ELECTION 2023: Varina’s two school board candidates highlight particular needs of the district

Two candidates are running for the Varina District seat on the Henrico County School Board this November: incumbent Alicia Atkins and newcomer Domonique Pervall.

Atkins was elected in November of 2019 to represent the Varina District and is the first Black woman to sit on the board. Both Atkins and Pervall are longtime residents of the Varina District and graduates of Highland Springs High School.

As of Aug. 31, Atkins has raised $10,476 and Pervall has raised $835, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

Alicia Atkins

When Alicia Atkins first joined the school board in 2019, just a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she immediately confronted some of the most divisive issues in the county.

“It was very much sink or swim. And I’m glad that I swam,” she said. “The particular committees I was assigned, which were the Health Committee, the Instructional Review Committee – some of the more polarizing areas I would say – really helped define how to be successful and how to be an example of grace.”

Before serving on the board, Atkins worked in healthcare administration, civic engagement, and education. She has also coached recreational cheerleading teams in Eastern Henrico and has served as a PTA president. Being a mother of three and a woman of faith has given her an “indomitable spirit of triumph” and a “profound dedication to service-oriented leadership,” she said.

Atkins hopes to foster more parent and community engagement in Varina’s schools, which she believes will help empower students and create a supportive educational environment.

“Our students need love and attention. Particularly in the Varina District, I’d like to see more involvement,” she said. “The most successful school divisions have high engagement, high parental involvement.”

Along with reaching out to community members on social media, Atkins and her campaign team have attended community events and gone door-to-door to meet people where they are.

“I’m imbued with a vision for our community, and it really does fuel me,” she said. “I think the most refreshing for me is just door-to-door engagement. The opportunity to knock on the door, introduce myself, and ask questions, listen, learn, and share information.”

Varina’s challenges mirror the challenges of many other communities across Virginia, Atkins said. But some of the more notable issues in the district, such as access to quality healthcare, affordable housing, educational advancement, and financial stability, continue to have an impact on students while they are in the classroom.

“What happens within a school is very dependent upon what’s around it, what’s outside of it,” Atkins said.

Student misbehavior and violence, a challenge throughout Henrico, can be targeted with proactive early interventions, counseling and support resources, and efforts to improve relationships between students, parents, and staff, Atkins said.

“I believe that quote is so true: ‘children are examples of what they see,’” she said. “When it comes to discipline and misbehavior, that behavior that they demonstrate is a cry for what they don’t understand or aren’t able to solve on their own.”

During her time on the board, Atkins led efforts to create the new Oak Avenue Complex in Highland Springs, which will provide amenities such as healthcare, mental health services, dental services, classrooms, and a food pantry. She also advocated for the new Center for Environmental Studies at Varina High School.

Moving forward, Atkins wants the board to invest in a “rigorous analysis of data” to look at certain trends and figure out the proper approach to issues such as test scores, graduation rates, and absenteeism.

“We’ve done a good job. Henrico has made progress amid challenges and other crises that are in individual districts,” she said. “But I do think we certainly have more work to do.”

Certain issues, however, are often beyond the control of the school division, Atkins said. Staffing challenges in Henrico, for example, have resulted from a shortage of graduates from teaching programs throughout the state. Atkins said that for many issues, more investment is needed from the federal and state levels.

One thing that can be addressed, however, is equitable access to extracurricular and enrichment activities, Atkins said. In Varina, Atkins wants to create more recreational venues – movie theaters, museums, rock climbing gyms – so that students can participate in supervised activities. Coupled along with that, Atkins wants to address issues of bus transportation and dependable internet access across Varina.

“I think our babies need something to do, particularly between the hours of 3 and 7 p.m.,” she said. “Places to go, things to do that are supervised would be helpful, especially when we’re thinking about when schools are closed within our district, it’s crucial in enhancing their overall well-being and enrichment.”

