Who I Am
I am the dream of my late grandmother, Josephine. She lived to be 97 years young, and was a descendent of enslaved Africans here in the Commonwealth of Virginia. She taught me what it meant to be resilient – as a woman who refused to give up and fought for basic human rights, to include the right to vote and the right to a public education. It is this resiliency that drove me to devote my life to public service in the Commonwealth of Virginia for over the past two decades.
I am the product of a single parent household, an active FCDC member, a husband, a father of five children, a pastor, a public safety officer, youth mentor and product of a public school education. I will bring that diverse experience to the Fairfax County School Board and continue to serve my community to help ensure that the next generation can beat the odds as I did.
Endorsements
Atif Qarni - Former VA Secretary of Education
Willie Bailey - Alexandria School Board Member
Sean Perryman - Former Fairfax County NAACP President
Shirley Gwinright - Former Fairfax County NAACP President
Sherry Nachani - Former PTSA President
Yolanda Thompson - Community Leader and Youth Mentor
My Priorities
Equity and Inclusion
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Despite the work that has already been done, and the investments that have been made, many of our FCPS students walk very different paths than their peers. I understand those challenges, and walked a similar path when I was a young man. I beat the odds, and want to personally engage with our underserved students to show them where their path can lead, and fight for policies that will continue to level the playing field for our students.
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Perhaps the most important responsibility that our school system is charged with is preparing our young people for entering the workforce. Unfortunately, for FCPS graduates who do not plan to attend university immediately following graduation, their employment options on Richmond Highway are overwhelmingly dominated by retail and service industry jobs that do not pay a living wage. On the School Board, I will work to increase support for academy programs and strengthen pipelines between our Mount Vernon Pyramid and projects like the Workforce Innovation Skills Hub.
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As our young people move into the future, it is important that they have an understanding of their rich and diverse history; thereby embracing their diverse identities in the community. On the School Board, I will work to encourage FCPS to partner with community stakeholders to facilitate multicultural awareness programming that ties directly into the rich history of our district, such as Gum Springs and Mount Vernon Estate.
Serving Students
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The Mount Vernon District is among the most diverse in our Commonwealth. That diversity is one of our greatest strengths. Our FCPS students who are first-generation Americans or speak English as a second language need access to the resources they require to achieve greater language proficiency and fully realize their academic potential. As a member of the School Board, I will prioritize programming in support of that goal.
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Mount Vernon is a working class community. Many of our FCPS parents work hours in excess of regular school hours. That is precisely why School Age Child Care (SACC) is so critical. The SACC not only provides parents with the resources they need to work regular hours, but provides students the infrastructure they need to have a safe and structured after-school environment. As your Mount Vernon School Board Member I will lobby our Board of Supervisors to maintain a robust and accessible SACC program, and proactively seek to be a thought leader on the Board for implementing strategies to create more accessible and innovative SACC programing.
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Not only should no FCPS student ever go hungry, but no FCPS student or parent should face debt connected with food service programs in our school system. FCPS students currently owe $700,000k in lunch debt. Given the debt that many of them will be forced to incur both pursuing higher education, or simply working to afford to live in our region, we should never be graduating students from our school system already saddled with the burden of debt. As a member of our School Board, I will work to reform the systems that are in place that leave our students with such a tremendous financial burden each year.
Serving Teachers
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World class schools are made by world class teachers. Too often our teachers are caught between the two sides of a funding equation, with the state and county sharing responsibility for setting salary rates and funding our schools. As a School Board Member, I won’t sit on the sidelines. I’ll call on our delegation in Richmond, and our Board of Supervisors, for year over year salary increases for our teachers so that we both attract and retain the top education talent in our region.
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I will always support collective bargaining for not just our educators, but all of the FCPS staff who sacrifice so much in service to our students and community.
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One of the best things we can do to serve our current teachers is to hire new ones. By decreasing class sizes we can allow our teachers to put their training to work, and provide our students with more individualized instruction. As your Mount Vernon School Board Member, I’ll work both with our partners in Richmond and FCPS administrative staff to generate creative strategies for reducing FCPS class sizes across the board.
Keeping Schools Safe
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There are more opioid overdoses and opioid related incidents at West Potomac Highschool than any other school in our county. We can’t hide from that fact. While I appreciate some of the initial work that has been done to address this crisis, we must do more. From support staff to monitor bathrooms, to integrating programs such as FCPD’s Hidden in Plain Sight program, to fighting for funding for a dedicated treatment facility in Southeast Fairfax, and beyond–I will be a champion for openly and transparently engaging our community to solve this growing problem in our schools.
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As a law enforcement officer of over 20 years, I have a unique lens through which to understand the challenge of policing in our schools. I believe that police should be a resource to our schools, and only an enforcement tool inside of them as a last resort. As a School Board member, I will be a champion for breaking the school to prison pipeline that too many of our students are in danger of falling into.
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As a law enforcement professional, I understand first hand that a disproportionately high number of incidents that involve violence and criminality are directly linked to mental health. The number one thing that we can do to keep our schools safe is to support the mental health of our students. Just like we must increase the number of teachers in our schools, we must also increase the number of counselors. For me, education and mental health support go hand in hand, and when I am advocating for funding that’s exactly how I’ll make the case.
How to Vote
From me, the first step in being elected to the School Board is to earn the official endorsement of the Fairfax County Democratic Party. FCDC has finalized the rules for this Spring's endorsement caucus, which can be found here. Everyone who wants to vote in the caucus must be registered to do so. If you don't register, you can't vote, so don’t wait!
Important Deadlines
Caucus Registration: April 10 – May 5
Caucus Online Voting: May 13–20
In Person Voting: May 20