Shea, passed over as interim member, seeks board seat

Editor’s note: This is one in series of articles profiling candidates who will appear on the ballot for the Henrico School Board Nov. 3. School Board candidates are not permitted to run with party affiliations, so there are no party primaries.

Former teacher and current Henrico parent Marcie Shea isn’t shy about her views on the importance of having teachers on the Henrico School Board.

“Educators should be making decisions about education. . . that’s the crux of the matter,” Shea explained.

Shea is part of the strategy team for Virginia Educators United, a grassroots group that advocates for better education funding from the state.

Last year, Shea was one of three finalists considered as an appointee to the Tuckahoe seat on the School Board on an interim basis. The board ultimately selected former teacher and principal Bill Pike to serve the remaining 15 months of Lisa Marshall’s term after Marshall resigned.

While Shea said she was “personally disappointed” about not receiving the position, she was pleased that board members chose an educator for the seat.

As a parent and teacher, one issue Shea is particularly eager to address is large class sizes. Citing more than 2,000 classes in the district with more than 28 students, Shea wants to see a cap on class sizes that would allow every student in the district to have access to small classes.

“Imposing a cap on class sizes [elsewhere] has had have such broad-spanning positive impacts across the board,” Shea said. Shea explained that class sizes can affect the type of instruction students receive, as well as school safety, teacher morale and ensuring that each student has an adult they can confide in.

Shea also aims to emphasize thoughtful redistricting, with the goal of only redistricting once, aiming to keep school communities that have formed over the years intact.

With the new Tucker and Highland Springs high schools opening in 2021, Shea wants to see comprehensive redistricting around the time the schools open, or before – a plan the current board is moving toward.

In particular, Shea wants to ensure that rapid development in certain areas is taken into account, so that schools aren’t immediately at capacity after they’re built and redistricted.

Another pillar of Shea’s plans is expanding high-quality non-Advanced Placement classes.

“Too often we treat AP classes as kind of the gold standard…I’ve taught AP, there are certainly benefits for AP, but I think there are better options,” Shea said.

She cited issues with AP curriculum pacing guides that leave teachers little room to adjust for the needs of their students. In addition, Shea explained, the cost of AP exams can be cost prohibitive for families in the county, while the emphasis on AP classes can also contribute to serious academic stress for kids in the district.

“There is a mental health epidemic with our young adults right now,” Shea explained. With academic stress “at a boiling point,” Shea said, students stretching to AP can be detrimental to the health of the school, as well as the instruction given in those classes.

“AP has its place, but we have to stop treating it as the gold standard,” Shea added.

For Shea, it all comes down to supporting educators and understanding their needs.

“Our schools don’t need more politics,” Shea concluded. “Our schools need people who love education… It is so important that we support our teachers and are able to meet all students where they are.”