Omarh Rajah | Accomplishments and Issues

In his first term on the School Board, Omarh Rajah has built a record to be proud of. Some of his accomplishments include:

• Working successfully to implement the toughest anti-sex offender law in Virginia, so that convicted sex offenders can be arrested as soon as they set foot on school property
• Speaking out against a proposed property tax increase in Chesterfield County (Chesterfield Observer, December 2, 2009)
• Voting against the 2011 Capital Improvement Budget because the budget presented by the Superintendent does not reflect what should be the school system's top priorities right now. Providing more classroom space at schools that are currently overcrowded should be a higher priority than building new gyms at schools that are currently under-capacity.
• Leading efforts to prevent Sports Quest from renting athletic fields from the county, which would have resulted in astronomical rental costs for youth sports associations
• Obtaining over $750,000 to help youth sports associations
• Leading the successful effort to allow youth sports associations to take over the maintenance of athletic fields, which saves the county money and results in more money for our associations
• Getting lights installed at the fields at Spring Run Elementary School
• Helping organize Ettrick Clean-Up Day, resulting in the cleaning and beautification of Ettrick's fields and schools, as well as Chesterfield Avenue
• Making sure the fields at Tomahawk Middle School get re-graded, with completion scheduled for this summer
• Helping obtain $175,000 for a Convocation Center at Virginia State University to reduce their graduation costs
• Working with his colleagues to institute an elective Bible Study course in Chesterfield Schools, which passed the School Board on a unanimous vote

In his next term on the School Board, Omarh wants to focus on the following areas:

• Eliminating waste from the Central Office bureaucracy: We all know that, in recent years, teachers have been laid off in Chesterfield County due to budget shortfalls. Omarh believes the School Board needs to take a detailed look at the Central office budget in order to determine where fat can be cut, and which jobs can be combined or eliminated, in order to reduce the chances that teachers, principals, and others who work with our children on a daily basis will need to be laid off. When budget conditions do dictate that jobs must be cut, Central Office personnel should always be laid off before in-school personnel. Our teachers should not have to pay the price for poor financial planning.
• Using technology to cut costs and enhance safety: For example, one idea currently under discussion is the use of GPS technology to plan bus routes. Not only will this help save time and fuel costs by planning the quickest and most efficient bus routes possible, but it will also better enable our transportation planners, in consultation with law enforcement, to make sure bus stops are not located near the homes of convicted sex offenders or near pockets of gang activity. We should always be on the lookout for ways to use new technology for the benefit of our children and our taxpayers.
• Developing a comprehensive, cost-effective, countywide plan for dealing with overcrowding: Far too often, overcrowding is dealt with one school at a time, through a spot redistricting approach that disrupts families and neighborhoods. Omarh is committed to working with the rest of the School Board and Administration to develop a plan that looks at the county as a whole, and focuses not just on redistricting, but also on other options such as expanding online opportunities for our students, and using our Capital Improvement dollars where they are needed most - to build new classroom space at schools that are already overcrowded.