Williams: 1. All schools must be fully state accredited 2. Every child deserves a great education from Special Ed to our most academic achievers 3. Consistent communication.

Williams: Every school must be fully accredited. It is my first and foremost priority to ensure all the schools in Manassas City are fully accredited. All of the Manassas City Public Schools are fully accredited except for Metz. There is a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done. We are too small of a district to have a school-of-choice program, but I envision grouping more of our same skilled set students together to obtain the greatest impact and excel our passing rates, not just to the minimum requirements, but to higher levels. I would like to see a working partnership with teachers. Teachers are who touch our children on a daily basis and have the most impact on our success as a district.

 

Every student deserves a great education. I truly believe our schools are unique serving a small community providing opportunities for each child to be the very best they can be. From special education to our highest academic achievers. Our community demands it; I demand it.  Focusing on safety and student achievement both inside and outside of the classroom, using a comprehensive approach including: rigorous academic curriculum, high expectations and positive reinforcement for both students and teachers, efficient use of resources, school-community partnerships, staff development, leveraging of technology, and increased communication is how I will ensure each student receives a quality education.  

Consistent communication. Efficient parent-teacher communication is vital. Our school system must make use of cutting edge digital communication methods, in addition to written and personal communications, to see that parents are aware and involved in their student’s academic journey. 

Williams:From my prospective, it is the job or our School Board to always be cognitive of what changes are coming about by paying close attention to our community as a whole, what our society needs from our student body as they transition into being productive happy citizens, and to what the future trends are in our public education system from federal and state levels, so that we can predict correctly.

Williams: I founded Redstone Realty in January of 2013, and before Redstone Realty, co-founded Williams Realty in 2004. As president and principal broker, I have direct management and supervision of the brokerage firm and its practitioners.

 

My responsibilities include developing policies and procedures for the firm, education, and enforcement of the policies and procedures set forth, as well as, ensuring compliance with federal and state mandates.  In addition to supervisory duties, my role as a Realtor requires me to develop and maintain relationships through personal interaction and extraordinary customer service while paying close attention to numerous details.

 

Negotiating and problem solving are skill sets crucial to me as a real estate practitioner. The experience and knowledge I have gained through so many experiences have prepared me for the task of being a strong school board member caring for our students, our teachers, and our community.

 

 

Williams: I think it is difficult to have a real understanding of the workings of our government because it does take time and involvement, particularly at the school board level. Too many of our citizens in today’s society are simply stretched too thin when it comes to the time they have. I would personally reach out to our community through the various clubs we have, through homeowners associations, and events throughout the city, not through school events alone. The schools affect our community as much as our community affects our schools, a concept that needs to be recognized.

Seaberg: Community engagement, school environment, advancing student success.

Seaberg: We can foster communication, engagement and leadership in the community with clear and accessible information, additional outreach measures to the families that need it most, and continually working to build more leaders that are representative of our community.

Expand the culture of caring with programming throughout the division to foster positive mental health for our students and staff and to elevate respect for self and others.

Expose all students to a variety of career opportunities. Expand CTE options for students and working partnerships with businesses through internships and externships.

Build the community’s confidence and trust by listening, responding, demonstrating fiscal responsibility, accountability and transparency while working toward positive solutions.

Seaberg: As a school board member, I bring a unique perspective to a seven-member team. We work together to set policy, approve a budget, and evaluate the superintendent. Overall, I am an objective and collaborative decision-maker. I balance the needs of community stakeholders while remaining focused on serving the children in our Manassas City Schools family.

Seaberg: Seventeen years of business experience (primarily escrow officer) and 15 years of volunteer experience in our community and our schools.

 

 

Seaberg: In our information-rich society, our citizens want to be well-informed and have quick access to the information they seek. Communication can be improved with clear, complete, and accessible information online or via text. Some of this is currently available/possible and improvements are underway for mobile-friendly access. Some of our citizens may benefit from specialized parent advocacy groups, and efforts should be continued so that ALL families feel included and welcome in our schools and our city. There are many that desire to understand the processes of our local government. I am actively promoting citizen participation in the MCPS Parent and Community Leadership Academy that provides information and builds an understanding of the workings of our local government. Just another opportunity to consider how one can take a role in affecting positive change in the City of Manassas. Additionally, everyone with a student in our schools may wish to download the Manassas City Public Schools App on your mobile device (if you haven’t already) to stay informed of news, events, and your student’s grades.

Albrecht: We have accomplished a lot in our City schools, yet we still have further to go, including full accreditation for all Schools.

Albrecht: Achieving accreditation at all schools must be a priority. Having even one school without the accreditation as we do now does not meet our communities expectation. It takes many things within the school “system” to achieve this kind of comprehensive result, and three actions I personally want to be sure that we do not lose the focus on are: retaining our small class sizes, continuing our early learning focus by expanding our State recognized PreK program for all students (so that every student starts school with equal learning opportunities), and achieving a robust CTE curriculum at Osbourn High School (that will allow all students to be employed upon graduation with career and life skills that will make them productive members of our society).

