The Shadow
Debbie Michie and Karen Kessinger were instrumental in gathering enough required signatures of qualified voters to have the referendum to elect school board members added to the Nov. 8, 2022 ballot.
Kessinger went to various events in Covington garnering signatures, but she found more success in securing signatures by going door to door.
By going door to door, she said that she was able to engage voters in dialogue about the issue of providing citizens with the right to elect their school board members rather than having them appointed.
The Alleghany Highlands Public Schools became official on July 1, following the consolidation of Alleghany County Public Schools and Covington City Schools has seven school board members, four of who were appointed by the Alleghany County Board of Supervisors and three who were appointed by Covington’s City Council.
Michie, who gathered hundreds of signatures by attending area events and by standing outside of Kroger in Clifton Forge, said, “The bottom line is that the school board members represent the people, so the people should be allowed to elect them.”
Kessinger and Dawn King Lewis, an active member of the Covington Education Association (CEA), spearheaded the collection of signatures that surpassed the required 381.
Michie observed, “I did not know Karen or Dawn before I began gathering signatures, but once we met, we worked as a team to gather enough signatures to file for the referendum.”
Both the Alleghany Education Association (AEA), which was required to gather 1,107 signatures, and the CEA gathered more signatures than required for the referendum to be placed on the Nov. 8, 2022, ballot.
Dorothy Carter, the Virginia Education Association’s representative who lives in Rocky Mount, drove to the Alleghany Highlands several times to help gather signatures for both the AEA and CEA.
Michie noted, “There are only 16 school divisions in Virginia that still appoint their school board members.”
She added, “Virginia was the last state to allow school board members to be elected.”
“I want to thank the people who signed the petition, and now we have to inform the public what the referendum is about and urge them to vote,” Michie concluded.
Kessinger added, “We both thank all of the people who signed our petitions and those who gathered signatures.”
As a result of the many hours spent by Michie, Kessinger, and King along with other members of the two teams that they represented, voters in the Alleghany Highlands have been given the opportunity to decide which they prefer, electing or appointing school board members.
If those who collected the required number of signatures have their way in Nov., the status quo will not prevail, and school board members will be elected rather than appointed beginning in 2023.
