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Age: 41
Occupation: Education consultant
Bio: I live with my family in Del Ray where my two girls attend Mount Vernon Community School. I have more than 20 years experience working nationally on education policy. I’m currently the chair of the School Board’s Budget Advisory Committee and a member of the Alexandria Youth Employment & CTE Working Group.
How should ACPS address transportation staffing shortages?
Bus driver shortage is a national problem. ACPS should continue to invest in competitive salaries and bonuses, and seek out greater partnership and coordination with DASH.
What is your goal for collective bargaining?
Execute an agreement between ACPS and the Education Association of Alexandria that is workable for both sides.
What do you see as the role of the School Board? Is it subordinate to the superintendent or their boss?
The School Board’s role is to: set the long-term vision and strategic plan for success, provide sound fiscal stewardship, hold leadership accountable, be a conduit for the community and productively engage with other elected leaders. The Board and superintendent are partners in improving results for students.
Two students, one who is disabled, have recently left school in the middle of the day at Francis C. Hammond Middle School. How will you work to solve this problem?
The School Board’s role is to set clear policies and hold leadership accountable. It will be up to the division and school administrators to address the situation and transparently communicate with the public about what happened and what is being done to prevent the issue moving forward. If that does not happen, then the Board would need to step in.
What is your plan to equitably address overcrowding?
Students and educators need healthy, welcoming environments to succeed. Redistricting is necessary to address the root issues. In the short term, all ideas should be considered and more transparency with the community is needed.
How do you plan to increase teacher retention?
The Board and division need to consider a variety of factors: pay and benefits; working conditions; and, the role of educators in decision making.
What specific steps can be taken to enhance school safety?
We need to partner with City Council and our public safety agencies to promote safe storage of weapons, and continue to engage with students and families to identify additional steps that can be taken to improve school safety.
How can central office communications become more effective and accessible? ACPS communications has improved over the past few years, and yet it still has a way to go to meet what the community expects. I’m glad that the division has been more proactive in its communications recently, and I would like to see more consistent progress updates as the division works to address issues.
How can standardized test scores be improved?
We must support evidence-based policies, use data to guide our decisions, ensure we are differentiating support and review our programs for effectiveness. We also need to make sure students are showing up to school, so continuing efforts to drive down chronic absenteeism is a priority.