Many candidates are running for the Fairfax County School Board
The Fairfax County School Board is going to be very different next year, as seven of the 12 incumbents are not running for re-election.
At least six candidates are seeking the Fairfax County Democratic Committee’s endorsement for the three at-large seats on the school board:
- Ilryong Moon, a Korean immigrant, a pastor, and an attorney based in Annandale, served on the school board as an at-large member from 2004 to 2019 and as a Braddock District representative from 1996 to 1999.
Moon has been endorsed by Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, and state senators Jennifer Boysko, Chap Petersen, and Scott Surovell.
At his campaign kick-off event on March 11, Moon said he will bring 20 years of experience to the school board, which will be especially important with so many new people on the board. He says his background as an ESOL student in high school will help him understand issues facing schools today.
- Abrar Omeish is the only current at-large member running for re-election. When she was first elected in 2019, she was the first Muslim and youngest person to serve on the Fairfax County School Board. Omeish has been in the news lately regarding controversial remarks she made, including a statement that the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima was “evil.”
- Kyle McDaniel, a resident of Herndon, is an airline transport pilot and flight instructor and owns a flight school, Commonwealth Aviation, with locations in Manassas and Norfolk.
McDaniel has been endorsed by former Virginia Secretary of Education Atif Qarni, former Board of Supervisors chair Sharon Bulova, Braddock school board member Megan McLaughlin, and Springfield School Board member Laura Jane Cohen.
- Chris Lewis is a former Fairfax County teacher and current IT manager for Fairfax County Public Schools. He wants FCPS to focus more on career and technical education as well as college prep.
- Lawrence Webb was a member of the Falls Church School Board from 2008 to 2020, where he was a strong advocate for changing the name of George Mason High School. He resigned from the board in 2020 and moved to Fairfax County.
- Hamid Munir, an immigrant and IT professional, announced his candidacy on March 14. He vows to advocate for better pay for teachers and an improved technical infrastructure.
Former at-large school board member Ryan McElveen is also considering running in the Democratic Primary for an at-large seat.
Current at-large school board member Karen Keys-Gamarra is one of five people running in the Democratic Primary for the House of Delegates seat for the new 7th District. It’s an open seat, as Del. Ken Plum is retiring.
At-large school board member Rachna Sizemore Heizer is running to succeed school board member Megan McLaughlin in the Braddock District. McLaughlin is retiring at the end of the year.
The Democratic Primary is June 20, and the general election is on Nov. 7. School board elections are non-partisan, so the Fairfax County Democratic Committee will hold a pre-primary election, May 13-20, to determine which candidates it will endorse. Endorsed candidates will appear on the sample ballots handed out at the Primary. Those not endorsed are expected to drop out
Two people are running as independents in the general election for at-large seats on the school board: Saundra Davis and Cassandra Aucoin. Linda Pellegrino of Bailey’s Crossroads appears to be running as a Republican for an at-large seat.
Here’s what we know so far about the school board seats representing a magisterial district:
Mason – Current school board member Ricardy Anderson is running for re-election and plans to hold a campaign kickoff event in mid-April. Kristen Froemling Ball is running as an independent in the general election. No Republican candidates have announced yet, although we heard Tom Pafford is considering running again.
Providence – Karl Frisch was the first incumbent to announce plans to run for re-election in the Democratic Primary. Jeffrey Hoffmann and Anthony Arthur Sabio are running as independents in the general election.
Franconia – Tamara Derenak Kaufax is not running for re-election. Marcia St. John-Cunning, a multilingual interpreter at Mount Vernon Woods Elementary School, and Mark Stanley Tenney are running in the Democratic Primary.
Springfield – The current school board member, Laura Jane Cohen, is running to represent the newly created 15th District in the House of Delegates, which includes portions of Springfield, Burke, and Fairfax. Sandra Buck Anderson is running in the Democratic Primary. Debra Anne Tisler, a Republican, is running in the general election.
Hunter Mill – Current school board member Melanie Meren and Paul Thomas are running in the Democratic Primary. Candidates Harry Jackson, an independent, and Geoffrey Akey, a Republican, are running in the general election.
Sully – The incumbent, Stella Pekarsky, is running for an open seat in the Virginia Senate for the 36th District, which includes Chantilly, Centreville, and Clifton. Seema Dixit and Cynthia Lang Walsh are running for the Sully seat on the school board as independents.
Mount Vernon – The incumbent, Karen Corbett Sanders, is not seeking re-election. Mateo Dunne is running in the Democratic Primary. Harold Earl Sims Jr. is running as an independent in the general election.
Braddock – Megan McLaughlin is not running for re-election. At-large member Rachna Sizemore Heizer is running in the Democratic Primary.
Dranesville – Elaine Tholen is not running for re-election.
20 responses to “Many candidates are running for the Fairfax County School Board”
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Abrar Omeish is the only current at-large member running for re-election. When she was first elected in 2019, she was the first Muslim and youngest person to serve on the Fairfax County School Board. Omeish has been in the news lately regarding controversial remarks she made, including a statement that the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima was “evil.”
