Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 27, 1994 TAG: 9404280012
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Long
County officials on Monday released the names of six applicants for the District B seat and two for the District G post, which were advertised earlier this month.
Kennedy, District F member, handed in her resignation April 16, and will officially leave the board July 1.
Kennedy cited her husband's pending retirement from Virginia Tech and their decision to move to their home in New Hampshire as her reasons for leaving.
"I'm sure going to miss her. I think she's been a wonderful School Board member," said B.J. Mullins, president of the Montgomery County Education Association, a teachers' group. "This year she spoke so fervently for treating teachers like professionals."
In her resignation letter, Kennedy wrote that it has saddened her to see some members of the Board of Supervisors voice distrust of the School Board recently.
In an interview, she said the issue of trust has come up in talks over consolidation of the school and county finance departments, and this year in disputes over the school budget.
Moreover, Kennedy wrote that she has seen "frightening signs of a possible about-face" in the effort to make county schools the best they can be. Kennedy unsuccessfully urged the School Board to seek funding this year for one of the Focus 2006 Commission's key recommendations: to lower the pupil-teacher ratio in elementary school classrooms.
Kennedy taught in Montgomery County schools, particularly in the Shawsville area, for seven years before taking an early retirement in 1981. She specialized in teaching elementary school pupils with learning disabilities.
All three of the seats the Board of Supervisors fills this spring will be for 18-month terms leading up to the first School Board elections in November 1995.
Kennedy, who served as chairwoman in 1989-90, is the second of the board's three longest-serving members to announce plans to leave the School Board this summer. District G representative Don Lacy said earlier this month that he would not seek reappointment and is pondering a run for the Board of Supervisors next year.
The third longtimer, School Board Vice Chairman Bob Goncz, is seeking reappointment in District B. Goncz, an executive with Eastern Repair & Fabrication Inc. in Christiansburg, said the decision was not an easy one. He said he wants to work on the upcoming six-year strategic plan for the school system, which would build on the effort of the Focus 2006 study released last year.
Five other people have applied to represent District B, including:
Suzanne G. Hamrick of Christiansburg, a former public schoolteacher for 12 years and an adjunct faculty member in the school of education at Radford University. She also lists as a qualification being the mother of two children in county schools.
Dr. S. Ross Mackay, a Blacksburg-based orthopedic surgeon.
Deborah G. Mayo, 42, of Woodland Hills in Blacksburg, a philosophy professor at Virginia Tech. Mayo said she has a clear understanding of the abilities students need to succeed in college, is a good public speaker who is able to summarize complex ideas cogently, and has worked on philosophical issues involving the interrelationship between science, technology and values.
Dan Neel of Vicker, who is director of finance and administration with the Roanoke Regional Airport Commission. Neel said his experience in finance and budgeting would be an asset on the School Board.
Delores Snell, 53, of Christiansburg, a paralegal student at New River Community College. She cited as a qualification that she is the mother of five children and is a "firm believer in education."
In District G, two people have applied:
Peggy Arrington of Blacksburg, an officer with Personnel Systems and Technologies, a computer software firm she owns with her husband. Among her qualifications, Arrington cited her background in psychology and her volunteering in her local school.
Wat Hopkins, an associate professor of communications studies at Tech and a longtime School Board observer as the former legislative liaison for the Gilbert Linkous Elementary School PTA. Hopkins, a North Carolina native, is a former journalist and is married to a county teacher.
The Board of Supervisors will interview the eight candidates during the week of May 16 and hold a public hearing on the appointments on May 23. The board will make the appointments June 13 and they take effect July 1.
County Administrator Betty Thomas, meanwhile, is accepting applications to replace Kennedy until May 19. District F extends from the northwest corner of Virginia Tech to the Hethwood subdivision. It then runs south of Meadowbrook Drive and east of Edison Lane, follows Brush Mountain until turning north at Fox Hollow and ending at the Giles County line.
Applicants, who must live in the district, be qualified voters and be in good tax standing, should send a letter of intent and a statement of qualifications to Thomas at P.O. Box 806, Christiansburg 24073.
by CNB