Chair Barbara Kanninen Decides Not To Run Again For Arlington School Board

ARLINGTON, VA — Dr. Barbara Kanninen, the current chair of the Arlington County school board, said she would not be seeking re-election later this year, according to a statement posted Saturday on her Twitter account.

"It’s a tremendous honor to serve the Arlington community as Chair of the School Board, Kanninen said, in the statement. "I love this job and truly believe it’s the most important one in Arlington, especially at this time."

Kanninen, who is in the final year of her second term, first joined the board in 2015. In addition to being the northeastern regional chair of the Virginia School Boards Association, she has served on several statewide boards and commissions, among these are the Virginia Governor’s Commission on STEM Education, Virginia Department of Education Stakeholder Work Group to Support Transgender Students in Public Schools, and Task Force on Students and Schools in Challenging Environments.

Although school board members in Arlington run without a party affiliation, Kanninen has been endorsed by the Democratic Party in the past. She hoped the endorsement nomination process to identify a candidate to fill the vacant board seat would be positive and constructive.

"Arlington’s children deserve leaders who care deeply about them and will work hard every day to ensure they have the supports and opportunities they need," she said, in the release. "The superintendent and my colleagues on the School Board are exactly those kinds of leaders, and I hope that equally caring individuals will step up this year to run."

The 2022 Democratic Party Primary in Arlington is scheduled for June 21.