Local attorney Jennifer McKeever has officially announced her candidacy to the Charlottesville City School Board. McKeever, mother of two Burnley Moran Elementary students and a nine-month old, has served on the Community Development Block Grant Task Force and the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and seeks to continue “the current Board’s legacy of success,” if elected, she states in a news release.
Because McKeever says that teachers are “the key to creating a community ripe for student learning and achievement,” and their number is in constant decline, she "will champion initiatives that provide mentoring to new teachers and ongoing peer support for all teachers, in addition to professional development opportunities that inspire creativity and innovation."
McKeever also intends to ask City Council to expand internet service to allow students greater access to the schools’ technology initiatives and supports a school reconfiguration at Buford Middle School that will create “a modern learning environment.” Last year, the School Board approved the consolidation of Walker Upper Elementary and Buford Middle School. (For more on the configuration, click here.)
The Daily Progress reports that McKeever joins three other candidates: Ivana Kadija, School Health Advisory Board chair and proponent of a ban on sugars in city schools, Amy Laufer and interim member Guian McKee.