Roanoke council interviews candidates for two city school board seats

Three of the candidates, Jacqueline Moon, Aulariz Quintana and Christopher Link, were interviewed at the city council on Monday. The council will interview two of her board incumbents seeking re-election on April 17, City Board of Education Chair Eli Jamison and current member Natasha Sanders.

Moon moved to Roanoke in 1990, attended Roanoke school, and served in the military before becoming a real estate appraiser in 2004. She has a son, William, who is in her junior year at Fleming High School.

“I was always a classroom mom or PTA and tried to get involved as much as I could,” Moon said.

Moon said that if he were appointed to the school board, his focus would be on addressing housing insecurity and the “poverty cycle” of students in the city.

“If we can break the cycle of poverty, we can change the world,” she said.

Born in Puerto Rico, Quintana has lived in Roanoke for seven years. She is the after-school activity supervisor for the city’s parks and recreation department. Before she moved to Roanoke, she worked for child protection services in New York for several years. She has a child who graduated from city school and a child who is currently attending.

“I want to be able to connect with other board members and parents and others by being myself,” Quintana said. , to show how much I care for these children.”

Quintana said the main reason she applied to the school board was to provide representation for Roanoke’s growing and underrepresented Hispanic population.

“No one on the board is Hispanic,” Quintana said. “I want to be able to interpret for them and convey their concerns.”

Link has lived in Roanoke since 2013. Born in Richmond, he attended Virginia Tech and earned his two degrees in engineering. He works as a structural engineering consultant. He has a daughter who is currently attending a city school.

Link said the main reason he sought the school board appointment was to address what he sees as the “anti-public education” trend in the United States.

“I always thought it was scientifically established that a healthy school system would benefit a functioning society,” Link said.

Each of the five candidates will be recalled to the City Council on April 17, and two incumbents will be interviewed on the same day. Hearings are held where Roanoke residents can speak on behalf of the candidates and have an opinion on which candidate should serve before the council makes a final decision.

In Roanoke, the City Council appoints school board members for three-year terms.