by Victoria Manning
Melissa Disher, the Director of First Colonial High School’s Legal Studies Academy (FCHS), in Virginia Beach sent a notice to parents on June 23. A parent sent Restoration News an email with a flyer attached, describing it as a volunteer program for “Campaign Fellows Program.” She was trying to recruit student volunteers to help Democrat Elaine Luria in her congressional campaign.
The school board policy prohibits the use of taxpayer funds for political activities.
According to the description of the “fellows” program sent by Ms. Disher to families, student volunteers would promote the campaign via social media, help with virtual campaign events, including phone banks and “serve as campus ambassadors at [their] school” and “spread word about the fellowship and campaign through [their] network.”
In a statement sent to Restoration News, Joe Link, the spokesperson for the Kiggans Campaign, described the situation as “concerning”.
Virginia Beach City Public Schools’ decision to allow direct access by a Democrat campaign to recruit students, using taxpayer funds in violation of its own policy, is both disappointing and very worrying. It is equally disturbing that they refuse to allow equal access, and instead use the same policy which was violated to disenfranchise the students and prevent our campaign from providing alternative options to the students. VBCPS [Virginia Beach City Public Schools] promoting certain candidates is detrimental to the core values that should be centered on education and not political persuasion.
The policy of the is very clear
Virginia Beach School Board Policy prohibits all political advertising or promotion.
It is prohibited to use school facilities, resources, equipment, email, web-based services or any other means to produce or distribute material in the community that promotes or advertises a party, cause or candidate for public office.
Other Regulations specify that “school time and property, which are paid for by citizens of the city, cannot be used to promote political candidates.” They also state that employees “may not use institutional privileges, resources or time at work for political campaigns or partisan activities.”
Restoration News contacted the Virginia Beach school administrators with questions. One of them was how many people had received Disher’s email. A district spokesperson told Restoration News on July 6 that “this issue was brought to School Administration’s notice today and is being investigated.”
Carolyn Weems, School Board Vice-Chair told Restoration News that she had just been made aware of Disher’s message and was looking into it. “I only learned about this, so I cannot comment on specifics. However, speaking in general I will say that we must ensure our schools provide the best academic programs to Virginia Beach students. “We have policies that govern partisan political activity and they must be enforced.”
David Culpepper, a School Board member, said: “I do not know the specifics of the situation, but it would be grossly inappropriate for a school employee to use their position to promote political campaigns that are partisan using school resources.”
This is not the first scandal
First Colonial High School is the subject of many political debates. In September 2025 Melinda Rogers , a member of the school board, participated in at a protest by students while wearing a shirt promoting the antigun activist group Moms Demand Action.
In January 2026 activists fought in order to prevent Turning Point USA establishing a Chapter at First Colonial High School. They had no problem with the Gay Straight Alliance, which held meetings in the middle of the day.
School leaders who break the rules so egregiously must be held responsible for their actions. Public schools must be focused on improving the declining performance of students, and not serve as a recruiting pipeline for political campaigns.
Victoria Manning, Senior Investigative Reporter at Restoration News, specializes in immigration and military issues, as well as education freedom. Restoration News has given permission to republish this column.
Email the Virginia Beach School Board at:
Kathleen Brown: Kathleen.Brown@VBCPSboard.com,
Carolyn Weems: Carolyn.Weems@VBCPSboard.com,
Mark Bohenstiel: Mark.Bohenstiel@VBCPSboard.com,
Michael Callan: Michael.Callan@VBCPSboard.com,
David Culpepper: David.Culpepper@VBCPSboard.com,
Matt Cummings (Matthew): Matt.Cummings@VBCPSboard.com,
Rose Dwyer: Rose.Dwyer@VBCPSboard.com,
Sharon Felton: Sharon.Felton@VBCPSboard.com,
Alveta Green: Alveta.Green@VBCPSboard.com,
Kimberly Melnyk: Kimberly.Melnyk@VBCPSboard.com,
Melinda Rogers: Melinda.Rogers@VBCPSboard.com,
