City Council to interview school board hopefuls today

City Council is entering the homestretch of a lengthy school board appointment process.

Now, more than a month after the process started, council members have whittled the original list of nine applicants down to five — four of whom will be interviewed today.

Current board member Keith Anderson, attorney Gary Coates, homemaker Anne Alfieri and mortgage loan officer Ingrid Hamlett will all be interviewed today. Local business owner Charlie White was interviewed last week due to a scheduling conflict.

Three school board terms expire at the end of the month. City Council members are charged with making appointments, typically, before the end of June. Council will likely vote on appointments Tuesday.

The official search for applicants ended June 9, when council voted to close the public hearing. Although officials did express concern about the District III vacancy as it has received only one applicant.

The public hearing to solicit board candidates was extended twice in hopes of garnering additional applicants. The initial hearing was held May 12.

During the June 9 meeting, when the hearing was closed, City Attorney Walter Erwin explained that Virginia follows a “hold-over rule,” meaning if council members cannot find someone to fill the post the person currently in the position can continue to serve.

Here is a district-by-district look at the candidates being interviewed:

- District I is currently represented by board chair Julie Doyle, who is not eligible for reappointment. She has served the maximum three terms. Three people are being interviewed for her seat.

Alfieri has prior experience as a certified public accountant. Of her three children, two are enrolled in the city schools and she volunteers with the school division. Alfieri has previously served as PTO president at Bedford Hills and R.S. Payne elementary schools. She has also served as treasurer for Friends of the Lynchburg Public Library, which she helped transition to an automated financial system.

White, a Lynchburg native, is the co-founder of Wood & White Investment Advisors. He is an alumnus of E.C. Glass High School and the College of William & Mary. Last year, he championed the effort to bring Play It Smart, a support program for at-risk student athletes, to the city’s high schools.

Coates said his experience working in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court would make him an asset to the board. Coates has two children, one whom is a graduate of the division and one currently enrolled in city schools. He served as a substitute judge and special justice for the 24th Judicial Circuit and was the 2005 Lynchburg Legal Aid Pro-Bono award recipient.

- District II is currently represented by Anderson, who has reapplied for his position on the board. Two other candidates also applied for the spot, but only he was invited to interview.

Anderson is currently finishing his first term on the board. He is the director of the Office of Student Conduct at Liberty University and has previously served as an academic adviser in the distance-learning program and dean of the Men’s Office at the university. He has one child attending city schools.

- District III is currently represented by Leslie Faircloth, whose second term is about to expire. Faircloth has chosen not to seek reappointment.

Hamlett, a mortgage loan officer at Blue Ridge Mortgage and division volunteer, has two children who attend Heritage High School. She currently attends classes at Miller-Motte Technical College, studying criminal justice and hopes to earn her associates degree. This fall, Hamlett will serve as the Heritage Boosters president. She said she wants to advocate for change and encourage more parents to be involved.