Albrecht: The Code of Virginia specifies the role and responsibilities of a School Board in the Commonwealth. From my perspective, first and foremost we are the link between the community and the school system. It is our job to be sure that all students receive the best education possible within the financial limitations set by federal, state and local budgets.

Albrecht: In over 16 years serving you I have learned that experience matters. With the retirement of Mr. Bushnell from the Board, there is the potential if I am not re-elected that the combined years of experience of the Board on January 1 will be about 18 years.

A Board without history and context could make bad decisions.Experience matters. My 16 years of experience in all phases of school governance and funding are needed. My specific local School Board experience includes: serving as Chair and Vice Chair, serving over 12 years on the finance committee. Representing Manassas to state and federal officials as a member of the legislative committee, helping plan, start up and lead our regional Governors School, twice as Board Chair, and serving on the education support and facilities committee, spearheading much of our long range planning and community engagement.

Additionally, if re-elected I have been honored by my peers across the Commonwealth of Virginia to be the President-Elect of the Virginia School Board Association. This will bring significant pride and notoriety to Manassas, and I would hope that in this position I can help elevate our local issues such as English Language Learning and the cost of competition in Northern Virginia. Finally, in my professional career, I am a certified Program Manager and oversee a portfolio of programs with full revenue, cost and profit responsibility for approximately $50 million annually.

 

 

Albrecht: The loss of a traditional print newspaper in Manassas remains a void in community communication. Manassas is also the small news item in a major metropolitan area. Online forums and media have somewhat filled the void, and our schools have taken considerable efforts to engage parents and the community. Our Board is fully transparent in all of our budget and academic actions and actively attempts to engage the community. Despite this, I agree with the perception that members of the community could be better informed, and as a Board Member will continue to advocate for full transparency and increased use of nontraditional media with the goal of well informed and involved citizens.

 

Jones: The city must diversify its tax base. This is the single biggest issue facing our city, as all we do is based upon available tax revenue. Our schools, police, fire, and public works department depend on city resources to accomplish their respective missions.

Jones: Smart development. The city should engage the business community to develop available real estate in the city in such a way that increases and diversifies our tax base, while not increasing demand for city services. This is action the city is already undertaking. The city has a great opportunity to work with private industry to develop the land into both commercial property and age-restricted housing, neither of which increase demand on our school system, our single biggest city expense, while both increase tax revenue.

Jones: The Mayor is first and foremost the city and all its departments’ leadership in and out of Manassas Park. In addition to that, the Mayor is to be an advocate and ambassador for the city when working with other locales, state and federal officials.

Jones: I have over 25 years experience serving Manassas Park residents. In addition to my service in the U.S. Navy and as the current Mayor I have served in a variety of positions: Member and former Chairman of Manassas Park School Board Vice-Chairman of the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Committee Member of Flory Center Small Business Council Commissioner on Northern Virginia Regional Commission Human Resources and Facilities Director for a Defense Agency with offices across the nation.

 

 

Jones: I think most citizens Local government affects our daily lives more than any other level of government. I think it crucial citizens take an active interest in what local government is doing. We have made the business of the Governing Body, as well as our school system, public works, and public safety as accessible as possible via the internet, cable TV, and social media. In addition to this, I have recently tried several telephone town halls, where citizens can get a brief city update from me, as well as ask questions and voice concerns. As we have seen a good response to these, I plan to hold more of these in the future.

 

Wolfe: Improving our schools, enhanced economic development and involving our citizens in planning for the future of Manassas.

 

Wolfe: First, we need to engage our citizens in a comprehensive, public, strategic planning exercise. We need to fully understand the goals, desires and vision of the citizens of Manassas as we plan for the next 30 years.

After gaining citizen input, we can begin implementing programs and budgetary choices consistent with the vision expressed by the citizens.

One idea that has been suggested in the education community is adding having universal Pre-K to our schools. Educators have told me that this is the most effective means of improving results/test scores in the schools.

Another idea is to expand our Economic Development efforts. That we need to expand the staffing and resources dedicated by the City to recruit new businesses to Manassas and to help the existing businesses to grow.

 

Wolfe: The job of the City Council is to be responsive to the citizens. Taking input from our the citizens the Council sets the priorities and vision for the City staff to implement. The City Council does not manage the City workforce; that is the job of the City Manager. Nor does the Council administer the Schools.

Wolfe: The expertise I bring in eight years of experience in doing the job coupled with over 35 years of business experience. This experience involves success in both the profit and non-profit sectors.

 

 

Wolfe: Our citizens are not as fully informed or engaged about their local government as the could/should be. Many of our citizens have recently moved to Manassas and are not familiar with their government and the plans for the future of Manassas. The most impactful step that the City can take to improve the level of understanding and engagement is to involve the citizens in a broad-based input process for the Manassas strategic plan. This was last done in 2003. Think of how Manassas has changed since 2003. To have a positive future for Manassas it is imperative that all parts of the community are afforded the opportunity to be a part of this process.