City of Virginia Beach

Residing in Virginia Beach for over forty years, Democratic incumbent Kim Melnyk is running for reelection to the school board. She believes her experience as a school board member and educator will aid her in advocating for making education a top priority. Melnyk wants to raise teacher pay and provide funding for necessary resources and services for our students. Melnyk intends to fully fund education, address students mental health, and invest in our working families.

Kim Melnyk is passionate about protecting children’s education while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. While Melnyk’s efforts to provide Virginia Beach students with Chromebooks before the closing of schools was a success, she is still concerned with other disparities that plague student learning remotely. She previously built and delivered over 2,000 desks to students in the community who did not have a place to do their school work. She stresses the need to provide access to broadband internet for the whole Commonwealth and continue to make investments in public education so we can improve our schools.

Melnyk, who was a teacher for ten years, is an advocate for teachers. She believes we need someone who believes in public schools and will protect them to serve on school boards. Melnyk campaigned this year to continue her efforts to raise teacher pay and provide school funding for necessary resources and services for the students of Virginia Beach.

Melnyk also advocates for resources that promote positive mental health in the lives of Virginia Beach students and to raise funding for services that support student individual development as well as their learning capabilities. Additionally, Melnyk uses her platform to fight for special education and full-day kindergarten.

Melnyk has been directly impacted by gun violence and supports keeping schools safe by passing common sense gun violence prevention measures like universal background checks, waiting periods for gun purchases, and closing existing loopholes that make it easy to obtain guns. She also wants to ban the sale of ghost guns and keep guns out of the wrong hands of people deemed to be a risk for themselves or others.

Melnyk is running against Amy Solores and Alexis Gerdes.


Republican Amy L. Solares has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Florida State University and a Juris Doctor from Widener University. Frustrated with Virginia Beach’s decision to keep schools closed as a result of COVID, Solares decided to run. We can’t recommend a candidate who would not prioritize student and teacher safety during a global pandemic.

Independent candidate Alexis Gerdes is a military wife and mother of three who wants to see students grow “academically, physically and emotionally for a prosperous future.” Gerdes believes parents should dictate curriculum and teachers shouldn’t be able to teach accurate history in schools. She also wants to bring cops back into schools, which has shown to make schools less safe for students of color.

Kim Melnyk is the most progressive choice for District 2 due to her advocacy of children's mental health and education andher prioritization of teacher needs.

Staci Martin is an Independent candidate who obtained an undergraduate degree at Radford University and a Master of Arts in English at Old Dominion University. Her platform consists of wanting to look at bus routes and compensation for all school personnel, including bus drivers. She also wants to address school infrastructure and expand opportunities for trades and technology education in an effort to keep students from acquiring debt.

Martin’s platform starts by addressing school infrastructure. Personally affected by the failing school infrastructure, Staci's daughter experienced severe episodes of asthma and hives during high school. She pledges to tackle this issue with minimal impact to students by ensuring that school reconstruction stays on track.

Martin’s campaign is also run on the foundation of student and teacher wellness. Martin advocates that both students and teachers need resources to support their mental and physical wellbeing. Marit’s solution is to increase the student to counselor ratio, enabling students to feel like their issues matter. She also prioritizes paying teachers and staff what they deserve, ensuring a high quality of life.

Staci is also an advocate for accurate history telling in our public schools. She understands that America is a diverse nation striving for truth, justice, and liberty for all while also recognizing the importance of teaching students about the injustices and truths of the past in an effort to make a just future. She is also against book banning, believing that while parents do have the right and ability to choose what their children read, they do not have the right to choose what other children read.




Staci is running against Richard Lubeck.

Richard “Ken” Lubeck served in the U.S. Navy as an enlisted corpsman and earned a graduate degree in theology from Regent University. He has worked as an information technology professional and has a history of working with at-risk youth. Lubeck is running his campaign on issues such as “parent rights” which is code for being against accommodations for trans kids and social emotional learning in the classroom.

We recommend Staci Martin as a candidate for this race due to her prioritization of addressing school infrastructure and expansion of educational opportunities for students.

Incumbent school board member Sharon Felton is a life-long resident of the city of Virginia Beach and was first elected in 2014. She serves on several community organizations including the South Norfolk District Deacon's Wives' Auxiliary, Seatack Community Civic League, Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation Commission Member, and Virginia Beach Black Law Enforcement Pioneers Committee. Felton stands for school funding, school safety, and the promotion of school art programs.

