Kathleen Brown elected school board chair; Carolyn Weems chosen as vice chair

The Virginia Beach City Public Schools board on Tuesday completed its annual organizational business, electing Kathleen Brown as chair and Carolyn Weems as vice chair by narrow margins.

Superintendent Don Robertson described the nomination and colored‑ball voting process before nominations opened. Matthew Cummings nominated Melinda Rogers for chair and Mister Culpepper nominated Kathleen Brown. After board members selected colored cards, the clerk announced Brown received six votes to Rogers’ five and Brown was declared chair; she accepted the gavel and thanked colleagues "for your faith for me to continue in this role."

Under Brown’s leadership, the board then accepted nominations for vice chair. Melinda Rogers nominated Matthew Cummings; Mister Cowan nominated Carolyn Weems. Following the same colored‑ball procedure, Weems won six votes to five and was declared vice chair. The board took no further action on leadership positions at the meeting.

The elections were held at the board’s annual organizational meeting and were followed by routine organizational business, including appointment of Regina Tagnato as clerk and Nina Wadowski as deputy clerk and adoption of the 2026 meeting schedule with minor calendar adjustments.