure to balance how much time students spend on screens in the classroom or at school, especially as more and more parents are starting to push back on screen time?
We have the bell-to-bell no cellphone policy, and I’ve tasked our instructional department with looking at the laptop program from grades K to 12. Over the next year, we’re going to develop a plan trying to limit screen time usage.
I’m a big believer in technology. Technology should be used when it transforms a lesson. So for example, if I am able to work with a student group in another country, or in another part of the school division, on a project and technology allows that to happen, great. If I’m using technology to do something that I could just do on paper and pencil, then you really have to wonder. I don’t necessarily believe kids [in kindergarten through second grade] should be on the laptop hardly at all. I think the more we can give kids the time to interact face-to-face, the better off they’re going to be in the long run, but we do have to balance that with teaching them computer skills and things they need to be successful because those are tools they’re going to use.
Q: You mentioned concerns about student well-being and mental health as part of overall student safety. What are specific challenges you’re seeing and what resources are available to students?
Mental health is a big part of student safety, and I am concerned about it. I think phones contribute to that, but I think we have a deeper societal issue where kids are just exposed to so many things now. We have to be aware and make sure that when a kid is displaying withdrawal or any of those concerning signs, that we have an adult they feel comfortable coming to to talk to, and that we are also providing families with the resources to get help for their kids.
Roanoke County, in my opinion, has been very proactive about providing mental health supports.
We have programs like Let’s Talk, where any student and their family can reach out and get access to five free telehealth sessions with a counselor; Speak Up!, a confidential reporting app; and Reach Out, a student crisis line. And we have certified life counselors in all our middle and high schools.
Q: Folks are starting to hear your motto, “leave no doubt,” around more. Where does it come from and what does it mean?
It started when I was a kid with my own mindset. I lost my sophomore state final wrestling tournament, and I wanted to blame it on everybody but myself, but when I looked in the mirror, I realized the only person I couldn’t tell a fib to was myself.
So, I decided that I was going to leave no doubt every single day that I did whatever was possible for me to achieve the best I could, and when I became a coach, that became my wrestling team’s motto; when I became the middle school principal, that became the middle school’s motto. If everybody truly is doing everything they can possibly do that day, and they can look in the mirror and know that, and commit to trying to do even better the next day, the results are going to take care of themselves.
