Joseph Smith

Non-Partisan | Virginia

Candidate Profile

Conservative (Conditional)

BIOGRAPHY

Name

Joseph Smith

Party

Non-Partisan

Election Year

2023

Election

General and Fairfax County and Loudoun County School Boards

Race

Loudoun County School Board, Little River District

Incumbent

No

Links

Joseph Smith websites
FacebookXInstagram

EDUCATION

Northwestern University, Evanston, Certification in Prosthetics, 1996

Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, BS Biology, 1993

WORK & MILITARY

Candidate did not provide

AFFILIATIONS

Cornerstone Chapel, Special Needs Ministry

POLITICAL OFFICES HELD

HOA President - Goose Creek Community, 4

POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT

Candidate did not provide

ENDORSEMENTS

CONSERVATIVE (3)

1776 Projects PAC; Loudoun County Republican Committee; Loudoun County Republican Women's Club

QUESTIONNAIRE

RIGHT TO LIFE

Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should be a resource for instruction or services in the school.

Strongly Disagree

The abortion topic is a highly political issue that would be more inflamed with further involvement of Planned Parenthood. The school system should maintain neutrality through only being responsible for sex education, including abortion education, instructed by their own trained teachers/staff.

Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.

Agree

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

At school, students should be able to speak freely and civilly about matters of conscience and faith, including Christianity.

Strongly Agree

Schools need to be a safe haven of thought, expression and discussion - period. So that absolutely includes everyone's religion, conscience, and faith.

School districts should not discriminate against individuals, organizations or small businesses because of their belief that marriage is only a union of one man and one woman.

Strongly Agree

Discrimination of any kind should be eliminated.

ECONOMY

Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.

Agree

The right to own and use private property and other resources for personal and public benefit is an essential characteristic of any capitalist economies, as well as many legal systems, and moral philosophies. Private property promotes efficiency by giving the owner incentives ranging from profits, competition and to help protect the environment with realized value.

School districts should be able to use taxpayer money for lobbying the state legislature.

Strongly Disagree

Schools should strive to stay out of politics as much as possible.

What is your position on government funding of public education from Pre-K through college?

Essential responsibility of our government to provide paths for each student from every socioeconomic background. Also responsible to provide avenues for non traditional paths - especially into HS and college that don't follow traditional path such as a 4 year college degree. Our society needs trained individuals right out of HS and college from occupations such as HVAC and steel workers to CNA's and lab tech and to bookkeepers and paralegals. Many of these occupations do not follow the traditional timelines of 4 year college degrees.

EDUCATION

What is the function of the local school board?

Overall improvement of schools as they're the ones accountable for student success. The school board functions to provide students with the opportunity to receive a comprehensive superior education and to make all policy decisions with that objective in mind. This includes employment decisions, budget development, and other administrative actions. Since school board members are elected by their communities, they have to ensure success in a way that aligns with taxpayer priorities.

Who should have the authority to set curriculum and determine resources used in those curricula?

The Board shall develop a comprehensive plan to revise content standards and the standard course of study in the core academic areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, history, geography, and civics. School boards often turn to state and federal governments for guidance on what to teach and how to teach it.

When should parents be restricted from speaking in school board meetings?

Never. However many questions and concerns can be addressed in specific department committee groups that the parents should be attending prior to the general meetings. Parents will also see improved results from their input at these department committees.

Please list in order the following priorities in relation to the role of a K-12 public school (omitting any that do not apply): Mathematics, Information Technology, Science, Political Activism, Personal Finances, Gender Identity, Physical Fitness, American History, Critical Race Theory, Language Arts, Art & Music, Vocational Learning, Sexuality, Foreign Language, Social Emotional Learning

Mathematics, Science, Information Technology, American History, Language Arts, Vocational Learning, Art & Music, Physical Fitness, Personal Finance, Foreign Language, Social Emotional Learning, Sexuality

Which more closely matches your view of America's founding principles? A) Liberty and equality. B) Slavery and racism.

Liberty and equality

What does "equity in education" mean to you?

Creating an educational system that supports ALL students' and develops their educational experience accordingly. No matter what a students' background, language, race, economic profile, ethnicity, gender, learning capability, disability or family history, each student should have the opportunity to get the support and resources they need to achieve their educational goals.

Written parental consent (opt-in) must be obtained before students are taught courses such as Comprehensive Sex Ed (CSE) or Social Emotional Learning (SEL).

Agree

A triangle of trust between teachers - students - parents needs to be re-established and it starts with parental consent.

The loss of local control in education is too high a price to pay in exchange for federal dollars.

