THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 3, 1994 TAG: 9410010010
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Virginia Beach School Board member Charles W. Vincent is tasked with screening architectural and construction firms that seek school system contracts. After a late-August meeting of the two-person screening committee, he sent letters soliciting contributions to retire his $4,600 campaign debt from some of the firms that appeared before the committee.
Vincent says he doesn't see ``where I've done anything wrong.''
We don't see where he belongs on the School Board.
Whether Vincent's appeals to firms that may do business with the school system constitute illegal conduct is a matter for the commonwealth's attorney, who is investigating. Clearly, however, they constitute conduct that is unethical for any public official and inexemplary for a member of a board charged with overseeing a school system and dealing discipline to students.
Were this Charles Vincent's first brush with controversy since his election to the board, it would be reason enough for him to resign his seat.
But this sad scenario is not Vincent's first difficulty since election to the board last May. During the campaign, he touted a Ph.D. in counseling psychology. Vincent insists he ``earned'' that degree and the honorific ``Doctor'' that accompanies a Ph.D.
But that degree has been revealed to have been conferred within three weeks of his application for it by a California school that operates under a religious exemption out of a personal residence and includes in its offerings ``the Master Course in Natural Nutrition'' for $800.
The degree in counseling psychology it conferred upon Vincent does not begin to meet the requirements of a doctorate in psychology recognized by the American Psychology Association or any body that accredits institutions of higher learning. And whether it meets the requirements of California law that religious institutions confer only religious degrees is at best debatable.
As we said earlier, Vincent's insistence on using the title ``Doctor'' and his citation of that degree as the basis for it is pretentious, and a poor example for schoolchildren. His colleagues on the board and the school administration, however, have continued to recognize his use of the title.
If, given this new revelation, Vincent refuses to resign, he should at least voluntarily suspend his School Board duties until the commonwealth's attorney makes some disposition of his case. If he chooses neither to resign nor step aside temporarily, then other School Board members, out of concern for the reputation of the city's first elected school board if not for their own, should ensure that he is relieved of all tasks and committees to which he has been assigned.
Failing that, citizens of Virginia Beach concerned that its elected School Board members adhere to the higher standard of ethical conduct, not just the minimal standard of non-criminal conduct, should research other remedies for removing Charles Vincent from this post.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOL BOARD by CNB