Alexandria School Board Candidates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in C.

Why on earth would I vote for someone to be on the school board who has her kids in PRIVATE SCHOOL?!

Personally I’d be more inclined to question the good judgment of a candidate who kept his/her kids in ACPS this year if they had the resources to provide other options. Wanting the best for your own kids doesn’t make you less capable of trying to improve things for others.

Yeah, but her kids have been in private the whole time, it wasn't just pandemic related.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in C.

Why on earth would I vote for someone to be on the school board who has her kids in PRIVATE SCHOOL?!

Personally I’d be more inclined to question the good judgment of a candidate who kept his/her kids in ACPS this year if they had the resources to provide other options. Wanting the best for your own kids doesn’t make you less capable of trying to improve things for others.

I also wouldn’t vote for Alderton since she flaunted being vaccinated when ACPS kids weren’t back in ACPS schools at all.

[Anonymous]

Bridget is an admin of a neighborhood group I'm in. Her kids go to ACPS, not private schools. I can't imagine her mocking anyone. Do you know her IRL? She is really nice and sincere. She's honestly the neighbor who would give you a cup of sugar if you needed one. I have known Bridget since our kids were in a baby group together and I have never heard her say anything unkind about people. She's entirely the opposite. She goes out of her way to be nice to everyone and include others.

[Anonymous]

Bridget is not opposed to the Seminary Road Diet group. Her parking was taken away by bike lanes. Is she a hippie who rides her bike to work and to get her kids from day care? Yes. But that doesn't mean she is opposed to that group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bridget is not opposed to the Seminary Road Diet group. Her parking was taken away by bike lanes. Is she a hippie who rides her bike to work and to get her kids from day care? Yes. But that doesn't mean she is opposed to that group.

I've seen her comments about the Seminary Road Diet page. Her comments are snarky. Which is fine. Lots of people like to make fun of that page. But she shouldn't then turn around and post to the Seminary Road group and use it to drum up support for Open ACPS (and, I'm sure, eventually use it to try drum up support for her campaign).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with that assessment about the Integrity group. There are about 20 highly active people who complain to each other about everything, call city council and city staff names, blame Justin Wilson for every traffic backup in the city, etc. They also don’t seem to realize many of their views are fringe and not held by the majority. Waiting for when Wilson gets re-elected Mayor and they claim the vote was rigged, that he paid for votes, or some other nonsense.

One of the more vocal and obnoxious women in the group is an administrator for FCPS and I find her online conduct horrifying and offensive.

I wouldn't be so sure Wilson is getting re-eleected. I'm not one of his haters but there are many out there. Once you step outside of Del Ray his support plummets.

I agree with this. The last primary was relatively close and the passions for and against each candidate are extremely high. The political environment in Alexandria is very toxic.

+1

[Anonymous]

Bridget Westfall, mean spirited or two faced? Bridget is the admin for Buy Nothing. She’s relatable, salt of the earth, and welcoming. I have been in Buy Nothing with her on two different groups and never seen what you are describing. She deals with some pretty heated topics with a gentle touch and diffuses the situation.

Bridget has advocated for teachers and students all year. She fundraised for teachers and community groups. She routinely submitted public comments asking for vaccine distribution and prioritization for teachers. She asked ACPS to provide community partner child care on site at each school and open to teachers. She is known in the neighborhood for fundraising for masks for kids, thermometers, and grocery gift cards at Maury. Bridget asked if we could fundraise for portable air filtration systems for each classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bridget Westfall, mean spirited or two faced? Bridget is the admin for Buy Nothing. She’s relatable, salt of the earth, and welcoming. I have been in Buy Nothing with her on two different groups and never seen what you are describing. She deals with some pretty heated topics with a gentle touch and diffuses the situation.

Bridget has advocated for teachers and students all year. She fundraised for teachers and community groups. She routinely submitted public comments asking for vaccine distribution and prioritization for teachers. She asked ACPS to provide community partner child care on site at each school and open to teachers. She is known in the neighborhood for fundraising for masks for kids, thermometers, and grocery gift cards at Maury. Bridget asked if we could fundraise for portable air filtration systems for each classroom.

She didn't post the snarky comments about the Seminary Road Diet group in a Buy Nothing group. Why would anyone do that? Is there a lot of arguing about Seminary Road in Buy Nothing groups? That seems odd.

[Anonymous]

Veronica Nolan supposedly isn't running again. I've heard it from a couple of people who got her campaign email but her facebook page and website are still active. So no incumbents from B are running.

I'm not an admirer of Nolan's (I've heard her parrot one too many completely untrue "facts" in her role as SB member) but at least she has kids in ACPS and not private.

[Anonymous]

I know Bridget Westfall personally through volunteer work but do not live in district B. She is so nice and very qualified from her professional work as a fed with a social work background. I think she manages children/family related grants and public programs. She is very intelligent, generous, thoughtful. She has young elem and pre-K kids. I haven’t seen her posts but i will say that she is truly not snarky or hypocritical but can certainly communicate her opinions and individual thoughts and challenge group think. Isn’t that what we all want?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have any updates, but I can confirm that Bridget Shea Westfall also has kids in ACPS.

If she is part of Open APCS, that is inherently disqualifying. Vote no.

[Anonymous]

Only two people have filed in Districts A and C. What happens if only two people run? There is a vacancy. Do they have a special election?

[Anonymous]

What do we know about Debbie Ash?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have any updates, but I can confirm that Bridget Shea Westfall also has kids in ACPS.

If she is part of Open APCS, that is inherently disqualifying. Vote no.

Nope! Still voting for her!

[Anonymous]

Bridget Westfall is the type of person who is invited to her children’s teachers’ weddings, graduations, and baby showers. The only parent. She is good at connecting others. She genuinely cares about ACPS and the community. We were at the same day care and Bridget stood up for the teachers and a whistleblower with a former director who was ultimately terminated. There were facility issues with the toilets and safety issues when the shooting occurred at the YMCA baseball fields during the Congressional baseball team. Bridget organized parents and spoke on behalf of the whistleblowers. I’m not a fan of Open ACPS but understand why Bridget is a member. She is a former social worker and she was very concerned about kids in ACOS not having adult supervision or access to food. She and her husband are government managers at two agencies working in person in the pandemic.