THIS POST IS BACK BY POPULAR REQUEST! School board elections matter, as we found out during Covid. Let’s flip the Virginia Beach School Board!

Vicky Manning needs more friends. Not that this member of the Virginia Beach School Board isn’t smart, capable and enormously likable. 

She’s all of those things and more.

But on the 11-member school board, as one of only three reliable advocates for academic excellence, higher standards and parents rights, she‘s a tad lonely.

If Manning had had more allies, public schools would have been open and the 63,000 students who attend them would have been back at their desks in months once the governor shut down schools in the early days of the pandemic.

They would have been out of masks quickly, too.

Instead, the far-left majority on the current board listened to the unions and the unscientific fearmongers who told them schools were unsafe, children were virus vectors and that remote learning was every bit as good as in-person instruction.

They were wrong on all counts. The children suffered.

Voters can fix the school board in 18 days. Manning’s Students First Va PAC has raised money for and endorsed an impressive slate of candidates who want to serve the parents and students of Virginia’s largest city. They want to raise academic standards, not lower them and they promise to listen to parents, not merely tolerate their presence at school board meetings.

Too often voters treat school board elections as an afterthought. They head to the polls knowing with certainty the votes they’ll cast in congressional and city council elections. When they venture down the ballot to school board, however, they often cast ballots simply for names that seem familiar.

That’s a mistake.

How do I know? I’m guilty of that same careless behavior.

No more. 

If covid taught us anything it’s that school boards matter. More than city councils. Choose carefully this year, Virginia Beach. 

Send Vicky Manning more like-minded friends and you’ll see class rank back in Beach high schools as well as coveted awards such as Valedictorian and Salutatorian. The grading system will be revamped, the indecipherable feel-good grading system in K-5th grade will be scrapped and the bloated school administration could be trimmed, leaving more money for teacher salaries.

Here are candidates deserving of your vote:

2nd District:

Amy Solares

Like Manning, Solares is a marathoner. That’s a sign that she has perseverance and commitment. More importantly, she has a law degree and is the mother of a public school student. Solares began attending school board meetings during the pandemic and decided she wanted to be part of the change that’s so desperately needed in that elected body. She’s a former coach for Girls on the Run and volunteers her time at the local animal shelter.

4th District:

Ken Lubeck

This Navy vet and IT manager has two girls in Beach public schools. Lubeck volunteers with an after-school reading program for at-risk kids and will bring much-needed mastery of technology to an often tech-impaired body. He has a strong interest in school security, too, and will endeavor to make safe schools a priority proactively, not waiting for a regrettable incident. 

6th District

Mike Callan

This Princess Anne High School graduate has grandchildren in the public schools. Callan is the owner of a financial services business. What could be more valuable to a school district with a $1.1 billion budget than a school board member who actually understands finances? Oh, and Callan is a tri-athlete, another candidate who demonstrates determination and perseverance.

8th District

David Culpepper

Voters in a military town like ours understand immediately the qualities that it takes to be a Navy Captain and anyone who goes to the movies knows what it takes to be a TopGun instructor. That means everyone in the 8th District should be ready to vote for Culpepper. He’s a retired Navy Captain and former TopGun instructor whose resume shows strong leadership qualities. Leadership is something painfully lacking on the present board.

District 9

Carolyn Weems

If you’ve never heard of Carolyn Weems you really haven’t been paying attention to the Beach School Board. She’s served on it for 20 years, often as the lone vote of sanity, more recently as one of three reliable votes for excellence along with Manning and Laura Hughes, who is not seeking re-election. Weems (who’s also run a marathon, what is it with these all of these super-fit candidates?) is pushing the district to open a Recovery High School for students with addiction problems. Sadly, that’s a problem that afflicts a number of Beach kids. She’s saved the old Kemps Landing school on Jericho Road from being sold and is lobbying to have the property turned into a public park for the enjoyment of the adjacent neighborhood that has little open space. She has grandchildren in the public schools.

District 10

Kathleen Brown

Brown’s son struggled mightily during the covid shutdowns, which focused her attention on the school board’s indifference to children who were sinking under virtual learning. She’s another candidate with business savvy, holding a BA in business administration. In addition to a commitment to academic excellence, Brown wants Beach schools to expand vocational training for students not headed to college.

It’s time for change on the Virginia Beach School Board. Vote on November 8th.