Voters in the City of Alexandria will see School Board candidates on their ballots this fall for the first time in three years.
As Alexandria City Public Schools officials grapple with capacity challenges, work toward re-envisioning the high school experience and educate thousands of local children and teenagers, those who lead the School Board have a lot on their plates.
The Alexandria City School Board has nine members who are elected by voters. Several new people are running for the School Board this year.
According to ACPS, the board “adopts policy for the daily operation of schools and sees that school laws are properly explained, enforced and observed. The City is divided into three voting districts, and three Board Members are elected from each district. Each member serves a three-year term. The School Board Chair receives $17,000 and Board Members receive $15,000 per year.”
The voting district map below on this page shows the boundary lines for each school board zone.
Alexandria City Public Schools
The school board’s mission is to “ensure that ALL students reach their highest academic potential, and that they are prepared for citizenship, higher education and the workforce. To accomplish this goal, we will make policy, budget and leadership decisions that are aligned with our Vision and Strategic Plan; and we will communicate with and involve stakeholders actively and transparently.”
(Short on time? You can download a PDF here of this information and each School Board candidate's answers to Alexandria Living Magazine’s questionnaire to read later. Or, just bookmark this page!)
The following people are on the ballot as candidates for Alexandria City School Board this fall (in alphabetical order). Those with an asterisk * are current School Board members:
District A
- William (Bill) Campbell*
- Jacinta Greene
- W. Christopher (Chris) Harris
- Michelle Rief
- Marc Solomon
- Chris Suarez
District B
- Cynthia (Cindy) Anderson*
- Jewelyn Cosgrove
- Margaret Lorber*
- Veronica Nolan*
- Abigail Downs Wacek
District C
- Meagan Alderton
- Ramee Gentry*
- John Lennon
- Dianara Saget
- Heather Thornton
Alexandria Living Magazine sent questions to all 16 people registered as a candidate for the Alexandria City School Board.
Each candidate received the same questions and all were asked to keep their answers brief. Here are the questions:
- What three words would you choose to describe Alexandria City Public Schools?
- What is a major life accomplishment you'd like to share?
- When you envision what ACPS will look like in 10 years, what do you see?
- What was something that you personally enjoyed as a part of your childhood schooling?
- Who was your most influential teacher or school official and why?
- What extracurriculars were most important to you as a student?
- What would you say to new families, with school-age or preschool children, considering moving to Alexandria, to encourage them to join our city to entice them here?
- What is one thing you would like to improve about our schools?
Note: Fairfax County Public Schools are not electing School Board members this year. The last election was in 2015 (with a special election for a vacant seat in 2017). The next round of Fairfax County School Board elections will be in 2019.
Click on the links below to read the Alexandria candidates’ answers.
Answers are presented in the order that Alexandria Living Magazine received them by District. These answers have not been edited. Click on the links below to read more.
