As an engineer it is in my nature to see inefficiencies and inconsistencies. I have studied VBCPS
Schools for years now and I know they are great schools. But we can make them better. We do
have some outdated schools in need of replacement and rehabilitation and I’ll get that moving
while on the School Board. But having architectural award-winning glass enveloped buildings
does not improve education.
 
Our teachers are stressed. They don’t leave over pay alone but over the stress to pay ratio
brought on by the burdensome non-lesson tasks, the administrative load, large classes, and lack
of order in the schools. Students and teachers both need a calm, stable and organized
classroom environment. Students learn better under such conditions and teachers will
experience less stress. Our educators are overloaded with non-educational tasking.
 
Test scores are declining. Now I am no fan of SOL’s, state mandated testing, or teaching the
tests. But it is a state requirement for now. To counteract, we must refocus on the core
teachings while also preparing our students for life after high school, whether that be in college
or straight into the workforce.
 
I’m a strong supporter of the trades as a solid future. Just fifteen years ago I was earning a living
as a welder and blacksmith. Creating with my hands was rewarding. I will ensure we provide
vocational education opportunities with real-world value from the moment of graduation. My
goal is to develop programs that graduate vocational students as DPOR licensed trade
apprentices.
 
Let’s solidify that parents are the primary educators of their children and VBCPS is a teammate.
And we must acknowledge that teachers do the bulk of the work and thank them for it. Parents
have the right to raise their children under the umbrella of ethics, morals, and cultural beliefs of
their choosing. Thus, they have the right to be involved in, and completely informed about,
their children’s education.
 
Expanding on this, some things just don’t belong in school libraries and that’s just common
sense. Here’s a good start, if it can’t be read in a School Board meeting it should not be on our
library shelves. I will absolutely stand up and defend every parent’s right to choose their child’s
reading materials. And in this case, these are family decisions, not school decisions. Parents and
children together can access these, and any other, books thru private channels outside of the
schools, or even from the public library system.
 
And paramount, I’ll make our schools as safe as possible. Nobody should have to worry about
the security of our students and staff. Let's face the fact that we cannot add metal detectors to
every school. It's just not economically feasible. But what we could do is build a pair of portable
metal-detector trucks with 4 metal detectors in each that could be used randomly every
morning and at after school activities. This would come at a fraction of the cost of adding
permanent systems to every school.
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