By Italia Gregory

and Jordan Miles

The Farmville Herald

Frank Knott has been appointed to represent District Four on the Buckingham County School Board.

“I appreciate the board’s confidence in me,” Knott said after the Monday meeting.

Knott — who previously served a partial term after Russell P. “Pete” Gowin resigned from the board in May 2013 — will serve until a special election can be held for the seat. Knott didn’t seek election in the November 2013 special election.

Knott said it was a rewarding experience during his appointment in 2013 and he looks forward to the opportunity to serve again.

Gowin, who was re-elected to the board on Nov. 3, died after battling pancreatic cancer on Nov. 13.

Five people applied to fill the vacancy, according to District Three Representative and School Board Chairman Ed Wise.

“It was the person the board agreed on,” Wise said after a special school board meeting held to appoint an interim representative. “It was a unanimous vote.”

Besides Knott, Joii West Goodman, who opposed Gowin in November; John Staton, an outgoing member of the board of supervisors; Wes Saxon, who previously served on the school board; and Hank Hagenau, a former member of the county planning commission, applied for the seat, according to information from Wise in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by The Herald.

Knott will serve until December 2016, after a special election can be held — which is anticipated to be November — to elect a representative. The elected member would take office in January 2017, Wise said.

Goodman — who was defeated by Gowin by 41 votes in November — said during a prior school board meeting that he applied to temporarily fill the vacancy. He was the only speaker during the board’s public hearing on the vacancy.

The school board also agreed to allow Division Superintendent Dr. Cecil Snead to sign a petition for a Writ of Election for the vacancy.

After a 34-year career with the Virginia State Police, Knott served as an adjunct instructor for SVCC teaching criminal justice at the Buckingham CTE Center from 2003 to 2009 and most recently for Longwood University teaching introduction to criminal justice.

“I gained a lot of respect for what teachers deal with on a daily basis,” said Knott.

Knott said he is undecided about whether or not he will run in the November 2016 special election.