WEST NECK — Three candidates seeking the District 2 seat on the Virginia Beach School Board addressed the West Neck Educators Club on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at West Neck Village Hall.
School Board Vice Chairperson Kim Melnyk, a small business owner, faces challengers Alexis Gerdes, a respiratory business specialist, and Amy Solares, who is self-employed and has a legal background, in the race to represent the new District 2 seat.
In their remarks, the challengers generally criticized the current board majority, in part for its support for Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence, while Melnyk highlighted district accomplishments and the strength and reputation of the school system.
Solares spoke first, noting that parents have a right to be involved in educational decisions “yet we have a majority on the School Board that pushes parents out.”
She criticized what she described as the lowering of standards in the classroom, using the example of the shift away from awarding valedictorian and salutatorian designations in favor of a Latin honors system. She would bring these back, she said, “because it’s okay to publicly celebrate academic success.”
“We have seen the taking away of accountability and personal responsibility in the discipline and grading policies,” Solares said. “This, in effect, does not help our teachers who are leaving in droves because they do not have the support of the School Board and, in many cases, their own administration.”
Solares described herself as a “fed up mom” who will bring parents back into decisions, adding that families know what belongs in public school classrooms as well as what does not.
Melnyk, a former teacher, discussed her education and business background, and she said she was proud of the work the district has done since she was first elected in the Princess Anne District under the former at-large local voting system.
“We’ve gotten a lot done over the past eight years with this very really dynamic, very engaged board,” she said. “We implemented full-day kindergarten. We were the last city in the commonwealth to get full-day kindergarten. Shocking. We have a redesign of the Old Donation application acceptance criteria. We have a first-ever equity policy and a [diversity, equity and inclusion office]. My legacy is the environmental studies academy at the Brock Center.”
Melnyk said she is also proud of the work city schools, police and the Navy have done collaboratively on school safety issues, and the schools have consistently been 100 percent accredited – and were the only division in the region to reach 100 percent this year.
“Leadership matters,” she said.
Melnyk noted navigating Covid and related shutdowns was difficult and some parents were angry, but the division did well. Moving forward, she said recovering from learning loss is important, and she wants to improve communication with the City Council.
Melnyk also discussed the change to a Latin honors system, noting generalizations about why the change was made and what it means. The issue is complex because the city’s academy programs have weighted grading, which meant GPAs between academy students and other high school students were much different.
“It became a mess, on top of almost all colleges today do not care about valedictorian and salutatorian,” Melnyk said. “What they care about is your percent. … The truth is more children are being celebrated.”
Gerdes said her goals include bringing “some common sense and sanity back to our School Board.” Divisiveness seen around the country is also seen on the board, she said.
“I’m running for School Board, first and foremost, as a parent,” Gerdes said. “My three girls are young. They’re ages two, six and 12. They’re going to be in the school system a very long time, so I understand the issues firsthand.”
She said her priority is school safety, ensuring students are safe, and she will focus on making sure schools and parents together are “developing responsible and respectful citizens.”
“School curriculum is extremely vital to the future success of our students,” she said. “Most of our existing School Board members, unfortunately, they’ve lowered the standards to accommodate academic accreditations.”
Gerdes, like Solares, criticized the elimination of valedictorian and salutatorian, saying that doing so “so everyone can feel equal is not what I consider equality. That’s lowering the bar.”
She also criticized the board majority for support of the suprintendent and said parental involvement would be a priority for her.
Ed. — A Q&A with the candidates from The Indy’s 2022 voting guide is available at this link.