BEDFORD -- A Bedford County School Board member resigned before Thursday night's vote to approve a successor to Superintendent James Blevins -- but the new superintendent's identity won't be made public until a news conference today.

"I could not support putting in a superintendent who had no management experience or has never been a principal of a high school," said Talbot Huff, who represented the Moneta District before resigning prior to Thursday night's vote.

Thursday's meeting was preceded by a one-hour, 20-minute closed session. After the certification of the closed meeting, as required by state legislation, the board voted 5-1 to approve Blevins' replacement, who was not named during the board meeting. School board members declined to identify Blevins' successor after the meeting.

"We are not releasing the name," school board Chairman Gary Hostutler said in a phone interview late Thursday evening.

The new superintendent will be named at a news conference at noon today at the Bedford Science & Technology Center.

It was unclear whether the refusal to name the designee after the public vote violates Virginia's Freedom of Information Act.

"It seems to defeat the purpose of voting on something in open session under FOIA requirements if you are not going to fully disclose what you are voting on," said Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government.

Stewartsville District representative Joy Wright said the board did not identify the new hire Thursday night so he would have time to notify his current employer.

"The full intent was there's a press release tomorrow. We voted on it tonight [Thursday], and no one made of us aware of any wrongdoing. We tend to go by the book," Huddleston District representative David Black said.

Shirley McCabe, who has represented the Montvale District for 13 years, voted against the appointment. Julie Bennington, who represents the Big Island District, was absent.

Before walking out of the meeting, Huff said the selection of the superintendent was made "unilaterally" by Hostutler.

"I was a little taken back by his [Huff's] comments and his attacks on me. ... Unfortunately he chose to make a public comment about it instead of talking to me," Hostutler said.

Blevins will retire June 30. He has led the school division since 1998 when he was hired to replace John Kent. Blevins came to the county from Nottoway County, where he was superintendent for seven years. He will earn $135,313 -- not including benefits -- this school year.

The school board last fall hired a consulting company, Ray and Associates of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to conduct a national search for Blevins' successor.