Crystal Parker (Virginia)
Crystal Parker ran for election to the Henrico County Public Schools to represent Fairfield District in Virginia. She lost in the general election on November 7, 2023.
Parker completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Crystal Parker was born in Richmond, Virginia. She earned a bachelor's degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2006 and a graduate degree from the Union Presbyterian Seminary in 2009. Her career experience includes working as a minister, financial educator, Girl Scout Council staff member, and in early childhood education. Parker has been affiliated with Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbytery of the James, Girl Scouts of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Virginia Credit Union League, and Virginia Jump$tart Coalition.[1]
Elections
2023
See also: Henrico County Public Schools, Virginia, elections (2023)
General election
General election for Henrico County Public Schools, Fairfield District
Ryan Young defeated Terrell Pollard, Tommie LeVar Jefferson, Crystal Parker, and Keith Hicks in the general election for Henrico County Public Schools, Fairfield District on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Ryan Young (Nonpartisan) | 26.2 | 5,034 | |
 | Terrell Pollard (Nonpartisan)  | 25.9 | 4,973 | |
 | Tommie LeVar Jefferson (Nonpartisan) | 20.0 | 3,847 | |
 | Crystal Parker (Nonpartisan) | 17.6 | 3,375 | |
 | Keith Hicks (Nonpartisan) | 9.6 | 1,838 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.8 | 153 | ||
| Total votes: 19,220 | |||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Roscoe Cooper III (Nonpartisan)
Endorsements
Parker received the following endorsements.
Pledges
Parker signed the following pledges.
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Crystal Parker completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Parker's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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As a Presbyterian minister, Crystal knows the importance of education, collaboration, and representation. She is skilled at knowing how to work alongside staff, volunteers, and students of all ages. Cultivating relationships and partnerships, investing time, listening, and being present is a crucial part of what she does.
Prior to returning to the parish (church) ministry in 2021 after 10 years in the not-for-profit sector, Crystal was the financial educator for Henrico Federal Credit Union. In that role, she oversaw the student-run in school branch program at three high schools and one middle school. On a broader scale, Crystal created the award-winning game “SCORE!” to teach students and young adults about credit scores, while also working with financial educators across Virginia to provide continuing education for economics and personal finance teachers.
Throughout her work and advocacy, Crystal never lost her passion for supporting education. She is a trusted advocate for students, teachers, and school staff in the community.- Advocating for and Empowering Educators
- Student Safety and Mental Health
- Community Partnerships
Every student, parent, educator, and staff member has a voice and should be heard.
Community listening sessions are a crucial need and part of a successful school board.
The School Board must be responsive to the needs of the students, schools, teachers, and staff.
I was in college when 9/11 attack happened, so this moment in our history is a vivid and strong memory. Like many Americans, I have personal connections to be people who worked either at the twins towers or the pentagon. While our students today may only know of 9/11 as a moment in history, it’s a moment in time many of us will never forget.
Endorsed by the School Board Project
To ensure that classrooms are not overcrowded, it will require fostering a deeper and stronger relationship with the Board of Supervisors so that we can proactively address projected growth to address overcrowding. Having served on our comprehensive redistricting committee for our schools, I know that this can be done and I'm committed to making it happen.
Recruiting teachers, staff and administration is important, but we also have to work to address retention. Many will that we have a shortage of teachers and staff, but this is due to a critical retention problem. We have to work to address that fact that teachers, staff, and administrators not feeling that their voices are heard, that their needs are not being met, and creating a culture and climate that breeds belonging.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Other survey responses
Ballotpedia identified the following surveys, interviews, and questionnaires Parker completed for other organizations. If you are aware of a link that should be added, email us.
See also
2023 Elections
External links
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Candidate Henrico County Public Schools, Fairfield District |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 22, 2023
