My Priorities
As a recent student of ACPS, someone who can work within a bureaucracy, and a natural born mediator, I will do my best to bring together students, parents and the Board. Patience and curiosity allow me to understand and work within a system to get the best possible results.
Good Governance
A strong and healthy Board means healthy schools
As a natural born mediator and someone who likes to organize things, I know how to work within complex systems and I have the patience to fulfill Alexandria’s School Board needs, regardless of their size. Constant turnover in our Board and in administration is disadvantageous for our system, students, and parents. We lose institutional knowledge, causing whiplash in our system.
I will work to ensure we retain our superintendent and continue to work in examining the structure and operating procedures of the Board. I support the current Board’s work on re-examining the budget process, and better utilizing our advisory committees. I not only want to leave the Board in better shape for future members, but also it make it easier for parents and guardians to understand the system and have their voices heard.
Staff and Infrastructure
Our students deserve the best schools possible
Infrastructure can take many forms, including our teachers, staff, facilities and buses. We need to retain our teachers and staff, ensure they receive a competitive salary, and their STEP increases.
Our schools are becoming overcrowded, many of which are in need of repairs due to their age and not originally having been designed for the needs of the 21st century. I will push to make sure schools are renovated and rebuilt, with an eye to future growth. Our students and teachers deserve to have safe and healthy learning environments. Additionally, I will work with the Board and ACPS on reducing the bus driver shortage and renovating/re-imagining the bus depot.
We should be looking to the future, with a better long term plan, to ensure that when costly projects come up, we are prepared.
Equity
The strength of our school system is its diversity
I saw it first hand in high school - every student deserves the same opportunity. Any decision or policy implemented needs to make sure that all populations from the school system are represented equally. I will work to address the racial achievement gaps in ACHS, George Washington, and Hammond, along with making sure that our high school can regain full accreditation without conditions. I will also support ACPS’s continuing restorative practices, so that students, the administration and parents build better relationships inside and outside the classroom.
We should also continue to give students other pathways to succeed after high school. Classes like automotive technology, wood shop, cosmetology, and culinary arts should be supported and grown.
With the ongoing redistricting process, set to be completed for the 2026-27 school year, I will listen to all sides as we navigate this process. Redistricting should be addressed as fairly and equitably as possible, with minimal disruptions to students and parents.
Safety
Every student deserves to feel safe at school
Having experienced active shooter lockdown drills as a working adult and understanding the intense emotions of such exercises, no child should have to go these events in their daily life. I will work with the rest of the Board and ACPS to make sure that active shooter drills are not unnecessarily stressful for students. I will also seek data and statistics on the effectiveness of the weapons/metal detectors program and any other safety programs started. If they stay in the schools, they should be as accurate and unobtrusive as possible and we need to have a plan for monitoring their effectiveness over time.