SPORTS: Liberty hires new football coach; baseball, softball, boys soccer, track coverage. PAGES 18, 19, 20, 21, 24 April 19, 2023
Our 206th year | Vol. 206, No. 16 | www.Fauquier.com | $1.50 VIRGINIA PRESS ASSOCIATION: BEST SMALL NEWSPAPER IN VIRGINIA 2017-2021
Superintendent to step down after a decade at the helm of Fauquier schools Jeck to oversee middle school expansions through June 2024 By Jill Palermo
Fauquier Times Staff Writer
Fauquier County Public Schools Superintendent David Jeck will step down July 1 after leading the 12,000-student division for 10 years. Jeck said he asked the school board to end his four-year contract a year early due to “an especially difficult year” for his family as well as the changing political landscape in public education.
The news was announced Tuesday, April 18, after a special morning meeting of the Fauquier County School Board during which the five members voted unanimously to “honor the request from the superintendent” to end his contract effective June 30. The board also voted to appoint Jeck as a “special projects coordinator” from July 1 through June 30, 2024, to oversee the expansion of Taylor Middle School, which will begin this summer, as well as other middle school transitions. He will also continue to work toward improving school division safety See JECK, page 4
Warrenton mulls buying historic horse show grounds
Mia Valdez won the under 13 division aboard her hunting pony, Kismet, during the 2021 Warrenton Horse Show.
9.5-acre property would become a public park By Peter Cary
Piedmont Journalism Foundation
The Town of Warrenton is considering a plan to buy the Warrenton Horse Show Grounds on East Shirley Avenue for $1.6 million using a portion of the town’s COVID-19 relief money. The idea is to turn the property into a public park while allowing the historic Warrenton horse and pony shows to continue there. The plan was revealed at an April 11 town council work session and public meeting. While negotiations have been underway for a year, they have been conducted in secret, so the news of a pending purchase took many, including a couple of new council members, by surprise. The plan also raised enough questions that the council scheduled a
COURTESY
Superintendent David Jeck
All constitutional officers are unopposed By Shannon Clark
Fauquier Times Staff Writer
but since 1967 the annual events have been one-ring shows, one held around Labor Day and the other one, a pony show for juniors on ponies and horses in youth classes, around July 4 weekend.
Campaign posters already line some streets of Fauquier County as local races on ballot for the June 20 state-run primary, and in some cases the Nov. 7 election, were mostly finalized this week. While all five incumbents serving in Fauquier County’s constitutional offices are unopposed, four of the five supervisors’ races have at least two candidates. The race for Marshall District supervisor is the most competitive with three candidates, while the Center, Lee and Scott districts all have two candidates vying for those seats.
See GROUNDS, page 4
See SUPERVISORS, page 6
PHOTO BY BETSY BURKE PARKER
special work session next week to deal with them. The 9.57-acre property is owned by the Warrenton Horse Show Association, which bought it in 1900, though it has run horse shows there since 1899. At one time, the property had an outside hunter course,
Fauquier supervisors’ races draw 10 candidates for 5 seats
Happily ever after with the alpacas in Broad Run. See page 8.
It’s all about people . . . and always will be. www.vnb.com