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James Kelley (Fluvanna County Public Schools, Palmyra District, Virginia, candidate 2023)
James Kelley (Nonpartisan) ran for election to Fluvanna County Public Schools, Palmyra District in Virginia.[1]
Elections
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
James Kelley completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kelley's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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My name is James Kelley and I’m running for re-election to the Fluvanna County School Board. I’ve been the Palmyra representative for the past 4 years, and for the last two I have served as the school board chair.
I come from a large family (I have 7 siblings), and we all attended our local public schools. In addition to receiving a great education, I had endless opportunities in the arts and sports, and was fortunate to serve as a Page to the U.S. House of Representatives. These are the types of opportunities that I want for all Fluvanna students.
As a resident of Fluvanna since 2014, I have worked diligently to find ways to give back to this community. I am a Fluvanna Leadership Development Program (FLDP) graduate and am an active member of the Rotary Club. I was elected to the School Board in 2019 and have worked hard over the last four years to bring stability and consensus to the board, to put the focus back on student achievement and to make Fluvanna County Public Schools work for all students.
I am proud to serve Fluvanna and will continue to work tirelessly for our students and staff.
- Mental and Behavioral Health: To successfully educate students, we need to focus on their wellbeing. Students can only learn when they are well-rested, fed, and free from physical and psychological harm, including bullying. This focus on wellbeing led me to fight for a Mental Health Coordinator position.. I will continue to put the health, safety, and well-being of students above all else by (1) Increasing pay to fill vacant Counselor, Social Worker, and Psychologist positions; (2) Learning from the expertise of our newly-hired Mental Health Coordinator; (3) Creating additional mental and behavioral health positions as needed.
- Career and Technical Education: After graduation, Fluvanna students go on to a number of important and noble pursuits, including military service, higher education, volunteer organizations, and the workforce. EVERY Fluvanna student should have marketable skills upon graduation, and Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs must be expanded to the demands of a diverse and changing economy. While Fluvanna Schools has many great CTE programs, we are lacking programs dedicated to trades like automotive, welding, and electrical. I am committed to finding partnerships to help provide these necessary opportunities so that our students can get training that will lead to full-time employment.
- Parent Involvement and Communication: The strength of a school system can be measured by the level of involvement by parents and the community, and I will fight to ensure parents’ voices are heard. Fluvanna County Public Schools has a robust Parent Teacher Organization and numerous opportunities for parents to be involved, including serving on the curriculum and other committees and by volunteering in classrooms and at school events. Fluvanna County Public Schools can also do more to increase communication with parents to ensure they know how their students are doing in the classroom.
I am passionate about a public school system that works for all students and families. This is why three key areas of focus include student mental health, career and technical education and family involvement. My fourth key area of focus- hiring and retaining talented staff- is necessary to accomplish our shared vision.
Hiring and Retaining Talented Staff: While students are the focus of our school division, education requires highly talented teachers and support staff. All staff should be valued, feel valued, and receive competitive compensation. My record has demonstrated a commitment to increasing staff pay so that we can hire and retain talented professionals. Specifically, during my four years on the board, I:
• Voted to increase staff salaries by 5% in 2021 and 2022 • Voted to eliminate the inequitable two-scale teacher pay structure • Advocated for and gained consensus to conduct a salary study that included all staff; • Voted to increase staff pay by between 7% and 13% in 2023 (following the salary study); • Voted to insulate staff from the rising costs of health insurance
I have not sought out endorsements from organizations or PACs because I believe local elections should focus on individuals within the county and district. That said an advertisement created and paid for by my campaign committee is being printed in the October 12, 2023 edition of the Fluvanna Review. This advertisement includes over 100 individuals who support my campaign as well as the campaign for 5 other candidates. These endorsees include:
Eric Anderson Bertha Armstrong* Maxine Baskfield-Spears Pat Beers-Block Steve Beuttel Peggy Birdsall Jacqueline Bland Mozell Booker** Mary Boyd Steve Brinkley Patsy Brown Robert Bryan Pat Burkett Carol Carr* Ruthann Carr Barbara Cary Ann Caulkins Sandra Cook Kathy Couper George Coussoulos Regina Creasy Bill Davis Stephanie Davis Marie DeVerneil Kathy Doby Peter Doby Maureen Donahue Jennings Duncan Margaret Dunham Chris Dunne Dennis Dunne Millie Fife Debi Forshey Catherine Garcia Rudy Garcia Cindy Girard Craig Girard Julann Griffin Debbie Handlson Pat Handlson Ron Harris Tammi Hirt Delores J. Hubert Perrie Johnson* Sarah Johnson Wally Jones Georgianna Joslin Jim Kabat Karen Kabat Kathleen Kelly Michael D. Kelly, Colonel, USA Retired Andrea M. Kojan Betty McGehee Overton McGehee Sharon McLaughlin Sandi Meadows Geraldine Menn Judy Mickelson Kathy Swenson Miller Marvin Moss* Deborah Murdock Deborah Nixon Duncan Nixon Monica Notaro Adrianne O'Brien Tony O'Brien** Mary O'Neill Andrea Overweg Valerie Palamountain Charles Parrish Jan Pavlacka Christina Paxton Bonnie Plautz Nancy Reynolds Jennifer Richardson Victoria Ross Gillian Ruffa Ronald Salomon Nancy Sanders Helen Schoene Kate Schoenster Alyssa Sellick Gary Sellick Beth Sherk David Shockley Mary Shockley Maureen Smith Steve Smith Blake Sox Dana Sox Linda Staiger Alan Stewart Beverly Stewart Shirley Stewart* Davrae Stokes Franklyn Stokes Raynell Stokes Lennice Werth Charles White Linda White Lynne White Wayne White John Wilkinson Su Wolff
