NameAmy Riccardi
What office are you running for?Loudoun County School Board
County, District/TownshipLoudoun, Sterling
Address108 PINE TREE CT
Sterling, Virginia 20164
Map It
Phone(571) 236-8959
EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.
Are you currently the officeholder and seeking re-election?No
Is this your first time running for office?Yes
Election Date11/07/2023
Websiteamy4sterling.com
Social Media Handles

@Amy4Sterling on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter

KEY ISSUES
1. Provide the top 2 reasons why you want to run for school board?

1. Loudoun County, Virginia, has been the national hotbed for CRT and has a long list of terrible school board decisions that do not support parents or students. It is time to bring common sense change to our schools.
2. My race is very winnable with the right support. Two far-left Democratic candidates will likely split the vote, so we have a great opportunity to win.

2. Name the top 2 issues with your current school board or district and how you will address each issue.

Sadly, our school board's issues are so deep and corrupt the list is really long. Here are my top two:
1. Shifting back to pure education (math, science, reading, writing, art, history) and leaving morals and values to families and parents. Fully ensuring we eliminate CRT/SEL in the teacher training and school curricula.
2. The school board is "appearing" to support parent's rights, but in reality they ignore opt-out requests regularly. My approach is going to be a parental opt-in process where the SEL topics are not taught to students by default.

3. Do you support school choice? Why or why not?

Yes. Parents need the ability to choose the right educational model for their child. This includes choosing a different public school, private school (with their tax subsidies), charter school, and homeschooling.

4. Who do you think is the ultimate authority in a child’s education and wellbeing?

Parents and families.

5. Do you agree with the statement “America is inherently racist”? Why or why not?

No. In fact, America is very much the last bastion of freedom and opportunity. Every culture will have issues, but here in the US, we have been well on the way to significantly reducing racism until the "woke" culture hijacked the issue.

6. What are your thoughts on “Comprehensive Sex Education”, “Diversity Equity and Inclusion”, and “Social Emotional Learning”? Should these be a part of our public education curriculum or supplemental learning materials or left to parents to teach and why?

Here in Loudoun, these topics have been pervasive for years. We recently realized the school board spent $1.3M for a wide range of highly graphic sex education/DEI books and dispersed them to all school libraries in the county. You now see parents reading from these books at every school board meeting. The school board itself ignores the issue completely. No, these books should be left to parents and families to share with their children if they feel compelled to do so. Again, parents and families are where moral and virtue messages should be taught.

7. With declining academic achievement in reading, writing, math, and science in schools across the nation, how would you address these issues if elected?

My district is a 100% Title I area of Loudoun and students here were hit particularly hard with learning loss. Teachers have been silenced by the administration so it's hard to understand the issues they face on a day-to-day basis. One of the activities I'm currently doing is meeting with teachers from each school privately to really understand what is happening. Focusing additional resources in our Sterling schools in particular is key, but I'm still sorting out what resources would have the biggest impact. We have the county's largest Hispanic, Indian, and Muslim populations here.

8. Safety is a major concern for most families, how would you support and encourage safety measures for girls in their private spaces, if elected?

This is a key campaign issue for me. As a former Division I volleyball player, coach, and referee, there is no one who is more protective of our girls' private spaces. We will move biological boys back into their bathrooms and girls into theirs. The county has already accommodated transgender children in common-use bathrooms, and I will ensure we keep it this way.

9. Do you believe Title IX is in jeopardy in our public education system today?

Yes, quite sadly. As an athlete in the 80s and 90s we fought hard for Title IX rights and watch it eroded daily. As I stated in #8 above, we absolutely need to protect girls and women in our culture.

10. Do you have any other endorsements? If so, please list them.

Loudoun County Republican Committee
I have several other organizations on board and await their official endorsements.