Albemarle County School Board Member Chuck Pace dies

Albemarle County School Board Member Chuck Pace has died.

Pace won a special election just last month to represent the county’s Rio District on the board. He had previously been appointed to the same seat on an interim basis after Katrina Callsen resigned to run for the House of Delegates in 2023.

Pace was a husband, a father of four, a veteran and a lifelong educator.

His colleagues on the school board said they were shaken by the news. While the school division did not provide a specific cause of death, the school board’s vice chairwoman, Kate Acuff, said Pace had struggled with “health challenges.”

Despite his poor health and short time on the board, Acuff said, “he was one of the hardest-working school board members.”

“Just a week ago many of us witnessed Chuck’s swearing in to office after his decisive win in November’s special election affirmed the good work he had done during the year,” Acuff said in a statement. “Chuck was an exceptional person and during his brief time on the school board he shared his unique perspective; took the time to visit many of our schools and meet with principals, teachers, and students; and worked hard to contribute to ACPS.”

School Superintendent Matthew Haas said Pace will be remembered as a longstanding and dedicated member of Albemarle County Public Schools.

“His journey with ACPS began in 1986 as a Biology teacher at Albemarle High School and spanned more than three decades,” Haas said in a message to the school division announcing Pace’s death. “His work as an educator, mentor and leader touched many lives.”

Pace, a native of Charlottesville, graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington with a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1982. He joined the U.S. Naval Reserve out of college and retired with the rank of commander in 2001.

He first taught science at the Blue Ridge School, an all-boys boarding school in St. George, and later Natural Bridge High School in Lexington, which has since been closed, before returning to Charlottesville in 1986 to begin teaching at Albemarle High School.

His time at Albemarle was interrupted for 10 years after he took a position in the school division’s Central Office, where he served as a science instructional coordinator, developing and implementing Albemarle County’s science instructional program. He returned to Albemarle High School in 2009 and resumed teaching until 2015 while completing his coursework for a master’s degree in education at the University of Virginia.

He left Albemarle High School again in 2015 to return to the Blue Ridge School, where he served as chairman of the Science Department before retiring in 2022.

Throughout his career in education, Pace also served as a coach at the schools where he taught, instructing students in basketball, football, lacrosse, cross country, track and wrestling.

When Callsen announced her intention to resign from the Albemarle County School Board in 2023, Pace beat out five other candidates who applied to fill her seat until a special election could be held.

“I have always wanted to serve on the School Board if the opportunity ever was presented,” Pace wrote in his application to the school board.

In his interview with the board, he spoke of the importance of creating positive relationships with students.

“That’s something as an old guy I really worked hard to make sure I didn’t lose that touch with those kids and I could still make relationships with them,” said Pace, whose own children attended Albemarle County schools.

After Pace was appointed to the school board in December of 2023, he announced his intention to run in the November special election to fill the remainder of Callsen’s four-year term.

Pace defeated the only other contender in the race, teacher-turned-financial adviser Jim Dillenbeck, with 4,435 votes, or 52.63% of the vote. Both ran as independents, as school board members do in Virginia, but Pace had the backing of the local Democratic Party.

After winning November’s election, Pace announced he planned to run again in 2025. He said he looked forward to stewarding the construction of two new schoolhouses and working with educators, administrators and elected officials to improve the county’s lagging reading scores.

“Chuck’s legacy will live on in the thousands of students, colleagues and families whose lives he enriched,” Haas said Thursday. “As we mourn our loss, let us also celebrate a life spent making our community stronger, more compassionate, and more united through public education.”

School Board Chairwoman Judy Le said she had been planning on seeing Pace over the Christmas holiday.

“A week and a half before he died, he and I were discussing possibly scheduling a meeting during the holiday break,” Le said in a statement. “I grumbled at it; he said, ‘I’ll be there, and I’ll be happy to be there with all of you.’ It was genuine and I was surprised by it though I shouldn’t have been. His purpose in serving is, and will always be, inspiring. I will miss him on many levels.”

Le was not the only official who had fond memories of Pace.

“About once a month, he would stop by my office for a visit, and those moments became a cherished part of my routine,” School Board clerk Christine Thompson said in her own statement. “We would share stories about our lives, discussing our children and families, creating a bond that I will always treasure. I will miss him. He was not just a good man; he was a genuinely kind man whose impact will resonate with all of us who had the privilege of knowing him.”

The woman who Pace replaced on the board said he should be remembered and honored for his service to the school division, to the county and to the country as an educator and service member.

“Chuck gave his entire adult life to public service,” Callsen said in a statement. “He valued the importance of just doing the work that needed to be done. My heart goes out to his family.”

Albemarle County Public Schools did not immediately respond to a Daily Progress inquiry regarding Pace’s successor.

Source: www.dailyprogress.com