ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 3, 1993                   TAG: 9311030294
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS and STEPHEN FOSTER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short


VOTERS SAY YES TO ELECTED SCHOOL BOARD

20 of 20 precincts reporting.

Yes 13,656 (73 percent)

No 4,992 (27 percent)

Lynn Linkous, organizer of the effort to change Montgomery County's system of choosing School Board members, was pleased but not surprised by Tuesday's vote.

"Overall, we're not being well represented by our School Board right now," she said.

Earlier this year, the Montgomery School Board refused to change its secular designation of holidays as winter and spring break to Christmas and Easter holidays.

That decision angered some county residents and fueled dissent that translated into votes for changing from an appointed to an elected School Board.

Linkous maintained the issue went beyond religious holidays. "It's all about power," she said, adding that many county residents felt local schools were unresponsive.

"It's still a long road ahead of us," Linkous said. "This vote isn't the solution to all our problems. But it is a step in the right direction."

Robert Goncz, vice chairman of the School Board, said Tuesday night, "It was a given."

Even with opponents' concerns that the board would become increasingly political, "eventually, good people who want to serve, will serve," he said.

Montgomery County voters must wait until 1995 to elect School Board members.

Keywords:
EELECTION



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