Five candidates are vying for four seats on the Hampton School Board. Read more about each below.
Tina Banks-Gray
Age: 52
Candidate’s job title/company: Neighborhood centers manager, city of Hampton
Education: Doctorate, Bradley University
Previous elected offices held: School Board
Website: www.tinabanksgray4hcs.com
Student mental health has been a growing concern for parents and schools. How can school boards address the issue?:
Within Hampton City Schools, we gather, analyze data and set policies and procedures to aid in students’ social-emotional learning, as this is a top priority. Recent surveys reveal that while students report positive relationships, some still struggle with feeling a sense of belonging. This sense of belonging is key for developing purpose and identity, as outlined in our Hampton City Schools Portrait of a Graduate, which prepares students for success in careers and life. To address this, we’ve integrated community-building and social-emotional learning throughout our curriculum and are incorporating restorative practices into each school’s culture. Additionally, we partner with Care Solace to help students, families and staff access mental health support. Our commitment to this partnership underscores our priority of mental health in our division.
Name one of the most pressing issues for your division and how you would address it:
It is imperative to hear from the HCS community. Based on recent survey feedback, there are four areas that are of concern: teacher recruitment, changes to state accreditation, student safety and students with disabilities. I will highlight teacher recruitment. Pre-COVID data indicated a downward trend in the number of individuals interested in becoming classroom teachers, a scenario exacerbated by the pandemic. The competition among divisions to hire high-quality teachers has intensified, accelerating the predicted teacher shortage timeline. HCS is committed to offering a competitive benefits package, employing innovative recruitment strategies, maintaining a top-notch teacher induction program and providing ongoing support to enhance teacher retention. Teachers are the most significant factor in student achievement, prioritizing this issue is crucial for our students’ success.
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Ann Stephens Cherry
Age: 77
Candidate’s job title/company: Retired executive director of public relations and marketing, Hampton City Schools
Education: Master’s, Golden Gate University
Previous elected offices held (if any): School Board chair, vice chair and member
Student mental health has been a growing concern for parents and schools. How can school boards address the issue? In Hampton City Schools, our current board has taken some courageous steps to address the issue of mental health. Our first-ever Mental Health Wellness Fair held last year at the Hampton Convention Center saw thousands of parents, students and educators come together to enjoy the services of our amazing community partners who are all committed to addressing this issue.
Name one of the most pressing issues for your division and how you would address it? The Virginia Department of Education has released some information regarding changes to the accreditation system for this school year. However, they have not provided specifics on the calculation methods for reading and mathematics assessments at this point. Currently, schools receive credit for students demonstrating growth in these assessments from year to year. While growth will still be considered, the state has not disclosed the weight student growth will carry. Consequently, we cannot yet determine how the new model might impact our schools’ accreditation ratings. Nevertheless, this current School Board and administration will continue to set high expectations for all students in all areas, realizing that this approach will help students pass state assessments while maintaining high accreditation ratings.
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Stephanie Jackson Afonja
Age: 49
Candidate’s job title/company: Owner, Family Restoration Services, and Holistic Family Solutions
Education: Master’s, Norfolk State University
Previous elected offices held: School Board
Website: www.stephanie4schoolboard.com
Student mental health has been a growing concern for parents and schools. How can school boards address the issue? Student mental health is rightfully a concern. School boards have a duty to approve resources that positively impact the social and emotional needs of all students. Board members can benefit from ongoing data collection on students’ social and emotional learning experiences. Often students struggle to fit in at school. Boards can proactively implement restorative practices WITH students to help them feel welcome in their school communities. Boards can ensure restorative processes that build community and healthy relationships. Boards can champion the hire of restorative practice coordinators to develop strategies that imbed social-emotional learning activities into the curriculum, creating more equitable learning experiences and outcomes. Boards must maintain mental health as a top priority by understanding that mental health matters.
Name one of the most pressing issues for your division and how you would address it? While HCS students with disabilities outperform students in neighboring divisions, they continue to lag behind their regular education peers in assessment performance. Data indicates opportunity in reading performance in the elementary and middle grades for students with disabilities. I would support more intentional focus on supporting literacy and assessment outcomes by increasing collaborative training, between special and regular education teachers. I would work with HCS’ business partners to develop more Academics of Hampton work experiences that allow students with disabilities to graduate with comparable opportunities as their non-disabled peers. Deliberate partnering is critical for this to happen. I would contribute to the growth of these partners, with my 17 years of business experience and over 25 years working with children with disabilities.
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Natalie Kidd
Age: 24
Candidate’s job title/company: Digital giving officer, Virginia Living Museum
Education: Bachelor’s, Christopher Newport University
Website: www.kiddforhcs.com
Student mental health has been a growing concern for parents and schools. How can school boards address the issue? Securing the necessary support for students’ mental health and well-being presents significant challenges, primarily due to inadequate funding. School boards must explore creative solutions that leverage the resources of all stakeholders to address this critical issue. Implementing programs that emphasize social-emotional learning can effectively target the anxiety many students face. Additionally, it is imperative that school boards actively advocate for increased funding to support smaller class sizes and lower counselor-to-student ratios. Furthermore, school boards across the commonwealth must challenge the current discipline policies of the Department of Education, which restrict schools’ ability to address violent and disruptive behavior. These limitations foster an environment of chaos and fear, undermining the safety and well-being of all students.
Name one of the most pressing issues for your division and how you would address it? Ensuring high-quality education requires providing comprehensive support and training for all teachers, especially those who are not fully licensed. Investing in targeted professional development and mentorship programs is essential for bridging gaps in expertise and equipping all teachers with the skills and confidence needed to address their students’ diverse needs. It is also important to explore strategies to ease the burden on veteran teachers who support new teachers on a daily basis. Implementing measures that offer additional resources and structured support will help prevent experienced educators from becoming overwhelmed while maintaining the quality of mentorship and guidance they provide to their less experienced colleagues. Addressing these issues will help reduce teacher turnover and alleviate teacher burnout, benefiting our entire school division.
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Reginald C. Woodhouse
Age: 71
Candidate’s job title/company: Pastor, First Baptist Jefferson Park
Education: Doctorate, Virginia University of Lynchburg; doctorate, Providence Theological Seminary
Previous elected offices held: School Board
Military service: U.S. Army
Website: facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063474249734&mibextid=ZbWKwL
Student mental health has been a growing concern for parents and schools. How can school boards address the issue? HCS is collaborating with local mental health professionals to ensure students have greater access to additional resources. Likewise, we can provide extra training to parents and school staff so that they are better equipped to identify and address these issues with students. Additionally, I think that giving students more time in sessions with school counselors will help them acquire the coping mechanisms and self-management skills they need to deal with their emotions and deal with life in general. For students who may need additional support outside of school, HCS continues to partner with Care Solace, a mental health provider concierge service that assists students, families and staff in securing a mental health provider in the community. Continued commitment to helping students, families and staff with this provider makes it evident that mental health matters in HCS.
Name one of the most pressing issues for your division and how you would address it? We have four pressing issues for our division — teacher recruitment, students with disabilities, student safety and changes to state accreditation. I am going to address student safety. Although we excel in this area and have numerous measures in place, student safety remains at the top of the list. We must remain vigilant to ensure the safety of all students and staff. A safe learning environment is the number one priority of our school division and HCS has systems in place to address safety in each of our schools. I believe an anonymous tip-line would be an asset to what we already have in place. This would be critical for protection against external threats and building an internal safe environment for students and staff. We continue to evaluate procedures that foster an environment of safety preparedness in our school culture for learning.
