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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 9, 1994                   TAG: 9411100028
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Kimberly N. Martin
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

FRANKLIN WILL ELECT ITS SCHOOL BOARD

Yes -6,545--72%

No -2,574--28%

In keeping with a statewide trend, Franklin County voters opted to move to electing its School Board members.

Currently, School Board members are selected by a court-appointed three-member committee.

While many board members and school employees pushed the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" argument, Franklin County voters overwhelmingly disagreed.

One Rocky Mount resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said he voted for the board's election because the present system is rife with politics.

Ben Angle, of Rocky Mount, said the current system doesn't give voters enough control.

"In this area, they get on [School Board], and stay in there for life, and that's not right... . The same is true for judges, we ought to vote on them too," Angle said.

But one advantage of appointing the board members was Franklin County's School Board was guaranteed diversity - the eight-member board has one minority member and two women.

That's a guarantee electing the members won't give.

But Hoover Potter said it's worth the risk.

"We could pick better people, and I think we would still get a diverse group," said Potter, of Rocky Mount.