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

DATE: THURSDAY, November 10, 1994                   TAG: 9411100066
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

RADFORD VOTERS SHOWED OWN SCHOOL CONCERNS

A large majority of the city's voters obviously did not share the concerns about elected school boards recently expressed by most School Board members and by some in the black community. By a 2,468 to 965 vote margin, voters approved a referendum Tuesday to change the method of picking School Board members from appointment to election.

The first School Board elections will be held in 1996, and the board likely will be reduced from six to five members to match City Council.

Kelly Morris, who initiated the petition drive last January to put the issue before the voters, was pleased with the outcome. "It's now in the people's hands. They'll take it from here," she said Tuesday.

School Board Chairman Guy Gentry, who does not favor an elected board for Radford, offered similar sentiments Wednesday. "Our system works. It's up to the people to decide and they decided. And that's fine," he said.

Gentry predicts the electorate will make good choices when the time comes, but he doubts he'll run. His term expires June 1996, and his and fellow board member George Ducker's seats probably will be the first up for election.

"I hope there are lots of new candidates," he said.

During the campaign, the elected school board question generated little debate on either side among city voters, who flocked to the polls in near-record numbers. Voter Registrar Tracy Howard reported that 70 percent of the city's 5,525 registered voters cast ballots.

While several voters questioned Tuesday indicated they favored an elected School Board, some still hadn't made up their minds as they arrived to vote.

"I pondered that all the way over," said one man, who had walked from his home to the polling station at McHarg Elementary School.

A woman said her former home state had elected school boards, and she believed Radford should have them too. Another woman with two youngsters in tow also said she would vote "yes."

But voters said it was not this question that prompted their appearance at the polls, and more than 400 voters decided not to make a choice on the question once in the voting booth.

Before the vote, five School Board members and some in the city's small but close-knit black community said City Council appointment of board members has served Radford well. Under the appointive system, several blacks and women have served on the board, although last spring, City Council passed over Patricia Palmer - the last black to seek a seat - in favor of incumbent Ducker. The board now is all-male and all-white.

The newest board member, Chris Strange, supports elected boards and helped circulate petitions earlier this year. "I think the citizens of Radford usually make intelligent decisions," he said before Election Day. Strange is the only board member who has indicated any interest in running for the seat he was appointed to last May. He also said he anticipates no problems for women and minorities to be elected to School Board seats once the new system is phased in.

by CNB