FRANKLIN—The City Council will interview two candidates for the Ward 3 seat on the city School Board during a called meeting Monday, June 20.

Current Ward 3 representative Johnetta Nichols is seeking a third and final three-year appointment. Jamaal Whitehurst, who pastors a church in Portsmouth, also wants the appointment, which will run through 2014.

Nichols said she wants to use a third term to help finish what she started on the board.

“During my time, we’ve started some good things, and I want to see them completed,” she said.

Nichols believes the current school board has helped bring stability to the administration of the city schools. Before Dr. Michelle Belle was hired, there had been three superintendents in six years, Nichols said.

“It is my true belief and hope that Dr. Belle can bring some stability to the administration,” Nichols said.

Nichols said the school board has helped address the dropout rate at Franklin High School and has started a program called Triage that will help track problems with Standards of Learning scores in the system.

Nichols graduated from Franklin High School in 1970 and from Norfolk State University in 1975. She retired from the Hopewell school system in 2005 after 30 years. She now serves as a special education teacher for Hertford County Schools in North Carolina.

“I always said that when I returned home I wanted to be a school board member,” Nichols said.

Nichols will be interview by the council at 7 p.m. Monday.

Whitehurst said being a product of Franklin public schools is what drove him to apply for the position at the council’s regular meeting this week.

“I can be more proactive because I know what it’s like to be a student and to be a problem child and overcoming it,” he said. “The school board needs someone who has a closer connection to children.”

Whitehurst, who is a pastor and bishop at Souls for Christ Church in Portsmouth, received a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies and elementary education from Norfolk State University. He has a master’s degree in divinity from Virginia Union and he has worked in education off and on for 10 years.

Whitehurst is pursuing a certificate in school counseling. He currently works at Agape Counseling and Therapeutic Services.

Whitehurst will interview for the position at 7:30 p.m. Monday.