Monty Gerald Ashliman, Jr. is a candidate for Virginia Beach School Board – At Large. His name will appear on the ballot on November 5, 2024.
Ashliman is running against Sharon Ruth Felton for Virginia Beach School Board – At Large.
The first day of in-person early voting at your local registrar’s office for this election is Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. Click here to see who is on your ballot.
10 On Your Side reached out to all of the candidates running in this race, with a request for a bio and a list of questions to answer. If you do not see the candidate listed with a profile, we did not receive one.
Biography: I have recently retired as a Navy Captain after over 32 years of Active Duty service and demonstrated, proven executive and combat leadership. I began my Navy career at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland where I graduated in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering. Upon graduation, I entered into Naval Aviation, specifically Aircraft Carrier Aviation flying F-14 Tomcats and FA-18 Super Hornets with nearly 3,000 flight hours, over 700 aircraft carrier landings, decorated numerous times for personal valor in combat, and having made worldwide deployments on multiple aircraft carriers in numerous combat theaters. My leadership background includes serving as a TOPGUN Instructor, which is the pinnacle of the Navy’s highest institute of learning; the Commanding Officer of a Strike-Fighter squadron responsible for 13 FA-18 Super Hornet aircraft and nearly 300 Navy personnel; Commanding Officer of a major Navy installation where I was responsible for the safety and well-being of 30,000 personnel, approximately 300 strike-fighter aircraft (FA-18 Super Hornet and F-35C Lightning), significant budgets, and expansive facilities totaling over 800 million dollars in new construction; and Director of Operations for Navy Region Mid-Atlantic responsible for the oversight of Port Operations, Air Operations, Fire and Emergency Services, Security, Emergency Management, Training, Emergency Dispatch Services, and Safety for all Navy equities in Navy Region Mid-Atlantic. I have my Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.
Why are you running for this office?
Having moved all over this great Nation, my family and I had many opportunities for which to call home following retirement from Active Duty. Without question, the wonderful community of Virginia Beach is where we chose to live. My first duty station was in Virginia Beach in 1992. I will work tirelessly to ensure the Virginia Beach City Public Schools are one of the wonderful attributes of this community, and I understand the commitment in time required to serve the Virginia Beach City Public Schools. My three daughters graduated from Virginia Beach City Public Schools, and I want to solidly establish the Virginia Beach City Public Schools as a place where students, parents, and teachers are proud and confident to be.
What is the top challenge facing Virginia Beach City Public Schools, and how would you address it?
While there are numerous challenges for our Virginia Beach City Public Schools, a pressing issue is the health of the teacher workforce, and I have a proven record in my career of building teams for success. There are dedicated professionals desiring to teach, and we need to ensure our Virginia Beach City Public Schools are where they want to be. We must allow the teachers to teach and not overburden them with collateral duties that are not in support of educating the students. Teachers’ preparation time should not be taken up with commitments that are not directly supporting their lessons to be taught in the classroom. School administrations must support teachers and the enforcement of rules in the classroom that are for the safety of everyone. Virginia Beach is a wonderful community to raise a family. We must ensure our Virginia Beach City Public Schools are strong attributes of this community, a place where families want to be, and they are confident in the Public Schools system.
How do you feel about the politicization of public education?
Unfortunately, the students are the ones most negatively impacted by the politicization of public education. They are the future of our communities, and we are not serving their interests to the best of our ability when we politicize public education. Additionally, parents who potentially lose confidence in the Public School system spend resources they may not have to ensure their children get an education they are confident in. The attraction and retention of teachers are also affected negatively. Politicization of public schools negatively impacts the education experience for all.
What is your view on banning certain books from school libraries?
Not all reading material available to adults is appropriate for school-age children, and this material should not be available in the Virginia Beach City Public Schools libraries. Material deemed inappropriate for minors should not be available in our Virginia Beach City Public Schools, and there should be complete transparency with the students’ parents regarding reading material and books available to the students.
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?
As stated by Superintendent of Virginia Beach City Public Schools, racism, hate speech, harassment, and discrimination of any kind shall not be tolerated within our schools. Along with strong, clear policies against racism, harassment, discrimination, and hate speech must be the reporting and enforcement of these policies. Strict consequences for those failing to abide by these policies must be dealt to those not respecting all people and cultures. A culture where each individual respects each others starts with respecting those around you and treating others how you would like to be treated. The culture of an organization starts at the top, and we should never underestimate our individual impact on that culture.
How will you still value constituents with whom you disagree with?
It starts by respecting those around you, and understanding that we will not all have the same opinion, and that is ok. No individual should think they have all the right answers. There are many others with differing experiences, backgrounds, and best practices that may very well have a better, more effective way to tackle a problem or propose a solution. We must listen with an open mind, gather all possible inputs for our decision making, keep the objective in mind, and then effectively collaborate amongst the School Board to determine what is best for that particular decision for the Virginia Beach City Public Schools system. Personal agendas, politics, and thinking that one individual has all the right answers is a recipe for failing the students, parents, teachers, and our entire Virginia Beach City Public Schools system. Once a decision has been made, personal attacks and continuing to play politics is grossly inappropriate. We can all learn from others, and as responsible adults, we should be setting the example for our students; otherwise, we should not be surprised when they act the same way. Effective collaboration ensures we arrive at the correct solution, and we all learn from one another. This will lead us to the “sum of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts,” which effectively means we best serve the students, our future community leaders, when we work together and respect each others’ inputs.