Brian Wheeler, president of the Virginia L. Murray Elementary School PTO, announced Wednesday that he will run for the at-large seat on the Albemarle County School Board.

Wheeler will run against Gary Grant, who is finishing his first four-year term in the at-large seat and running for re-election. The seat becomes open Jan. 1.

“I’m running because I want to help make a good school system a truly exceptional one,” Wheeler told a group gathered Wednesday morning in front of the County Office Building. “My strong support of public education, my understanding of this school system and my business experience will be tremendous assets for our schools and our children.”

Wheeler, 36, favors decreasing elementary school class sizes, raising employee salaries above market average, increasing support of technology and fully funding education priorities.

“Competitive compensation is what we will need to attract and retain the best teachers for our children. … Our compensation should reflect our performance expectations and the accomplishments we have already made,” he said.

Wheeler has been outspoken at public hearings and School Board meetings in the past few years, and created an Internet newsletter for parents of students at Murray Elementary, where his son is in first grade and his daughter is in fifth.

He has held office in the Murray Elementary PTO since 2001, and been active in Computers4Kids, the Albemarle County Schools Parent Council, the Virginia Piedmont Technology Council Board and the Blue Ridge Mountain Rescue Group.

Wheeler has lived in the Charlottesville area for 18 years, and moved here as a freshman at the University of Virginia.

He is chief information officer of SNL Financial, located on the Downtown Mall. He lives near Ivy with his wife and two children.