Ed. — From the Sunday, March 17, print edition. After this column initially went to press, the schools provided information requested about one of the four applicants but refused to provide the rest.
BACK BAY — School Board meetings in Virginia Beach get a little spirited, but folks on the dais know the deal. You’re in the public eye. Sometimes the gig means enduring the public mouth, too.
I admire the people who jump into the arena. I’d never do it, and someone must.
But anybody who does needs to know the public must have every opportunity to vet them. Transparency matters when you have the power to change lives. That’s why I’m telling you the process of selecting an appointee to the School Board has a flaw that makes it needlessly opaque.
The District 4 seat is open due to Staci Martin’s recent resignation. Four people have applied to be an interim appointee until a special election in November.
The schools erred by giving candidates an option to withhold application information. Three of the four applicants either declined to release it or didn’t specify, which means, as I write this, the schools are withholding stuff we should see.
Appointments are a thorny subject in our city, but the City Council makes background information available before making temporary appointments — at least for finalists. This may include letters, CVs and written responses to policy questions. I hope the schools will reconsider.
I requested materials on Tuesday, March 12, the day of a meeting in which the applicants spoke. I called School Board Chairperson Kim Melnyk of District 2 when I couldn’t find information online.
“We did give them the option to release their information, and only one person said yes,” Melnyk told me that day.
The person who agreed to release information is Dr. Alveta J. Green, according to Melnyk and a schools spokesperson. The other applicants are Georgia Allen, Anissa Bowden and Shannon Kendrick.
“What the School Board is doing with this process is very transparent, and I don’t have control over a candidate who is not willing to share information,” Melnyk said. “The names are out there. We’re having an on-camera interview. That will be broadcast live at 2 p.m. on March 26.”
And that is great, but the division still is treating an aspect of appointing someone to a voting body like it’s a normal hire. We’re talking about filling a School Board seat here, even if it’s temporary. This is not a normal personnel situation.
Applicants should have known going into this process that correspondence and supporting materials should be released.
Melnyk acknowledged this is different than applying to teach. She said she’ll discuss the issue with colleagues and try to make the process more transparent.
I reached out via email to Nicole Livas, the district’s chief communications officer, and requested the materials.
“Dr. Green has agreed to release her information,” Livas wrote back. “A FOIA request would have to be made for the other resumes and applications.”
A couple days later, I don’t even have what Green agreed to release. This edition closed late Thursday, March 14. A schedule of the process published by the schools said the board may pick only some of applicants for interviews, but Melnyk said the board plans to interview all four people who stepped forward.
My issue isn’t with the candidates. The schools gave people who want to join the board – and, perhaps, get an advantage in an election – an option that shouldn’t exist.
I listened to the candidates speak this past week. Clearly, all four value our schools. I don’t envy the board for needing to choose among people who care.
My concern is process, not preference.
Veni Fields, a past contributor to our newspaper, has successfully defended her thesis as she completes the Old Dominion University MFA Creative Writing Program. I hope Fields’ journalism will return to our pages soon. Until then — congratulations, my friend.
Will Harris, another past contributor and a recent author, is now senior editor and writer at the relaunched Q Magazine. Find his work via qthemusic.com.
And recent contributor Gabriel Perry has moved on to a staff position at The Laconia Daily Sun in New Hampshire. It’s a great opportunity.
We need young journalists like Perry telling stories in our communities.
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