The Albemarle School Board will soon welcome three new members - Brian Wheeler as the at-large member, Sue Friedman in the Rivanna District and Barbara Massie in the White Hall District - and it will retain an incumbent, Scottsville board member Stephen Koleszar.

The at-large and Scottsville races were won by small margins. The at-large race, in particular, was remarkably close: Wheeler received 7,796 votes, while Linda McRaven garnered 7,695. In the Scottsville race, Koleszar received 1,330 votes, compared with 1,176 for Scottsville opponent Denny King.

The Rivanna and White Hall races were less close, with Sue Friedman winning handily over Franklin P. Micciche, receiving 2,002 votes to his 1,142. Massie received 2,408 votes and Louise Ward received 1,358.

“I’m surprised the race was as close as it turned out to be,” Wheeler said. “I applaud Linda McRaven for jumping into the race. I think we had four competitive School Board races, and that assured a broader discussion of educational issues.”

Wheeler said he was proud of running a nonpartisan campaign - McRaven received Republican Party endorsement. He said his work begins this week at Thursday’s School Board meeting.

“Even though I’ll be an observer for the next couple months, I’m looking forward to helping shape the next budget,” he said.

Wheeler, chief information officer at SNL Financial in Charlottesville, favors decreasing elementary school class sizes, raising employee salaries and increasing support for technology. He’s served as president of the Murray Elementary School PTO. Wheeler will replace Gary Grant in the at-large seat.

It will be Koleszar’s third term on the School Board. He is central regional chairman of the Virginia School Boards Association and serves on the Virginia High School League. Koleszar has said a teacher shortage, county growth and increased federal and state requirements are among the most important issues the board will face next year.

“I was outspent, I was outcampaigned, but people knew the job I’d done, and that was the difference,” he said late Tuesday. “I’m looking forward to working with our new board members. We’ve got a lot of work to do. I think we’ll be ready and able to move the school division forward.”

Koleszar said it was hard to say how the dynamic of the board would change with new members, but he offered, “I guess I feel like Sue and Brian have really been heavily involved and know what’s going on and I think they’ll have a pretty quick transition. I think we’ll have a very good board. I’m really looking forward to it.”

In the Rivanna District, Sue Friedman will replace Ken Boyd, who has been elected to the Board of Supervisors.

“I feel very gratified that the voters believe I’m the best candidate to represent the Rivanna District, and I’m looking forward to continuing a good school system’s past toward being great,” Friedman said. She said she looks forward to being part of a “cohesive group that focuses on student success and the very best policies that can ensure student success.”

Friedman is director of regional business assistance at the Thomas Jefferson Regional Economic Development Partnership in Charlottesville. She’s said her biggest priorities on the board are implementing the No Child Left Behind act, preparing students for Standards of Learning tests and recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers.

Massie will succeed White Hall board member Chuck Ward, Louise Ward’s husband.

Priorities Massie has championed include higher teacher wages, smaller class sizes, more parental involvement and making sure schools are not understaffed.