With special nods from Gov. Ralph Northam, Mayor Bobby Dyer and Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria, Virginia Beach School Board member Dan Edwards wrapped up his last meeting Tuesday night after more than two decades on the body.

Edwards, who won his first election in 1998 and was named chair the following year, is the longest-serving board member in city history. The tenure earned him an unusual send-off for a School Board member — including a gifted plate of chocolate chip cookies and a coffee table with the school division’s old logo.

Del. Nancy Guy, D-Virginia Beach, said her former colleague’s leadership was “critical” when she was on the board. Superintendent Aaron Spence called Edwards a “tremendous public servant,” saying it was hard to imagine the chamber without him. Dyer, Northam and Luria thanked him for his long service — the governor and Luria provided written statements — saying the city was better off because of him.

“Your tenure on this board has had an immeasurable impact,” said current board chair Carolyn Rye.

Edwards lost his bid for reelection in November, the sole incumbent to be unseated. Newcomer Jennifer Franklin, whom Edwards praised, won the seat instead.

He said he planned to stay involved with the schools moving forward and that some of his career highlights were the establishment of several citywide academy programs and the Standards of Learning accreditation of all Virginia Beach schools.

“We’ve done a heck of a lot of really good stuff. I think our schools ... have been very deeply locally appreciated as a strong school system,” he said. “We’ve had a significant national repu

tation. That’s why I leave the board feeling that we’ve done a whole lot of good stuff over the last two decades.”

But throughout 22 years on the board, serving with more than 40 other members and leading some 500 meetings, he said he never had a desire to run for any other seat, not on the City Council nor in the General Assembly.

“You can run for the School Board without selling your soul,” he said.

Franklin can pick right up where he’s leaving off, he said, mentioning that they have “a very positive relationship” and that he expects it to continue.

He said his views had gotten closer to Franklin’s on the need to bring more students back for in-person learning during the pandemic, an issue that has dominated the board’s attention for the last several months.

Edwards said some of the biggest issues the board will have to face soon involve teacher pay and equity in student education, which were problems before the pandemicand have only been exacerbated by it. It will be instrumental for the board — whose divide has been made clear during the pandemic — to set aside politics and move the division forward.

For most of his time on the board, he said the body has done a good job of working together, avoiding politics and not warring over pet projects. But lately, he said, the group has fallen back to the old habits he saw when he first joined it. There are clear factions when anything of substance is discussed. “I’m hoping they can overcome that,” he said. “I’ve told Jennifer Franklin, ‘You’re their only hope. You’re the only new variable in the equation — so go solve it.’ ”

Peter Coutu, 757-222-5124, peter.coutu@pilotonline.com