ELECTION 2023: Five candidates vie for Fairfield District school board seat
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With Fairfield District Henrico County School Board Member Roscoe D. Cooper, III vacating his seat at the end of the year to run for the district’s seat on the Henrico Board of Supervisors, a newcomer will represent the district on the school board beginning next year.
Interest in the open seat is high, with five candidates – Keith Winslow Hicks, Tommie LeVar Jefferson, Terrell A. Pollard, Crystal Varner Parker and Ryan Young – vying for it. As of June 30, Jefferson, Pollard, Hicks and Parker had raised $14,996, $10,025, $1,050 and $25, respectively, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. There are no finance reports for Young available on VPAP.
Keith Winslow Hicks
Keith Winslow Hicks comes from an education background, as several of his family members are teachers or principals. Education and community organizing have always been priorities in his family, and he now wants to use his skills in those areas to be a voice for the teachers and scholars in the Fairfield District.
“The Fairfield District really needs someone to sit in the seat and take the heat,” Hicks said, “and to make sure that the teachers, the principals and the scholars get all the resources that they need to be successful.”
Hicks has been working in education for the last 10 years as a long-term substitute and a student intervention liaison in Henrico. As a student intervention liaison, he works directly with students who have low reading and math scores. He works with their parents to bridge the gap between them and the classroom and helps them get their children the extra enrichment they need, he said.
Hicks lost to Cooper in the 2019 election, winning 35% of the vote to Cooper's 64%.
If elected this time, Hicks would focus first on school safety and student academic achievement. He believes school safety is a major issue, from students bringing firearms to school to fights on the school bus or misbehavior in the classroom. He supports requiring students to wear clear backpacks and placing metal detectors in appropriate schools. (The school board intends to install weapons detectors in all public schools within the next several years.)
Hicks hopes that on the school board he can help students in the Fairfield District catch up to those in other districts, as they have fallen behind academically, he said.
“The Fairfield District is the last of all [five] districts,” Hicks said. “We have the most schools that are unaccredited. A lot of kids are just not passing, they're just not prepared when they graduate from high school, so they need someone on the board who understands that.”
Working in Henrico County Public Schools helped Hicks learn the needs of the students, like having more coaches, tutors and parent engagement, he said. As a school board member, Hicks wants to make it his job to ensure that those improvements are made and that students and teachers have what they need to be successful.
Hicks believes that it is important to provide sufficient funding for technology so that students have access to the array of technological tools that exist, such as language labs and computer programming. He hopes to make more programs to support the needs of students who are not going straight to college after high school, he said.
To help combat mental health issues, Hicks believes there should be a social worker or mental health professional in each school to help the students with more than just academic counseling, he said.
“There needs to be a social worker and a specified counselor in every school to deal with kids that go through trauma in their home,” Hicks said, “… who can actually talk to them and work with them on ways to improve or eradicate their situation.”
Hicks also would support bringing more instructional assistants into classrooms and keeping a long-term substitute teacher in every building, he said. Most substitute teachers move from building to building, but Hicks believes that having one substitute designated to each building would allow them to build more valuable relationships with the students and know the teachers better.
Hicks plans to host a quarterly town hall meeting to give a space for all community members to have their voices heard.
“You [have] to be a part of the community in order to be successful,” Hicks said. “You have to hear the voices of the people. Because if you don't know what they're doing, how can you correct it?”
Tommie LeVar Jefferson
Tommie LeVar Jefferson is an Army veteran and the father of two children in Henrico County Public Schools, one of whom is on the autism spectrum. The effort Jefferson has spent fighting to get proper educational services for his son was a main motivator in his run for the school board.
“I've literally had a nightmare fighting to get services for him,” Jefferson said. “I don't want any other parents to go through what I went through, so I think the school board needs somebody who has kids, and is a parent who's been through certain things.”
For the past 17 years, Jefferson has been an entrepreneur and driving school teacher, which gave him the ability to be a high-level administrator and work well with students and parents, he said. For the past six years, Jefferson has been a community activist for education through the Urban League of Greater Richmond.
Jefferson believes it is crucial to implement mental health services into the education system. He sees mental health issues as barriers to education and believes that unused space in schools should be used as places mental health professionals can come in and work with youth. He recognizes the struggle that getting children to mental health services can be for working parents, he said.
“They have to either put food on the table or get their child mental health,” Jefferson said, “and that should not be a decision that a parent should have to make.”
