Here is my first appearance before the School Board advising them that it was their decision, not the governor's or health commissioner's, as to whether our children should be masked. Sadly, the School Board refused to take any responsibility and had political bureaucrats in Richmond decide what they deemed was best for our children. This was wrong.
Why would the School Board highlight their decision to follow the governor and health commissioner and force our children to wear masks, but quietly announce the decision to lift this policy? I received no response from the School Board and Administration on this issue.
This is my initial call for the removal of the superintendent for lying to the School Board and parents when she repeatedly stated that CRT/SEL was not being taught in our schools, contrary to what the Virginia Association of School Superintendents advocated. This association objected to the Governor's Executive Order which banned CRT in our schools. (And I hope you caught that this was my 'initial' call for her removal).
Many parents and voters have raised the issue of inappropriate books in our school libraries. This is the first time that I read a portion of a book which is in each of our high schools. There is no reason a book like this should be in our school libraries which is accessible to our children. If parents think this is appropriate, then buy the book for your children, but a school library is not the place for it. And it was sad that not one school board member or school administrator contacted me to ask me what the title of this book was. That will not happen if I am elected to the School Board.
My renewed request to have the Superintendent removed as 3 days after my previous request, the school district posted a presentation wherein district personnel touted the use of Social Emotional Learning in the classroom, after the Superintendent repeatedly advised this was not being used in our classrooms. Also emphasized that speakers have a First Amendment right to specifically call out administration members contrary to guidance that the board tried putting out.
At a previous meeting, the majority of the School Board voted to ignore their stated policy for one meeting, so they could approve the purchase of a politically biased history book before it was removed from the state's recommended list. One school board member even had to talk to multiple attorneys in order to find a way to do this. This will not happen when I am on the School Board. I will ensure that the policies in place will be followed.
Why does the Board have an Inappropriate signature on its policy and Students not taking final exams?
I spoke out against a policy that was recently updated which when signed, still had the previous Board Chair's signature on it. This is sloppy work from a group that should be doing what they can to ensure that the most up-to-date material is available for students, teachers, parents, and voters. Further, I spoke on the school system not requiring students to take final exams and how this will cripple our children later in life.
After asking the principal and appealing to the school administration to remove a gay pride flag that a teacher had in their classroom with negative results, I asked the School Board to take action on this. There should only be two flags hanging in any WJCC classroom, and those are the United States Flag and Virginia Flag. Thankfully, the School Board listened and the flag was removed.
If schools are meant for teaching, why is the school condoning a walkout of students from the school?
After a quick thank you to the School Board for their assistance in removing a gay pride flag from a high school classroom, I asked how it was appropriate for the school system to allow/encourage a student walkout over the Governor's new policy regarding transgender students. The school system should not be encouraging students, during the school day, to walk out of classes, which disrupts the learning of other students. Students are there to learn; teachers are there to teach; and the school system should do everything to foster, not hinder, those roles.
While one high school removed the inappropriate, pornographic book from its library, the other two still had it in theirs. So, I read another portion of the book to the School Board. I have spoken to very few parents who think this language is appropriate for students to check out. Again, not one school board member or school administrator contacted me to ask me what the title of this book was. I will work to remove books like this from our school libraries so that our children will have an atmosphere free from inappropriate, non-educational materials.
At the previous school board meeting, only one School Board member spoke up in support of parents/citizens having a voice in what text books should be used/purchased for our students. The remaining board members either sat on their hands or stated that only teachers should be involved in the selection of text books. This decision violated the School Board's own policies (which they do quite often) and ignores what voters and parents have to offer to our students. Parents and voters will always have a voice in our children's education when I'm on the School Board.
After a Newport News teacher was shot by a student, the school administration, unilaterally, removed a comic book series in our school libraries which mentioned shooting a teacher. This series should never have been in our school libraries in the first place. But if this series could be removed so easily, why do parents/voters have to fight so hard to have pornographic books removed from the same libraries? These books should also be removed immediately, at the school system behest, to protect our children.
For months, the School Board and school administrators worked on a proposed budget to take to the County Supervisors for the next fiscal year. Each proposal by the administrators and Board included a 7-8% raise for school employees (which included the administrators, which should never have been included in this discussion). At the last moment, a majority of the board said 'what the heck' let's include a 10% raise for all school employees, which they had been demanding, without any discussion as to where the extra money would come from, except from the County coffers. This was not negotiating in good faith and simply bowing to the pressure from a small number of individuals in the school system. I will not be pressured into any decision when I'm on the school board.
After a book was removed from a school library (though it was still in at least two others) due to its graphic pornographic and vulgar language, several parents and teachers asked the school board to overturn the school administration's decision and have this book returned to the school library. I read a small portion of the book to the school board to give them a sense of what was in the book and what the teachers/parents were not saying to them. These books have no place in our school libraries and will be removed when I am on the School Board.
Teachers are allowed to indoctrinate our children at school and the School Board/Administration take no action towards them. Wearing a rainbow shirt with 'Love Wins' on it and a male substitute teacher telling students that he goes by the pronouns 'she/her' and if they had a problem with it they would be moved is unacceptable in our classrooms and schools. This indoctrination must stop.
New Horizons, where students can learn a multitude of trades while in high school is a resource that our schools need to push and emphasize to students and parents. Since college is not for every student, if they can learn a trade while still in school, students make themselves marketable and a productive member of society. Everyone wins when that happens.
The School Board, at the prior meeting, voted to prevent parents from asking that a book be reviewed and possibly removed from the school libraries if it is labeled as 'educational' material as opposed to 'instructional' material. This new definition, as pushed by the school administration, limits what parents can review and object to, violating Virginia law. The school administration, and approved by five school board members, limits parents to only be able to object to text books, not books in the library. Parents have the ultimate authority for their child's education and they will be able to have a say in every aspect of this education when I am on the School Board.
Last year I asked that a gay pride flag be removed from a classroom as it was inappropriate to be hanging in school. After having to go through 3 levels of requests, it was finally removed. This year, I asked that a BLM flag and a sign that depicted a BLM flag, gay pride flag, transexual flag, and peace sign also be removed. While the BLM flag was quickly removed, the sign depicting the others was not. I again had to take this to the School Board for action since the principal and administration deemed it appropriate. I pointed out to the board several different policies that this sign violated. This type of indoctrination has no place in our schools and will not be tolerated when I am on the School Board.
At a recent meeting, the WJCC School Board and administration praised test scores for local schools for scoring above the state average, though they were woefully below the state benchmark. Sadly, as opposed to taking responsibility for our students doing so poorly and attempting to come up with solutions for improvement, the School Board and administration cowardly blamed the failing test scores on the pandemic. Strangely, neighboring counties outscored WJCC and were above the state benchmark. I guess when you do nothing to help our students, you simply blame it on something else and move on.