No special election is on the calendar, but that hasn’t stopped a former PTA president from seeking a potential seat on the Fairfax County School Board.
Tom Dannan, a Democrat from Burke, is the first declared candidate looking to succeed Rachna Sizemore Heizer as the school board’s Braddock District representative, he announced yesterday (Wednesday).
The seat will only become vacant if Sizemore Heizer wins election to the county’s Board of Supervisors in December, requiring her to resign from the school board before taking office. As the Democratic nominee, she is widely seen as the frontrunner in the race against Republican Ken Balbuena and independent candidate Carey Chet Campbell.
“Our schools are at a crossroads,” Dannan said. “We’ve made incredible progress in recent years — stronger academics, safer schools, and historic gains for teachers and staff — but attacks on public education and new challenges demand steady, forward-looking leadership.”
Dannan’s forward-looking approach isn’t just about the directive of the school board, he said. It’s also about “making sure we’re preparing our kids for their future, not our past.”
A resident of the Terra Centre neighborhood, he previously served as president of the Terra Centre Elementary School PTA. His two kids are both currently enrolled in Fairfax County public schools.
Dannan’s perspective was also shaped by his upbringing as the child of a teaching assistant who was able to “keep their family afloat” with “her union salary and the safety net of reduced-price school meals,” his campaign announcement says.
Dannan also served in the Peace Corps as a community health educator after graduating from Syracuse University in 2006, and later worked as a substitute teacher when he returned to the U.S.
“Those experiences shaped his belief that lasting progress starts by listening and working alongside the people most affected by the challenges we face,” a press release says.
According to the release, Dannan’s priorities include:
- Investing in teachers and staff through full funding of collective bargaining agreements and expanded professional supports.
- Protecting public education by standing up for local control, increasing funding, and keeping taxpayer dollars in public schools where they belong.
- Preparing students for the future by thoughtfully integrating technology and AI to enhance rather than hinder classroom instruction.
- Ensuring safe, welcoming schools by preventing gun violence, investing in proper security, and fostering inclusion.
- Promoting student mental health through continued no-cost high school supports and expanded services for younger learners.
- Advancing environmental leadership by expanding energy efficiency and climate resilience efforts that already save FCPS nearly $10 million annually.
The special election for Braddock District supervisor is scheduled for Dec. 9. The winner is expected to be sworn soon after the results are finalized.
While the outcome of the supervisor election remains to be determined, Dannan said he wants to be prepared.
“I am announcing my candidacy now because it is incredibly important that we aren’t caught flat-footed in this third back-to-back special election,” Dannan said.
School board races in Virginia are officially nonpartisan, but candidates can accept endorsements from political parties. If an election is needed to replace Sizemore Heizer, the winner would serve for the remainder of her current four-year term, which began at the start of 2024.
