Candidate Profile: Jaylen Custis For Woodbridge School Board

WOODBRIDGE, VA — Jaylen Custis, a 19-year-old man from Woodbridge, is hoping to represent the district on the Prince William County School Board.

Custis is running against incumbent school board member Loree Williams and fellow challenger Shantell Rock.

Patch sent the following questionnaire to Custis, Williams, and Rock to help voters make informed choices when they cast their ballot on Election Day.

Name

Jaylen Custis

Age

19

Town of Residence?

Woodbridge

Position sought

School Board Member - Woodbridge District

Party affiliation

Republican

Family? Names, ages and any other pertinent details you wish to share

Mom and Dad are both Air Force veterans. Mom 42, Dad 39. All that I wish to share

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

My mom works for the DoD.

Education Level

High School Diploma

Occupation, including employer and years of experience

Full-time candidate.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

None.

Campaign website

www.votejaylen.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I'm seeking this elective office because we need a new perspective on the School Board. I am the only person running who has graduated from PWCS in the last 5 years. I also decided to run because the current incumbent has not focused on the issues that matter in the past 10 years as well as, no one else was willing to run therefore I decided to run.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The most pressing issue facing this district and the entire county is safety and security. Students and staff must be safe at school. Guns and drugs have gotten inside our schools. As the next school board member I plan to work with our law enforcement to work out a plan to get armed guards inside our schools. We must also hold these individuals who do illegal things accountable.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to recent issues (i.e. the pandemic)? What if anything would you have done differently?

[The candidate did not answer this question.]

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

One of the biggest difference between myself and my other 2 opponents in the fact that I am the only one who has graduated from PWCS in the last 3 years. I am also the youngest candidate running in Prince William County, therefore that gives me crucial insight of what occurs inside our schools on a day to day basis. Unlike my opponents I have spent a majority of my life in school. Who better to improve our schools than someone who has spent almost their entire life in them.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)?

The current incumbent who is running for re-election has been in office since 2013. In those 10 years our schools have gotten worse. Infrastructure has suffered significantly. Power outages inside our schools along with failed HVAC systems. Our test scores continue to plummet specifically among our minority population. In the district I'm running in, we are a majority minority community. The majority of our students are going to graduate high school and get a job, to must that will be the highest education they'll receive. With that in mind it is imperative that we provide them with the best possible education. The current officeholder has lowered the standards, we must raise them.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

A few other issues that are important to me is, increasing the standards to ensure that our students are ready for the real world. 60% isn't passing, we are currently setting up our students for failure. We must also ensure that parents are well aware of what's going on in their child's education. A parent shouldn't be in the dark if their child is suffering from a mental illness.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I would say one, graduating from the school system that I am running for and two being SCA President at my school. That gave me more of a view of what occurs in our school, along with who has the ability to make our schools better.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Be yourself.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I'm a military child born in Minot North Dakota and raised in Brooklyn New York by my grandmother. I have attended 4 schools in Prince William County 3 in the district that I'm running in. This gives me a very useful insight of how different schools in the county operate. We must recognize the iniquities from schools around the county and how we can offer the same opportunities to every child.