Two members of the Charlottesville School Board have announced that they will not be running for reelection, bringing the total number of open seats this election year to four out of seven.
Dr. Sherry Kraft and Lashundra Bryson Morsberger both announced that they “do not intend to run for re-election” for the Charlottesville School Board. This means that, among the four seats that will be up for election for the November general election, none of the current board members have announced their intent to run for reelection.
City Schools spokeswoman Beth Chuek said it is normal for board members to choose not to run for reelection.
“It’s been completely random, when people feel like their service is done, they just don’t want to seek reelection,” Chuek told The Daily Progress on Wednesday. “Four years is a long time, and it’s a big service.”
School board members serve four-year terms. Every two years, three or four positions open up, then the elected new member begins their term the following January.
Jennifer McKeever, who was elected to the board in 2011, told The Daily Progress that she is not sure if she will run again. School Board Chair James Bryant, who was appointed to the board in 2018, will announce his decision about running at a later date.
“There are times where people have had to sit down midterm for one reason or another, that’s how Mr. Bryant was appointed in the first place,” Cheuk said. “Every other year we have an election, and that stems from when Virginia used to do appointments. So the cycle is that, in the first election, there are four open positions and, in the second, there are three, and every year it rotates.”
Emily Dooley, Lisa Larson-Torres and Dom Morse hold the remaining school board seats. Those positions will go up for election in 2024.
City Schools has urged those interested in running for school board positions to refer to the State Board of Elections website, call 434-970-3250 or email vote@charlottesville.org.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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