City Council Questions School Board Candidate

In an unusual open session, the Manassas Park City Council conducted what amounted to a job interview Monday night with Frances Kassinger, a former council member who is seeking an open seat on the school board.

In Manassas Park, the council selects the school board and school board member Ron Gill will not seek reappointment. Kassinger was interviewing for that position, which the council intends to fill later this month, said Manassas Park Mayor Frank Jones.

Kassinger, a Treasury Department employee and former English/history teacher, made it clear that if appointed she would not be an idle caretaker for the 3,000-student district.

“I believe we’ve done some good things but we’ve got to get better,” Kassinger said. “We just can’t accept the status quo. We are such a small school district and we should be the top high school in the state.”

Improving student achievement is not necessarily all about money, Kassinger said. “What it takes is getting to the students and talking with them at their level,” Kassinger said. “And you’ve got to get the community, the parents, more involved.”

A number of school board members, who were invited to the meeting, heard Kassinger promise that she would question how things were done. “Maybe we’re not doing everything we can,” she said.

That led to a pointed exchange with Bruce McDade, the superintendent of schools, who noted the progress that had been made within the schools over the past several years.

“What I need is support and not someone who will question my every move,” McDade said. “All that does is make me cranky and tired. I have plenty of critical friends.”

Jones noted that the council was seeking an independent thinker who would not be a rubber stamp for the school administration, but someone who would also build consensus in the community.

“You’ve got to look at both sides of the ledger and there might be some scuffled knuckles, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to do what’s right for the kids,” Jones said. “I’m excited about this and think this is a good step.”

Kassinger served two terms on the City Council as well as serving on the City Planning Committee and as secretary of the Manassas Park Republican Party. She received her bachelor and masters degrees in Elementary Education from the University of Georgia and later obtained a doctorate in Human Resources from Virginia Tech.

No formal action was taken on Monday. The council will vote on Kassinger, and consider the potential reappointment of school board Member Tricia Rhodes, at the June 19 regular meeting.