Ryan Sawyers, his wife Jaimie, and children at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas.Ryan Sawyers had for a long time considered running for Prince William County School Board. When the chairman’s seat became open, he thought his business background, community involvement and people skills made him a good fit.
Sawyers, who is endorsed by the Prince William Democratic Party and the Prince William Federation of Teachers, is a sports marketing consultant, business owner and little league coach. He is running on a platform of a “culture change” and finding a better way to fund Prince William County Schools to meet the needs of the student population.
“Ultimately, I think the difference between myself and both of my opponents is where we stand,” said Sawyers. “I don’t believe we can cut our way to success.”
Funding the School Division
Sawyers said that everyone can agree that PWCS needs to reduce its class sizes, which are the highest in the state. They also agree that we need to increase teacher pay. However, he believes he is the only one with a realistic solution to those problems.
While his opponents are calling for finding money in other areas of the budget, Sawyers does not believe that PWCS can achieve a world-class education through funding cuts alone, believing cuts won’t yield enough money for significant change to occur. In any large organization, Sawyer said “there’s going to be some waste, fraud and abuse,” but “waste is often in the eye of the beholder.”
Instead, Sawyers said the School Board needs to increase the funding it gets from the Board of County Supervisors. To accomplish this, Sawyers would advocate for a change or "throw out"to the revenue sharing agreement between the two boards. He believes the revenue sharing agreement ought to only provided a basement as to what funds the school division would get from the board, not a ceiling. Only recently has the board of county supervisors approved providing additional funds for the schools.
Sawyers also wants to use the recordation tax to be used to fund the school division as it was before the recession.
Creating a Vision
The other way in which Sawyers would do things differently is to “think bigger.” As an entrepreneur, he creates a vision for his business. It involves dreaming big, then working incrementally to realize the dream. He wants to do the same for the school division.
“What are the big priorities?” he asked, saying too often the School Board is too busy being reactive that they never create a vision for the school division to follow.
Leading the Way on Building New Schools
Another cultural difference he would like to bring to the School Board is to encourage the board to lead in the building new schools rather than waiting for developers to proffer school sites.
“Schools weren’t planned accordingly with the housing boom,” said Sawyers. “We can’t go back in time and build those schools, but we can say: what now?”
Relying on developers to proffer sites has not worked thus far, said Sawyers, so the school division should stop following that model.
He also wants the school division to work more closely with the county in finding school sites, saying “ultimately, it’s all taxpayer money.” Instead of thinking in terms of “mine” Sawyers believes county leaders should think in terms of multi-use facilities as schools, gymnasiums, auditoriums and fields serve not only students but the community at large.
Sawyers said even though more facilities are needed, he would not advocate for making schools bigger as bigger schools provide fewer opportunities for students to get involved.
Teacher Pay
Teacher pay is important to Sawyers. He wants to make sure Prince William remains competitive with other jurisdictions in the region, so he will advocate for raises.
He believes reducing classroom size will also help teachers and students alike. He said that everyone remembers their favorite teacher; it is the teacher who took the time to provide individualized attention. That becomes more and more difficult in overpacked classrooms.
Creating an Inclusive Culture
Sawyers wants to change the culture for teachers so that they have more of a say in the way the school division operates. While going door to door and talking to PWCS educators, Sawyers said he learned of what he describes as a “culture of fear.”
“People don’t want to ask the questions too far up the chain,” he said.
Sawyers said the school board can change that culture, and it ultimately doesn’t cost money to do so.
Maternity Leave
Sawyers is also the only candidate who wants to provide 12 weeks of paid maternity leave to Prince William educators. The reality is 75-80 percent of the staff is female, said Sawyers, so he believes the district needs to be more female-friendly.
Reevaluating Site-Based Management
Another issue Sawyers would look at is how site base management operates as he is not satisfied with it in the current form. He thinks more can be done to provide oversight of spending so that funds go towards priorities such as reducing class sizes. He said he would not eliminate site base management completely, but he would look to tweak it to make it more effective.
“In reality the most local level is the classroom,” said Sawyers. He believes the best schools have active advisory’s counsels to provide community oversight.
Opposing Charters in All Forms
Sawyers is very much opposed to charter schools, saying “I’m against charter schools and vouchers of every type.”
He said his opponent Tim Singstock’s record is clear that he supports them, and even if he recently said would not bring charter schools to Prince William County, it something voters need to consider.
“The Chairman’s stance on charters is actually very significant because Richmond will actually pass the buck,” Sawyers said.
Sawyers said it’s a very Republican issue to be pro-charter, so the citizens need to send a clear message to Prince William and Richmond that we do not want them.
Citizen Involvement in Schools
Sawyers feels strongly that it is the citizens who should drive the school agendas. In that way, he is looking to make the school division even more responsive.
One way he hopes to do this is to move school board meetings around to different high schools and encourage those neighbors to come out to the meetings. He said these meetings could show case the school and the programs the students there participate in, and he hopes it would bring out "new voices" and more community involvement.
Sawyers grew up in a small town in Maryland. He hopes that PWCS could create that small town feel as well as school pride within its small communities.
About Sawyers
Both of Ryan and his wife, Jaime live in Gainesville with their two children who attend Glenkirk Elementary school. Jaime is a Prince William elementary teacher and the Vice President of the Glenkirk P.T.O. for the 2014-15 school year. In 2013, Ryan became President of Bull Run Little League that serves the Haymarket, Gainesville and Bristow areas. Ryan volunteers at Miriam's Kitchen in Washington D.C. He previously coached baseball at Purdue University.
For more information on Ryan Sawyers, visit his Facebook page and campaign website.
Support Bristow Beat - Donate Today!