Albemarle school races slim, but hefty on ideas

A 35-year-old father armed with fresh ideas is hoping to be elected to Pamela Moynihan’s seat on the Albemarle County School Board. But Moynihan has experience and some new ideas of her own.
Of the three School Board districts that will be on election ballots, only Rio has more than one candidate. Ned Gallaway is challenging two-term incumbent Moynihan.

One of the main things Gallaway is campaigning on is his mission to improve fine arts programs. Gallaway says that though some fine arts programs in individual schools are up to par, programs at other schools are much weaker.
“If it’s a pretty good program and people seem satisfied with it, then I’m happy with it, but I still think it should be available across the county to all of the children,” Gallaway said.

Gallaway says the school division should conduct a thorough analysis and comparison of the various fine arts programs in the division. From there, the division needs to make sure each school has the resources and qualified staff members to provide high-quality programs.
Gallaway, a former teacher, is proposing a countywide booster club to mobilize residents to raise funds and work to improve fine arts programs.
“Regardless of what happens to me going on the School Board, it will be something that I’ll be pursuing here in the coming months,” Gallaway said.
Moynihan said that if she’s elected to a third four-year term, she’ll work to ensure the school division spends efficiently, increases educational opportunities using new technology and provides teachers competitive pay.

“People are very willing to support education. But they also think about their pocketbooks when they’re supporting education,” Moynihan said, adding that things such as electronic books and online high school courses can reduce spending and provide students with unique opportunities.
Moynihan, a senior analyst for the National Ground Intelligence Center, said it’s clear that the division will have less revenue than officials would like during the next budget cycle, so officials need to have game plans in which student learning opportunities increase and the achievement gap narrows, despite less money being available.
Moynihan, 51, said one of the keys to providing students a top-notch education is by employing high-quality teachers.
“We need to have the best teachers teaching our kids,” Moynihan said. “They’re going to go wherever they can, to get the best salary.”
Even if the economy continues to decline, Moynihan said she would still work for teacher pay raises, even if it means the division will have to settle for fewer teachers.
“If it’s really, really bad and something has to go, I would increase class sizes,” Moynihan said.
Though teachers didn’t get pay raises this school year, Moynihan said that the school division can’t afford to continue pay freezes, because doing so would damage morale and make it more difficult for Albemarle to have the best teachers.

Both Moynihan and Gallaway have emphasized the importance of closing the academic “achievement gap” — the difference in performance between low-income and some minority student groups compared with higher-income, white students.
Middle school sports programs are among other initiatives Gallaway said he would propose.
Though middle school students can play high school sports for some small teams in the county, many athletes have to wait until they go to high school or turn to private clubs to play sports.
“I think it’s time to revisit that,” Gallaway said. “If they don’t have that opportunity at the middle school level and they’re not necessarily at the skill level to compete with the high school kids, then they’re missing out on an opportunity.”

As with Moynihan, Gallaway is campaigning on a vow to be fiscally conservative. Gallaway said the school division should focus on spending more efficiently during good economic years, to build a rainy day fund.
Diantha McKeel, who has served three terms in the Jack Jouett District, is also up for re-election, and she’s unopposed. Jon Stokes is retiring from his Samuel Miller seat, and Albemarle Planning Commission member Eric Strucko is running unopposed for the seat.
The election is Nov. 3.