"Albemarle County School Board member Gary Grant has announced he will not seek a second term in the at-large district seat.

Grant made the decision public in an early-morning e-mail Friday, a forum normally reserved for his “At-Large District Constituents’ Report,” a mass e-mail sent out after board meetings that details decisions made and issues discussed.

“At 8:00 [Thursday] night, in the midst of a presentation on school redistricting frameworks, I finally honestly admitted to myself that I was sitting someplace where I really don’t want to be nine months from now,” he wrote in the e-mail, sent shortly after 1:30 a.m. Friday. “That is why there is no report here about last night’s six-hour Albemarle County School Board meeting. It’s also why I am no longer a candidate for another term on this board.”

He offered no further explanation in the e-mail for his decision, and he declined to elaborate on what he had written. Grant’s first and only four-year term expires Dec. 31. He had planned to seek re-election.

Grant said after winning a three-way election for the at-large seat in 1999 that his advocacy for continued literacy programs for county students contributed to his win. During his bid, he also urged the county to work harder to accommodate gifted students, suggesting possible individualized education plans for them.

Calling himself “the information candidate,” he crafted extensive e-mails to his constituents and anyone else interested, informing them of School Board actions in fine detail. He also had stated that he favored a pool of incentive money to attract minority teachers.

Grant promised in his message Friday to serve his constituents “to the best of my ability” for the rest of his term, and he thanked those who have supported his work with the board.

“This decision is mine and mine alone. Not even my family knows anything about this — they’re all asleep,” he wrote. So far, only one person has stated intentions to run for the at-large seat on the School Board in November: Murray Elementary School PTO President Brian Wheeler. Wheeler, 36, has been a vocal proponent of smaller elementary school class sizes, raising school division salaries and better technology in schools.

“I was very surprised by Gary’s announcement,” he said. “I imagine he just didn’t have the fire in the belly for another campaign, but it’s too bad. I was looking forward to a good debate of the issues and getting a lot of attention to the voters to issues about our schools. A contested election is always better for the voters.”

“I’m going to continue my campaign going door to door, school to school, to meet as many people as possible around the county. Somebody could still jump in.”

Grant made no mention of Wheeler in his e-mail, but he urged people to “elect a young, thrifty, hard-questioning, information-loving, technology-savvy person of color as the next at-large member of the Albemarle School Board. That’s who I’m currently looking for as a candidate, and who I will help and support in any way possible, if afforded the opportunity.”

Grant said he officially will cease to be a candidate for re-election April 15, the due date for filing his next campaign-finance-disclosure report." (Braxton Willaims, Daily Progress, March 29, 2003)