Sandy Evans: ‘I will not be a rubber stamp’
Evans spoke to 22 neighbors gathered at the Annandale home of Sue Clark and spent more than an hour answering questions and listening to people’s concerns about such issues as special education, transportation, the need to retain assistant principals, and the soon-to-be built elementary school on the site of the Lacey school administration building.
Evans and Samantha Vanterpool Rucker, a former leader of the Fairfax County Republican Party, are vying for the Mason District school board seat vacated by Kaye Kory, who was elected to the House of Delegates. The date of the special election for the school board hasn’t been set, but is expected to be in mid or late February. Voter turnout will be crucial, as it will be the only election on the ballot.
Evans is part of a new advocacy group looking at ways FCPS can maintain high-quality public schools without reducing class size or cutting some of the programs that have bolstered the school system’s national reputation for excellence—and without pitting parent advocacy groups against one another. “We need to find ways to be efficient and be transparent about it,” she says.
“To the extent that we have to make cuts, I would like to see them outside the classroom,” she says. For example, the central office staff could bear staff reductions better than individual schools, and she questioned Dale’s budget proposal for listing administrators’ Blackberrys as a top priority.
Fortunately, Evans says, a proposal earlier in the budget process to slash needs-based funding has been dropped. That would have been devastating for the Mason District schools that get extra funds to compensate for the large proportion of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunches. “Equal isn’t equitable,” she says.
Evans vowed to lobby Richmond to ensure Fairfax County gets its fair share of education funds. A change in the funding formula called for the county to get an additional $61 million in state funds, but the increase has been frozen, due to the state’s budget troubles.
If elected, Evans should be able to hit the ground running, as she’s had many years of experience as a school advocate and is well-versed in the FCPC budget process.
