Supporters push for elected Norfolk School Board

NORFOLK

In the wake of Superintendent Richard Bentley's dismissal after just 15 months on the job, advocates for electing the city's School Board are again circulating petitions to place the question on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Supporters also pushed last year for such a referendum, which would ask residents whether the board should be elected, rather than appointed by the City Council. Norfolk has South Hampton Roads' only appointed School Board.

This year, the petition has gained traction from some higher-profile supporters, including Norfolk Federation of Teachers President Thomas Calhoun.

"The citizens of Norfolk need to have a voice and be aware of what's going on" within the board, said Calhoun, who added that he's acting as a concerned resident, not head of the union.

"Why can't we have ours elected? Who decided we can't have it? This is America."

The paperwork to start the petition drive was filed this week in Norfolk Circuit Court by Patrick Smith, who said he's a retired Air Force veteran with a son at Norview High School.

Smith said an elected board would not be a panacea for all the division's problems but that "the right track, first, is to give a voice to the people of Norfolk," he said.

"We need to get out there and start educating ourselves about what these candidates are about, and if our values coordinate with the candidates'."

The campaign needs to collect at least 11,865 signatures from registered voters, equal to 10 percent of the city's total voters, to get the question on the fall ballot. Organizers have until 111 days before the Nov. 6 election, which means they must submit the signatures by July 18.

Most board members, including Chairman Kirk Houston, did not respond Thursday to phone calls and email messages about the petition. Member Warren Stewart deferred to Houston.

On the City Council, the proposed referendum has at least one ally, Andy Protogyrou.

"That's something that does give more of an opportunity for individuals to have a say in government," he said, "which is something I really, really believe in. I'd encourage it."

Councilman Barclay Winn was more tepid, saying the appointive system has resulted in a strong School Board.

"I'd wonder if we'd end up with the same caliber" under an elected system, he said. "With the headlines and all, it's easy to take a shot at the School Board, and even the council, but I know I have confidence they're going to turn this whole thing around."

Mayor Paul Fraim said he supported the current board.

"I have no issue with elected school boards; however, the process in Virginia doesn't allow the School Board authority to raise revenue," he said. "If they had the authority to raise revenue, then I think it'd be a much better process."

Last year, the campaign for a referendum on the issue was a reaction to a testing scandal that burst open in the division in 2010. In some cases, the administration withheld information on improprieties from board members, and residents criticized the division for a lack of transparency.

Max Shapiro led last year's drive, which petered out well short of the minimum number of necessary signatures. Shapiro has more allies this year, and Calhoun said the effort would be better organized and recruit many more campaign volunteers.

"It is going to be civic leagues, it is going to be organizations, it is going to be churches," he said. He said many teachers who live in Norfolk probably would be active in the effort as well.

Those behind the campaign are frustrated primarily by Bentley's dismissal and the failure of 10 of the division's 45 schools to win full accreditation.

Bentley was dismissed by the board, although it required him to submit a letter of resignation. He did so in November. Members portrayed his exit as a mutual agreement, but a copy of the separation contract obtained by The Pilot described his departure as an involuntary termination.

Some residents at the board's meeting that month accused members of being beholden to and controlled by the council. "I'm disgusted by it," Peggy Scott, a PTA member, told the board.

Calhoun also attended the meeting. "You are the problem - it's not the superintendent," he told members.

Steven G. Vegh, 757-446-2417 or steven.vegh@pilotonline.com