CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Lisa Torres, Charlottesville’s longest-tenured School Board member, said her top priority in her third term will be developing the Early Learning Center the division plans to open in 2026. Torres is also looking forward to representing the city schools as a delegate to the Virginia School Board Association and federal relations committee she said she was recently appointed to.

Torres, fellow incumbent Emily Dooley and newcomer Zyahna Bryant won spots on the School Board in Tuesday’s election. Dashad Cooper, the fourth candidate for the three positions, was the odd man odd.

“I’m humbled and truly grateful for the opportunity for another four years,” Torres told Cville Right Now.

Torres said she is on a state task force for school infrastructure needs, “which is working with other school board members to advocate for funding for infrastructure for schools throughout the Commonwealth,” Torres said.  “I’ve also just recently been, and we haven’t had our first meeting yet that we’ll have in February, asked to be a representative for the federal relations committee, being able to be a voice, again representing Charlottesville City Schools, as one of the people at the table working at the national level as far as priorities in public education.”

Torres, a fellow at the Hunt State Policy Inaugural Cohort and another cohort working on early learning, said partnering with Early Learning Nation to steer the city’s new Early Learning Center is her top priority.

The Center is set to open in 2026 at Walker Upper Elementary, a move made possible by the opening of the new Charlottesville Middle School, according to the division’s website. Longterm, the city is looking for a larger property for the Center, possibly the Oak Lawn property it recently acquired from UVA.

Torres started serving on the Charlottesville School Board in 2018, and her new term runs through 2030.