King George School Board to Announce Candidate Selected to Fill Vacant Seat on Monday
The Board held a special meeting this week to hear from the candidates.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Email Adele
Candidates hoping to fill a vacant seat on the King George School Board will not find out whether they have been selected this week via phone call from Chair David Bush, as was announced on Monday.
Bush said during a special meeting that the Board would make its choice during a closed session that night and that he would call the candidates “over the next two days” to let them know the decision. The decision would be announced to the community at the Board’s next regular meeting on October 14.
However, superintendent Jesse Boyd sent a follow-up email to candidates on Tuesday informing them that, per requirements set forth in Virginia Code, the appointment will need to take place at the next regular meeting and “NOT via a phone call by the Board Chair.”
“This is due to the requirement in accordance with section 2.2-3707 that the Board shall announce the names of all persons being proposed for the interim appointment and shall make available for inspection each person’s resume and any other materials at least seven days prior to making such interim appointment,” Boyd wrote. “The Board was very interested in the Chair making personal phone calls following the interviews. Unfortunately this will not be possible.”
Five candidates were present at the special meeting on Monday to address the Board regarding their qualifications and interest in filling the James Monroe District seat recently vacated by Matthew Roles.
Two members of the public spoke in support of one of the candidates, Carrie Cleveland.
Cleveland has served on the county’s Citizens Budget Advisory Board and on the Service Authority Board. On Monday, she said she that with three children currently attending King George schools, she has “a vested interest” in the School Board.
A veteran of the military, Cleveland said she “believes in freedom and will fight to uphold the Constitution,” that she will prioritize school safety and caring for the division’s teachers, and that the role of the school system is to learn “traditional reading, writing, and arithmetic without opinions and influence on either side.”
“Students should not be exposed to information that’s not appropriate for their ages or level of understanding,” she added.
A second candidate, Brian Metts, said his experience growing up in a community still recovering from segregation showed him what happens when diverse populations don’t receive equal educational opportunities.
An engineer, Metts said he has experience “bringing diverse groups together and converging on the best solution we can all agree on.”
“In all of my career, that has been the expertise I have brought to the table,” he said. “This Board sets policy. It doesn’t execute policy. It’s important to have somebody on the board that can bring the group together.”
Miriam Niemi, a third candidate for the vacant seat, previously ran against Roles in 2021. A fluent Spanish-speaker, she has worked for ParentLink, a communications company that supports K-12 school districts, and has served as president of the King George Preschool PTA and the Sealston Elementary PTA.
She said she is the parent of a special education student and would bring that unique perspective to the Board.
Candidate Neil Richard is an educator and graduate of King George schools. He began his comments by describing his physical appearance for the benefit of those with blindness or low vision and expressing a hope that the captioning is adequate for those who are deaf.
As a teacher, he said he understands the difficult decisions educators make on a daily basis and that he would work to improve staff morale.
“My motivation is simple—to make a positive impact,” Richard said.
The fifth candidate to speak, Alexander Strugatsky, a retired engineer who has worked for the Marine Corps and the Navy, said he’d like to see students more engaged and excited about coming to school. In his written statement, he said he has experience in “teaching and working with young adults.”
“As I am currently retired, I have the time and ability to help our community attain educational success,” Strugatsky wrote.
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