Zyahna Bryant enters the race for Charlottesville School Board

A woman at the center of a petition to remove Confederate statues from two Charlottesville parks has launched a bid to run for the city School Board.

“Our communities need us now, more than ever,” said Zyahna Bryant in a press release. “I believe in pouring back into the people, places and things that we value the most.”

Bryant will hold a launch party for her campaign at 4:30 p.m. on March 1 at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. The release states that the event will provide additional details on her platform and a chance to talk about the future of the city’s public schools.

“As a proud alumna of Charlottesville City Schools, I understand it to be necessary to empower the voices and visions of those who are from this community,” Bryant continued.

When she was a student, Bryant started a petition in 2016 to remove the statues which eventually happened in the summer of 2022 after a court battle.

Bryant filed a statement of organization with the Virginia Department of Elections on January 30. She’s also launched a campaign website.

There are three seats up and incumbents Emily Dooley and Lisa Torres have both announced they would seek re-election. Dashad Cooper has also filed paperwork. The other incumbent, Dom Morse, has not yet indicated his plans.

Before you go: This story and all of the others on this site are produced by Town Crier Productions, a media company created in 2020 to write stories about local and regional government. This story first went out in the February 20. 2025 edition of the Charlottesville Community Engagement. Most of the time stories are published there first and then posted here, but sometimes they’re posted here first. All of this is an experiment and I’m grateful you are reading it! Click on links for other articles and try to check out the primary sources!