CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – David Storm was selected to fill the vacant at-large seat on the Albemarle County School Board during its meeting Thursday, ending a search that lasted over a month. He will officially be sworn in during the board’s Oct. 8 meeting.

Storm brings a background in long-range planning and administration to the board. He has previously spent time on the Albemarle County Public Schools’ Long Range Planning Advisory Committee, the Albemarle County 5th & Avon Citizen Advisory Committee, and the Albemarle County Economic Development Authority.

Storm’s professional background includes tenures as a senior administrator at American University and as senior staff with UVA Athletics, in addition to working as an adjunct professor in the university’s School of Education & Human Development.

“I think as we’re facing many capital issues and we’ve heard about many capital issues and discussions of those, I think David’s experience on the Long-Range Planning Advisory Committee and the county’s Economic Development Committee will really help us as we’re moving forward,” Rivanna representative Judy Le said during discussion.

The School Board elected Storm unanimously, 5-0, with Chair and White Hall representative Rebecca Berlin, who joined the meeting over the phone, unable to vote due to connection issues.

Speaking to the media at the meeting, Storm called the appointment “an awesome responsibility.”

“There are a lot of people that are going to count on me for making the best decisions I can, and that means getting the best information we can,” he said. “So I look forward to hearing from everyone, getting as much information as I can, and doing the best I can to serve our community.”

The announcement was met with one noticeable reaction, as when Samuel Miller representative Bob Beard made the motion to appoint Storm, at least one person stormed out of the room.

Storm was selected out of 13 remaining candidates, after a total of 23 initially applied for the position.

“We had so many applicants for the at-large seat,” Beard said before making his motion. “I think more applicants than we’ve had (for) the school board in a number of decades, and we want to thank everyone for applying.”

Storm will now fill the at-large seat left vacant following the resignation of Allison Spillman in August, citing the toll her time on the board has taken on her and a desire to spend more time with her family.

Spillman had one year remaining in her term, which Storm will serve. He said in the candidates’ public interviews on Sept. 10 that he did not intend to run for the seat in 2027, but added “that may change,” as he was not originally intended to apply for the position at all, but was asked to by multiple members of the community.

Now that Storm, a father of three current ACPS students that attend three different schools, is on the board, he said Thursday that having that faith and encouragement from people who know and believe in him means a lot to him.

“It’s very meaningful to have that support of members of the community already,” he said. “I hope to earn the support and trust of the rest of the community through my actions and through my words.”

In the next year, Storm will be on the board as it continues to navigate the fallout from a series of scandals last summer, brought on by the arrest of former Hollymead staffer Michael Swiney in June.

Most notably, Storm will be on the board as it selects a new permanent Superintendent this year. Dr. Matthew Haas was asked to resign from the position by the board just a week after Swiney’s arrest.

Dr. Chandra Hayes is currently serving as Acting Superintendent for the 2026-27 school year, and last week, the board finished its public hearing on the remaining 13 candidates for the open school board position by selecting a search firm for the upcoming Superintendent selection, although the board did not name that firm.

“The work is now just beginning,” Storm said. “It’s an awesome responsibility and an awesome amount of work. I am grateful for the service of Allison Spillman, what she has done, and I know I can’t replace her and her voice. But I hope that my voice is one that helps our community and helps move everything forward for our schools.”

Thursday’s meeting also featured the introduction of this year’s five Student School Board Representatives — sophomore Charlotte Belschesll from the Community Lab School, sophomore Madeleine Brann from Western Albemarle High School, junior Kenny Chinchilla from Monticello High School, and juniors Jacob Miller and Milan Mookerjee from Albemarle High School.