By SHARON KILPATRICK

By SHARON KILPATRICK

Rappahannock News Staff Writer

Susan Parrish of Washington is organizing an effort to have an elected School Board in Rappahannock County.

Legislation allowing elected school boards passed in the last session of the General Assembly. A two-step process is required to go from the current method of having School Board members appointed by the Board of Supervisors to having an elected School Board. Mrs. Parrish is circulating petitions to have the question of whether to have an elected School Board placed on the ballot for a vote this November.

To qualify for a place on the ballot 10 percent of the electorate or about 350 qualified voters must sign the petitions to hold the referrendum. If the voters then approve the change to an elected School Board, candidates will run for seats on the School Board in 1995, in the same election when the Board of Supervisors is next elected.

Mrs. Parrish said the petitions must be turned, in by Aug. 5 to qualify for a referendum this year. The petition drive started on the July 4 holiday. Mrs. Parrish said, "1 thought the Fourth of July was an appropriate date to demonstrate the democratic process." About 100 signatures have been collected so far.

Mrs. Parrish said, “I believe in elected school boards. The School Board should be independent of the Board of Supervisors.” She said she hoped the electoral process will involve people who have not been involved in school issues so far. “The people in the county whose kids go to school ought to decide who sits on the board. An elected School Board might reflect parents’ concerns better,” she added.

School Board Chairman Beverly Massie said she was “not surprised” to learn of a petition for a referrendum on elected school boards starting in the county. “I can understand why people would w’ant an elected School Board. It is part of the pattern followed throughout the country," she said.

She added, “I have some reservations about elected school boards with no taxing authority. I hope the people who run have a real desire to see the educational system go forward and don’t use the School Board as a stepping stone to any political advancement.”

She said a School Board member has to be “truly interested in the educational system, and politics doesn’t always work hand in hand with the goals you feel are best for the county’s children. ”