School Board Members

Dr. Acuff brings a broad range of professional experience in law, public health, science and policy in the private, public and non-profit sectors to her service on the Board. She has been a Board member of the University of Virginia Physicians Group (including two years as its Chair) and currently is President of the Board for Partner for Mental Health (formerly, Mental Health America-Charlottesville/Albemarle), a non-profit organization that provides mental health support to persons in the local community.

Prior to her tenure on the School Board, Dr. Acuff practiced law in Colorado and Washington, DC, served as legal counsel to the District of Columbia’s Medical Assistance Administration, was Vice President of Policy and Education with the National Public Health and Hospitals Institute in Washington, DC, was an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Emory University’s School of Public Health and a consultant to The Carter Center’s Mental Health Program in Atlanta.

Upon moving to Charlottesville in 2007, Dr. Acuff served as a consultant to the Chair of the Virginia Supreme Court’s Commission on Mental Health Law Reform and also, with the Community Mental Health and Wellness Coalition in Charlottesville.

Dr. Acuff is a strong advocate for providing schools with safe and healthy learning environments. In 2016 as School Board Chair, she led a public information campaign for the first school bond referendum in 40 years. The referendum, which provided funds to reduce overcrowding in schools and to modernize older school buildings, was overwhelmingly approved by voters.

Other of her priorities include expanding of teacher professional development programs and more competitive teacher compensation, an increase in full-time nurses in elementary schools, additional funding for student mental health services, closing the opportunity gap among students in the division’s 25 schools and a more collaborative working relationship between the School Board and the Board of Supervisors.

Dr. Acuff received her M.S. in Microbiology & Immunology from the University of Colorado, her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and her Ph.D. and M.P.H. in Public Health and Public Policy and Management from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

Charles Pace was appointed to a one-year term as the Rio Magisterial District Representative on the Albemarle County School Board at its meeting on December 14. Mr. Pace began his service when he was sworn in on December 18, 2023, and, in accordance with state law, will appear on the ballot during the next general election.

Before his time on the Board, Mr. Pace spent 18 years of his career teaching biology and chemistry at Albemarle High School, first from 1986 to 1998, and then again from 2009 to 2015. In between, he served as the division’s K-12 science instructional coordinator from 1998 through 2015. After 29 years as an ACPS educator and athletic coach, Pace served as science department chairperson for Blue Ridge School from 2015 to 2022.

Pace has experience with school construction, education and curriculum development, and, as a nod to his time in the Naval Reserve Intelligence Program, the military.

Relevant to school construction, Pace previously worked with the ACPS Building Services Department to upgrade equipment in the division’s middle and high school science labs. He also participated in the planning process for the Math, Engineering & Science Academy wing at Albemarle High School. “I believe this experience is informative,” Pace said, “because we will never stop modifying educational spaces, adding to existing buildings, and building new schools. In fact, the evolution of learning spaces is an important consideration for any school system.”

Judy Le, the newly-elected representative on the Albemarle County School Board from the Rivanna Magisterial District, knocked on more than 1,000 doors during her campaign but there was one knock she will never forget. Opening the door was a kindergarten teacher who spoke with unbridled enthusiasm and passion about her work with children. Le described that conversation as a moving experience and a powerful statement about the positive difference education can make in the lives of all children.

It reminded her of her experiences as the young child of two Vietnamese immigrants who were English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers themselves. “My parents instilled in me and my siblings how important public education and hard work would be to our success as adults and that certainly became true," she remembers.

A journalist by trade, Le studied at one of the nation's top-ranked communications schools, Northwestern University. Her early career experiences working for newspapers including the state's largest, the Virginian-Pilot, taught her a great deal about understanding the challenges faced by many communities. She sharpened her skill for empathy and for the value of keeping people informed about issues important to their life. Those experiences and the early childhood advice she received from her parents led to her interest in serving her community on the school board.

At the top of her priority list is providing equal educational opportunities to all public school students in the county. “It's incredibly important to our future together," she says, and she adds, “it's the key to truly reducing the achievement gap. These are the accomplishments, she adds that will empower all students to reach their highest academic and professional potential.

