THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 9, 1995 TAG: 9508090401
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
In their first chance to publicly tell the City Council how they think School Board members should be elected, eight city residents said they favored a ward or district system, or a mixed system of ward and at-large board seats.
Only one resident urged the council Tuesday to stick with its current system of electing city officials at-large when School Board elections are held for the first time next May.
Residents who said they favored anything but a purely at-large system called for more neighborhood diversity on a board traditionally dominated by Churchland-area residents. And several suggested that ward voting might increase parental and citizen involvement in a neighborhood's schools.
``I don't think you can go wrong in having a representative group that represents the city,'' Louis Whitehead of Westhaven told the council.
Tuesday's public hearing was the first on the matter. The next hearing is set for Oct. 9 at the council chambers. The council is scheduled to select a plan on Oct. 24. The decision is a key one because it may affect how all city leaders are elected if federal officials reject the local preference for electing board members.
Last fall, Portsmouth voters overwhelmingly approved the switch from an appointed to an elected School Board. How board members should be elected is proving to be a tougher question.
Few of the speakers offered detailed advice on what any ward lines should be based on, or how wards could best be used to foster maximum voter participation. Several said it was the council's job to deal with the nitty-gritty.
In recent months, issues concerning race, class and neighborhood loyalty; and questions about whether elected board members will look out for all city schoolchildren also have emerged.
This fall, the council will craft several plans, present them to the public for more input and, by late October, select one to submit to the U.S. Justice Department for approval. The city hopes to have all of that done by Nov. 1.
Because Virginia has a history of voting-rights abuses, the federal department must approve Portsmouth's plan. In the past, city board members were appointed at-large. But the council, which is elected at-large, can set up another system for the board. Five of nine board seats will be up for election on May 7.
The department can take up to 60 days to respond to the city's plan and review any supporting evidence the city provides. Ultimately, it could nudge the city to change the way all public officials are elected, as it did in Newport News last year.
Chesapeake and department officials have yet to reach common ground on the way board elections should be conducted in that city, which elects council members at-large.
In several ways, Portsmouth's recent history differs markedly from that in neighboring cities. The city, for example, has had a black city manager, mayor and schools superintendent. The majority-black school district also has been led by a majority-black board, although that's not currently the case.
Raymond Turner, a former board member and one of the first black council members, urged City Council members to lean toward a mixed system for board elections. He questioned whether an elected board without taxing power could make any real differences.
But the real test, he said, ``is going to be how many people are going to participate in the (School Board) elections.'' by CNB