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

DATE: THURSDAY, May 20, 1993                   TAG: 9305200156
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

FORMER COUNCILMAN, 2 INCUMBENTS APPOINTED TO CITY'S SCHOOL BOARD

Guy Wohlford will serve the year left on the term of board Chairman John McPhail, who is stepping down June 30. The vote was unanimous. Guy Gilmore, an official of Hercules Inc. at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant, also had sought the West Ward II seat.

Two incumbents facing opposition kept their seats. Council voted unanimously to reappoint board Vice Chairman Guy Gentry to his West Ward I seat over challenger Chris Strange, a Radford Community Hospital manager. The 42-year-old Gentry, who is in the retail pharmacy business, has served six years on the board.

A 4-1 council vote reappointed seven-year veteran East Ward board member George Ducker, who was opposed by lawyer Meg Stone. David Worrell cast the dissenting vote. Ducker, 47, is the pastor of Radford Presbyterian Church.

Tuesday night's appointments came after long, individual interrogations by council members of all six candidates and a subsequent closed-door session that ran well over an hour.

The 46-year old Wohlford, an insurance man, served one term on council but was defeated for re-election last year by Worrell. While on council, he often took fiscally conservative stands.

In seeking the board seat, he cited his experience on City Council and other boards and commissions.

Teachers' pay, the school-funding disparity lawsuit and the condition of school buildings and equipment were major topics during council's quizzing of the candidates.

Wohlford said he believed teachers' salaries need to stay competitive to keep morale up. He also said he would like to see the disparity lawsuit "resolved in our favor.

"I don't believe that dollars are the answer to everything, but I do believe there is a disparity," he said.

The School Board is a party to the suit through its membership in the Coalition for Equity in Educational Funding.

As he has in the past, Wohlford also said he believes Radford should move from Class AA to Class A in interscholastic athletic competition. The board has voted to maintain Radford's AA status, but Wohlford thinks the level of competition there is "putting our boys at risk" in football.

He also said he supports appointed school boards.

Council's grillings of Gentry and Ducker ran about 40 minutes apiece, nearly twice as long as for the other candidates. Both men also favored the board's position on the funding disparity lawsuit and cited a need for continuity on the board to handle unfinished business.

"I think the state has let us down," Ducker said, adding that the city had done "a good job" supplying its share of money for schools.

Gentry and Ducker also said the city needs to upgrade aging school facilities and equipment.

Gentry, who chairs the board's technology committee, made a pitch to consider new educational technology where it's appropriate.

He also said teachers' salaries had to be "fiercely competitive" with surrounding districts to keep quality educators.

Both incumbents characterized themselves as peacemakers and consensus builders.

Gentry also recommended holding periodic joint "working sessions" of City Council and the School Board to "promote some understanding" between the two bodies.