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Sean McGee and Valerie Fields are the newest School Board members. McGee replaced Phyllis Byrum as the Whaleyville Borough representative, and Fields replaced Dr. Judith Brooks-Buck as the Nansemond Borough representative. McGee was also elected as the board’s Vice Chair at their Jan. 7 organizational meeting. 

In a written statement, Board Chair Heather Howell said she is “looking forward to fresh perspectives of both a current parent and a retired educator” and thinks they will “bring valuable dialogue to the dais.”

McGee said he will draw on his experiences as an SPS parent and from his job with the U.S. Air Force. McGee has five kids across Suffolk elementary, middle, and high schools. His wife is also a high school teacher. 

He said he’s always considered himself a problem-solver and he knows the city can “do better.” He said it saddens him to see people speak poorly about SPS on social media.

“I’m seeing issues as a dad, the issues that parents are having and facing day to day. I can bring that perspective to the board right now,” he said. “Having my wife as a teacher, she gives a perspective that a lot of people on the board might not see, that [teachers] deal with behind the four walls in the school. So I’m thinking, I’m going to be able to bring in a lot of fresh ideas.”

For the Air Force, McGee oversees 13 different installations across the U.S. and overseas. With one of the government’s highest clearances, he said he has a lot of responsibility managing and protecting critical assets. He said he wants to take those skills he’s learned at his job and apply them to the Board.

“At the end of the day, our kids are the most valuable assets,” McGee said. “With the spike in school shootings across America, we’re not immune from that. One day that could be Suffolk Public Schools on the TV, and I want to make sure we’re doing everything we possibly can to protect our kids, protect our staff from an incident like that occurring here.” 

When McGee was door-knocking during his campaign, he said a lot of people were concerned about the school system’s annual budget. He said people feel like the money isn’t being spent in the best ways. 

In order to help with these concerns, McGee said he plans to ask for a forensic audit of the budget and share it with citizens. He hopes this will build better trust between the public and School Board officials.

McGee said what pushed him to officially run for School Board was when SPS decided to let students use the restrooms that correspond to their gender identity rather than their biological sex.

“I don’t believe transgender kids, if you identify outside of your natural born gender, should be in the restrooms and locker facilities of kids of the same sex,” McGee said. “Everybody should feel protected.”

Instead, he proposed alternatives such as unisex, private, or single stall restrooms. He emphasized that he doesn’t want to single out transgender students by providing a transgender-specific bathroom, but he does feel the current policy isn’t optimal. McGee said he does want to “make sure everyone feels safe and included in our transgender community.”

In the little free time he has between his job and parenting five kids, McGee coaches a baseball and travel softball team six to seven days a week. He said he also enjoys hunting, shooting, collecting guns, fishing, exercising, and anything outdoors.

McGee said he wants the public to know his goal on the School Board is to get the community more involved and increase transparency. He said lack of trust in government officials is a growing issue, and he thinks accountability is a step toward fixing that. He said he wants the citizens to hold the Board accountable just as much as he is going to try to hold himself accountable.

“If you have issues, pick up the phone, I’m not going to ignore you,” McGee said. “I’m just like you. Just because I have this position as board member, doesn’t change Sean McGee. I’m just a normal guy that really cares about his country [and] his community. I care about our children’s future, and I want to see great things here.” 

Fields has not yet responded to multiple interview requests.