2 candidates seeking Brookland School Board seat

Two first-time candidates for public office will meet in the Nov. 5 general election for the right to represent the Brookland District on the Henrico County School Board.

Kristi Kinsella and Jackson Knox are seeking to fill the seat that's being vacated by two-term representative Bev Cocke, who chose not to seek a third term.

Kristi Kinsella
Kinsella has been involved in Henrico schools since she started school in 1975, she said, and she doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon.

“I decided to run for the same reasons I’ve been advocating, which is, I think we can do an even better job with education, and I want to help make that happen,” Kinsella said.

Kinsella, who attended school in the Brookland District and currently has children there, is a small business owner of Spike Energy LLC, in Henrico County. She previously spent time working for the U.S. Treasury, as well as serving as a financial analyst doing merger and acquisition work.

“I feel like there are a couple things that set me up for being a great candidate for school board,” Kinsella explained. “I feel like the fact that I went to school here, the fact that I actually have three children in Brookland District helps me, as a parent, and my business background and analytical background helps me understand budgets and how funds are allocated."

Kinsella’s strategy for teachers starts with three Rs: recruit, retain and reward. To work toward these goals, Kinsella wants to give teachers relevant professional development and make sure their concerns are heard.

“I believe that the resources are not equitable, and when I use the term equity, it’s not equality,” she said. “I believe each student, each teacher, each school needs different things to be successful, and I’d like to be involved in making sure that’s happening across the county, with a focus, of course, on the Brookland District.”

Kinsella wants to reduce class sizes and overcrowding in schools, as well as targeting “band-aid redistricting” that fails to address these larger problems.

To stay competitive and aid in teacher retention, Kinsella wants to keep Henrico County competitive, which means a unified pay plan and ensuring that teachers receive compensation for substitution, rather than forgoing their planning periods to substitute.

Kinsella has learned more about the particular issues of Henrico schools through volunteering in her children’s schools, as well as serving as a co-chair of the HCPS Lay Advisory Committee.

She aims to advocate for all children in the county, Kinsella explained, not just her own.

She became more involved in Henrico schools when her oldest child started kindergarten, in 2011.

“So far, it’s worked out well. We were able to advocate for Glen Allen [Elementary] School’s classroom addition to become a higher priority,” Kinsella said.

In early 2017, Kinsella and her husband, as well as another parent, started the Equitable Advocates Facebook page, hoping to “inform and advocate” on all HCPS topics, not just those specific to the Brookland District.

One macro issue Kinsella mentioned is the issue of not all schools receiving equal resources. According to Kinsella, some poorer schools receive funding to pay for these materials, while richer schools with strong PTAs can raise the money to pay for the materials themselves.

Meanwhile, Kinsella says, the schools in the middle are left in the lurch, without the resources teachers and staff need.

When it comes to her campaigning, Kinsella says she’s doing the same things she always does – that is, going to school events, budget meetings and public hearings, but this time, she’s doing so as a School Board candidate.

Jackson Knox
Jackson Knox may be only 28, but for the Brookland resident, that’s a plus for his campaign.

“My youth is an asset,” Knox explained. “I’m staking my claim here. This is where I want to raise my family.”

For Knox, outreach coordinator at the University of Richmond bookstore, campaigning for school board is all about new ideas.

“I’m the only candidate that’s running for school board that’s talking about sustainability,” Knox explained. One of Knox’s focuses is revising the Environmental and Sustainability Management System for Schools.

Increased sustainability, for Knox, would include broad-based learning, like soliciting company partnerships so students can develop hands-on learning, and building community gardens to give students on-the-ground knowledge of seeds and horticulture.

Knox’s other sustainability ideas include partnering with sustainability coordinators at colleges like University of Richmond and VCU, as well as creating week-long sustainability training programs for teachers and students with the aim of getting students really excited about sustainability.

According to Knox, sustainability efforts would serve to prepare students for a global workplace and a changing future, where solar energy is the number one opportunity for job creation in Virginia.

Knox also wants to focus on recruitment and retention of qualified teachers, amidst a national teacher shortage. Knox suggested acting against pay compression and bolstering investment in the Henrico Teacher Scholars program, which provides a special pathway for Henrico graduates to teaching positions in the district.

Knox has built experience through terms of representation with the University of Richmond Staff Executive Council, the HCPS Strategic Planning Committee, the Henrico County Grievance Panel, the Henrico Democrats, the Henrico Citizens' Academy and the Henrico County Library Advisory Board.

For Knox, his experience with the leaders of Henrico County would be a boon to his term.

“Leveraging those relationships is what helps make a thriving and engaging school board, as well,” Knox said. “The county has changed, the district has evolved, and the leadership needs to evolve along with it."

Through the Library Advisory Board, Knox is proud to have created an on-call, specialized library mentorship program, where students can walk into a county library and receive help on everything from creating resumes to budgeting.

If elected, Knox hopes to draw community members into the fold who haven’t always felt connected, such as community members without children in the district. He also wants to reach out to ESL parents by creating a unique school orientation program for them, so that they don’t feel the pressure to “sink or swim.”

And Knox isn’t afraid to take a stance against actions of the current school board that he doesn’t agree with. In particular, Knox was disappointed by the board’s discontinuation of funding for the MathScience Innovation Center.

Knox noted what he termed a “lack of transparency” with the decision.

“There are many students of color that really benefited from a program like that,” Knox explained, noting that STEAM has yet to be fully integrated in Henrico schools.

“We should be leading the charge to gain more partners,” he said of the MSiC consortium, “because that’s a pillar of our community.”

If elected, Knox would endorse maintaining Henrico’s membership in the consortium.

In the meantime, Knox will continue with his current activities: hosting meet and greets, canvassing and collecting school supplies for Henrico students in need.

“I’m ready to do whatever it takes," he said.