Garber To Take Seat on Ohio County Board of Education; Aderholt, Croft Win New Terms |

WHEELING – Retired principal Andy Garber won the most votes and a seat on the Ohio County Board of Education Tuesday night.

Garber and incumbents David Croft and Molly Aderholt were victorious in the race that elected three members to the board.

Garber received 3,616 votes in the unofficial totals; Croft, 3,399; and Aderholt, 3,045 to secure their election. Jessica Powers received 2,702 votes; and Darrin Cox, 1,919. Ron Scott – who unofficially withdrew from the race, still captured 1,669 votes.

Garber was ecstatic following the final tabulations.

“I couldn’t believe the results, and that I was able to get the most votes,” he said. “It was a hotly contested race…. Hats off to the other candidates.”

The elected board members take office July 1.

Garber said he is really excited to take office and begin working on school district issues. He noted that before being sworn in he is required to take a new member training course – which is scheduled to take place at Canaan Valley Resort in the coming weeks.

“I’ll be the new guy and I have a lot to learn,” he said.

Garber added the board has a lot on its plate right now, and he will need to be able to address a number of issues immediately.

“We’re still completing the bond issue (construction projects), and that is priority one,” he said.

Members also will be taking into consideration whether or not to purchase turf for the Wheeling Park High School baseball field, or whether to realign school start times so classes start one hour later at WPHS, Garber continued.

“We also have challenges with decreasing enrollment, and that’s something we will have to look at carefully,” he said. “We’re also still recovering from COVID. It’s a real challenge.”

Incumbent Christine Carder did not seek re-election in Tuesday’s election. Croft and Aderholt are incumbents completing their first terms on the board of education.

Neither Croft nor Aderholt immediately returned calls seeking comment late Tuesday night.

Aderholt is an attorney who earned her law degree from West Virginia University College, and she achieved her bachelors degree from Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania.

She has practiced law with Steptoe & Johnson, a major regional law firm from 2006 to 2016. Since 2016, she has served as in-house counsel for The Century Group, a locally headquartered commercial real estate firm.

Croft is a Wheeling Park High School graduate who went on to attend the former West Liberty State College and the WVU College of Law. He is both an accountant and an attorney.

He has practiced law in Wheeling for the past 23 years and is the managing member of the Wheeling office of Spilman Thomas & Battle,

Garber, a retired principal, worked 47 years as an educator in Ohio County Schools

Since retiring he has worked as a supervisor at Oglebay Park at the Pine Room and driving range, and he is presently employed at Speidel Golf Course as player assistant.