South Boston businessman Joe Gasperini announced on Friday that he will
seek election to the Halifax County School Board from Election District
4 in the upcoming November election. Gasperini, who currently has three
children in the public school system, will challenge incumbent school
trustee Joe Bailey for the seat on the board.
In making his announcement, Gasperini said, ìI am an independent
candidate for the office of School Board representing Election District
4.   I want to serve on the School Board because I am a concerned,
involved parent interested in the education of my children and yours. 
I think the School Board needs to have people with children in the
system who understand it not only from the outside, but also from the
inside.  I have had children in the Halifax County public school system
since moving to the area in 1989.  In the Fall I will have a
kindergartener and  5th grader attending the new South Boston
Elementary School, a 6th grader at the Middle School, and another one
who enters in a year.  All of my older children have attended Halifax
County Schools including a recent graduate from the High School.
I see the schools as they operate on a day to day basis, the teacher
interaction and what's going on everyday. As a parent of eight children
ranging in age from 3 to 28 years old, I have first hand knowledge of
many of our schools now, in the past, and have a vested interest for
the foreseeable future.
ìI understand small towns, and rural communities and the challenges
that accompany living in such an area having grown up in a small
community of 2500 people. I graduated from a school that had one
building that housed grades K though 12 and had a graduating class of
70.  As the oldest of 9 children, I attended Syracuse University on a
full tuition scholarship that was provided by a local man who never
went past the third grade but worked hard to better himself and the
community he grew up in and strived to give back to the community.   I
am proud to have graduated in 4 years with a degree in Finance.  I am
proud of my family and proud and happy to be living in Halifax County. 
I chose to live here because of the many advantages of the community. 
I feel I can add to these advantages by being a progressive, educated,
well informed member of the School Board.
With over 30 years of experience in the business world and having been
in involved in hundreds of sophisticated financial transactions, I can
add substantial assistance to the many challenges facing the school
system over the next several years.
I promise to devote the necessary time, and effort, to represent you
on the school board. I am in favor of a progressive school environment,
offering the utmost in advantages to both students and educators.
We need a School Board that is made up of progressive people with no
ulterior motives or other political aspirations. We need viable members
of the Board who will represent the best interests of the community and
its children on an ongoing basis.
In conclusion Gasperini said, ìI would appreciate your vote for School
Board on election day.
Tomorrow, June 12, is the last day that candidates have to file for
election in the upcoming November election. As of Friday there were no
candidates seeking to unseat any of the County Supervisors seeking
re-election this year  .Dickie Abbott in ED#1, Doug Bowman in
ED#4, James Edmunds in ED#5 Lottie Nunn in ED#7 and Bryant Claiborne in
ED#8. No candidates had filed for the School Board in ED#1 where
incumbent Douglas Fisher announced he will not seek re-election and no
one had filed in ED#8 where incumbent Trustee Kelly Hill also announced
earlier she would not seek re-election. Two races have developed with
Gasperini opposing Bailey in ED#4 and Stuart Comer opposing Sandra
Rister in ED#7. In ED#5 incumbent Nancylee Bagwell has yet to make a
decision on seeking re-election.