Elimination of Longtime Chincoteague Combined AD Draws Concerns from the Public

The Accomack County School Board is having their monthly meeting tonight at Metompkin Elementary School.  The Board is facing a storm of protests following the decision by school administrators  to change the requirements for the newly created positions of full time Athletic Director following the application of that position by Mr. Jimmy Bloxom who has been the AD at Chincoteague Combined School for the past nine years.  During that time, Bloxom has been well regarded by the students and residents of the island school district.   The change added the requirement of a bachelor’s degree for the position which eliminated Bloxom from consideration.

The action triggered a strong editorial rebuttal in Friday’s Eastern Shore Post entitled  “We are all Jimmy Bloxom. And apparently, “we are all not good enough.”

The editorial states “Bloxom was asked to be the Chincoteague’s athletic director nine years ago. He was paid $3,000 a year then. He was paid $7500 this year. This is an embarrassing pittance for the amount of effort, love, dedication, and leadership Bloxom provided.

Then he applied for the full-time job and knew he was qualified because the initial posting did not require q bachelor’s degree.

Suddenly, the job required a bachelor’s degree after Bloxom applied and expressed an interest in the position with Chincoteague Combined School’s new principal.

The school system called it an administrative error.

Another administrative error would be if Bloxom is not hired for the position.”

The editorial continued “ If you’re not offended   for Bloxom, for Chincoteague, and for Accomack County, for yourself-you are not paying attention,”

The School Board will conduct their regularly scheduled meeting tonight at Metompkin Elementary School at 6:30 pm. It remains to be seen what, if any action is taken on the matter.