THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 5, 1996 TAG: 9607030248
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover story
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 55 lines
James J. Wheaton was sworn in last week as a newly elected board member.
But he's not exactly new.
He was first appointed to the School Board in 1991, and has served ever since.
Over the five years, Wheaton, a lawyer, has seen a lot of changes in his life. He's got three young kids now; his oldest, Mary Frances, 5, was still on the way when he joined the board.
He's become a computer whiz, and an advocate for children with Down syndrome, a condition caused by a chromosomal abnormality. Wheaton's daughter, 3-year-old Annie, has Down syndrome.
Now he's become among the first people in the city to find out what it feels like to campaign for the School Board.
His conclusion: ``The election process is not pleasant. It's grueling, it's hard on your family, it's expensive.''
He had the added difficulty of another baby on the way. His wife, Laurie, 34, gave birth just as the campaign got under way. Will is now 4 1/2 months old.
``It was real hard,'' he said. ``I have a lot of thank-you notes I'm still writing, because I had to spend so much time with my kids, to make up for all the time I was away during the campaign.''
Wheaton estimates he knocked on 19,000 Chesapeake residents' doors, to tell them why they should vote for him.
He fears that sometime down the road, there may be too few qualified candidates willing to undergo such rigors.
For now, though, he's happy with how the election turned out. Many good candidates chose to run, and voters seemed to choose based upon candidates' qualifications, not just their endorsement by groups.
``I think it's the highest public service calling in the city,'' he said.
``I'm a firm believer that the public education system is going to be the thing that determines how well our community does.''
He sees a tough agenda for the School Board in the future.
For one thing, he said, board members must convince City Council of the need to fully fund the board's budget for school building projects; the projects are needed to reduce crowding in schools, and to make way for droves of new students expected in future years.
Board members also must figure out how to pay for improvements in technology for schools, such as new computers for classrooms.
That's one of Wheaton's areas of expertise. He's created sites on the Internet with information about Chesapeake schools, and is head of the technology committee at his Norfolk-based law firm, Willcox & Savage.
``We've got an awful lot we've got to accomplish,'' Wheaton said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JIMMY WALKER
James J. Wheaton, a lawyer, said the campaign was grueling work.
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE SCHOOL BOARD by CNB