
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 2, 1990                   TAG: 9006020373
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DOUGLAS PARDUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WILDER APPOINTS SCHOOLS CHIEF, VETERANS DIRECTOR

Richard E. O'Dell, a Vietnam combat veteran who was criticized by some veterans' groups for visiting Communist Vietnam in 1984, has been appointed by Gov. Douglas Wilder as director of the Virginia Department of Veterans Affairs.

O'Dell was one of two key appointments made by Wilder on Friday.

The governor concluded a lengthy search for a state superintendent of public instruction by naming Lynchburg School Superintendent Joseph A. Spagnolo Jr. to the post.

O'Dell, 42, who has made a career fighting the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for improved benefits to veterans, was named to the Roanoke-based office on Thursday. He replaces Sam Black, who held the job since 1983.

"There are some who say I'm controversial. There are also some who say that means I've been an effective advocate for veterans," O'Dell said Friday.

The purpose of the Virginia Department of Veterans Affairs is to help Virginia's 669,000 veterans file claims and appeal claims for benefits from the federal department.

He said he considers himself "a staunch advocate for the rights of veterans."

And, he said, he plans to make sure that the Virginia Department of Veterans Affairs continues its job of helping individual veterans and pushing for the rights and benefits of all the state's veterans.

O'Dell, who lives in the Roanoke Valley, said one of his main tasks over the next couple of years is shepherding construction and operation of the $17 million State Veterans Home near the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem. Construction is set to begin in 1991 and be completed in 1992. It is to have 240 beds, 50 for live-in veterans and the rest for nursing care.

Spagnolo replaces S. John Davis, who said a year ago he would retire from the job in January, but agreed to stay as interim superintendent until a successor was found.

Spagnolo, 47, has been superintendent of schools in Lynchburg since 1973. Before that, he was assistant superintendent for business and finance in Henrico County schools for two years.

In Lynchburg, Spagnolo has been praised for innovations that include a pilot program aimed at "at-risk" children in two schools and an after-school day care program.

Spagnolo said in a telephone interview he would like to make those programs statewide. "I really believe it's important to prevent problems from occurring educationally rather than remediating them after they occur," he said.

The Associated Press contributed some information to this story.

by CNB