"Flanked by his wife and three children, University of Virginia information technology specialist Sean McCord announced on Tuesday his intentions to run for the Charlottesville School Board.

With eight days left before the June 12 filing deadline, McCord is the fourth city resident to announce a School Board candidacy. There are four seats up for election in November.

In his announcement, McCord lobbied for innovation in dealing with school discipline and reaching out to UVa to capitalize on what it can offer city schools.

“When I sat down with my kids to talk about issues in the schools, they talked about disruptiveness in their classrooms,” said the father of students at Buford Middle, Johnson Elementary, and Walker Upper Elementary.

If elected, McCord would start a student judiciary board at Charlottesville High School. The panel members - students nominated by teachers and elected by peers - would act as counselors and also dole out punishments.

“When students are involved in their own discipline, they feel included in and respected by their school system,” McCord said.

When he first contemplated running, he used his Internet savvy to create a Web blog - cvilleschoolblog.com - to detail his thoughts on the process, gain feedback and help other candidates.

“There wasn’t a single source of information on: Who do you talk to? What papers do you need? What are the filing deadlines? How do you set up a candidacy? How do you set up a bank account? I wanted to start community discussion within the blogosphere about the issues that people are facing,” McCord said.

He joins three previously declared candidates, School Board Chairman Alvin Edwards, business comic creator Grant Brownrigg and local public defender Llezelle Dugger.

All candidates must file with the city registrar by 5 p.m. June 12." (The Daily Progress, June 6, 2007)