NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A new face joined the Newport News School Board Thursday. The appointment comes at a time when the school district is under immense heat following the shooting at Richneck Elementary School on Jan. 6.
READ MORE: Richneck could get $1.5M to improve classrooms without doors, walls after teacher shot
The first half of Thursday's meeting was a special session where the board appointed Maritsa Alger. The appointment will fill the unexpired term of John Eley, III, who served since 2016, according to the school district's website. He was elected to the Newport News City Council in Nov. 2022.
"She has a love for children, she understands education and our mission and our goal. And she has been an education in the past," said Chairwoman Lisa Surles-Law.
School leaders believe Alger can help tackle safety concerns in the district and change the culture and climate which have been heavily rocked. Alger will serve until a successor is elected during a special election on Nov. 7, 2023.
The second half of the board meeting on Thursday was closed.
The board agenda showed it was for "Consultation with legal counsel and briefing by staff members or consultants pertaining to actual or probable litigation, where such consultation or briefing in open meeting would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of the public body."
Chairwoman Surles-Law said she could not talk about anything that was discussed in the close portion.
The closed meeting comes after an attorney for Abby Zwerner, the Richneck Elementary teacher shot in her classroom on Jan. 6, said sheintends to sue the school. Zwerner's attorney, Diane Toscano, said the shooting was "entirely preventable" if the assistant principal at the time "had done her job and acted when she had knowledge of imminent danger."
Two other lawsuits are from attorneys representing students who were reportedly in the school when the shooting happened.
