Education

Legislators in Richmond introduce hundreds of education-related bills every year, so finding a way to break through the noise is critical to passing legislation that truly supports the people of Virginia. So I found my niche by working with my constituents to prevent childhood hunger as we’ve passed 10 of my bills into law to feed hungry kids — and two more to feed hungry adults too!

Preventing Childhood Hunger

Among my most significant school meals legislation signed into law is a bill to ban “alternative meals” from being served to kids who have school meal debt or can’t afford a meal so every kid can have a full and complete breakfast and lunch without being stigmatized for their parents’ income.

We also passed two of my bills to dramatically increase enrollment in the federal Community Eligibility Provision (which allows every kid at an eligible school to eat for free, regardless of income status) and the federal Afterschool Meals Program, so students who aren’t always guaranteed a full dinner at home can eat three square meals at school.

My bills have made it possible for more parents to access free and reduced meal applications online and receive a Yes or No answer promptly from schools when they complete those applications. We’ve also passed my bills for schools to receive private donations to pay off school meal debt and to prevent excess food from going to waste by being offered to students at the end of the school day.

Prohibit Cruel Practices

My legislation has also prohibited downright cruel practices like school districts suing parents in General District Court for falling behind on school meal debt payments, school officials forcing students to throw away meals that have already been served to them because of school meal debt, and not allowing students to participate in extracurricular activities or be shamed at school for their parents’ income situation.

Simply put, school meal debt shouldn’t exist in the first place and, if the federal government won’t continue universal free school meals as it did for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years, then it shouldn’t be something that causes any child to go hungry or any family to figure out how they’re going to afford to feed their child(ren).

Growing up in the Manassas part of Prince William County, I attended Little Elves Pre-School (1988-1989), Loch Lomond Elementary School (1989-1993), All Saints Catholic School (1993-1998), and Paul VI Catholic High School (Class of 2002) before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism/mass communication at St. Bonaventure University (2006). I’m now an Advisory Board member of the George Mason University Science and Technology Campus in Manassas, where I give updates about legislative work affecting the community and learn about what GMU is doing to innovate and serve its students.

Here for my student Constituents

Here in the community, my student constituents and their families have constantly seen me around town, whether it was bringing U.S. Senator Tim Kaine to Manassas Park High School for a student-led roundtable discussion about gun violence prevention, taking questions from students for 90 minutes at Unity Reed High School in Manassas, or attending every public high school graduation in western Prince William that wasn’t restricted by COVID-19 for Battlefield, Patriot, Brentsville District, Unity Reed, and Osbourn Park, as well as Manassas Park. I’ve even been to a number of promotion ceremonies for our fifth and eighth-graders because every student’s legislator should be celebrating their academic achievements.

Whether it’s been speaking at or attending renaming ceremonies for Unity Reed HS and Unity Braxton MS, the ground-breaking and opening of Gainesville HS, cheering for our student-athletes competing in the playoffs or taking in many nights of high school performing arts theater and drama productions at Manassas Park, Osbourn Park, Patriot and Battlefield, my student constituents know I’m just as accessible to them as any of my other constituents.

I’ve also kept my campaign promises to raise teacher pay (repeatedly) so we can retain and recruit our best teachers and so those teachers can afford to actually live here and be inclusive leaders. That’s why I voted for the Virginia version of the DREAM Act and in-state tuition rates for all of my student constituents so college is affordable and accessible for everyone I represent — including my undocumented student constituents.

As I said to students in the City of Manassas Park, no matter how they got here, they are here and I want them to be able to succeed because of who they are, not despite it — just like everyone else.

I’ve also voted to create safe, welcoming and inclusive learning environments for students by prohibiting discrimination based on hairstyles, religious head coverings and clothing, LGBTQ+ status and more. I want all of my student constituents to know we should be celebrating the beautiful tapestry of diversity in our community, where families come from all around the world to live here, instead of singling out and stigmatizing the very people who call western Prince William and Greater Manassas home.

As I run for the state Senate, I want to continue my work to support students, families, teachers and staff by continuing to raise teacher pay, feed hungry kids and making Virginia a more inclusive commonwealth for our students and educators so no matter what they look like, where they come from, how they worship if they do or who they love, that they are welcomed, celebrated, respected and protected because of who they are — not despite it.