Agree

Parents are the ultimate authority in their child’s education and should be able to freely pursue whatever educational options they deem best for their child.

Agree

School boards are accountable to parents and taxpayers.

Agree

Since school board members are elected by their communities, they have to ensure success in a way that aligns with parents and taxpayer priorities.

Do you believe students should have access to materials that graphically depict and describe sexual acts?

No

Graphic illustrations and pictures should be confined to adulthood. Age appropriate material should be accessible to students with full disclosure and approval from parents.

All print and digital material available or presented to students should be easily accessible for public review.

Strongly Agree

Do you believe print and digital material available or presented to students should be easily accessible for public review, including those without children enrolled in school.

Did not answer

2ND AMENDMENT

Teachers who are licensed to carry should be allowed to carry guns at school.

Neutral

Teachers should not have to be asked to carry firearms. Every school should have an armed/trained SRO or equivalent to provide that level of safety.

OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES

Under what circumstances (if any) should schools be allowed to require vaccinations?

School vaccination requirements help safeguard children and adolescents by making sure they are protected when they get to school, where potential for vaccine-preventable disease transmission is higher. For decades, all 50 states have required that parents vaccinate their children against various diseases, including polio and measles, as a prerequisite to enrolling them in public schools so that should continue. Virtually all states have tailored their immunization statutes to exempt those with religious (and sometimes philosophical) objections to vaccines from these requirements. It is widespread use of these exemptions that threatens to undermine many of the benefits of vaccine requirements, such as preserving “herd immunity”.

I support mask mandates.

Disagree

When the justification for the mask mandate was completely erroneous, then no, I do not support mask mandates.

All official open meetings should be live streamed, recorded, and have transcripts available online for public access.

Strongly Agree

All votes should be roll call votes and recorded in meeting minutes.

Strongly Agree

ABOUT YOU

Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.

No.

A candidate's personal moral values are relevant when considering a candidacy for elective office.

Strongly Agree

Moral values will instill trust between an elected official and their constituents. These values include respecting others, keeping promises, showing personal accountability, or providing excellent service - all essential when in an elected office.

When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?

Lean Conservative

Please provide publicly available information, including interviews and media reports, validating your answer to the previous question (other than your website).

Interview with Loudoun County Republican Women's Club

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about you?

I am more of a public servant rather than a politician. I am committed to bringing common sense and educational excellence back to Loudoun schools.

I voted in these primaries and general elections:

2014 General Election 2016 Republican Primary 2016 General Election 2018 Republican Primary 2018 General Election 2020 Republican Primary 2020 General Election 2022 Republican Primary 2022 General Election

Maintained status as an independent that leaned conservative with most issues.

VALUES

Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.

I am a Christian man. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. This is the base that I conduct my belief and value system from.

I support allowing public high school students to participate in athletic competition based on the gender with which they identify instead of biological sex.

Strongly Disagree

No school official should be involved in the sexual transitioning of a student, including the use of alternative names and pronouns.

Neutral

The schools involvement should center around the counselors/therapists working alongside the parents and families to provide comprehensive support after a student has made the choice to transition.

No healthcare diagnosis or treatment, whether mental, reproductive, or otherwise, should be given to a child without first receiving written consent from the parent.

Strongly Agree

Who is responsible for teaching sexual education to children, and what is the appropriate age when it should be taught?

Sex education should be taught by trained educators. Should start to be taught by 5-6 grades

If you support the teaching of Sex Ed, please answer the following question: Sexual education should include these topics (list all that apply and add your own, if needed) -- Physical and emotional health outcomes; contraceptive methods; consent; abstinence; sexual orientation and gender identity; human anatomy/the reproductive system; abortion methods and side effects; stages of pregnancy and fetal development; sex acts and pleasures of sex

Physical and emotional health outcomes, contraceptive methods, abortion methods and side effects, human anatomy/the reproductive system, stages of pregnancy and fetal development, healthy relationships, sexual violence prevention, consent, abstinence, provide the knowledge and skills needed to make safe decisions about sexual behavior including condom use and other forms of STI and HIV prevention.

Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality that is necessary for our system of limited government.

Agree

The overwhelming majority of religions have similar morality and ethics as well.

I support allowing public middle and high school students to participate in athletic competition based on the gender with which they identify instead of biological sex.

Did not answer

Biological males should be allowed in female locker rooms and bathrooms.

Did not answer

No school official should be involved in the social or medical transitioning of a student, including the use of alternative names and pronouns.

Did not answer

ELECTIONS AND VOTING

People should be able to vote without photo identification.

Strongly Disagree

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