The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education will have a new member next month, as board members picked Gregory McElveen on Thursday to fill the seat of chairwoman Pam Hemminger.

McElveen, a strategy manager for IBM, will be sworn in Dec. 4. Hemminger resigned when she was elected to the Orange County Board of Commissioners.

McElveen has been heavily involved in the school district since 1999, having served in a number of parent organizations at Chapel Hill High School and on minority student achievement committees.

He has also been an officer in the local branch of the NAACP. His involvement in the black community will aid his efforts to work on achievement gap issues, he said.

"Right now the first priority is closing the achievement gap," McElveen said. "I have links to multiple segments of the community."

McElveen will be the third black member of the seven-member board, joining Annetta Streater and Jean Hamilton.

He is already familiar with many issues facing the district. He helped develop the district's Minority Student Achievement Plan in 2000 as well as its 2002-08 Strategic Plan. His six children have attended Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools -- four have graduated and attended college, and two are in high school.

"I have a record of working with the district," McElveen said.

He is also an active member of First Baptist Church of Chapel Hill where he has served in leadership positions and taught Sunday school. He served as a substitute teacher earlier in his career and is a graduate of Stanford University.

Vice Chairwoman Lisa Stuckey said McElveen was the best of the seven applicants for the position because of his years of involvement.

"I think that for me, part of it was that Greg has been in the community a long time, and that he has worked in the schools for many years," Stuckey said. "He's familiar with our history."

The board voted unanimously to appoint McElveen at Thursday's meeting, without any discussion. Stuckey said she had some individual conversations with board members about the selection.

Candidates were interviewed by the board Nov. 13.

"We had a really strong group of candidates," she said.

The next step for the board is to elect a new chair and vice chair. This is done annually at the first December meeting and will take place after McElveen is sworn in.

McElveen will serve the last year of Hemminger's term, which will be up for election in November 2009. He said he's not yet sure whether he will seek re-election at that time. The seats held by Stuckey and Hamilton will also be up for election next year, and candidate filing will take place in July.

Thursday was Hemminger's last school board meeting, and she choked up with emotion as her fellow board members thanked her for her service and wished her well in her new role.

SCHOOL NEWS

In other action, board members:

•Discussed a new policy to regulate the presence of animals in schools. The plan was revised to be less restrictive of instructional activities involving animals, while still addressing health and safety concerns. Board members expressed support for the new draft of the policy, which they will vote on at a future meeting.

•Approved changes to the 2009-2019 Capital Investment Plan. The plan was revised to prioritize the construction of an arts wing and auditorium at Carrboro High School. While funding has not been committed for the project, officials now hope to have the addition completed for the 2010-11 school year.