THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 8, 1996 TAG: 9605080405
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
The next era of leadership on the School Board began Tuesday with the election of five new members to a board virtually unrecognizable from what it was three months ago.
Despite a year of budget crises, voters chose new School Board members who focused on teamwork and rebuilding community confidence rather than financial accountability.
Nancy Dahlman Guy and Rosemary A. Wilson emerged as big winners while appointed incumbent Donald F. Bennis squeaked by real estate broker Gail A. Ball in a race too close to call until the very end.
H.L. ``Les'' Powell Jr. and Neil L. Rose also won seats on the board.
Guy, who will take on the Lynnhaven Borough seat, and Wilson, who won an at-large seat, pulled in the largest share of votes. Powell will represent the Princess Anne Borough and Rose will hold an at-large seat. Bennis will fill out the remainder of a two-year at-large term on the board.
Appointed incumbent Delceno C. Miles was unopposed for the Blackwater Borough seat and Arthur T. Tate was unopposed in the Beach Borough.
For the second time, none of the candidates endorsed by Kids First, the conservative watchdog group, won a seat on the board. In campaign advertisements, the group had sought to link the Virginia Beach Education Association and the candidates it backed in 1994 with the school district's $12.1 million deficit at the end of the last fiscal year and other controversies.
Unlike the last election when their candidates swept the board, the VBEA's selections in the crowded four-year at-large field, Stuart R. Gordon and Robert J. Brich, fell short. However, the VBEA, which represents almost 4,000 school district employees, also supported Guy, Powell and Bennis.
The winners sounded themes of restoring confidence, working as a team and moving the division forward. Guy was heartened by her victory, saying it came out of a campaign focused on credentials and issues, not politics.
``I'm extremely gratified by the confidence Virginia Beach voters have shown in me, excited by the challenge,'' Guy said. ``(I'm) looking forward to reaching a consensus on the board, ending fiscal difficulties, focusing on education.''
Wilson's victory emerged out of a broad base of big name, bipartisan supporters.
``I am ecstatic. This has been a we-thing. It's nothing that I've done on my own. I had an awful lot of help,'' Wilson said. ``When you talk to over 200 elected officials, state constitutional officers, school personnel and business leaders, you get a pretty clear picture of what the community is looking for in the school system.''
Powell and Rose saw teamwork as key to the board's future.
``I'd like to see us come together and work as a group,'' Powell said. ``We've got a lot of work ahead of us and we can't do it unless we work as a team.''
Rose said a year from now he's ``confident, we won't be talking about money problems and we'll be working to improve the system.''
Bennis, who waited out the election results at the Circuit Court clerk's office, said that although the vote totals must be certified by the court he felt ``very confident'' that his 215-vote margin of victory would stand.
He said that the support of educators, including the Virginia Beach Education Association, was an important part of his victory.
``The teachers stood by me and the administration stood by me,'' Bennis said.
Candidates and their workers stood in pouring rain Tuesday, giving their final pitch to voters as they headed into the polls. A field that began with 50 candidates had narrowed to a still unwieldy 43 by Election Day. ****************** Recent financial woes in the school system brought on a surge of candidates with backgrounds in money management, but left some worried that the new board might lose focus of its overriding mission to serve the city's children.< Those elected represent a cross-section of professional backgrounds, including two practicing attorneys, a former attorney turned full-time mother, a former teacher, a state trooper, a public relations professional and government engineer. The school district has survived a turbulent year and must now rebuild with a largely inexperienced board and a superintendent who has been on the job less than three months. Two board members resigned for personal reasons in February and five more resigned in the wake of a scathing special grand jury report. Of the 11 members serving a year ago, two will remain as of July 1.
The challenges facing the new board are many even as they come up to speed on their duties and responsibilities. While the outgoing board has laid the foundation for rebuilding the district's financial credibility, the new members will have to act quickly to insure stability in a district that has seen many changes in the last year and where staff morale has fluctuated sharply. MEMO: Staff writers Tom Holden and Jo-Ann Clegg and correspondent Nancy Lewis
contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by CANDICE CUSIC, The Virginian-Pilot
Nancy Dahlman Guy, center, newly chosen to the School Board,
celebrates with, from left, Loryn Utterback-Duncan; Guy's daughter,
Maggie, 8; and School Board member Karen O'Brian.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOL BOARD RACE ELECTION RESULTS by CNB