This person has no legitimate reason to be on a school board anywhere. She does not have enough intelligence to understand, where she came from, people are beheaded and burned to death, yet she makes no mention of that. If not for the United States winning the Second World War, she would be speaking German, or Japanese.
Ah, the old, “Love it or leave it” nationalist and exceptionalist bull. Why don’t you include Omeish’s actual comments to the board, or what she made public later?
“I am very disappointed my statements on Iwo Jima and the Japanese Day of Remembrance have been so misrepresented. I would like to set the record straight. Before the battle at Iwo Jima in Feb 1945, Japan knew it could not defend the island, but its government still demanded its military forces to fight to the death. Even though Lieutenant General Kuribayashi knew there was no possibility of winning the battle, Prime Minster Hideki Tojo sent him on a suicidal mission to inflict as many casualties as possible on allied forces and to never surrender. The unnecessary spilling of blood was not right.
At the same time, our own government also knew in Feb. 1945 that the overwhelming number of 120,000 incarcerated Japanese Americans posed no threat to American security. By that time, the Japanese American 442 Infantry Regiment was already well on its way to becoming the most decorated American military unit in WWII. The refusal of our own government to release the Japanese prisoners was and should continue to be condemned. Our government’s actions were also not right. During the school board meeting, I mentioned both points to nuance our discussion regarding these events. The deliberate distortion of my statements is completely unfounded and frankly shocking. Truthfully, it is hard not to see how the distortion is not loaded with its own fears about me and driven by what is entirely unrelated to this subject: the false assumption articles like these depend on— that Muslim somehow implies anti-American.”
Save your cherry picking and flag waving for your knuckle-dragging buds at the bar.
So, Kim D. do you know what a jihad is? How “inclusive” is it that she told students in a graduation speech ro “remember their jihad.” I would say not very inclusive when the Pentagon is leas than 10 miles away and the school has family impacted by the 9/11 terrorist attack (in the name of jihad). As for maybe you and some board members, they like the victimization history. They hyper-focus on America’s wrongs in teaching US History. We right the wrongs by addressing them, but not holding on to them. If you actually speak to Japanese Americans from the WWII era, they are very pro-America – not nationalistic or exceptionalistic. They actually understand history through a rational rather than delusional lens. I am a history teacher for 20+ years. I have many peace-loving, proud to be American Muslims students. Ms Omeish is anti-Anything American. She hates America and hates our history, our police, our Judeo-Christian roots. She serves no purpose other than to incite fear, hatred, and division.
JC – here is the meaning, so maybe you should know what is really mean, instead of how the press presents it.
Jihad, (Arabic: “struggle” or “effort”) also spelled jehad, in Islam, a meritorious struggle or effort. The exact meaning of the term jihād depends on context; it has often been erroneously translated in the West as “holy war.” Jihad, particularly in the religious and ethical realm, primarily refers to the human struggle to promote what is right and to prevent what is wrong.
In the Qurʾān, jihād is a term with multiple meanings…
I will miss Karen Keys-Gamarra and her offensive comments, especially calling her fellow board members retarded in a public meeting. Not sure how she wasn’t booted out long ago.
If School Board elections are supposed to be non-partisan, why have we just had documented who is Democrat, Independent, and Republican? Why is the Democratic Party holding a pre-primary primary to determine who to endorse? Maybe the first thing on the new board’s agenda should be a lesson in the definition of “non-partisan”!
We really need to value Independent, nonpartisan races. The school board of the last 4 years has run this county’s best asset off the rails.
The Democrats holding a pre-primary primary is laughable, and mostly an effort to salvage the most radical incumbents. These SB members are on the party committee which determines the rules of endorsements, caucusing, etc.
Thank you Ellie for such a clear and concise run-down of who’s running. I too question why candidates are pegged as Democrat, Republican or Independent if it’s a non-partisan position. As for “Guest” I doubt Ms. Omeish has been responsible for any heinous practices—she is defying repressive bans on women working in government, and she is an American citizen, just like I suspect you are. Your racism is showing. If you feel she has done a poor job or does not have enough experience, that is a valid criticism.
Like it or not a persons political views impact their positions on education.
I spoke to Tom Pafford in-person in January and he told me directly that he does not want to run for any office this election cycle.
Both political parties have an endorsement process. In 2019 the Mason District Democrat Party held a vote at Annandale High School where both candidates had credentials in education. However, the current school board of Fairfax County has had many educational “experts” who have led our current FCPSB down the path of ideological ruin. Furthermore, the current Fairfax County School Board has covered up the sexual assault of a young female, just like the Loudon County School Board did. The perpetrator of those two sexual assaults in Loudon County has been convicted. See details below:
The student accepted a plea agreement in the October 6 case. The judge found the boy guilty on Wednesday, and ordered him to register as a sex offender, something she said she had never done to a minor before. He will be on supervised probation until his 18th birthday .