- Former Elected Official
- Current Elected Official
The first major historical event I remember is the outbreak of the first Gulf War. I would have been six, almost seven, and remember my parents gathering us around the television to listen to President George H.W. Bush's public statements and the Night Vision scenes with a series of ballistic missiles in the night sky. I recall tying yellow ribbons to trees in support of our troops, and going to the National Victory Celebration in Washington D.C. in June 1991. I have faint memories of climbing atop tanks and thanking members of the armed forces. I knew that my both my grandfathers had served in the second World War but I had a child's understanding of what that meant. I think this was my first real exposure to service and sacrifice.
In the classic definition, the job of a school board member is to set policies for the school division, but in reality it encompasses far more. A school board member is the link between the school administration and host of other entities including voters, parents, staff and the Board of Supervisors, those responsible for funding the schools. To even have a chance at meeting this burden school board members need to be knowledgable, visible, and available to each of these audiences.
As an incumbent school board member my #1 priority is the ~3300 kids in our buildings (regardless of which district they live in). This is the group I think most about when considering policy and doing the business of the board. I am, however, beholden to the ~4,000 adult voters in the Palmyra District for re-election. It's my responsibility to be the link between my voters and the schools, and I take that job seriously in terms of providing constituent service. That said, I take confidence that if I continue to put all ~3300 students first the necessary in-district votes will follow.
Schools in Virginia are significantly underfunded as compared to schools throughout the nation, including our neighboring states. The recent Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) report to the Governor and General Assembly (July 2023- https://jlarc.virginia.gov/pdfs/reports/Rpt575.pdf) provides a rather sobering and important critique of schools in Virginia. Overall the study shows that the state allocates “far less than needed to sufficiently fund Virginia’s school system.” This means the burden falls to the localities to make up the shortfall. I've had success in partnering with the Board of Supervisors and communicating the schools' needs over the past four years. In the last budget cycle we presented our needs and requested a ~$2.7m increase to fund our schools. The Board of Supervisors were able to fund $2.2m of this request (with the 2022-2023 school year state budget still unresolved at the moment), and with that we were able to (1) Give between 7-13% raises for all staff, (2) Hire a new Assistant Principal for Central Elementary and (3) Hire a new division-wide Mental Health Coordinator, among other things. I think the key to that success and the roadmap for future boards is to be open, transparent, present and communicate what the schools need. If we Put Students First and advocate accordingly, we can make Fluvanna Schools work for all families. If the state takes the JLARC study to heart, that would likely help quite a bit.
Elected officials should be well-informed, open to new information, and available. Specifically, elected officials should learn as much as they can related to their specific board, go to regional and state-wide meetings with similar elected officials so they can learn from one another, and show up to meetings prepared to engage with the material. Elected officials should provide honest answers to difficult questions and be unafraid to say "I don't know" if this is the case. They should engage in difficult discussions with those who see the world differently and be present in the community so that constituents are well represented.
I don’t spend a great deal of time thinking about legacies, but I frequently ponder the long-term impacts of the policies we pass as a school board. Specifically, we’ve taken a lot of action over the past four years to invest in our students mental and behavioral health, hire reading and math specialists to provide individualized attention and close gaps between cohorts of students, reduce classes and increase teacher pay so we can hire and keep the best staff. I think of these as investments in both the short and long run. In the short run our students get immediate help by having additional dedicated staff to focus on learning deficits. In the long, I expect compound interest because our younger students will have experienced smaller classes with the best teachers who are supported by our specialists. We don’t get counterfactuals in this life, but I would hope my legacy is generation of Fluvanna graduates who are better prepared for the world ahead.
I began playing the saxophone in 4th grade and was lucky enough to play in jazz ensembles throughout high school and college. My all-time favorite song is Stan Getz's version of A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square, recorded with Bob Brookmeyer in 1961. I'd say if I'm not actively listening to other music or engaged in conversation that song is likely playing on repeat between my ears.
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.
External links
[1] ↑ Submitted to Ballotpedia's candidate survey in 2023.
