The Albemarle School Board has appointed an interim representative to fill the Rio District seat vacated by the death in December of Chuck Pace.
“It is my belief that professional and personal endeavors have afforded me experiences, skills, and knowledge that will be an asset to the School Board,” wrote Lesile Pryor in her application. “I welcome the opportunity to work to increase teacher pay and incentives [and] enhance facilities so that our children and personnel our safe and have the resources they need to thrive and be successful.”
Pryor is a native of Charlottesville who is currently working on a master’s degree in public safety. She’s employed as a program associate and alumni coordinator for the Sorensen Institute of Political Leadership at the University of Virginia.
Pryor will serve for the remainder of the year until a permanent replacement is selected in the November 4 general election.
“This was not an easy decision,” said School Board Chair Kate Acuff. “We had seven community members with impressive background and knowledge and experience and perspectives willing to tackle what I consider to be one of the most important pieces of work a local government does.”
The School Board conducted interviews with the seven candidates on January 16.
Six people spoke during a public hearing before the Albemarle School Board on January 23 with all but one asking the elected body to appoint a different candidate.
Michael Powers asked the School Board to appoint the man who lost to Pace in the November 2024 election.
“Today you have the opportunity to uphold democracy again by appointing Jim Dillenbeck who just like each of you earned about 4,000 votes, 4,069 to be exact, just three months ago from Albemarle County voters who wanted him to represent them,” Powers said.
Andrew Cox also urged the Board to appoint Dillenbeck because he said that candidate would push for the use of data to close disparities.
“One of the things I will not about Mr. Dillenbeck is that he did receive a very large number of votes,” Cox said.
Beth McDowell also recommended Dillenbeck because she said he was the only one of the seven candidates to have taught in Albemarle County Schools.
“A lot of people in the Rio District would like him to be on this board,” McDowell said.
The fourth and fifth speaker also supported Dillenbeck.
The final speaker, Victoria Lee, supported Pryor.
“We worked together at the Family Treatment Court where we worked closely with Region 10 and [Court Appointed Special Advocates] (CASA) to help families recover from addictions and reunite children with their parents,” Lee said.
Pryor will serve in the position until a special election is held on November 4 as part of the overall generation election.
Acuff said Pryor was chosen to augment the collective skill sets held by the School Board. The vote was unanimous.
Before you go: This article was originally sent out as part of the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter in the January 24, 2025 edition. Both are functions of Town Crier Productions. You can support the work by purchasing a paid subscription or contributing monthly through Patreon. You can also send in a check or send an email, but drop me a line first.
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