Felton advocates for the safety of all public school students. Due to the increased occurrence of school shootings, a petition was created by a second grade student asking for the implementation of a buzzer system in which front doors are locked and staff can inspect visitors before buzzing them into the building. Felton wants to reassure families and has advocated for the use of the school buzzer system to be used at the 85 public schools in Virginia Beach.

Felton pledges her commitment to making sure every child receives a quality education. She values all post-high school routes, from joining the military to attending certification programs, to enrolling in colleges and universities. Felton volunteers her time to read to the children in elementary schools, attend career fairs, and showing up to high school graduations to congratulate the new graduates.

Additionally, Felton wants to increase teacher pay. She supports salary increases for teachers because she wants toprovide compensation that is in line with the job they do for students in the Commonwealth. Felton also addresses the teacher to student ratio challenges and decrease class sizes.

Another priority for Felton is COVID-19 safety. Her social media page is filled with resources and information about the best ways in which parents and children can keep safe during this pandemic. Felton also prioritizes student safety in regards to mental health. Councilwoman Felton was able to partner with the FBI and attended school assemblies on cyberbullying and how to properly safeguard themselves during the age of cell phones and social media.

Sharon Felton is running against Michael Callan.

A graduate of Princess Anne High School in 1971, Michael Robery Callan is running for School Board as an independent. Callan has been married to his wife Renee since 1973 and has 2 children that attended VA Beach public schools. His grandchildren all live in Virginia Beach and currently attend, or will soon attend Virginia Beach public schools. Callan advocates to improve children’s education by maintaining “difficult, rigorous, hard to reach standards” in regards to student grades.

Councilwoman Felton’s dedication to COVID-19 safety, listening to the needs and concerns of teachers and school safety make her a progressive choice for this year’s election.

Carolyn Rye is an Independent incumbent who was elected in November 2014. She has an extensive background in education as a private mathematics tutor and secondary school classroom teacher. She served on the PTA Boards of Lynnhaven Middle, Kingston Elementary, Kemps Landing Magnet and Ocean Lakes High School, and is a two-time PTA president at both the elementary and high school levels. Rye advocates for students making their voices heard, employee compensation, school counselor allocations, and special education supports.

Carolyn Rye prioritizes public school safety. When addressing the concerns of the community regarding mass shootings, Rye, also a mother, was in favor of the utilization of a school buzzer system, in which front doors are locked and staff can inspect visitors before buzzing them into the building. Acknowledging that “nervousness has increased as school shootings around the country have continued,” Rye believes that the new buzzer system is a proactive attempt to keep a potential shooter out of a school while not a guaranteed solution.

Rye believes special needs education should be a top priority for our schools. Rye currently promotes the five year plan the school board created in order to increase the special needs education programs, which includes better training for all staff. Additionally, Rye also advocates for the Virginia Beach public school’s music education program.

Carolyn Rye also advocates for increased employee compensation and input. Rye supports the Compensation Study commissioned by VBCPS and looks forward to the report and recommendations this fall. She is currently concerned about the persistent salary stagnation and salary compression issues and will be working towards resolving that if re-elected. She also wants to address other concerns such as teacher workload and student behaviors.

An advocate for student mental health wellness, Rye fought for the 12 additional high school counselor positions included in the 2018 Operating Budget. This resulted in an average caseload reduction of 50 students and allowed more counselor time to establish quality relationships with their students.

As a liaison to the School Board Health Advisory Committee, Rye has supported the increased behavioral and mental health support staff positions added in recent budgets.

Rye is running against David Culpepper. David Cannon Culpepper is a Republican candidate who works as a commercial pilot in Little Neck, Virginia. Culpepper was inspired to run due to his disapproval of the district's decision to keep students out of school and the mask mandates put in place for the student protection against the COVID-19 virus.

Due to her prioritization of student mental health, school safety, special needs education resources and COVID-19 safety, Carolyn Rye is the most progressive choice for this year’s race.

Ericka D. Guess is a parent and a Virginia Beach City Public Schools graduate who is running as an Independent candidate in this year’s school board election. Guess has lived in Virginia Beach all her life and suggests that her background in the nonprofit sector “gives [her] a unique perspective in serving the public, solving problems, and being a responsible steward of public funds.” Guess promotes teacher retention, school safety, and arts support.

