What: Media conference with Lynchburg parents and community leaders to call on the Lynchburg School Board to meet with Virginia Organizing and other community groups
When: Tuesday, June 6 at 5 p.m.
Where: Lynchburg School Administration Building (915 Court Street, Lynchburg, VA 24504)
Speakers:
Pastor Reason Chandler, Virginia Organizing Lynchburg Chapter
Community members concerned about suspension rates
Lynchburg, Va.— Virginia Organizing will hold a media conference on Tuesday, June 6 at 5 p.m. to call on the Lynchburg School Board to meet with community groups who are working to reduce and find alternatives to suspensions in Lynchburg schools. The media conference will be held prior to the school board meeting at the Lynchburg School Administration Building (915 Court Street, Lynchburg, VA 24504). At the conclusion of the media conference, Virginia Organizing members will attend the school board meeting to directly address school board members.
Pastor Reason Chandler’s daughter, a student at Dunbar Middle School, has personal experience with unjust suspensions as a result of the discipline system in Lynchburg.“Throughout middle school my daughter received frequent referrals and would call me feeling frustrated and confused,” said Pastor Chandler, a leader in the Lynchburg Chapter of Virginia Organizing.“Luckily, I have a flexible work schedule and was able to hurry to the school to advocate for her before she received an unjustly harsh punishment. Eventually, my wife and I sat down with her principal and teachers to talk about the way my daughter was being treated. Since that conversation at the beginning of the school year she only received one referral. We are thrilled things have improved for her but worry about the students whose parents aren’t able to advocate for them. That is why we have to create systemic changes to improve our discipline process; but before we can do that, we have to have access to our school board members.”
“I feel passionately about keeping kids in school because I recognize the importance of the role of education for our youth to overcome the cycle of poverty,” said Virginia Organizing Lynchburg Chapter leader Vicente Gonzalez. “Virginia Organizing asks that the school board members schedule meetings with our chapter and other community groups so we can jumpstart this conversation and work toward actively finding alternatives for suspensions and end this epidemic of removing kids from the learning environment.”
For more information, or to interview a spokesperson, please contact Haley Wilson at 434-907-6116 or haley@virginia-organizing.org.
Virginia Organizing is a non-partisan statewide grassroots organization that brings people together to create a more just Virginia.
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