Ed. — The following are responses to questions posed by The Independent News to candidates in the election for the District 6 seat on the Virginia Beach School Board. Answers to our questions in this series generally are not edited, aside from obvious punctuation issues, spacing and formatting, or for clarity. The print edition containing our full voter guide is now on stands through this coming weekend.
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- Please reach John Doucette, the editor, with any questions or concerns via email.
- Find the main page for the complete 2022 voter guide at this link.
MIKE CALLAN
- Residence: Linkhorn Estates
- Age: 69
- Occupation: Financial Advisor
- Military Service/Education: BA Business Management St. Leo College
- Endorsements: State Sen. Bill DeSteph, State Del. Anne Ferrell-Tata and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares
- Website: mikecallanva.com
- Phone: (757) 749-1209
- Email: info@mikecallanva.com
- Social Media: @mikecallanvbschoolboard6 on Facebook
What are your specific qualifications for this office? My son and I joined forces in business as owners of First Landing Financial after working together at Merrill Lynch. This business, and the financial skills that have been developed over my career, would be a great addition to the school board in dealing with economic, budgetary and salary issues. With over a billion dollars spent on Virginia Beach education every year, these skills are important. I also came to Virginia Beach, like many others, as a military dependent in 1965, since my father was a Navy fighter pilot. I have lived the military family life, and can bring that experience to the School Board as well.
What is the most important issue facing the city schools, and how will you address it in office? The school board needs a new direction in light of the challenges that currently exist. Hundreds of teachers are leaving, not only because of salaries, but also due to the fact that the job of a teacher has become tremendously burdensome, from the administration not supporting the teachers, the overwhelming level of paperwork, the politics in the classrooms, and a general lack of respect for the profession. The leadership that currently exists is leading teachers right out of the profession. In contrast to this reality, I believe I will bring effective management practices to the board for both consideration and implementation.
What are your three main policy priorities for Virginia Beach schools? My top issues to focus on are:
- Every child receives a rigorous, well-rounded education including reading, writing, math, history, philosophy, literature, arts and sciences.
- Forming a partnership between parents, students and teachers.
- Making every student feel safe and secure in every area of the school.
How can the city schools address concerns about equality and inclusion? The first step would be for the School Board to provide an environment where every student is offered an equal opportunity for success, and then to recognize the efforts of those who have excelled. As an example, if we award the “Teacher of the Year”, then we should also award Valedictorian and Salutatorian to those deserving students as well. Holding everyone to the same standards of academic excellence, discipline and behavioral expectations, will prepare students for the real-world challenges that await them as adults, conditioning them to the realization that merit and hard work would be recognized, and can be rewarded.
Is the district doing enough to address school security and discipline? Virginia Beach has traditionally been ahead of the curve on school security, and I support School Resource Officers (SRO’s) in all schools. Several teachers have said that discipline is a problem in Virginia Beach schools; that it is inconsistently applied; and that teachers have not been supported by those to whom they report. In my view, discipline can only be effective if it is fair, consistent and applied equally, and I will advocate for that philosophy in all of our schools.
How will you help the School Board prioritize the significant challenge of teacher retention and recruitment? As addressed above, I believe this is more than a salary issue. It is also a morale issue, and it reflects a lack of leadership shown by the Board over the last few years. Students are far behind due to the ineffective results of “virtual learning”, and they are led by a Board that is more interested in politics than putting students and parents first. Teachers and parents should be partners in education, and neither want to be pitted against each other. The Board is responsible for that dysfunction, and it has to stop.
How do you plan to work effectively and fairly on a sometimes-divided board? We all should hope that the voters choose new school board members in order to bring a higher level of professionalism and civility to the board. Better communication and camaraderie, which has been exhibited by the challengers in this year’s school board elections, would solve the unprofessional division led by the current leadership of the board. I commit to working openly with all board members and will seek to minimize the infighting that currently exists.
Should the School Board take a more active role than it has in the past in coming discussions about our local voting system following the recent appeals court decision in Holloway v. Virginia Beach? The school board was voiceless in the ups and downs of that case because it never joined the suit, and never had a say in any negotiated solution. That decision was wrong, and should not have been made. Going forward, the School Board should always have a seat at the table in discussing the electoral system to which we all will have to abide.
SHARON FELTON
- Residence: Seatack
- Age: 68
- Occupation: Retired
- Military Service/Education: Bachelor Science History Degree from Old Dominion University
- Website: sharonfelton.com
- Phone: (757) 509-7313
- Email: sharon4vbschools@gmail.com
- Social Media: @sharonfelton4vbschools on Facebook and @sharonrfelton on Instagram
What are your specific qualifications for this office? Sharon Felton has served as an elected member of the Virginia Beach School Board since 2014. A life-long resident of the city of Virginia Beach, she served her community as an education advocate, helping parents and students navigate through the education journey. She is serving on the Parks and Recreation Commission, Virginia Beach Historic Preservation Commission, an official VBCPS after school volunteer and the 5/31 Memorial Committee. Sharon recently retired from Old Dominion University (ODU), with over 30 years of service at ODU Perry Library as a Library Assistance.
