Bedford County School Board appoints Stephen Hill to District 3 seat after closed-session interviews

The Bedford County School Board voted Jan. 29 to appoint Stephen Hill to the District 3 seat after interviewing three finalists and meeting in closed session to consider appointments.

The board conducted public interviews for the District 3 vacancy during a special called work session. After the interviews the board convened a closed meeting “pursuant to Virginia Code” to discuss and consider the applicants, then returned to public session and certified, by roll call, that only matters described in the motion had been discussed. Following certification, a motion to appoint Stephen Hill passed; the motion was made by Mister Daniels and seconded by Miss Purvis, and the board voted in favor.

The interviews were scheduled after the board narrowed 12 initial applicants to a smaller group of finalists. During his interview, Stephen (Steven in his introduction) Hill described his priorities as fiscal planning and preparing the school division for a projected “reversion” in state funding. Hill said Bedford County “has a reversion coming up” and noted the division has “7 and a half million dollars saved up” for the first year of that change. He described his background as a residential land developer and as someone who manages multimillion-dollar projects, and he emphasized being “numbers oriented” and comfortable with budgets. Hill told the board he considers curriculum a weakness for him and said he would recuse himself from decisions in which he has a conflict.

Two other finalists also appeared before the board. Dina Jones said she brings experience in clinical mental-health education, university-level teaching and nonprofit advising and emphasized listening to staff and teachers; she said she is president of the council PTA and would prioritize channels for staff feedback. Joseph Veres described himself as administratively minded and expressed a focus on preparing students for the next step in life, whether college or career.

After the appointment vote, the board also approved a personnel report that had been placed on the meeting agenda.

The board opened the meeting by adopting the agenda, conducted the interviews in public, then entered closed session under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act for candidate interviews. The board’s certification statement on return to open session was read aloud and recorded in the minutes.

Board members and staff said the board will post the appointment and personnel actions in the official minutes and that the appointment completes the interim process for District 3 until the next election or further board action.