School Board taking applications through Jan. 27; filling seat by Feb. 17
By Randy Arrington
SHENANDOAH, Jan. 23 — Mystery, rumor and speculation have surrounded the sudden resignation of Charlie Queen Jr. from the Page County School Board on Jan. 12. However, his resignation was never necessary, as Queen never took the oath of office and his District 5 seat was considered vacant under state law four days before he submitted his letter to the school board.
The issue revolves around 25 campaign signs, at a cost of $263.25 — the entire amount spent by Queen during his 2025 campaign.
When the School Board received Queen’s letter two weeks ago, Chairman Duane Painter told PVN through a response email that “reasons for resignation were not specific in nature.” Queen agrees, noting he used language such as “due to factors beyond my control.” Superintendent Paul Johnson told WHSV in a Jan. 15 article that “life happens.”
What actually happened is that Queen inadvertently clicked on a box online related to his campaign finance reporting that stated: “No more reports to be filed.”
“I knew I wasn’t taking in any more money, or spending any more money…so I clicked the box,” Queen told PVN. “But no, you can’t do that.”
State law required that all campaign finance reports remain open until the Virginia Department of Elections certifies the election on Dec. 4. There were also errors in Queen’s reporting — he accidentally entered a number twice, and correcting the mistake prompted a delay in reporting, which triggered another fine.
The initial fine was $100; however, fines accrue at $1,000 for each additional offense. So, Queen’s initial double-entry cost $100; the delay in reporting caused after fixing his mistake cost $1,000; and accidentally clicking on a box cost another $1,000 — a total of $2,100…nearly 10 times what the retiree had spent on his entire campaign.
“I plan to write a letter to the Board of Elections that they need to provide some type of training for new candidates because I was unaware of a lot of this,” Queen stated. “The first time I was made aware of anything was three months after the first offense.”
Queen ultimately settled with the state, who he said was understanding, for $100. He paid his fine on Jan. 15, one day after his Jan. 14 appeal to the state on his $2,100 in fines. Although the four-year term he won in November technically started on Jan. 1, Queen was not allowed to take the oath of office until his appeal was settled. Now, he faced one more state law that created another issue.
If the winner of the general election is not able to take the seat by the board’s first meeting of the year, the seat is declared vacant. Having never taken the oath and still dealing with fines from the state, Queen did not attend the School Board’s Jan. 8 meeting. Queen said he was subsequently approached by Chairman Duane Painter and former board member and former GOP chair Mike Overfelt and asked to submit a letter of resignation.
“So basically my election was rendered void [at the Jan. 8 meerting]…so my letter really didn’t mean anything,” Queen said.
The Page County School Board plans to take applications for the District 5 seat through Tuesday, Jan. 27. Chairman Painter told PVN that the School Board plans to fill the seat by Feb. 17.
At first, Queen was reluctant to immediately submit his application.
“Part of it has been the stress I’ve been under for the last few weeks…dealing with this,” he said.
The Shenandoah retiree is married to a former teacher, who spent 19 years at the local high schools. He’s had five children go through Page County Public Schools. And while he’s soured a little by how much trouble was caused by two inadvertent computer clicks, Queen plans to reapply for the same position he won at the poles.
“People voted for me, and I can’t chicken out on them now,” Queen stated.
He won a two-way race with 63.2 percent of the ballots in November. Queen earned 1,039 votes, compared to 596 for Ana Maria Mendez. There were nine write-in ballots.
An attorney representing the School Board will now have to petition the Page County Circuit Court to order a special election in November 2026 to fill the seat through the remaining three years of the full four-year term extending through Dec. 31, 2029. The School’s Board’s appointment in February will last through Dec. 31, 2026.
Queen feels that “whoever gets the appointment will be behind the eight ball on the budget process.”
Mendez is likely to show interest in the position as well, but is currently in Australia.
The Page County School Board also recently filled the District 4 seat by appointing Jason Breeden. He fills the void left in District 4 after Duane Painter successfully won an uncontested bid for the chairman’s seat this November. The school board is expected to petition the court to order a special election this upcoming November to fill the remainder of Painter’s term through Dec. 31, 2027.
Breeden was selected after two of the three applicants were found to be ineligible — Brian Ortega actually lived in District 3 (instead of District 4), and Dennis Coleman was employed by the school division (which means he would have had to quit his job in order to run for the School Board under state law).
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