Death leaves big void on School Board

Kenneth Wade Parr was a dedicated educator in Prince George County.

He spent his career as a teacher, coach and administrator in the county's school system. Since 2004, he served on the county's five-member School Board, spending last year as its chairman. He was re-elected to a second term on the board in 2007.

His death Jan. 15 leaves a void that won't easily be filled, officials said. "No one can truly take his place," said Prince George School Superintendent R. Francis Moore. "Whoever is selected has big shoes to fill."

R.E. "Bobby" Cox Jr., current chairman of the School Board, described Parr's death as a major loss to the board and to the students in Prince George schools.

"He's pretty much an irreplaceable person," Cox said. "Kenny had a big heart and . . . he was looking out for the kids and employees."

To fill the vacancy, the board is accepting letters of interest from registered voters in the 2nd District until Feb. 13. The interim appointee will serve until an election is held Nov. 3 to fill the remaining two years of Parr's term, which ends Dec. 31, 2011.

Cox said the letters of interest should include a brief synopsis of the person's background, what they'll bring to the board and their desire to be on the board.

The board aims to have an interim appointee in place by March 2, the end of the 45-day period allowed by state law to fill the vacancy. If no appointee is selected, the choice will be decided by a circuit court judge.

As chairman last year, Parr put an emphasis on "really working on the communication between" the School Board and Board of Supervisors, the county's two governing bodies that had five new members between them in 2008, Moore said

But even though he was ill last year and missed some of the School Board's meetings, Parr was looking forward to the upcoming year, Cox said.

"He was raring to get back to the work at hand," he said.

Contact Jeremy Slayton at (804) 649-6861 or .