A high school volleyball coach, a human resources director and an attorney.

Those are the three people serving on a fact-finding panel in William Fleming High School Principal Susan Willis' closed-door grievance hearing, which will continue for the seventh day today at Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center.

Willis, who was implicated in a state Department of Education investigation for keeping dozens of students out of state-mandated Standards of Learning tests, said last week when the hearing began that she planned to refute the state's report.

Willis chose to have her case heard by a three-person, fact-finding panel. Per the Roanoke School Board's policy, the employee and the superintendent each select a panelist, both of whom must be current division employees. The third person on the panel must be mutually agreed upon. If consensus cannot be reached, a circuit court judge will make the selection.

Willis chose Cheryl Twine, Fleming's volleyball coach, to represent her. Superintendent Rita Bishop chose Sandra Burks, the division's director of human resources. The third panelist is Lorin Costanzo, a Vinton lawyer and due process hearing officer for the Department of Education.

The panel is required to make a written recommendation to the school board, which will determine whether Willis has a future as a Roanoke City Public Schools employee.

-- Courtney Cutright