Gregory Dono

Gregory Dono ran for election for an at-large seat of the Chesapeake Public Schools in Virginia. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Dono completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Gregory Dono was born in Huntington, New York. He began serving in the U.S. Marine Corps in 2001. He earned a high school diploma from Huntington High School, a bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech in 2001, and a law degree from the Pepperdine University School of Law in 2014. His career experience includes working as a consultant, Marine Corps officer, small business owner, attorney, and project manager.^[1]

Elections

2024

General election

General election for Chesapeake Public Schools, At-large (4 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Chesapeake Public Schools, At-large on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Angie Swygert (Nonpartisan)	13.6	52,965
✔	Submit photo	Norman Pool (Nonpartisan)	12.1	47,024
✔	Submit photo	Malia Huddle (Nonpartisan)	12.0	46,661
✔	Submit photo	Elijah Colon (Nonpartisan)	11.4	44,523
	Submit photo	Daniel Stahler (Nonpartisan)	10.8	42,001
		L. Jameel Shaheer (Nonpartisan)	9.8	38,036
		Rue Willis (Nonpartisan)	9.4	36,751
		Gregory Dono (Nonpartisan)	9.2	35,765
		Tom Mercer (Nonpartisan)	6.5	25,501
		Samuel Boone (Nonpartisan)	5.0	19,537
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	1,312

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 390,076
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Dono in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

Gregory Dono completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Dono's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I’m Greg Dono and I am running for the Chesapeake School Board. I am a husband, a father of two young children, both in Chesapeake Public School, a Marine Corps combat veteran, and a barred attorney. I grew up on Long Island, NY with my brother and two sisters. My parents worked in the public school system for over thirty years, my mother was a reading specialist and my father was the district school psychologist.

After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from Virginia Tech I was commissioned as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. Following ten-years of active duty as a cobra pilot, three combat deployments, and a tour as an instructor pilot, I transitioned to the Marine Corps Reserves. I earned my law degree from Pepperdine University and remain an active member of the California State Bar. Shortly after law school, I played a significant role in small business as the COO of a fast food franchise group in San Diego, California.

In 2018, my family and I relocated to Chesapeake, VA. It was here in Chesapeake that my commitment to educational advocacy was reignited, fueled by firsthand observations of my own young children's experiences in school.

At the core of my candidacy, I offer an unwavering belief in the intrinsic worth of every child and their entitlement to a nurturing, equitable, and enriching educational environment. My pledge to the Chesapeake community is a steadfast dedication to excellence, inclusivity, and safety.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Safety is a major concern for our community and more so for those of us who send our loved ones to school. I am committed to making our schools the safest environment for children and staff. The first step is to ensure that mental health professionals are available to our students and staff to offer the help that they need, when they need it.
In today's combative culture people too often talk past each other and do not take the time to listen. This lack of communication creates undo conflict within our community. I maintain that everyone's voice is meaningful and that everyone should feel respected, listened to, and heard. I am committed to working with the school board to ensure that our students, staff, and parents are heard. Together we can do what is best for the betterment of our children.
Funding lies at the heart of many issues facing Chesapeake Public Schools. With increased and appropriately allocated funds, we can better support our children and staff. These resources will enable us to expand school programs, offer higher salaries to teachers, employ more staff, build new schools, and repair existing ones. I am committed to reaching out to untapped public and private resources to secure grants and additional funding for our district. I also want to foster more open and honest discussions about how our money is spent, ensuring that the community is informed about where funds are allocated before any spending occurs. Together, we can make this vision a reality and ensure our schools are prepared for the future.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I a combat veteran and an attorney I am personally passionate about protecting everyone's constitutional rights. It is important that we honor and respect the laws of the United States of America and apply those laws, rules, and regulations ethically, appropriately, and fairly.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

I believe that elected officials need to be ethical, transparent, and open minded. I believe that strong ethics is essential to ensure that elected officials do not stray away from the path they were put in a position of leadership to follow. Elected officials need to be transparent so that the people that they serve can be confident that what the officials are doing are in the best interest of the community, and if they are not that the community can quickly redirect the efforts of those officials. Elected officials need to also be open minded so that they are better able to make data and risk based decisions. If officials are unable to speak to experts and the community, take in new information, and adjust their policy positions based on new and better information than they are not doing their jobs and should not be in a position to create rules for others to follow.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The core responsibility of someone elected to school board is to create the best learning environment for the children of Chesapeake so that they can grow up to be successful adults in the world we live in. This means that the board needs to draft fair and informed policies. They need to work to properly fund the schools to ensure that the teachers and staff and paid appropriately and that the facilities and schools are safe and comfortable to learn, play, and work in. This means that the board needs to be open to new ideas from parents and education professions and not be swayed or pushed into making policies based on the loudest voices, but on a fair, balanced, and informed understanding of the issues.

What is your favorite book? Why?

My favorite book is the Lord of the Ring series. I really enjoy fantasy novels as they allow me to be transported to different out of this world places.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

The primary job of the school board is to obligate funds for education and write policy for the schools to follow.

Who are your constituents?

My constituents are not only the voting people in Chesapeake, but all the students, staff, and teachers in our schools that help support and teach our children.

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

I would support the needs districts diverse needs by helping implement policy that was supportive of all their needs. We need to ensure that policies are not so narrow as to prevent the needs of the many in favor of appeasing the views of the few. To do this there needs to be more discussion and debate on how to do that. Open and honest conversation and data driven analysis is key to making this happen.

How will you build relationships with members of the broader community? Which groups, organizations, stakeholders will you specifically target?

To build relationships with members of the community the school board needs to be open and able to listen to all citizens of Chesapeake. We need to specifically reach out to teacher organizations like the VEA, school PTAs, local LGBTQ+ organizations, and student organizations.

What principles drive your policies for safety in schools?

The principles that drive my thoughts on school safety policies are data driven. I understand the visceral desire to protect our children with more physical protections in the schools, but it was been proven that the best way to stop violence in our schools is by implementing more robust and available access to mental health resources. I am not against physical deterrence, but I do not believe that should be the main focus of how we safeguard our children.

How might you support the mental health needs of students/faculty/staff?

I would do this by ensure more funds go towards hiring school mental health professions and offering more training to school staff.

Tell us your favorite joke.

How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh? Ten . . . ten tickles.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

VoteVets; Chesapeake Democratic Committee; Elizabeth River Retired Educators; LGBT+ Democrats of Virginia; Chesapeake Education Association (CEA) PAC

How do you feel like your school district handled the coronavirus pandemic? What, if anything, would you do differently in the future?

I think the school district did a great job on the pandemic. I may have taken more input from teachers and staff to ensure that they were comfortable with how the district planned to handle the pandemic.

What will you do to build a relationship with parents in the district?

I believe that every parent has the best interest of their child in mind and this has to be respected. Parents need to be able to reach their school board and voice their opinions and needs for how the school can best support them and their kids. Parents also need to be treated as the intelligent and compassionate adults that they are. To do this we need to have open, honest, and candid dialogue. I will listen to parents but I will also ensure that I am candid with them about what legal, social, and logical outcomes of their requests may have.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

The government needs to be as transparent as possible in regard to how it spends the tax payer's money and should always be held accountable for the decisions that they make. Unless it is a matter of national security or to protect the lives of our citizens, then the people of this community should be able to see where every dollar of their money is spent or being planned on being spent.

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Candidate

Chesapeake Public Schools, At-large

Personal

Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 15, 2024

[1] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 15, 2024

[1]

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Gregory Dono

Contents

Biography

Elections

2024

General election

General election for Chesapeake Public Schools, At-large (4 seats)

Endorsements

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

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