Page County School Board interviews three District 5 candidates and votes to enter closed session

The Page County School Board conducted public interviews with three candidates seeking the District 5 seat and then voted to move into a closed session under Section 2.2-3711 to discuss appointments and personnel matters.

Anna Maria Mendez, a District 5 candidate, opened by identifying herself as "Anna Maria Mendez" and describing a childhood and early life in Isabela, Puerto Rico and decades of experience as a military dependent and Navy spouse. She told the board she comes from a family with a history of public service and said she has run for office before. "I am originally from Isabela, Puerto Rico," Mendez said, and later added that she believes education should be "number 1" among government priorities because a strong education system prepares citizens for the future.

When asked what motivates her to serve, Mendez cited family experience in elected office and called public service "servant of the people." On tradeoffs between student needs, fiscal responsibility and community expectations, she said the board must work as a team with the superintendent and stressed funding constraints, noting the county's facilities when answering that question: "we have 9 schools or 9 buildings," she said, and added that some improvements will be limited by available funding.

Bridal Thomas, another District 5 candidate, described community involvement and management experience and said he is motivated to "give back." Thomas emphasized prioritizing based on the board's stated mission and values and repeatedly framed safety as paramount. "Safety is the paramount thing," he said, describing it as central to decisions that affect students and staff. Thomas also cited aging infrastructure as a central county challenge and urged prioritizing repairs that pose the greatest safety or operational risk.

Charlie Queen, a long-time Page County resident, said his principal motivation is to return benefits to the school system that educated his children and described a management career at Merck and community service. Queen said board members should get out into schools to understand needs and suggested consolidation as one potential response to facility and transportation costs, asking whether Shenandoah Elementary "could be absorbed into the Ray" or other nearby schools to reduce duplicative services.

Board members allotted approximately three to four minutes for candidate introductions and discussed a remaining meeting time limit earlier in the session. The public interview portion concluded when the moderator ended the candidates' segments and thanked them for participating.

Immediately after the public comments, a board member moved that the board convene a closed session "under section 2.2-3711" to discuss interviews and other personnel matters related to appointments, promotions, performance, discipline or resignation of specific officers and appointees. A second was recorded and the motion carried unanimously. Miss Brown and Miss Patrick were recorded as voting in favor, and the board entered the closed session as moved.

The board did not announce a date for any final appointment or selection during the public portion of the meeting.