Fairfax County School Board



The Fairfax County School Board is an elected, administrative body that oversees Fairfax County Public Schools.

From its establishment in 1870 until the adoption of the county executive form of government in 1951, members of the board were appointed by a board of trustees who were themselves appointed by the Circuit Court judge. Following the reorganization, the town of Herndon sought a seat on the six-member board, but was denied.

From 1951 to 1993, members of the School Board were appointed by the Supervisor from their district. On November 2, 1993, voters in Fairfax County overwhelmingly passed a referendum that allowed for direct election of School Board members. The first elections were held in 1995 as part of the general elections.

While technically non-partisan, candidates for the school board are usually endorsed by either the Democratic or Republican parties. For example, in the 2011 elections for the at-large seats for the school board, the Democrats endorsed Ryan McElveen, Ilryong Moon, and Ted Velkoff, while the Republicans endorsed Lolita Mancheno-Smoak, Sheree Brown-Kaplan and Lin-Dai Kendall.

Only Steve Stuban ran without a partisan endorsement, and finished last in the polling.