School board candidate Ricardy Anderson promises to be a full-time, hands-on board member

Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova (left) and school board candidate Ricardy Anderson.

School board candidate Ricardy Anderson promises to be a hands-on, full-time board member who will spend lots of time visiting classrooms.

Both Anderson and Jessica Swanson are vying to represent Mason District on the school board.

At Anderson’s campaign launch event March 2, Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova praised her commitment to equity, noting that is the foundation of the One Fairfax Policy.

One Fairfax, adopted by the Board of Supervisors and School Board, calls for the county to provide the same opportunities to everyone, regardless of their race, sex, nationality, sexual orientation, income, or where they live. 

Anderson has 23 years of experience in education, as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and central office administrator and has worked in schools in Maryland, California, Washington, D.C., and Loudoun County, Va. As an administrator, Anderson says, she learned a lot by visiting classrooms and talking directly to students, parents, teachers, and staff.

“I know instruction. I know what it takes to educate kids,” Anderson says. And that means paying extra attention to students who are in special education, whose first language is not English, and who qualify for free and reduced-price lunches.

The schools in Mason District serve many of those children, she noted, adding “where we have a higher need, we have to invest more resources.”

While there are great schools in Mason District, including Mason Crest Elementary School, where Anderson’s children go, “there’s a perception that good things are not happening here,” she says.

Schools in Mason District are unfairly rated by Great Schools, which bases its rankings on test scores. Schools with many students who aren’t native English speakers aren’t going to do as well, she says, “so the data is skewed.”

“We have challenges,” but “good things are happening here,” Anderson says. “We have to share the good news about schools, so people will invest in our communities.”

The One Fairfax initiative is critical to this effort, but it has to be more than just a policy sitting on a shelf, she says; there must be measurable metrics that hold people accountable. “If we’re not paying attention to our needs, we’re not going to address our needs.”

“We should not have two Fairfaxes, one for the haves and one for the have nots,” Anderson says. For those students who feel neglected and disrespected, “I want to be that voice for you.”