What is the most important issue facing the city schools, and how will you address it in office? Funding is one of the biggest challenges for public schools, and to complied those challenges with federal mandates that are never fully funded.
My ideal vision of working with the City Council includes acknowledging that they are one of the school board financial benefactors. It is important that we continue to work toward having a collaborative working relationship
Improving meaningful and effectively communication by scheduling timely bi-annual meetings or consider having one day retreats with the full school board to address issues that may cause for lengthy discussions and additional data from school personal.
What are your three main policy priorities for Virginia Beach schools? Students, Employees and Community.
- Students: Continue the implementation of the Educational Equity Policy – which will forge the next steps of the divisions equity assessment, creating a healthier educational environment for, students, teachers, staff and the total community of the VBCPS division. Continue fully supporting creating learning environments that meet the individual needs of students that includes academies, innovative programs.
- Employees: Continue to advocate, both the state and federal level for fully funding of the standard of quality. Continue to work toward having a collaborative working relationship with City Council. Continue to bring awareness to the state, local, and federal governments to provide competitive salaries for teachers, and all essential employees of the VBCPS Division
- Community: Continue the VBCPS community partnerships and to cultivate mutually supportive partnerships among families, schools, the division, businesses, military, faith-based, civic and city agencies to support student well-being. Community. Continue the family and community, communication and engagement to create transparency between all stakeholders. Continue to Communicate the work of the School Division to all stakeholders as appropriate while advocating for the success of our schools and communicating public feedback to my colleagues on the School Board and the Superintendent.
How can the city schools address concerns about equality and inclusion? VBCPS Education Equity Policy 5-4, believes that all students, staff, and community members, regardless of backgrounds, deserve a rigorous and respectful learning and work environment where diversity is valued and used toward achieving positive academic and social outcomes. The implementation of this policy will put into action with accountability for the following:
- The plan will consider the whole child and include all students.
- The plan will be put into action with accountability and will be successful.
- It will result in improved outcomes for students
- Improved discipline, feelings of belonging, advanced coursework).
- People will understand and embrace the plan
Is the district doing enough to address school security and discipline? The current state of student discipline in Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) is under strong advisory and observation. The participation and feedback from both the school board and the community has been valuable in assigning in designing the framework for the well-being of students. These are a few but not limit to initiative that came from these sessions:
Provide a safe, welcoming, and inclusive learning environment that is conducive to student learning. Deeply integrate social-emotional learning (SEL) into the PreK-12 curriculum. Engage in culturally responsive practices at the classroom, school, and division level. Implement procedures to systematically evaluate mental health needs and provide programs and services to meet identified needs. Continue to use Student Response Teams (SRTs) and the positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) framework to provide social, emotional, and behavioral support to students.
Other steps that are being consider and evaluated to address the school to prison pipeline, Restorative Justice, an alternative accountability program of restorative practices to build an inclusive welcoming environment within the walls of VBCPS educational institutions for all students.
How will you help the School Board prioritize the significant challenge of teacher retention and recruitment? Since the 2008 recession there has been a nationwide shortage of teachers. Although there are many variables that come into play concerning the teachers shortage, but to name just a few, compensation, job related stress, fewer students are choosing teaching as a profession, but to ensure resolution to Teacher Shortage/Diversity Hiring:
- Continue to bring awareness to the state, local, and federal governments to provide competitive salaries
- Support staff who are pursuing a teaching license
- Expand partnerships with local universities/colleges and HBCU’s to increase the teacher pipeline
- Explore remote work opportunities for staff
- Seek additional funding to increase the tuition reimbursement program
- Continue to apply for grants that support recruitment and retention efforts
How do you plan to work effectively and fairly on a sometimes divided board? As a VBCPS school board member I plan to work effectively and fairly by continuing to adhere to the Code of Ethical & Professional Conduct for Members of the School Board of the City of Virginia Beach.
Should the School Board take a more active role than it has in the past in coming discussions about our local voting system following the recent appeals court decision in Holloway v. Virginia Beach? Contrary to the public opinion, the school board has taken an active role in local the voting system of Virginia Beach, clearly this is one of the primary reasons I took up the mantel to campaign and won the school board election for two consecutives, 4 years terms. The courts determine that due to the Charter (Chapter 16. Department of Education.§ 16.01. Department of education.) that well the school board under the auspice of the City Council the Holloway v. Virginia Beach decision and ruling was not the defacto of the VBCPS school board.
Under the guidance of the VBCPS school board legal counsel we did take steps to intervene with the state legislators to implements a platform to voice our opinion of the steps that had been taken by the courts.
Because of the existing Charter (Chapter 16. Department of Education. §16.01. Department of education) the board found legal solaces that our fate would be determine that would transpire out of the courts that which would affect City Council.
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