Ericka Guess wants to prioritize teachers. She advocates for better teacher retention and wants to create more reasons for our current teachers to stay while also appealing to the next generation of educators. Guess also advocates for all school staff, not just teachers. In response to VBCPS School Board’s proposal to provide an additional 1% cost-of-living wage increase to teachers, Guess proposed, instead, that the 1% cost-of-living raise be distributed to all staff, including bus drivers, nurses, counselors, cafeteria staff, custodians, and others.

Guess is against the new Virginia Beach school board proposal to limit the number of speakers at future school board meetings, advocating for more communication from the community. She believes allowing speakers at school board meetings is “an important part of the democratic process.”

Guess promotes equity, believing that it “fosters understanding and enriches the educational experience for all.” Additionally, she stands for allocating funding for both the arts and media literacy. “A foundation in the arts prepares students for life beyond school. Well-informed students are the next generation of leaders.” Guess also promotes local art opportunities on her social media page, encouraging her followers to participate.

Lastly, Guess is running to promote school safety. Guess believes we need to create safer spaces for students by creating proactive gun violence prevention policies. In an interview for her candidacy, Guess noted she did not believe teachers should be expected to do the jobs of law enforcement.

Guess is running against Carolyn Weems.

Incumbent Carolyn Weems is a Republican candidate running for reelection. Weems, a graduate of Clemson University, has served on the Virginia Beach school board since 2002. In addition to teaching and coaching at Old Dominion University, Weems, an advocate for protecting children from the threat of drug addiction, founded a nonprofit called Caitlyn’s Halo which provides a community group and a speaking program that presents anti-drug talks in schools. Weems considers herself a"consistent conservative" and opposes the current school grading system believing “the change in grading practices has caused much more work for teachers and diminished student accountability.”

Because of her prioritization of community input in schools, focus on teacher retention, and emphasis on gun violence prevention, Erika Guess is the progressive choice for this year’s school board election.

Kim Antonio Bentley (I) is a single father and president of Green Run Homes Association. Bentley says that he will bring the qualities of energy, integrity, and objectivity to the school board. Bentley is concerned about recent curriculum challenges and advocates for the correct teaching of history in schools. His campaign is centered on post graduation pathways, teacher retention, and improving infrastructure.

Kim Bentley is aware of the teacher concerns in Virginia Beach and promises to address them. Bentley prioritizes hiring and retaining qualified teachers, advocating for them on his social media platforms. A supporter of unions, Bentely speaks for change to the material conditions of Virginia Beach City Public School’s faculty and staff, helping them with their collective bargaining efforts to get teachers the support and compensation they deserve.

Bentley makes local academics a priority for his campaign. As a Black American, Bentley is concerned about recent curriculum challenges that seek to limit what children can learn, believing that children can’t get a quality education by avoiding the truth of our complex history. Bentley is also in support of post graduation pathways, expressing the need to support “whether [students] decide to enroll, employ, enlist, or explore, we need to ensure that students are prepared for success after they graduate, whatever path they choose.”

Improving school infrastructure is an additional issue in the campaign. Bentley believes that addressing the problems that come with aging school buildings is just as important as building new school facilities to create spaces where students can thrive. Bentley’s social media pages showcase his advocacy for improving the condition of the schools. He says that in order to ensure consistency of quality education throughout the city, we must implement improvements to the school infrastructure.

Lastly, Kim Bentley supports ensuring Virginia Beach school systems are at the forefront of technology. With a twenty year history of working in tech, Kim wishes to streamline parent communications through thoughtful and efficient technology use.


Kim Bentley is running against Kathleen Brown.

Independent Kathleen Brown is a wife, mother of four, and a Virginia Beach resident for the last thirteen years. With an associate’s degree from Tidewater Community College and a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Liberty University, Brown worked as a figure skating coach for the past twenty-six years. Brown promises to thoroughly and openly consider all public input before voting on any policy changes. She is an advocate for “parental rights” which is code for book banning, transphobia in schools, and a lack of social emotional learning in the classroom.

Due to Kim Bentley’s emphasis on academics, teacher compensation, prioritization of technology implementation in schools, and improving school infrastructure, he is the most progressive choice in this race.