Earlier this year, Henrico County Public Schools tested metal and weapons detectors in several schools and officials later agreed that they will install weapons detectors in all schools in the coming years, but Jefferson believes this is not the only step the school board should be taking to ensure safety. Safety is not simply a badge and a gun, he said, but rather a feeling. He plans to engage with staff members, teachers and students to find out their needs and do what he can to ensure they feel safe, he said.
Jefferson believes there should be more effort toward implementing after school programs and clubs for students to get involved in. He believes school should not just be about learning a list of topics to pass a test; it should promote involvement in the arts and humanities in a hands-on way, he said.
Jefferson supports the creation of more after-school programs that would teach skills like playing instruments, learning languages, building robots or others. This would increase school morale, attendance and learning, and decrease altercations, he said.
“I'm just here to try to help reimagine education,” Jefferson said. “It doesn't have to be so static … we have to meet the kids where they are, and we have to look at the whole kids, not just test scores.”
The Fairfield District is economically diverse, so Jefferson believes it needs especially strong representation. He hopes to be elected to the school board so that he can strengthen the community by working to make the best decisions for Henrico’s youngsters.
Jefferson plans to be a present school board member, he said. He will attend neighborhood watch meetings and parent teacher association meetings and will send out newsletters.
“I'm a fighter for the community,” Jefferson said. “I have fought for my country, I've worked for my community with the Urban League, and now I'm ready to fight for our kids.”
Terrell A. Pollard
Terrell A. Pollard’s work in advocating for youth in Henrico has shown him the areas in which Henrico’s schools are thriving, but it also has exposed the areas in which challenges exist. With his passion for education and advocacy, Pollard is ready to take his skills to the Henrico School Board and address the challenges.
“I'm from the Fairfield District, I love the Fairfield District, and no one will work harder and no one is more passionate about ensuring that the Fairfield District becomes a beacon of excellence in education,” Pollard said.
Pollard is president of the Henrico NAACP but will be resigning in order to run for the school board. In his work with the NAACP, Pollard helped bridge the gap in communication between parents and school leaders in Henrico by creating a collaborative environment and helping parents feel heard, he said.
Pollard serves as the Fairfield District representative on Henrico’s Board of Zoning appeals and is chair of Henrico Too Smart 2 Start, a nonprofit organization that focuses on health and wellness in youth through substance use prevention. Through his work with Henrico Too Smart 2 Start, Pollard developed relationships with school board members while discussing how policies regarding illegal substances affect youth, which prepared him for a role on the school board, he said.
One of Pollard’s top priorities is hiring qualified teachers and making sure the staff reflects the community it serves, which is majority minority.
“We have to make sure that we are recruiting and retaining teachers so that our students see people [and] faculty that look like them,” Pollard said, “and to make sure that we are covering as many perspectives as possible.”
Pollard supports increasing teacher pay, especially in the Fairfield and Varina districts, which are bearing the brunt of the teacher shortage, he said. He wishes there was a waiting list to become a teacher so that schools could afford to scrutinize applicants, but sees that in reality the teacher shortages are pressuring schools to lower hiring standards, he said.
School safety is also a priority for Pollard, and he would be vigilant on the school board about not allowing weapons into schools and taking threats seriously, he said. He supports having a more proactive instead of reactive peace movement and hopes to launch a campaign about creating a peaceful and thriving community.
To help students cope with mental challenges, Pollard believes there should be continual conversations and training about conflict resolutions to help students be more emotionally aware. He also believes the school board should allocate resources toward making special education more dynamic, expanding preschool and addressing housing and food insecurity.
“As a school board representative,” Pollard said, “I want to, in the first 100 days with a fine tooth comb, go through the budget and see where we spend that money. Over 50% of the county's budget goes to the schools, so we need to look at every aspect of how money is being spent.”
Pollard also plans on attending meetings of community groups and will host monthly meetings to hear concerns and suggestions from community members. He will have an advisory group for the Fairfield District made up of students and parents so he can be continually aware of issues, he said.
Crystal Varner Parker
As a Presbyterian minister and mother of two elementary-aged children, Crystal Varner Parker has a vested interest in seeing Henrico’s schools succeed. During her time as a financial educator for the Henrico Federal Credit Union, Parker recognized the deep importance of community partnership with schools, and she now wants to use her passion and skills to support students and teachers as a member of the school board.
During the 2019-2020 school year, Parker co-chaired Henrico County’s plan to redistrict attendance zones, which fell through once the COVID-19 pandemic hit. A top priority of hers if elected is to follow through with many of the solutions that would have come along had the plan not been cut short, she said.
“We need to ensure that our schools are not overcrowded,” Parker said, “[and] that the students have good teacher to student ratios. … We have a critical teacher retention problem right now, and I want to work to address that.”
