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

DATE: FRIDAY, April 28, 1995                   TAG: 9504280029
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: CURRENT   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER LOU HERRMANN WON'T SEEK ELECTION|

Lou Herrmann, a retired music teacher who has served on the Montgomery County School Board for almost seven years, says she will not run for election this fall.

"I think I just had a personal limit of two terms," Herrmann said Thursday. "One of the reasons I announced so soon is because I wanted to give [potential candidates] plenty of time to know that there is not an incumbent seeking election." June 13 is the deadline for filing.

Herrmann's District E seat is one of four up for election in November when the School Board begins its shift from a fully appointed nine-member board to an elected seven-member board. Her seat covers the Prices Fork and McCoy areas of the county.

So far, only one candidate has announced his intentions of running for election. Retired Army Col. Dick Edwards will seek election for his District F seat, which includes most of Blacksburg. Peggy Arrington of District G near Woodbine and Mount Tabor Road, and Bob Goncz of District B near Ellett Valley and Christiansburg have not decided.

District A and D seats, held by Annette Perkins and Barry Worth respectively, are secure until the November 1997 elections. Two town seats representing Blacksburg and Christiansburg, held by School Board Chairman Roy Vickers and Vice Chairman David Moore respectively, will be abolished in January 1998 to bring the board in line with the election districts of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors.

"Lou has been a solid, good board member," said Superintendent Herman Bartlett. "At times when we debate educational issues, the debate can move to the extreme and she is always the board member that brings us back to the center. We'll just miss her tremendously".

Herrmann, 66, said she has not heard of any potential candidates for her seat on the board, "but I'm sure I'll be delighted with whoever" is elected, she added.

Her one bit of advice for the as-yet-unknown representative: "It takes many things to develop a whole child, not one thing. And it takes the whole community working together to develop our children to their fullest."

by CNB