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Falmouth to get new board member

Falmouth District School Board has one candidate on the ballot

BY JEFF BRANSCOME

Date published: 10/30/2009

BY JEFF BRANSCOME

A GED outreach coordinator for the Rappahannock Regional Adult Education Program is running in the Stafford County School Board's Falmouth District.

Meg Bohmke will be the only candidate on the ballot for the seat on Nov. 3. Lars Larsen is running a write-in campaign.

Robert Belman, who now represents the Falmouth District, is stepping down after two terms. Belman is supporting Bohmke's candidacy.

Before moving to Stafford, Bohmke handled public finance transactions for school divisions, localities and housing authorities in California.

"I was at School Board meetings all the time up and down that state," she said.

She said she's also been involved in a number of Stafford school issues, including proposed redistricting plans and school closures.

"I kind of felt like this was the next step for me," she said.

Bohmke said she doesn't feel southern Stafford has received its "fair share" of school infrastructure. She supports opening a new high school in Stafford--as well as a career and technical center--but not if they come at the expense of teacher salaries, which she described as her top priority.

"We are losing good teachers--it's a fact," Bohmke said.

Jeff Branscome: 540/374-5402
Email: jbranscome@freelancestar.com

MEG BOHMKE Address: 416 Collingwood Drive Political experience: None Age: 50 Family: Husband; three children, two of whom currently attend Stafford schools Occupation: Part-time bookkeeper and GED outreach coordinator for the Rappahannock Regional Adult Education program. Prior to that, she handled public finance transactions for school districts, cities, counties and housing authorities in California. Education: Bachelor's degree from Florida State University, 1981 Military: None Community activities: Church elder and Sunday school teacher at the Presbyterian Church of Fredericksburg; Fredericksburg Area Tennis Patrons junior tennis coordinator (2004-07); Falmouth Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization treasurer; Stafford High School Parent Teacher Association treasurer and scholarship chair; Fredericksburg Parks and Recreation field hockey coach; lay member for a Virginia State Bar Association disciplinary committee Most important issues: Fairly compensate teachers and all employees and retain them; establish a career and technical facility in Stafford geared for students during school hours and for the entire community in the evening; build a new high school in southern Stafford Web site: megbohmke.com LARS LARSEN (write-in candidate) Address: 205 Bell Air Place Political experience: None Age: 54 Family: Wife and a son who attends Stafford High School Occupation: Senior project manager for Creative Dimension Group; owner of Viking Enterprises Inc., a construction consulting firm Education: Has a Class A contractor's license Military: None Community activities: Various school volunteer activities; mentoring a work-study student Most important issues: Move forward with renovating or replacing several schools suffering from years of neglect; establish an annually updated 20-year comprehensive plan coordinated with the county comprehensive plan that is integrated into the budget process; realign priorities and provide teachers with more of currently limited resources

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Date published: 10/30/2009

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