Bill F. Flora

• Age: 47
• Occupation: Professor of educational leadership at Radford University
• Community roots: Born in Radford, but moved while he was an infant, when his father – who served as Radford High School’s principal and then superintendent of Radford schools – left to become a professor at the University of Virginia. Moved to Radford five years ago to work at Radford University.
• Affiliations: Attends New Horizons church, where he teaches Sunday school; former Radford Rotary Club member
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from Ferrum College; master’s and Ph.D. in administration and supervision from the University of Virginia

Election index

• Other candidates in the NRV answer your questions

Why should voters vote for you?

Bill Flora: I’m certainly vested in the school system because I have four children there. So I care about it from a personal and family perspective. As a lifelong educator from a family of educators — my sister’s a retired superintendent, so we were literally a family of educators — I have a professional interest in Radford city schools being the very best school system that they possibly can be. I mean, I certainly believe that Radford city schools could be in Newsweek as one of the top school systems in the nation without much effort. They’ve got a great reputation and they’re a strong division So I’m vested professionally. I’m vested as a family member. I have strong connections to the area through my dad being here and being born here. So I care about the community. Again, I guess I would reiterate the end of that last question. Because I have spent a career as an educator I really do care about all children learning at high levels because the world that they are gong to have to be competitive in is very different from the world you and I are competitive in. I think that it’s important to support staff but to also work to help people grow professionally to sort of challenge ourselves to make sure that we’re always being the best that we can be because it’s the children and their future that we’re working with. So it’s not enough to say we’re complacent because we are comfortable as adults. We have to make sure we’re doing more than enough to provide students with the opportunities for success that we’re going to need.

What are your plans for nutrition, healthy snacks and exercise in schools, asks Nicci Cramer, a 21-year-old nursing student.

BF: Certainly, I have to work with the whole board to do those things and work through the superintendent. But we have a professor in our physical education department in Radford who works with the schools right now on improving system and teacher awareness of physical fitness and nutrition and her program is a statewide program that is apparently doing really well. And that would be a vehicle for me to address that area of concern, which is a pretty legitimate concern. We’ve got four kinds on Radford city schools and I would agree with the people on the street that it is an area of need in the system. So I think I would use my connection with the university to try to create partnerships that aren’t currently happening to help make an impact in that area.

Meg Weddle, a 48-year-old business owner, wants to know: How do you see the city’s demographics changing? How do you plan to deal with those changes?

BF: Demographic change is being experienced not just her in Radford, but all over the state and all over the nation. I don’t know the specific, current percentages of how it’s changing. I know that certainly the economy is affecting it. We’re having more diversity in the area. We’re having more socioeconomic ranges in the area. But addressing all of that is really done through a strong instructional program. I am a firm believer that all children can learn. With 18 years in public schooling myself, I have been in a number divisions where the belief that all kids can learn is actualized. Regardless of demographics or socioeconomic status or gender, every kid is achieving at a very high level. So it doesn’t both me so much about changing demographics. What I would pay attention to is making sure that the instructional program is meeting the need of kids that come and go. So that would mean finding out exactly where students are when they come into the system, understanding their actual level, and teaching to them and providing resources that are focused on instruction so that support systems are in place to ensure that kids have access and opportunities to achieve at high levels.