By Luke Fountain
With two of three precincts reporting Tuesday night, newcomer Paula Charlton is leading the Buena Vista School Board race with 22.51 percent of votes cast. In second, Teresa Ellison has 21.04 percent of the votes and Wayne Flint has 20.43 percent.
Incumbent is Allen “Mac” Felts Jr. is only 18 votes behind Flint.
The race features five candidates who are facing off for three seats up for election: the three incumbents – Ellison, Felts and Flint – and a newcomer, Charlton. The fifth candidate, Kristie “Brooke” Baker, previously served on the board from 2015 to 2019.
“I am honored that the community has placed me in this position and I continue to hope to have another four years on the school board,” Felts said in a telephone interview. “We, as a board, have gotten along very well and have been efficient during my three years so far and I hope to stay in the lead.”
The other four candidates did not respond to a request for comment late Tuesday evening.
The board oversees F.W. Kling Jr. and Enderly Heights Elementary Schools and Parry McCluer Middle and High Schools, serving about 900 students. Members serve four-year terms and do not have any term limits.
The race comes as education has quickly risen to be one of the top issues for Virginians in the ballot box.
In the commonwealth, 12 percent of voters say education is their top issue this election, according to a survey from Christopher Newport University.
Teresa Ellison
Ellison is running for a fifth term on the school board. She has served since 2008 and is the current chair.
Ellison retired 19 years ago after teaching elementary school and serving as the director of instruction for Buena Vista Public Schools. She began teaching in Buena Vista City Schools in 1974.
She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Virginia Tech and later received her Master of Education as a reading specialist from the University of Virginia.
On the board, she has prioritized keeping open communication between the public and city leaders. She helped lead the effort to invest nearly $400,000 in new school safety measures in the district for the 2023- 2024 school year.
Allen “Mac” Felts
Felts is running for his second term on the school board after being elected in 2020.
A graduate of Parry McCluer High School in 1957, he received a history degree at Randolph Macon College, then coached baseball, basketball, and football at Tucker High School in Henrico for a few years.
Felts worked at State Farm before moving back to Lexington in 1977 to work in the small business sector for the next 36 years. He then retired in Buena Vista.
Since 2013, Felts has participated in the school community as a member of the Parry McCluer Hall of Fame Committee, researching nominees and organizing ceremonies for those who have earned the honor of having their plaques displayed outside the PMHS gym.
On the board, Felts has prioritized upgrading school technology. He has advocated for curriculum developments that include opportunities to learn trade skills to build a workforce in Buena Vista.
“It has remained my continuing priority to increase teachers’ salaries and enhance our facilities as a way to improve overall quality,” Felts said.
Wayne Flint
Flint is running for his fifth term on the school board. He has served since 2008 and chairs the board’s finance committee.
Flint earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Virginia Tech. He went on to work for a military intelligence company and in the rubber industry. Also, he was principal at Parry McCluer High School for 21 years and served as assistant principal for five years. He is now retired and owns Doc.com, a computer repair company.
During his time on the board, he has consistently prioritized money and security. At meetings, he has outlined the need for teachers to have competitive salaries as an incentive for students to receive a strong education.
Kristie “Brooke” Baker
Baker is running to win her seat back after being upset by John Butler in 2019. She previously served on the school board for five years and was the chair before losing her reelection bid in 2019.
Born and raised in Buena Vista, she is a graduate of Parry McCluer High School. She received her degree in psychology from Mary Baldwin University and a nursing diploma from Stonewall Jackson School of Practical Nursing.
She works as a resource utilization group auditor for EXL, an operations management and analytics company, and has worked as a licensed practical nurse for 21 years.
While on the school board, Baker helped start the A.L.I.C.E. school safety initiative, which stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate.
If elected, she has said student and faculty safety would be her top priority.
Paula Charlton
Charlton is the newcomer to the race.
A long-time teacher and native of Buena Vista, Charlton graduated from the University of Lynchburg with a degree in Elementary Education and returned to work for nearly 40 years in Buena Vista Public Schools before retiring.
“I am a product of the school system here. I understand education issues from my career from coming back and working in the schools here,” Charlton said. “I also understand this community living and growing up here and then coming back to live my life.”
She has stayed connected to the school system in recent years working as a substitute teacher and teacher’s assistant at Parry McCluer Middle School.
Charlton said it is time for new priorities and members on the school board.
“Change is a good thing,” Charlton said. “I don’t have anything against the current school board but it is time for new members and new ideas.”
Her top priority is improving teacher retention.
“Teachers are leaving left and right from our schools and it is creating massive instability for our kids,” Charlton said. “That would probably be my top goal in January.”
For the 2019-20 school year, there were 1,063 unfilled teaching positions across the commonwealth, according to the Virginia Board of Education. Last school year, that number more than tripled to 3,573 teacher vacancies.
Nationally, 40% of school leaders and principals described staff shortages as “severe” or “very severe,” according to an EdWeek Research Center survey.
Low pay, pandemic burnout, and poor working conditions are the biggest factors according to a University of Virginia report published in May.
Yet, Charlton could not give specifics about how she would improve retention.
“I am not quite sure how we could do it,” Charlton said. “I would have a lot to learn once I got to the office. I want to study what we are doing now and find how we could improve it.”