Laequinla S. Hunter is a candidate for Isle of Wight County School Board – District 4. Her name will appear on the ballot on November 7, 2023.
Hunter is running against Jason P. Maresh.
The first day of in-person early voting at your local registrar’s office for this election is Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. 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.
Name: Laequinla Hunter
Age: 45
Website: lhunter4iowcsb.com
Biography: Laequinla Hunter is right for Isle of Wight County schools because she has years of experience in working with youth, parents, and the community. As a strong advocate for funding CTE programs, Mrs. Hunter became a business owner after high school, which opened a door for her to train youth in entrepreneurship. As the founder of the We Stand Tall Mentoring program, she has mentored, tutored, and prepared youth for the future through entrepreneurship training, strategies, and interactive activities. Mrs. Hunter will be able to advocate for similar programs that will benefit the students in Isle Of Wight County.
Mrs. Hunter is the Chairperson of Community Harvest Outreach, Inc. in which she offers programs and services to address the needs of families within the community. As for service, Mrs. Hunter creates various programs and workshops that focus on literacy opportunities, technology initiatives, and career interest opportunities. One of her programs, The Kids Law Academy, is one community initiative that many parents find to be effective as their children are able to engage in hands-on safety training, discussions about safety, and crime, and lessons on forensics science. Parental involvement is important to Mrs. Hunter, so she encourages parents to participate in the programs and workshops.
As a community leader, she has formed a network of partnerships that empower and support the youth that addresses autism awareness, ending childhood hunger, and mentoring young adults through mental health initiatives. Through the support and partnerships with students, teachers, and parents, Mrs. Laequinla Hunter will offer a change that will build a stronger foundation for Isle of Wight County Schools.
Why are you running for this office?
I am running for the position of School Board in District 4, Isle of Wight County Public Schools. I have a passion for children and I believe every child deserves a quality education so that they can be productive citizens in the community. If elected, it is my desire to develop various programs and initiatives. I believe I am a reliable community leader that will actively listen to the voices of students, teachers and parents to implement change and vision.
What is the most important issue facing the school system and what is your position on it?
The most important issue facing the school system is funding. Isle of Wight County is only matching between 29% and 31% of state and federal expenditures towards education. By way of comparison, Gloucester matches at 66.8%, Franklin matches at 66.52%, and Suffolk matches at 51.75%. These are critical funds which can help fund initiatives, programs, school construction, security measures, and technologies which would help benefit our goal of making students ready for the work force and higher education upon graduation. It would also go a long way to allowing Isle of Wight to afford practical and effective safety measures within the school system. This would also help drastically improve upon the wages of educators, which would help in teacher retention.
My position is there should be more funding accountability efforts – we should take full advantage of matching funds and ensure that Isle of Wight County Schools are not falling below the lines financially in comparison to other school districts, it’s critical to the overall operation and success of all schools.
How do you feel about the politicization of public education?
I feel that education should not be politicized. Teachers need to know that they are protected from political and personal attacks from members of the community and school board politicians so long as they are teaching the outlined and approved standards as outlined by the VDOE. They need to know that they are safe to do the jobs which they were trained to do.
How will you still value constituents with whom you disagree?
I believe that everyone has a right to respectfully state what his or her stance and concerns are; therefore I will value constituents with whom I disagree by having a positive attitude and behavior towards them as we work for the betterment of students, parents and administration.
