Albemarle County voters in 2025 will elect a representative for the Jack Jouett District to serve on the seven-member Albemarle County School Board, which — under a board–superintendent model — sets educational policy, approves the budget, guides the superintendent, and ensures the school system serves students effectively. Voters should participate because this position directly influences decisions affecting school quality, student equity, staffing, curriculum, and resources that shape the educational experiences of nearly 14,000 students in the county. The election for this seat in November will determine who makes these critical local decisions.
Biography
My background is in law, science, & public health. Professionally, my focus for more than 20 years has been on health, particularly mental health. Prior to relocating to Charlottesville in 2008, I was a consultant to The Carter Center’s Mental Health Department & adjunct professor at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health. In Charlottesville, I have served as a consultant to the Virginia Supreme Court’s Commission on Mental Health Law Reform; the Board of the UVA’s Physicians Group for 9 years; & am a Board member of the Albemarle Foundation for Education. I am now the Executive Director of a non-profit called Partner for Mental Health, an organization that promotes mental health. While on the Albemarle County School Board, I have been focused on promoting student achievement and closing the achievement gap, supporting student health and mental health; working for greater teacher salaries, & advocating for more capital investment to address both capacity and modernization needs.
1. Adherence to our Strategic Plan. We are three years into our 5-year plan, which is focused on promoting student achievement and closing the achievement gaps we see for some of our demographic groups. As part of the the Strategic Plan we worked with a consultant to do an educational audit of our practice and performance in reading and math. We are seeing improvements in overall achievement in reading, math and science but, of course, would like to continue that trend. In the next 18 months we will be reaffirming, revising, or replacing the current Strategic Plan.
2. Keeping class sizes small.
3. Providing additional supports as needed. This year -- in a tight budget year -- we increased the number of special education teaching assistants, for example.
ACPS has been doing remarkably well in this regard with teacher retention over 85% and we continue to get more applications than we have positions. However, we are also focusing on "growing our own" and providing support to students who are particularly interested in pursuing careers in education. We are also aggressive in recruiting teachers who look like our student body and recruit at HBCUs.
The School Board's responsibility is to set policies, craft a Strategic Plan with measurable goals, and provide resources to help every student succeed. We closely monitor progress in SOL scores, and other metrics that provide feedback to teachers and administrators during the school year. We have differentiated funding that provides additional resources for our schools with high percentages of low-income students. We also have a pilot program in four of our higher needs schools in partnership with Communities in Schools of Northern Virginia to have site coordinators who have the responsibility of providing additional support to students, to focus on each schools specific needs -- e.g. preparation for college or employment after graduation; addressing chronic absenteeism; engaging families, etc.
We are constantly looking at growth projections and work with our Long Range Planning Advisory Committee LRPAC) to assess our options. Unfortunately, ACPS capital projects fell behind after the Great Recession in 2008 and again hit a slow down during the pandemic and many of our schools are over capacity and many also need significant modernization. The good news is we have two new school facilities under construction -- the first new structures since Baker Butler Elementary School opened in 2002. And, we have another scheduled to be built and open in the 2029-30 school year. But, that is not enough. Albemarle and Western Albemarle are significantly over capacity and Monticello is nearing that as well. The School Board is directing the LRPAC to study high school options this fall and make its recommendations.
There are multiple opportunities here.
1. After meetings with parents and community partners, ACPS selected 7 of the Virginia Department of Education's career pathways, as being best aligned with our community's job needs going forward. These career pathways, which we call our Scholars Studios, provide clear guides to students and their families about what various careers look like and will include engaging local business partners to come into the schools and meet with students as well as permitting job shadowing and internships.
2. ACPS, together with the Albemarle Foundation for Education and in partnership with Communities in Schools (CIS) of Northern Virginia, have implements CIS in four of ACPS schools. The work of the CIS coordinators includes partnering with local businesses and other organizations to provide support for our students.
3. ACPS Dept of Community Engagement hosts quarterly community breakfasts to foster greater understanding and cooperation between ACPS and the community. These breakfasts include speakers, community panels, and brief work sessions.
4. UVA has been a good partner with the ACPS Health and Medical Studies Academy, now called the Pulse Scholars Studio, and has provided many tutors for our students. For several years now, the UVA Football team has adopted Greer Elementary School and shows up often to tutor students and participate in some back to school events.
