HANOVER COUNTY, Va. -- Hanover residents voted not to change the way Hanover School Board members are selected to serve. By a margin of 2,300 votes, residents chose to keep Hanover School Board members appointed by the Hanover Board of Supervisors as opposed to voted on by the community members, according to the Department of Elections.
The referendum was voted down 53% to 47%, which means Hanover will remain one of a select number of Virginia localities without an elected school board.
Karen Readon, a member of the Hanover Parents Against Political School Boards, celebrated the referendum's failure.
“The job of determining policy and budget for our kids is a really important one. It’s important we keep the political games and nastiness out of it and keep our focus on education on our kids,” Readon said.
Some who voted no said no change was needed because current leaders have made good decisions that show the district has the highest standard of learning scores across the region.
Readon said that was reflected by the result and she believed it showed that sometimes the newest way of doing things, or doing things others are doing, isn’t what is best for your locality.
“It really wasn’t in the best interest of students here,” she said.
The topic hadn’t been voted on since the 1990s. Per results on the Department of Elections website, over 40% of residents turned out to make their voices heard.
Major precincts including Ashland, Mechanicsville, and Cool Spring voted to change the process of electing board members.
While precincts including Beaverdam, Atlee, Clay, and Rockville voted no.
The results let down members of the bipartisan group Hanover Citizens for an Elected School Board.
“It was hard to see it not pass. But we are so not out,” mother Kiri Berden said.
The group worked to gather more than 12,000 signatures this summer to get the issue on the ballot.
They believe when parents have the opportunity to vote more parents are involved.
“We want to be able to choose from a plethora of candidates who are wise, care, are involved, and diverse,” she said. “It just feels like the same old same old stuff."
Many who voted yes believed electing school board members would reduce politics, create transparency, and give voters a direct voice for who represents them.
The Hanover Parents Against Political School Boards hope to look at concerns people expressed on the opposite side of the issue around transparency and term limits.
They hope everyone will keep pushing for the best education for kids in Hanover.
Readon said they were happy to come together with people to figure out what those things are so we can fix them.
The Hanover Citizens for an Elected School Board believe another 30 years won’t go by before this issue is revisited and voted on again. They said they have to wait at least four years before the issue can go back on the ballot.
According to the school board website, two of the current Hanover school board members' terms will be up in June 2024.
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