THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, January 31, 1997              TAG: 9701310547
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   44 lines

PETITION DRIVE TO ELECT SCHOOL BOARD FAILS FOR THE FOURTH TIME SINCE 1992 CITIZENS FAIL, BUT THEY SAY THEY WON'T GIVE UP.

For the fourth time since 1992, a petition drive seeking a vote on whether residents should elect the city's School Board, failed to muster enough signatures.

The latest drive, which faced a Jan. 25 deadline, fell at least 1,500 votes short of the necessary 8,400 registered voters, said Ernie Edwards, a Ghent resident and member of Citizens for Quality Education, which led the effort.

Despite the setback, Edwards and other organizers said they don't plan to give up. They will have to start over from scratch.

``It's not a dead issue,'' said Bay View Civic League president John E. Roger, a petition organizer. ``If people don't get involved in the issues facing the schools they're just going to go down the tubes. Apathy is one of the main diseases in this country.''

Edwards argues that residents have a democratic right to choose whether to elect School Board members, who in Norfolk this year are responsible for spending about $200 million in tax dollars and setting education policies for 36,000 schoolchildren.

Residents in every other city in South Hampton Roads have made the switch to elected school boards since the General Assembly in 1992 gave localities the option. Norfolk's City Council continues to appoint the School Board.

``I just think it's not a burning issue with the citizens. That's pretty evident,'' said Councilman W. Randy Wright, who four years ago led a petition drive that collected more than 14,000 signatures in a few weeks to oppose a church rezoning.

While Wright said he supports elected school boards, he added: ``I think the council appointments have worked pretty well. Nothing is perfect - even elections aren't perfect.''

Edwards said he is convinced that enough support eventually will be found to force a referendum on the issue.

The drive, launched in May, spanned two elections - last May's primary and the November general election, but rain and a shortage of volunteers dampened efforts, he said. The group needed the signatures of at least 10 percent of the city's registered voters as of last Jan. 1.

KEYWORDS: ELECTED SCHOOL BOARD OFFICIAL NORFOLK SCHOOL BOARD

ELECTION