Featuring Rotarian Dan Edwards

Va. Beach School Board:
Incumbent ousted; voters add two new faces

By Lauren Roth, The Virginian-Pilot - 11/5/2008

VIRGINIA BEACH
Voters on Tuesday apparently swept one incumbent off the School Board and ushered in two newcomers.

The results are unofficial, based on 94 of 95 city precincts that had been counted this morning.

Although the School Board is organized into at-large and district seats, all city voters can vote in all races. Eleven candidates were competing for six seats.

Brent McKenzie, a Norfolk schoolteacher and former legislative assistant to state Del. Bobby Mathieson, defeated two-term board member Michael Stewart for the Rose Hall seat. Stewart, who pushed the school division to make the achievement of African American males a priority, had lost the support of many teachers after referring to them as deluded “Pluto people” during a March 2007 speech about professional development.

McKenzie said during the campaign that he would work across partisan divides. On Tuesday night, he promised to “bring a spotlight” to the areas of Green Run, Holland and Plaza, which are part of Rose Hall.

In the at-large race, five candidates were competing for two seats. Rita Sweet Bellitto, the board vice chairman, was easily re-elected. Voters chose Patrick Salyer from among four first-time challengers for the second seat. He defeated Erika Walker-Cash, Mavel Velasco and Gertrude “Bunny” Waugh.

Salyer, a Navy veteran, campaigned in support of requiring the school division to spend 65 percent of its dollars in the classroom. He also had the backing of the Republican Party and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling.
He will head into his new post with three goals, Salyer said Tuesday: emphasizing classroom learning over testing, ensuring student safety from drugs and gangs and increasing teacher pay while reducing overhead costs.

Board Chairman Dan Edwards was returned to office, defeating French Mackes, who ran unsuccessfully for a City Council at-large seat in 2006 on a platform that included tax credits and vouchers for private schools.

“I think, as a 10-year incumbent, it just reinforces the satisfaction the community has, both with where we’ve been and where we’re headed,” Edwards said.

Two incumbents – Sandra Smith-Jones and Bill Brunke – ran unopposed. Brunke was appointed to the Princess Anne seat in June . Smith-Jones has been on the board since 2000.

Lauren Roth, (757) 222-5133 or lauren.roth@pilotonline.com.

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