Name: Vincent Smith

Age: 54

Website: www.VincentSmithVB.com

Biography: I’m the son of a NASA Apollo engineer and the best homemaker mother anyone could ask for. I was born in Hampton Roads and raised from my early years through elementary school in southern West Virginia by a large, tight-knit, earnest, hard-working family. Relocating to Northern Virginia for my high-school years I then went on to attend college at VPI, ETSU, and NVCC, and went back later in life to VHCC, GCC, and ODU. While in school I worked for an underground engineering firm. We performed foundation remediation of failing structures and ground freezing around the world. Later I moved on to open my own successful Class-A welding and blacksmithing business. From there I went on to public service at local, state and federal levels.

An injury in 2007 led me to re-focus on furthering my education leading me back into engineering and the transportation field. Over the next couple of decades, I learned much at two major employers and a couple of smaller stretches as a bridge remediation contractor and some offshore Naval engineering. Today I find myself immersed in efforts to improve our educational system to give students the best results possible while simultaneously bolstering education’s financial efficiency.

I am the very lucky husband of the best wife I never imagined I would be so lucky to have chosen me. She is an immigrant who has taught for decades, in two countries, in two languages, in both public and private schools, has taught the children of presidents, and now works for VBCPS sharing her language with our students. My children are older, the youngest being 27. I watched them grow through their education, and have spent years reflecting on the ins and outs of how that went. They were both educated in public schools and have completed further education.

I like to write in my spare time and have two manuscripts in their editing phase that I will publish over the next couple of years. One is an alternate history novel and the other is an informative text. I also have an affinity for making wooden furnishings by hand. Many of my tools are over a century old and some were handed down through my family for generations. I am also an accomplished semi-professional photographer. While I have dabbled in wedding photography I enjoy astrophotography, aviation, animal, landscape, and street photography. In what little spare time I have left I am learning HAM radio communications and have already passed all three amateur FCC licensing exams.

Why are you running for this office?

I’ve reached the apex of my career field and have learned much in the past decade about people. Today I have more to give to our community. The past few years for VBCPS have been a struggle in several ways and I have done my best to participate and help via public input. I also used my contacts to set up a vocational partnership between VBCPS and local industry. Dozens of students have entered into local jobs with trades training thru those efforts. Sixteen years ago I was earning a living as a certified welder. Life has now brought me to being a licensed professional engineer. I’d like out share both experiences and what I’ve learned with our students. My wife is a VBCPS teacher and I know the struggles her and her friends’ experience. We can do better for our teaching staff. Combine all this with 25+ years of government experience at local, state, and federal levels and I know I am the more qualified candidate and have the experiences and skills to provide the greater value as a school board member.

What is the top challenge facing Virginia Beach City Public Schools, and how would you address it?

While reading recovery and teacher retention are among the highest priority issues we need to address, and I will address them when on the school board, the bigger, and long-term challenge we face is infrastructure. We have 86 school buildings with an average age over 40. These buildings are aging much faster than we are dealing with this issue. 31 of these buildings (36%) are over 50 years old. Only 12 of these have been modernized since 2001 leaving 19 in need of replacement or modernization immediately. Bear in mind that these buildings are really meant to last about 50 to 60 years on the outside, and four are over 60 years old without modernization. This will be VBCPS’ heaviest lift over the next decade. There are solutions, but they will not be painless and I propose this requires participation from the City, likely outside of the limits of the revenue sharing formula.

How do you feel about the politicization of public education?

The politicization leads to one problem, the instability caused by frequent policy shifts. That is the most detrimental part of the politicization to the students and teaching staff. Children need stability to thrive and teachers need stable policy to teach effectively. We would be kidding ourselves to say that we will get politics out of School Board races. It’s here to stay until the world is less polarized. But I propose that we need to focus on stabilizing the issues with moderation for the sake of the students and teachers.

What is your view on banning certain books from school libraries?

I am not of the opinion that any books have been banned simply because they were removed from a library. The phrase ‘banning books’ brings up images of a pile of books being burned in the street by an authoritarian government. This isn’t happening. There is not a single book removed from a VBCPS library that is not readily available from the VB public libraries free of charge. These books are also available on Amazon for $10 used. If a parent feels such a book is necessary for their child’s development there are several ways parents can provide it other than from a VBCPS library. Now, on the future side of the issue, let’s ask this, What is the purpose of the VBCPS libraries? If they are there to provide materials in support of the curriculum then that would not include recreational reading. But I also believe that recreational reading is curriculum at younger ages. Encouraging reading is immensely important. Encouraging children to read is proactive, but actually getting a child to read is dependent on providing reading materials that child is excited about. So I fully support that elementary school libraries should provide age appropriate recreational reading materials. As students age through middle and high school I feel the libraries should shift to curriculum support and away from recreational reading.

Within the last year, the Kempsville High School baseball team was forced to forfeit the season due to racism allegations. How would you ensure there is not a racist culture within schools?

I start with a zero tolerance of such behavior. I grew up in a poor part of West Virginia in the 70’s where racism was evident, although not rampant. As a child I didn’t know how to recognize it. But as I grew and began to look back, it was there. In today’s America we have made great strides, but we’re not perfect. In this situation, our standing policies worked. When the behaviors came to light, it was immediately addressed and the season ended. Going forward the School Board needs to ensure VBCPS continues to follow those standing policies of zero tolerance regarding racism. I also believe there needs to be open conversations among the student body, staff and administration about racism. While we teach with open discussion, children often learn through observation of the world around them. Sometimes they just need to hear from trusted and responsible adults that not all things they observe are right.

How will you still value constituents with whom you disagree with?

All constituents have a voice regardless of agreement. I will always listen to, and consider, all viewpoints on the issues in front of the School Board. When elected I will represent the needs of students, staff, parents, VBCPS, taxpayers, and all stakeholders in our education system. Proper education is a huge team effort. I often stress to people I mentor that as you climb the management chain it becomes more and more important to listen than it is to speak.