Elkin School Board selects new board member

Near the end of Monday night’s meeting of the Elkin City Schools Board of Education, the board voted its approval for a new member to replace Johnny Blevins who resigned from the board last month due to a move out of district. The board voted 4-0 against the Surry County GOP’s nominee Patty Crosswhite and instead selected Jill Bellia.

Crosswhite ran in the Republican primary in 2022 and Bellia ran in the primary earlier this year. As the School Board is now a partisan race, the Surry Republican party was responsible for appointing a replacement upon Blevins’ resignation. The school system attorney, Allison Tomberlin, explained at Monday’s meeting that the appointment from the GOP was not in compliance with the law. At issue was the requirement that those on the Executive Committee voting for the appointment be restricted to the voting members representing the precincts within the school district. Tomberlin said she could not confirm that that was the case, in fact, she explained, “the Surry County Republican Party Executive Committee is not comprised of the people that are required by their own plan.”

Following the 4-0 nay vote on Crosswhite’s appointment, School Board Member Jennifer Kleinheksel moved to nominate Bellia.

“We had unanimously voted to advise the Surry County GOP to select Jill,” Kleinheksel said. “I was disheartened that they went with another nominee.”

“Jill is a recently retired teacher. I think she’s highly respected in the community. Since we have become political, l think that both parties can get behind her. She’s an excellent advocate for both kids and the teaching staff. I think she’d work well with us,” she said.

The board voted 4-0 to select Bellia for the open seat. A special called meeting has been scheduled for Monday, July 1 at 6 p.m. for a swearing-in ceremony for Bellia at the central office.

The board has also scheduled a special called meeting at the central office for Thursday, June 26 at 12:30 p.m. to vote on several budget amendments and an interim budget resolution authorizing the expenditure of funds necessary for salaries and the usual ordinary expenses for the interval between the beginning of the fiscal year July 1, 2024 and the adoption of the budget resolution.

The next regularly scheduled meeting will take place on Monday, July 22 at 6 p.m. at the High School Media Center.