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

DATE: SATURDAY, July 9, 1994                   TAG: 9407120077
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LOSING O'NEIL COULD BRING BOARD ELECTION

O'Neil's recent ouster from the School Board apparently has given new life to the petition drive to force a November referendum on changing the selection method.

The Rev. Charles Green said Friday he has joined the petition campaign because he is angry about City Council's decision to replace O'Neil.

"I call it retaliation. They replaced her because she said what she thought," said Green, president of the Roanoke chapter of the NAACP. "It was a way of getting even with her."

Council members have denied that O'Neil was replaced solely because of her outspoken style, but some have said that it was a factor.

Green expects the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to become involved in the effort to change the method of choosing School Board members. He said that some people in the liberal wing of the Democratic party also are helping collect signatures.

The petition drive was started earlier this year by Gloria Stinnett, a member of the city Democratic Committee.

To get the issue on the ballot in November, the advocates of an elected board must collect 4,100 signatures, or 10 percent of the city's registered voters.

The petitions must be filed early next month so the signatures can be checked by the city registrar and the Roanoke Circuit Court can enter an order setting the vote.

Stinnett said she hopes to collect the signatures in time for a vote this year. She said Green is working with her.

Under the present system, School Board members are beholden to council members, who appoint them, Green said. "It's a buddy-buddy system in which board members go along with council."

He said that O'Neil, who was replaced after one term, had more experience and knowledge than Marsha Ellison and John Saunders, the two new members. Incumbent Marilyn Curtis was reappointed.

In an interview this week, O'Neil said that Ellison and Saunders were excellent choices, and she has no complaints about them.

Salem will have a referendum in November on switching to an elected system.

Several nearby counties - Botetourt, Roanoke and Montgomery - have switched to elected boards and will hold elections this fall.

In Roanoke County, board members will be chosen in the Hollins, Vinton and Windsor Hills magisterial districts. The other two districts - Catawba and Cave Spring - will have elections in November 1995.

More than 75 counties and cities in Virginia have opted to elect their school boards. Seventeen cities had board elections in May, and other localities that have approved the switch will have elections in November.

Under state law, the elected boards will not have taxing power and will have to rely on local governing bodies to raise funds for schools. Critics of elected boards say this could create conflict between the governing body and board.