Falls Church High Grad Seeks Seat on Fairfax County School Board

Omar Fateh is more than just a Fairfax County native; he’s as connected to the community and the school district as one can be, spending his entire academic career from kindergarten through college in the county.

Now, only a few years removed from his academic career, he’s running for an at-large seat on the Fairfax County School Board in hopes of improving and developing the school district he’s called his own his entire life.

“I’m eager to give back to the school system — it’s one that provided me with so much, but which I know has a lot more work to do, and which I know can use a new voice and another energetic representative,” Fateh states on his campaign website.

Fateh grew up in the county’s Mason District in Annandale, eventually graduating from Falls Church High School in 2008 before attending Northern Virginia Community College and earning multiple degrees from George Mason University.

He was one of six kids born to immigrants from Somalia who relocated to the United States before he was born. He noted the diversity within Fairfax County’s student population, and how that diversity is not represented on the school board. Remedying that problem with a seat on the board is just one reason Fateh felt compelled to run.

“I know that the county’s huge population of minority students, disadvantaged students, and students with special needs, among others, would benefit greatly from a voice from their own community on their school board — a voice in governance that reflects the governed and all of their different needs,” Fateh said on his website.

Fateh is also a major proponent of NOVA’s Pathway program, which provides NOVA students preparing to graduate with an associate’s degree and a grade-point average of at least 2.85 guaranteed admission into George Mason. He’s a product of the program himself as well as a Pathway adviser, and he believes the program is another avenue for minority students to catch up to their peers.

African American and Hispanic students in Fairfax County often have test scores that fall behind the rest of their classmates’ and Fateh said he encountered numerous minority students who had to take remedial classes at NOVA to catch up, which extends one’s stay in college and, of course, tacks on added tuition costs as well.

The Pathway program allows these students to catch up in a less-crowded academic setting, all while ensuring the students who do their work will have a chance to earn a bachelor’s degree from a four-year university.

And its promoting programs like the Pathway program and others that benefit minority students that fuel Fateh’s fire as he runs for office and aims to bring diversity to the school board.

He admitted to AnnandaleVa that he’s running as an at-large candidate rather than to fill the Mason District’s seat on the board, currently occupied by Sandy Evans, because he’s been pleased with Evans’ work representing the district. All three current at-large members of the board — Ilryong Moon, Ryan McElveen and Ted Velkoff — are up for reelection this fall.

And while some may find his youth concerning in a potential board member, Fateh things his age will set him apart from other candidates who may be less capable of connecting with current students.

“I have all the energy in the world,” he told AnnandaleVa. “I went to high school not that long ago; I can connect with students.”