The Beaufort County school board failed again Thursday to elect a chairman, this time after four rounds of voting, marking its sixth unsuccessful attempt in three days.

In the first round of voting Thursday, Rick Caporale of Hilton Head Island had five of the board's 11 votes and Dale Friedman of Beaufort had five. As he did at Tuesday's board meeting, Michael Rivers, who represents St. Helena Island, abstained.

In the three following rounds, Caporale had five votes, Laura Bush of Bluffton had five votes, and Rivers abstained.

The same five members supported Caporale in all four rounds. They were Caporale, Pam Edwards and Stu Rodman of Hilton Head, David Chase of Sun City Hilton Head and Richard Tritschler of Lady's Island.

Supporting Friedman, who represents Beaufort and Port Royal, in the first round and Bush in the following three rounds were Friedman; Bush; Earl Campbell, who represents Sheldon, Dale and Lobeco; and Margie Jenkins and Ron Speaks, who are both from Burton.

The board will vote again at 11:30 a.m. today at the second day of its leadership retreat at the Hilton Garden Inn. The meeting is open to the public.

Rivers did not provide a clear explanation of why he was abstaining, but he told other board members that he had no intention of changing his mind Thursday and suggested the board revisit the matter at one of its two regular meetings in January.

William Halligan, an attorney for the school board, told members that under board rules, they must elect a chairman before the end of January. Current board chairman Earl Campbell will hold the position until the matter is resolved.

Two years ago, Campbell had no opposition for the chairman's position.

After three rounds of voting Thursday, Friedman told members they need not wait for Rivers to decide. "Any one of us can change a vote," she said.

Although in the last round of the day, nobody did.

In the end, the board voted 6-4 to adjourn for the day and take up the matter again today. Rodman abstained from that vote.

Chase, who wanted to resolve the matter Thursday, said, "I'm prepared to stay 24 to 48 hours. It's like a jury, and we need to stay as long as it takes."

Tritschler agreed, saying, "We owe it to the citizens of this county who elected us."

But Caporale suggested putting off a decision until today, reasoning that more discussion Thursday would have been futile. "I have no intention of voting for anyone but myself," he said.

Waiting another day, he said, "will give everyone overnight to rethink their position."

But so far, more time doesn't seem to be helping board members come to a consensus.

The board made two attempts at a special meeting Tuesday to elect a chairman, but both were unsuccessful. In those rounds of voting, Caporale and Friedman each had five votes. Rivers had just his own vote in the first round. In the second round, he abstained.

The board must also elect a vice chairman and a secretary. But under board rules, the newly elected chairman must preside over those elections, so they also are delayed until the chairman's position is resolved.

The board's leadership retreat continues today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. In addition to another attempt to elect a chairman, the board is to discuss methods of evaluating student achievement and the results of meetings with community leaders.