Teachers and staff are at the forefront of Parker’s mind as she plans what her first steps would be on the school board. She wants to partner with community members and build relationships so that she can find out where the problems are and address them accordingly, she said.
Bringing more mental health counselors into schools to increase social emotional learning is one way Parker would promote student well-being and mental health, she said. She also believes a deep budget analysis would be beneficial to see if there are ways to reallocate funds to make sure teachers and staff are paid enough.
“I believe deeply in my bones in supporting our educators and staff,” Parker said, “because without them, we can't have our schools. Kids are my number one priority, but following right behind them, our teachers and staff because they're the ‘why.’ I think if we ever forget that, then we're doing the wrong thing.”
Parker believes a productive functional school board maintains good lines of communication between Henrico County Schools, the Henrico Division of Police and the Board of Supervisors. She believes that those relationships are key factors in school safety and would continue the diligent work the school board has done to address unsafe situations if elected, she said.
One of the reasons Parker loves Henrico County is its rich diversity, she said. She believes that a sense of belonging is crucial for learning, and that having a safer and more welcoming environment would increase student outcomes.
Parker is Japanese American and Native American, and she values the diversity of the Henrico County Public Schools, which is a majority minority school system. She is thankful that she felt embraced and found community when she moved into the county in middle school, and as a board member wants to ensure that all students feel celebrated no matter their identity or background.
“I think ensuring that the rich diversity within our schools is celebrated,” Parker said, “and finding ways to provide that safe place of inclusion for all students is really important and can transform education.”
If elected, Parker wants to have a teacher advisory committee and regular listening sessions. She believes hearing from the teachers is important and wants to prioritize hearing the concerns of parents and community members and actively working to fix them.
Parker has built relationships in the school system and community during her career and believes building upon those relationships will be essential to being an effective school board member. She is committed to doing the work and collaboration to make positive changes happen, she said.
Ryan Young
Ryan Young has spent the past 20 years coaching basketball for hundreds of youngsters in Henrico and said he cares deeply for the Henrico public school community. As a father of four and native of the county, Young wants to expand his support for the students beyond just coaching and work for them as a member of the school board.
“I believe that [coaching] is not where my impacts stops,” Young said. “That's where it actually starts. It's time for me to do a little bit more, and I can have a bigger impact on my community by being on the school board.”
Young is a consultant at CoStar Commercial Real Estate, a basketball coach at Henrico High School and the director of the Chamberlayne Youth Basketball League. The program is the largest program of its kind in the Fairfield District, serving about 700 kids yearly, he said. His interactions and relationships with Henrico’s youngsters as a coach inspired him to run for the school board.
Watching the struggles his children face at all levels of the school system has shown Young where there are gaps in education that need to be addressed, he said. He believes that factors like online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic placed some students behind and wants to identify and provide the resources that will get them back on track, he said.
“In Henrico County, all schools should be equal,” Young said. “That's one of my biggest things: educational equity. It doesn't matter where you move in Henrico, you should have the same education, same opportunities and you should feel safe in every single one of our schools.”
Young believes that in increasing school safety, the school’s decision to install weapons detectors was a good step. However, he believes that school safety does not end when students get off the bus. He believes safety in schools and safety in the community is synonymous and plans on using his time as a school board member to improve not just schools but the community as a whole.
Young plans to identify what issues are present in each of Henrico’s schools and to support allocating funds accordingly to address the problems. He also wants to prioritize funding preschool programs so that all students can be prepared for kindergarten and be comfortable in the school setting early, he said.
As director of his nonprofit basketball program, Young enjoys spending evenings and weekends with children and teens in the county. He wants to open school doors after hours so that more community partners can create programs for the students, whether they be for coding, tutoring, dance, or any other enrichment activities, he said.
Young believes improving the mental health of students starts with making sure they feel safe in their schools and confident in their abilities. He wants to work toward getting every school in the Fairfield District accredited by creating an environment that increases students’ desire to learn.
“We've ignored mental health for so long,” Young said, “and especially in the Black and brown community, we ignore it a lot, and it needs to be addressed.”
Young prides himself in being accessible, as he is always in the community meeting people and coaching basketball. He will continue coaching as a school board member and wants parents to know that he will treat their kids as if they are his own.
LEARN MORE
Keith Winslow Hicks (no known campaign website)
Tommie LeVar Jefferson's campaign website
Terrell Pollard's campaign website
Crystal Varner Parker's campaign website
Virginia Department of Elections – Citizen Portal
