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The Henrico School Board is accepting applications through Aug. 30 for its next Tuckahoe District representative.
Board members expect to appoint an interim representative for the district Sept. 20 to replace Lisa Marshall, who held the seat for nearly 11 years until her resignation this week. Marshall is battling breast cancer but said her prognosis is good.
The new appointee will serve the rest of Marshall's term, through next year. The entire School Board is up for election in November 2019.
Information about how to apply for the position will be available on the school system's website (http://henricoschools.us) by this afternoon. Once the application deadline has passed, the other four board members will select several candidates to interview in person during a special meeting Sept. 6, Board Chairwoman Micky Ogburn (Three Chopt District) said during a work session Thursday.
Then, the board will hold a public hearing Sept. 13 at 4 p.m. at the New Bridge Auditorium to receive comments about the finalists from members of the public. Board members will make their selection during a special meeting Sept. 20, and the new representative will be installed in time to join the board for its Sept. 27 meeting, Ogburn said.
"We feel like it is important for the Tuckahoe District to be represented as quickly as possible," she said.
School Board members have filled two seats on an interim basis in recent years. Both times, they purposely selected candidates who had indicated that they wouldn't plan to seek the seat permanently. But both times, the appointees – Robert Boyle in the Three Chopt District in September 2013 and Pierre Greene in the Fairfield District in August 2015 – did decide to seek election.
Boyle failed to earn the required number of signatures to be included on the ballot for a special election in 2014, however, while Greene's decision came to late for him to be included on the ballot in the November 2015 general election, and he waged an unsuccessful write-in campaign.
This time, board members won't require applicants to refrain from seeking the seat permanently.
The interim appointee will serve an extended period of time – almost as long as legally permitted by Virginia state code. The reason: code dictates that a special election for a vacant seat be held in conjunction with the next scheduled general election – unless the seat is vacated within 90 days of that election, Henrico County Attorney Joe Rapisarda said.
Marshall's resignation came 77 days prior to this year's general election (Nov. 6), triggering a clause in the code that defers a special election until the subsequent general election. But the entire School Board already is up for election next November, negating the need for a special election for the Tuckahoe seat.
Ogburn thanked Marshall, on behalf of the board, for her work as a board member.
"It's an understatement to say that we admire her dedication to this school system," Ogburn said. "Her ability over the last few months to do what she has done and her dedication and loyalty, staying on through the superintendent search and having her district represented in that process, is kind of amazing, and it's amazing that she was able to do that and have [breast cancer] treatment at the same time.
"She's our go-to person, and we are truly, truly going to miss her."
