| Anna L. Mallory

anna.mallory@roanoke.com, 381-8627

Three of the New River Valley's school boards have seats up for grabs this election season, but just two have candidates facing opposition.

The Montgomery County School Board stands to change the most after the Nov. 3 election. Three of its seven seats are open, and both incumbents running for re-election are opposed. The third seat in District C, held by David Dunkenberger, who is not seeking another term, is likely to be filled by a write-in candidate.

In the next four years, the board will deal with the completion of two construction projects -- Eastern Montgomery Elementary School and a replacement Price's Fork Elementary School -- as well as promised new facilities projects for the Auburn strand.

Meanwhile, schools in Christiansburg are crowded, and statewide budget cuts mean times will be tough and teacher and staff wages are unlikely to rise.

With the potential for three new faces on the board, and a new superintendent expected to be chosen by the year's end, the direction of the school system could shift.

In Christiansburg, former school administrator Leonard Session hopes to oust incumbent Jamie Bond for the District D seat. In Blacksburg, George Still, a former county French teacher and a Virginia Tech doctoral student, is facing incumbent Phyllis Albritton for the District A seat.

Shawsville resident Drema Foster is not on the ballot but has been running a write-in campaign to replace Dunkenberger. Foster, a 39-year-old mother of one who has lived in Shawsville all her life, said she wants to focus on finding ways for schools to reach "the middle child," who is classified as neither gifted nor in special education.

Foster missed the filing deadline to be placed on the ballot.

Here's a look at the candidates and what they want to accomplish, if elected:

Jamie Bond

District D

Age: 43

Job: Stylist and owner of Old Town Barber & Hair Salon

Bond is running for her second term on the board. She has been a member since 2005.

She said she thinks she's an asset to the board because she has children in the school system -- one at Falling Branch Elementary School and one at Christiansburg High School -- and she can reach a more blue-collar group of constituents.

"I just want to be involved and make a difference," she said.

She said her first few years on the board have been a learning experience and the most difficult part is the disciplinary matters the board must handle -- deciding whether to expel or readmit students to school.

Bond has called for stronger anti-bullying messages in the schools as well as tougher stances on the illegal drugs and fighting in schools. She initiated the idea for the board to meet with law enforcement officers to discuss the problems, although that meeting has yet to take place.

If re-elected, Bond said she would support increasing extracurricular and vocational offerings in schools. She is graduate of Christiansburg High School's cosmetology program and has often said that it's important to remember that not all students are ready for a four-year college experience.

She said she wants to see the county have more dual-enrollment opportunities for career and technical students.

Sports and clubs can "give kids something to look forward to" if they're not performing well in school or can help keep their grades up. The activities also boost confidence and parent involvement, she said.

Leonard Session

District D

Age: 55

Job: Virginia Tech Police Department communications officer

Session, a former Montgomery County school administrator with 29 years of experience as a teacher, central office employee and principal, now is looking to sit on the policy-making side of the table. For years, he has attended school board meetings, and he said this election cycle was the time to make a difference or move on.

If elected, Session said he wants the district to focus on its facilities issues and vocational education.

Session spent 14 years teaching industrial education in Roanoke before becoming an assistant principal in Montgomery County. In 2006, he was fired from his position at Auburn Middle School, and county law enforcement escorted him from the building. He said the decision to run has little to do with the departure of former Superintendent Tiffany Anderson, who initially made the decision to let him go. Session said he has no comment on the matter or whether he will release his personnel files.

Neither Session nor the school board will comment on the reason for his departure. However, at least three board members --Wendell Jones, Wat Hopkins and Penny Franklin -- he would serve with were on the board at that time.

The biggest chunk of Sessions' platform is his experience as an educator. For two years before becoming Auburn's principal, he worked as a drop-out prevention coordinator for the school system. There, he worked with the court system and referred students for alternative education placement.

"Students deserve to be able to achieve the best way they can," he said.

He also is in the process of a doctoral degree in educational leadership, but he said he has little desire to return to schools as an administrator.

Instead, he wants to make improvements to the system as a whole.

Session wants the school system to take a look at increasing its vocational programs and to think about using at least one of its forthcoming vacant schools as an academy for performing arts and career and technical skill courses.

He also said he would support single-sex classrooms, particularly for core classes such as math at the middle school level. Auburn Middle used that method during his tenure, he said.

George Still

District A

Job: Doctoral student at Virginia Tech

Age: 27

George Still spent two years as a French teacher in Montgomery County while finishing his doctorate in sociology at Virginia Tech.

If elected, Still said he wants to focus on finding ways to get more students and parents involved in districtwide decisions, to increase the amount of after-school activities in place and to be more cautious with spending.

"As a teacher, I have seen a lot of wasteful spending," he said.

He suggests finding more economic ways to use school supply budgets and empty facilities, monitoring bus routes and boosting partnership with local colleges as cost-cutting measures.

He said that if the school system were more open with parents, they would be more willing to participate. He wants to see the school board measure parent and student satisfaction more regularly.

Still, who has a degree in religious education, also favors starting school about 1 1/2 hours later so students are more rested. Some researchers have shown links to later start times and decreased drop-out rates.

Still said he also favors creating flexible schedules that could free students for more work-based learning during their junior and senior years. His desire for flexible schedules extends to home-schooled students. He wants them to have access to county classes they might miss at home.

"I think this is important because everyone's taxes fund schools and should be able to receive benefits from this money," he said.

Phyllis Albritton

District A

Job: Financial adviser

Age: 71

If re-elected, Albritton would begin her first full term on the board. She was appointed to the position in 2007 and voters elected her during a special election last year.

Albritton's biggest priorities as a board member are supporting reading and arts programs, increasing teacher pay and beefing up the school system's foundation. She wants to make sure students know how to read by the end of third grade because of her belief that prison populations are predicted by the number of students who cannot do so.

Albritton said the budgeting season last year, during which the board had to cut $3 million from its budget, was the most challenging for her. That's why the foundation is on her priority list. After Superintendent Tiffany Anderson left, Albritton made it a point to get the foundation's board on track.

"The only way to deal with the [budget] cuts is to get it going," she said.

Overall, Albritton said she's pleased with the overall direction of the school system. She points to positive programs, such as alternative education options and special resources for students who perform poorly on exams.

She said she would support better ways to get parents involved and a resurgence of the countywide PTA council.

She praises the partnerships the county has in place and said she wants to see them grow to all parts of the district.

"We're lucky to have the volunteers we have," she said.

The Montgomery County Education Association, which represents teachers and staff, chose to endorse Albritton because her "determination always to do what is best for school children and the professionals who work with them has never waivered," according to an endorsement announcement.

The association said they could support either candidate in District D.