THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 3, 1996 TAG: 9607030469
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 67 lines
In their first official action as a group, members of the Virginia Beach School Board voted to go into a closed meeting for two hours and 10 minutes to choose their next chairman and vice chairman.
They emerged to unanimously elect Robert F. Hagans as the board's chairman and Delceno C. Miles as vice chairwoman.
The united support surprised many in the audience who had taken the lengthy executive session as a sign that the board was divided. The absence of board member Donald F. Bennis made a 5 to 5 deadlock possible. But Hagans and Miles were unopposed in their nominations to the two posts, and the board members, half of them serving at their first meeting, matter-of-factly moved on to other business.
Hagans, a practicing attorney in Norfolk, is a graduate of Bayside High School and former chairman of the Virginia Beach Community Services Board. He was appointed to the School Board as representative of the Bayside Borough by the city's circuit court judges in April.
Miles, a Cox High School graduate, owns a Virginia Beach public relations firm. She was appointed to the board in March by the City Council, then elected to the Blackwater Burrough seat in May.
The election of new board leadership and seating of the new members kicks off what many hope will be a reversal in the school division's fortunes after a tumultuous and often painful year.
The discovery of a $12.1 million budget shortfall at the end of the 1994-95 fiscal year and the ensuing special grand jury investigation and report were compounded by the realization that the 1995-96 budget was riddled with miscalculations. Strict spending measures were put in place in an effort to right the district financially, but staff morale has crumbled in the interim.
The arrival of Timothy R. Jenney as superintendent in February brought more changes, including his reorganization of the district office, which has been met by internal criticism. Board members have supported Jenney, however.
Earlier in the day, Jenney confirmed that Bernard Morgan had asked to remain as principal at Tallwood High School rather than become the assistant superintendent for high school education, a new post Morgan was appointed to at the board's last meeting.
Parents, students and staff had rallied to keep the popular principal at the school. Morgan said his love for the kids at Tallwood made it difficult to leave.
``I have rethought this,'' he said. ``I was having withdrawal pains about the kids. I would have missed them so much.''
Morgan declined to discuss widespread rumors that he had been pressured into the job by administration officials and had never applied for it on his own. He referred those questions to Jenney, who also declined to comment.
``I think all of that's a moot point,'' Jenney said.
Late Tuesday evening the board had announced no new action on administrative appointments. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ROBERT F. HAGANS
Hagans is a practicing attorney in Norfolk. The new School Board
chairman graduated from Bayside High School and represents the
Bayside Borough. He is a former chairman of the Virginia Beach
Community Services Board.
Photo by L. TODD SPENCER, The Virginian-Pilot
Emerging from a lengthy closed session Tuesday, Tim Jackson and
other Virginia Beach School Board members went on to unanimously
support a new chairman and vice chairwoman.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOL BOARD by CNB