Domonique Pervall

A graduate of Highland Springs’ Tech Center, Domonique Pervall has been a licensed electrician for upwards of 22 years and is a project manager for US Electric Company. One of his biggest inspirations for running for school board was his goal to expand Henrico’s Workforce & Career Development program to more high school and middle school students.

“As a graduate of Henrico CTE, I think Henrico CTE is a great program,” Pervall said. “I just think we need to expand it down and offer vocational education to the middle school level so that by the time our kids reach high school, then they have a clearer and better direction of what they want to do with their lives.”

As a coach for numerous youth basketball and football teams in Varina, Pervall has noticed an emphasis on students excelling in either academics or in athletics. Students who struggle in both of those categories could significantly benefit from being introduced to vocational education, he said.

“I think that there’s a good group of kids who are not going to college and who are not playing sports as well, and I think we’re missing out on opportunities to promptly train our kids, to get them ready for the work field, for job readiness, or for life skills,” he said.

Pervall said that his longstanding commitment to public service along with being a father has helped him foster strong connections within the Varina community. He has worked with the Richmond NAACP, the Richmond Crusade for Voters, and the Virginia Adult Care Association. After serving time in prison, he became committed to helping other ex-inmates restore their voting rights.

“I have advocated for a multitude of causes from mental illnesses to the restoration of voters’ rights for ex-convicted felons such as myself,” Pervall said.

Pervall said that after he returned to being an electrician, he was able to have his rights restored, work his way up to become a project manager, and turn his life around.

“My conviction came when I was 19, 20 years old,” he said. “I grew up in Church Hill and even though I was in an apprenticeship to become an electrician at the time, I became caught up in the environment that was around me. However, my path as an electrician changed the direction of my life.”

Pervall was convicted of possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute on school property in 2004, according to court records. In June of 2022, he was charged with trespassing on posted property, which was later dismissed, and charged with entering property to damage, which he was later found not guilty.

For Pervall, one of the biggest issues in Henrico is the significant disparities between schools in the West End and schools on the Eastern side. Some of the state’s top-ranked schools – Deep Run High, Mills E. Godwin High, and Glen Allen High – are all located in the West End. Schools in the Varina District have notably lower test scores, graduation rates, and attendance rates.

“Our schools that are on the West End side of Henrico are excelling – they’re in the top 50% when it comes to schools amongst Virginia – whereas the schools in the East End side of Henrico are in the lower 50% amongst schools in Virginia,” Pervall said. “So what I really want to work on is closing that gap between the Western side and the Eastern side when it comes to schools and test scores.”

Similar disparities are seen when it comes to enforcing discipline, Pervall said. Higher numbers of out-of-school suspensions in Eastern Henrico schools compared to West End schools illustrate how Henrico has a “reputation of unfairness,” he said. Pervall suggested considering other forms of discipline to out-of-school suspensions.

“We as adults forget what it’s like being a kid and the pressure of academics, our home lives, and our peers,” he said. “Our students need to believe that the teachers and administrators are fair in their disciplinary actions.”

Another challenge facing Henrico Schools is life after COVID, Pervall said. Pervall noted that like many other counties in Virginia, Henrico has seen a decline in math and reading proficiency rates since 2019 and larger achievement gaps between economically disadvantaged students and their more well-off peers.

The school board needs to invest more resources into addressing these inequities, ensuring equal access to academic achievement for all students, according to Pervall.

“We at Henrico need to address the barriers that hinder the academic performance of minority and economically disadvantaged students,” he said. “We as parents, teachers, and administrators need to be intentional with boosting our students’ confidence and self-esteem within the classroom.”

Pervall has also gone “door-to-door” in the community to share his mission and listen to community members’ “hopes and dreams for our children.” He highlighted his faith, his passion for youth, and his dedication to community service as what defines him as a candidate.

“Every child needs a champion, someone who believes in them and their future,” Pervall said. “I’ve always been an advocate in our community, and being a man of faith, I felt that that’s where God has called me. God led me in this direction.”