THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 12, 1996 TAG: 9604120620
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
The Virginia Beach Education Association has recommended candidates in the four contested races for the School Board, and the only incumbent running for re-election is among them.
In the race for a two-year at-large seat, the VBEA chose incumbent Donald F. Bennis, an attorney; for the two four-year at-large seats, business executive Robert J. Brich and attorney Stuart R. Gordon were recommended.
For the Lynnhaven Borough seat, the VBEA chose former attorney Nancy Dahlman Guy. For the Princess Anne Borough, H.L. ``Les'' Powell Jr., a Virginia state trooper, was recommended. The candidates in the Beach and Blackwater boroughs are unopposed and there were no recommendations.
The association also made recommendations in the at-large City Council race, choosing Harold Heischober. The Beach and Blackwater borough candidates are unopposed and there were no recommendations. No recommendation was made for Princess Anne Borough.
In the mayor's race, VBEA president Vickie J. Hendley said the group believed Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf should be returned to that post, but the group did not have her go through the recommendation process because of Oberndorf's recently diagnosed illness. Oberndorf is undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
Candidates were asked to respond to 32 questions in writing and to take part in an interview with a team of VBEA members, Hendley said.
She said the School Board candidates who were recommended most consistently agreed with teachers on their top priorities for public schools: an emphasis on the basics, a focus on the need to prepare students for the future, the need to return order and discipline to the classroom, and the need to increase parental and community involvement in the schools.
Fiscal responsibility was also discussed at length, she said.
The VBEA, whose members include 3,900 of the division's teachers, teacher assistants, custodians and other employees, is calling the selections recommendations rather than endorsements. Hendley said the VBEA prefers to call the choices recommendations because endorsements imply they are telling people how to vote rather than suggesting. by CNB