BACK BAY— The three candidates running to represent the new District 2 on the Virginia Beach School Board discussed their priorities for city schools during a forum on Thursday, Oct. 6, at the Creeds Ruritan Community Complex.
School Board Vice Chairperson Kim Melnyk, the incumbent, faces challengers Alexis Gerdes and Amy Solares in the District 2 race under the new local voting system. Prior to the system changing, Melnyk was elected to represent the Princess Anne District, which is roughly similar to the new District 2.
The forum was sponsored by the Creeds Ruritan Club, Virginia Beach Farm Bureau and The Independent News.
Candidates had three minutes to make a statement during the forum, and the incumbent spoke first. Melnyk is a Christopher Farms resident who is a former teacher and owns a small business with her husband. She is seeking a third four-year term on the board.
“We do great things in our school system,” Melnyk said.
Melnyk said she is proud of what she and the board have accomplished over the past eight years.
“Since I’ve been on the board, we have implemented full-day kindergarten,” she said. “We were the last city in the commonwealth to get full-day kindergarten.”
She also listed as accomplishments starting the environmental studies program, remaining the only district in the region to have 100 percent accreditation despite Covid-related learning loss, and maintaining a high on-time graduation level.
She said the district has expanded dual enrollment and has significant successes with vocational education.
“Do we have challenges?” she said. “We do.” But the district is working to remain strong, she added.
“My kids are young,” she said. “They’re going to be in the school system for a very long time.”
She said she is prioritizing safety, accountability, excellence and parental involvement as main issues. She said the people in schools should feel safe and there should be funding and training for those who do the work of protecting schools.
Gerdes said Virginia is continuing to lower academic standards. “How are we preparing students for the real world?” she asked, and she criticized the School Board’s decision to eliminate valedictorian and salutatorian in favor of a Latin honors system.
She suggested doing this “just so everyone can feel equal is not what I would consider equality. That’s lowering the bar.”
And she criticized the board majority, of which Melnyk is a member, for supporting the superintendent.
“I saw and felt the disdain and the animosity between the majority of the current School Board members and parents and community members,” she said. “We all have seen the lowering of standards. We all have seen the taking away of valedictorian and salutatorian academic achievement recognitions.”
She said teachers are leaving because they have no support.
“I am a fed-up mom,” she said. “Status quo is not even satisfactory right now.”
She said she will bring parents back to the discussion about the schools because parental involvement leads to stronger schools.
“And, by the way, contrary to what you might hear,” Solares added, “we do know what belongs in public school classrooms, and we also know what doesn’t belong in public school classrooms.”
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