Richard Lieberman

Nonpartisan

Expand Career and Tech Training.

We need to recreate that work environment and culture. I will work with the board and administration to explore strategies to recruit high-quality educators and increase staff retention. These ideas include the following: Consider providing or working in a local partnership to provide free or reduced in-house day care for our 10-month employees. Look at options to offer free lunch or reduced cost to the staff.

Find Compromise with “Hot Button” Issues Too many organizations are focused on stirring the pot on issues without working to find a real solution that everyone can live with. As a political independent, I bring the mindset to the board to always do what is best for ALL of our kids.

We need to have school board meetings focused on the effective governing of our schools. We cannot deal with most of these other issues until we have a board strictly focused on what is best for our kids and community. I will work with the board and administration to focus on civility and service-oriented leadership on behalf of ALL students, staff, and families in Spotsylvania. This will include ensuring appropriate and professional conduct at all times.

Obviously, we need to have teachers’ pay to be competitive with our neighbors. Even more concerning is the number of full-time staff, such as Para Educators, as well as other support staff, who don’t even make enough to afford rent on a one-bedroom apartment. That doesn’t even take into account gas, food, utilities, etc. I will work with the board and administration to advocate for and ensure adequate funding and targeted investments in our people.

Provide Equitable Support for Music, Theater, and All Sports Programs As a community, we need to remember that programs like band and the fine arts, as well as the “lesser” followed sports, can have the same impact on kids’ lives as the “major” sports. While it’s a good lesson to teach kids to fundraise and work for those activities, I will work with the board and administration to develop parity in our funding formulas.

Proactively Address Aging Facilities and Operating Systems We are playing wack-a-mole with school building maintenance issues like aging roofs and systems. We need to find a way to get ahead of maintenance issues for the health and well-being of our kids. I will work with the board and administration to enhance the capital improvement planning process by building and investing more in preventative maintenance.