Sally believes that accessible schools means having family-sized housing near all of our schools and having enough schools to comfortably house all of our students. She supports:
- Continuing to invest in and develop the Lamb’s Lane Campus – including moving the busses off the property, and creating the Loop Road to improve traffic.
- The creation of a northern feeder high school to reduce overcrowding at AHS.
- Prioritizing workforce development and career pathways through the Centers and community partnerships.
- Continue to support the wraparound services students get at school.
- Advocating for changes to the school funding system and increased funding from the state.
- Advocating for a .01 sales tax that would provide $25 million for school construction.
- Listening to and learning from the expertise of ACPS staff.
Schools are vital infrastructure to our community. We need to make sure we have enough. Historically, we have underinvested in our schools, and now we need to catch up on our school capacity, modernization, while also planning for the future. Housing and Schools are not in competition with each other. They are both desperately needed infrastructure and we need to prioritize investments in both of them. Even if we never built another home, our schools would still be overcrowded, which is why we must invest in our school capacity. And when we create new schools, we will be creating more than enough space for the students who will be joining our communities.
When I was 10 years old, I moved to a new town and started a new school. I actually started the day after the first day of school, and I was late to school. I still remember walking into that 4th grade classroom, everyone already in their seats, absolutely terrified. My new teacher came up to me, smiled, started talking to me, and instantly made me feel welcomed. At some point during high school, I became his babysitter, and we ended up at the same church together. I’m still friends with him to this day, and he is still that gregarious, friendly, welcoming person. When I think of strong public schools, I think about Mr. Worrell in the 4th grade. I think about how today, in my hometown, the entire community still turns out for high school football games, including my retired 4th grade teacher. I know the power that teachers can have on their students, and the way that a school district is made up of more than just the people in the buildings.
There is more to our schools than overcrowding and underfunding.
Our public schools do more than educate kids. They definitely do more than just making sure everyone passes their SOLs. Albemarle County Public Schools are a place where thousands of people are seen, encouraged, supported, and challenged. Our commitment to public schools as community members should be to continue investing in them, and to advocate for more funding from the state. To support the staff’s expertise and to celebrate the students who spend so much of their lives there. It can be frustrating when housing assessments rise, or when tax rates increase. But these are also opportunities for all of us to financially support the ways that the majority of our students in our county are being educated and loved. Assessments are investments.
There is more to our schools, especially the schools in the Jack Jouett district, than overcrowding and underfunding. There are smart kids, funny kids, state-winning athletes, award-winning orchestras, Coaches of the Year, teachers who go the extra effort to plan field trips and find bus drivers, teachers who coach, an athletic director who knows kids and parents by name, and the parents who devote time and money, who support the staff, volunteer, and run successful fundraisers. Albemarle County Public Schools are more than the students and teachers. They are nearly 17,000 of us, and when we invest in our schools, we invest in ourselves.
