Two candidates seeking to be the Fairfax County School Board’s next Braddock District representative made their cases to local Democrats in an online forum on Monday (Jan. 5) ahead of this weekend’s endorsement caucus.
Both Tom Dannan and Alexa Krezel are vying to succeed Rachna Sizemore Heizer, who was elected to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors late last year.
Though school board elections are non-partisan, the candidate who receives the Democrats’ endorsement this Saturday (Jan. 10) is expected to be the frontrunner in the special election scheduled for March 3. No Republicans have announced their candidacy so far.
On overseeing Fairfax County Public Schools’ budget
With another budget cycle getting underway, Krezel, a longtime worker in the human resources sector, suggested the school board and FCPS need to take a hard look at their prioritization of funds — a major focus of her campaign platform.
“It must begin with the idea that we must prioritize,” Krezel said. “We must be critical of our procurement processes, and we must be keeping at the center the most important factors, which are our students, our teachers and our staff.”
Dannan noted that watching last year’s budget process — and how discussions between the school board and Board of Supervisors “broke down” — was one of the major factors in his decision to enter the race for the Braddock District seat.
“I know it’s very difficult, but there should have been much more robust discussion about and planning in advance,” Dannan said. “It’s important that we work doing everything we can to keep those dollars in the classroom. I support conducting a program review to see what’s working [and] what’s not working.”
On teacher compensation and retention
Proclaiming that “teachers should all be millionaires,” Dannan emphasized the need to “build on what we have.”
“I’m grateful that we have a new collective bargaining agreement in place, and I’m grateful that teachers finally have a seat at the table,” Dannan said. “And I think the most important thing is that we need to sit and engage and take advantage of that and talk with teachers about what’s working and what’s not working.”
Krezel, who has a daughter working as an entry-level educator in a different state, acknowledged that affordability is a challenge for attracting and keeping teachers in Fairfax County — especially with housing prices continuing to rise.
“Can our teachers in Fairfax County live close to where they work? Can they afford to live where they work? And right now, I would argue that answer is still no,” Krezel said.
On improving school safety
Krezel and Dannan were in agreement that, while metal detectors are a quick solution, adding support staff and guidance counselors can help address deeply-rooted mental and behavioral concerns.
FCPS began rolling out a weapons screening system to all middle and high schools last year that’s similar to the technology used at sporting events and concerts, and is more sensitive than traditional metal detectors.
“For FCPS, that means we have to have the right people in place to support safety and mental health. That means staffing up on counselors, psychologists and social workers,” Krezel said.
Dannan similarly vouched for the school system to support “peer-to-peer groups, counselors and empowering school safety officers.”
On reviewing school boundaries
Though Braddock is “not as affected as other locations” by FCPS’ first comprehensive boundary review in decades, Dannan noted that 40 years of neglect are starting to be felt through students going to schools further from their home, having a late lunch or access to limited programs.
“Those are serious issues,” he said.
Krezel expressed support for the review, saying “it very much needed to be done,” though she conveyed concern that program accessibility could get lost in the shuffle.
“There’s lessons to be learned about how much you take on in any one boundary process and how does it affect the community, communication with the community, and the sentiment of how they feel following along with the process,” Krezel said. “There’s always lessons learned, and I’m a big fan of process improvement.”
After more than a year of study, starting in fall 2024, FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid is scheduled to present her final recommendations for new boundaries across the district at the school board’s meeting tomorrow (Thursday).
