{"id":13646,"date":"2026-08-12T01:12:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/manassascitydemocrats.org\/?p=13646"},"modified":"2026-08-12T01:19:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:19:16","slug":"support-lisa-stevens-for-manassas-city-school-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/manassascitydemocrats.org\/?p=13646","title":{"rendered":"Support Lisa Stevens for Manassas City School Board"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Background & Qualifications <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Lisa\u2019s qualifications for School Board come from more than seven years of elected service and more than 30 years of experience working with children, families, and educators. She has spent 18 years as a director of a school-age program at a local private school and the past 12 years as a special education teacher in a neighboring school division. Her professional experience has given her firsthand knowledge of the opportunities and challenges students, families, and educators face every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa\u2019s commitment to education is also deeply personal. While working full-time and raising three children, she returned to college and earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in Individualized Studies with a concentration in Special Education Psychology. Just two weeks after receiving her diploma, she began pursuing her master\u2019s degree in Educational Psychology. She earned her master\u2019s while continuing to work full-time, navigating a high-risk pregnancy, welcoming her fourth child, and raising her family. Her journey reflects the determination, perseverance, and work ethic she brings to every challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa also brings decades of community leadership and volunteer service. For more than 25 years, she has volunteered with her family\u2019s local summer swim team, serving in multiple positions on the board and for several years as a league official. Her years of volunteer service have strengthened her belief in the importance of community, teamwork, leadership, and creating opportunities for children to thrive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa first ran for School Board in 2019 and was elected by the community she calls home. She is now seeking a third term. During her time on the Board, she has worked to make thoughtful, practical decisions, build consensus, listen to different perspectives, and keep student achievement and the well-being of students, staff, and families at the center of her work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa is qualified because she brings a unique combination of education experience, special education expertise, leadership, community service, parenting experience, and seven-plus years of School Board experience<\/strong>. Most importantly, she understands that effective school governance is about more than making decisions\u2014it is about listening, working together, and making sure every student has the opportunity to succeed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of public service, Lisa Stevens is a special education teacher for a neighboring school division. She is also a longtime volunteer for a local summer swim team. Lisa and her husband Maurie have called the City their home for more than 30 years. They have three grown children who are graduates of MCPS and one child who is still a student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Priorities & Values: <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Stronger Schools\u2013Family Partnerships:  <\/strong>Lisa believes our schools are strongest when families and educators work together. She prioritizes building stronger, more trusting relationships between schools and families and ensuring that parents and caregivers have meaningful opportunities to be heard, involved, and informed in their children\u2019s education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every Family Seen, Respected, and Supported<\/strong>:<\/strong>  Every student and family deserves to feel welcomed and valued in our schools. Lisa works to ensure that differences in culture, language, religion, and family background are recognized and respected. She believes every family should have equal access to information, resources, support, and opportunities to provide input into their child\u2019s educational experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collaboration, Student Success, and Mental Health:  <\/strong>Lisa believes that progress happens when people with different perspectives are willing to listen, find common ground, and work toward shared goals. She brings a collaborative approach to the School Board, using the experiences and perspectives of students, families, educators, staff, and community members to improve educational outcomes for all students. She also prioritizes the mental health and well-being of students, families, and MCPS staff by supporting access to mental health services and advocating for sustainable funding and school-based outreach that connects families and staff with the resources they need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Vote for Lisa Stevens? <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Lisa leads with empathy<\/strong> because she believes every family has a story. Whether you are a lifelong resident, a new neighbor, a military family, an immigrant family, or an LGBTQ+ family, Lisa wants every family to know that they belong here and that their children matter. She believes every student deserves to feel welcomed, respected, supported, and given the opportunity to succeed. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa also understands that leadership is not about having all the answers.<\/strong> She believes good leadership means listening, learning, asking questions, considering different perspectives, and being willing to change course <\/strong>when new information shows there is a better way forward. She does not make decisions based on what is easiest or most popular. She works to make thoughtful, informed decisions based on what is best for students, families, staff, and the long-term success of MCPS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since first being elected to the School Board, Lisa has served as Chair of the Policy Committee.<\/strong> She takes that responsibility seriously and values the opportunity to work with her fellow Board members to review and develop policies that serve the needs of MCPS students, employees, and families. She believes policies should be thoughtful, purposeful, and responsive to the needs of the community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa has also had the opportunity to serve as Vice Chair of the School Board.<\/strong> That experience has reinforced her belief that leadership on a School Board is about service\u2014not titles or power. Lisa recognizes that the Chair and Vice Chair do not have more authority than their fellow Board members. Each member has one vote, and decisions are made at the will of the full Board. She believes the most effective Board members are those who listen to one another, respect differing perspectives, find common ground when possible, and work together toward what is best for students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa is asking for your vote because she brings experience, empathy, perspective, and a genuine commitment to service.<\/strong> She will continue to listen, continue to learn, and continue to put students first<\/strong>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Background & Qualifications  Lisa\u2019s qualifications for School Board come from more than seven years of elected service and more than 30 years of experience working with children, families, and educators. She has spent 18 years as a director of a school-age program at a local private school and the past 12 years as a special education teacher in a neighboring school division. Her professional experience has given her firsthand knowledge of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11,142,351,493],"tags":[289,350,479],"class_list":["post-13646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campaign-activities","category-elections-campaign-activities","category-lisa-stevens","category-manassas-city-school-board","tag-lisa-stevens","tag-manassas-city-school-board","tag-our-2026-candidates"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":false,"total_views":0,"today_views":0},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/manassascitydemocrats.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/manassascitydemocrats.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/manassascitydemocrats.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manassascitydemocrats.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manassascitydemocrats.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13646"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/manassascitydemocrats.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13649,"href":"https:\/\/manassascitydemocrats.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13646\/revisions\/13649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/manassascitydemocrats.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manassascitydemocrats.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manassascitydemocrats.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}