Also high on her priority list will be the ideas offered by her constituents. She learned during her campaign that the best strategy for understanding and connecting with those she will be serving is to listen intently to their ideas, concerns and suggestions for the future. Among those she will be representing on the School Board is her own child, one of the division's elementary school students.

Graham Paige was elected on November 3, 2015 to fill the unexpired term of Eric Strucko in the Samuel Miller District. That term extends to December 31 of 2017.

Paige is well known to many residents of the district from his 24 years of service as a science teacher at Western Albemarle High School and Jack Jouett Middle School. He has been a member of several advisory boards for the school division, helping to select school principals, review long-range capital program plans and determine how schools and communities can benefit one another. He also tutors children at Yancey Elementary School, is an active participant in the work of the Piedmont Housing Alliance and on behalf of New Green Mountain Baptist Church.

Paige counts as the most helpful and enjoyable part of his campaign, the opportunity to meet with so many members of the Samuel Miller District and to talk with them about the issues in education that are at the top of their list. His focus as a Board member is to support improvements in the quality of education provided to students and providing parity among all students in the quality of education they receive, ensuring that Albemarle is able to attract, develop and maintain excellent teachers and to continue building strong partnerships between schools and the communities they serve.

A lifelong resident of the Esmont community, Paige is a graduate of Hampton University and received his master’s in education from the University of Virginia.

For Ellen Osborne, newly-elected to represent the Scottsville Magisterial District on the Albemarle County School Board, public service has been a lifelong professional commitment. Currently the Executive Director of Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle, she leads an organization that closely works with more than 400 adults each year to improve their reading, writing and English language skills. Its mission statement notes that “ the ability to read, write, and communicate is critical to adults to fully realize their potential as individuals, parents, and citizens."

Osborne also serves on the Virginia Department of Education's Adult Education and Literacy Advisory Committee. The committee includes representatives from state colleges and universities, the private sector and the General Assembly. The committee makes recommendations to the state Board of Education on how to enhance the quality and effectiveness of adult education and literacy programs and services throughout Virginia.

That's a close fit with the strategic goal of the Albemarle County Public Schools division, which is to ensure that every student graduates “having actively mastered the lifelong-learning skills they need to succeed as 21st century learners, workers and citizens."

“Fostering lifelong learning," she says, “is among the most valuable of gifts from our public schools.  As a proud parent of two members of the Monticello High School Class of 2020, Osborne points out she “has a personal appreciation of how important this gift is to children and their future," she said.

It's also one of a number of priorities for Osborne as she begins her four-year term on the School Board.

“Our division has begun to make some progress in narrowing the achievement gap. We need to increase the rate of our progress and that includes continuing to expand the diversity of our teaching core. I also would like to see as wide a range as possible of course selections in career and technical education," Osborne said.

An important component of her public service is opening her door wide to community input as the school division makes decisions about budget, the learning environments offered to students and its connections to parents and community partners.

An East Carolina undergrad, Osborne received a Master's Degree in Fine Arts from Louisiana State as well as a Master's Degree in Non-Profit Studies from the University of Richmond.

Allison Spillman was elected to the Albemarle County School Board as the at-large representative in November of 2023.

Ms. Spillman graduated from the University of Virginia in 2003 and spent time in Chicago and Scottsdale before returning to Virginia and settling in Crozet in 2019. Before joining the Board, Ms. Spillman spent time as the Chief Operating Officer at Fidelis, where she was primarily responsible for planning, developing, implementing, coordinating and evaluating company programs. After selling the business in 2015, Ms. Spillman served as the vice president of her children's school's PTO while adopting her two youngest children.

She currently has five children that span all three levels of Albemarle County Public Schools. Her focus on the Board will be to improve the ways that the Special Education Department serves our students and expand on the strengths of the program.

Ms. Spillman is also a Board member of the Reclaimed Hope Initiative, a local support and advocacy organization focused on strengthening and empowering families navigating foster care, adoption, and raising children with disabilities.