THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 2, 1996 TAG: 9607020234
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 36 lines
The School Board voted 5-3 Monday to elect Byron P. Kloeppel as its chairman for the upcoming year.
It voted 6-2 to elect Ray A. Smith Sr. as vice chairman.
Kloeppel, an attorney, was appointed to the board last year.
Smith, a division operations supervisor for Virginia Power, was appointed in 1994.
Board members Elizabeth Daniels, the Rev. Charles H. Bowens II and James E. Bridgeford, the previous vice chairman, voted against Kloeppel and supported Bridgeford's bid for the chairmanship.
Bridgeford and Daniels voted against Smith for vice chair.
Bowens nominated Smith for vice chair and Bridgeford for chair. Board member Mary Curran nominated Kloeppel for chairman.
Board member Lawrence W. I'Anson Jr. was absent.
Both Kloeppel, 54, and Smith, 42, said they wanted to focus on improving middle school instruction in 1996-97.
Board members' salaries will remain the same - $2,700 for each, which is the state-mandated maximum for Portsmouth's regular board members.
Portsmouth's chairman will not get any extra money, although the state allows up to $1,100 extra for school board chairpeople.
Kloeppel said he would place his stipend in an account and give the money to a graduating senior at the end of next school year - in the form of a scholarship. He said he wanted to help defray a stellar student's higher education expenses. He gave his 1995-96 stipend to a Churchland High senior.
The board's previous chairman, J. Thomas Benn III, was elected to the City Council in May. His board term expired last week.
Portsmouth had its first School Board election in May.
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH SCHOOL BOARD by CNB