A student confided in me a point where she felt sexually harassed and touched uncomfortably by a teacher on Sept/Oct 2022, a teacher that has had other complaints. I reported this to the current principal at Hayfield Secondary, Matt Mough, I have requested an update and NOTHING. I feel it is only responsible and necessary to provide a response but NOTHING. This is typical behavior, action and lack of accountability with Hayfield and FCPS.
Politically savvy individuals are the likely voter base for an off-election year in the Commonwealth. That voter base is dedicated to voting. However, in this election there are many parents who are angry because of what happened during the covid lockdown.
The real question is this:
Are the majority of voters happy with the policies of the current democrat-endorsed school board? The policies of the teaching ideology that FCPS purchased for $24,000.00 that teaches CRT and divides people into identity groups, and teaching these students that they should distrust people of other identity groups, are harming our children.
The current Fairfax County School Board fired a teacher for disciplining a student who refused to stand. There are many good teachers out there that are quitting because of the toxic environment that these policies have implemented.
Abrar Omeish publicly said, “I am proud to support the theme resist.” She stated that in the February school board meeting that I attended. This toxicity is harming our nation, our County and our children.
We must get back to basics and teach reading, writing and math. We need to focus on science, technology, engineering and math, as well as the arts.
The practice of discriminatory policies that harm Asain minority students for achievement is wrong. It was originally discovered in the magnet school Thomas Jefferson, but has not been discovered in school districts across the Commonwealth. Policies of discrimination must be stopped.
The Fairfax County Public School Board should also support music and art in combination with a balanced curriculum based upon learning critical thinking skills, and other useful tools.
The goal of the Fairfax County school board must be practicing respect for other demographic groups and focusing on uniting people in the purposeful pursuit of excellence.
If we are to restore a healthy and nurturing environment where it is SAFE for children to learn, the voters must elect members who will promote uniting our student population groups in the UNITING pursuit of academic excellence for EVERYONE.
I am personally appalled at the cover up by the current school board of a sexual assault in Fairfax County. It was only recently discovered and reported in the news.
I am disturbed that the current school board fired a teacher because he disciplined a student who disrespected our flag. That teacher had a meritorious and excellent record prior to being fired by FCPSB.
I personally support instruction in science, math, reading, life skills and music and art. I do not support divisive ideological indoctrination.
Our children are confused, feeling alone and afraid of the future. There are children who are overdosing on fentanyl because of the emptiness they feel and the anger between students. There was a female student who was sexually assaulted in Fairfax County, and the current school board covered up the assault.
The promotion of the ideal that the school board races are non-partisan is just not accurate. Ms. Davis and Audcoin are actively seeking the republican endorsement. The republican ideals of fiscal responsibility and transparency are advocated by Fairfax republicans.
The reality is that without an endorsement from one party, or the other party, a candidate has no chance of winning.
I respectfully challenge your statement that FCPS endorses teaching CRT; this is a MYTH. It is not taught in K—2 schools and is only found as a college course.
You are wrong!!
I plan to run for school board for the Mt Vernon district. I have two children at Hayfield.
My 7th grader at Hayfield Secondary is getting taught specific civics rights movement curriculum by his… English teacher. The English teacher, is having his students study civil rights movement books and publications, my child needs to learn English in English class.
This teacher told my son he had to choose an individual from the book “resist” to discuss a “changemaker”. My son refused to chose who the teacher wanted him to choose because the “change maker” my son wanted to chose was a white male engineer that is a climate activist. The teacher tried to get him to choose a woman who is pro abortion, whilst my son is adamantly prolife. This teacher tried to punish him and oh the irony!!! My son resisted and stood his ground!!
Let’s stop teaching CRT in English class and teach ENGLISH!!
Again, I’m running for school board in Mt Vernon district and I am currently having an investigation started on several issues at Hayfield Secondary.
I am a conservative veteran Marine, and I believe in holding people accountable, meritocracy, safety in our schools, patriotism, and truth.
Civil Rights not Civics Rights
Good for you; I hope you win. Chesty would be proud.
Civil rights are NOT CRT. CRT is not taught anywhere in the US, K-12.
It is snuck in through SEL lessons. Our school made kids take a BLM pledge and we recently had a lesson where a 40 year old black man complained about how touching his hair steals his anonymity. I told my class that this man needs to find a hobby and a passion and that it’s not all about him. I didn’t like Japanese people touching my blond straight hair when visiting Pearl Harbor, and when people touched my stomach when I was pregnant, but I know the difference between over-thinking oneself and mal-intent. They sneak it in through SEL and in schools where young history teachers (fresh out of college) are leading CT’s. One middle school in Fairfax area focused solely on Japanese internment for their WWII unit. Shameful. And most fcps middle schools cannot adequately cover why communism equals bad!
“CRT is an academic framework that denotes that systemic racism is part of American society.”
There are literally countless examples of teachers in FCPS teaching students about “systemic racism” in the classroom.
True True True.