Fairfax County Superintendent Appointed, Motion To Delay Vote Fails

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — On Thursday night, the Fairfax County School Board voted 9-3 to appoint Michelle Reid as the next superintendent of schools. The announcement came after a student group held walkouts at several schools amid concerns of minimal student involvement in the search process.

School board members Karen Keys-Gamarra, Ricardy Anderson and Karen Corbett Sanders voted against the motion.

Reid has been superintendent of the Northshore School District in Washington state since 2016. She was named the AASA National Superintendent of the Year in 2021 for "exemplary communications, her work in closing achievement gaps, and leading her previous school system in uncharted territory at the start of the pandemic," according to a Fairfax County Public Schools news release.

The new superintendent will be appointed for a term from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2026. Reid will replace Superintendent Scott Brabrand, who announced he would leave at the end of the 2021-2022 school year.

"We had a long and robust search process that started last fall," said School Board Vice Chair Rachna Sizemore Heizer. "It included many opportunities for the community to share their input on what characteristics they wanted in our next superintendent, including a survey, many town halls, community stakeholder meetings in all five regions, and a public school board work session. We are fortunate that we were able to have a large group of excellent candidates participate in our process."

"Among this large, strong group, Dr. Reid was consistently at the top," Sizemore Heizer continued. "She impressed us throughout the process with her thoughtful, brilliant and insightful analysis, her work around STEM and strong academics for all students, and an understanding that our focus would also be on the whole child. I was also impressed at her work on racial and educational justice and inclusion."

At-large School Board member Karen Keys-Gamarra made an unsuccessful motion to delay the vote due to concerns about the superintendent search process.

"Despite the qualifications of Dr. Reid, I happen to believe that the other candidate was more qualified," said Keys-Gamarra.

Before the school board announced the selection of Reid, names of the two apparent finalists were revealed in the last week. After unsuccessfully trying to get on a community panel with superintendent candidates, Fairfax NAACP learned about the finalists from whistleblowers and published a report about two candidates — two candidates included Reid and Cheryl Logan, superintendent of Omaha Public Schools.

However, the Omaha World-Herald revealed that Logan decided to no longer pursue the position and stay at her school district role before the Fairfax NAAP published its report.

Keys-Gamarra said she heard concerns from various groups and nearly 50 people.

"To jam this vote through in my opinion is sending them a message that they don't matter," said Keys-Gamarra.

One student group that expressed concerns with the superintendent search and potential appointment of Reid was Pride Liberation Front. Student organizers with the Pride Liberation Front planned demonstrations at several schools Thursday in support of a petition about improving student outreach during the search process and the anticipated appointment of Reid. The petition of 375 students from most FCPS high schools called for student town halls during free periods to improve student outreach in the final phase of the superintendent search.

The petition claims an 11-student stakeholder group convened for a 15-day period could not adequately represent the various concerns of over 178,000 FCPS students. The group claimed most community outreach happened in January, involving six town halls, one of which was during the school day.

"As the leader of our county’s school system, the Superintendent has an immense impact on virtually every aspect of the day-to-day lives of students, including mental health services, academic opportunities, and equity initiatives," the petition stated. "Given this impact, it is imperative that student concerns are heard, addressed, and prioritized during the Superintendent search process."

Demonstrations were planned either Thursday morning or afternoon at Mount Vernon High School, Westfield High School, Oakton High School, McLean High School, Liberty Middle School, and South County High School. Student demonstrators want to know how potential finalist Reid approaches key areas mentioned in the petition: "community outreach, closing achievement and opportunity gaps, mental health access for all students, and equitable school experiences for vulnerable student populations, such as neurodivergent, people of color, LGBTQIA+, and English language learner students."

The student petition seeks an audit of the search process, including release of proof the next superintendent was chosen based on key areas.

A news release on Reid's appointment cited her work to improve math and science proficiency, creating the Northshore’s Racial and Educational Justice Department, and incrasing graduation rates, particularly for English language learners.

In remarks following the vote, Reid said, "I'm grateful to have this opportunity, and I'm thrilled to serve this community and earn the trust of each of you on the board. I've listened carefully and I will be thoughtful and reflective about everything I've heard."

Reid added that she wanted to "remind and reassure" the community that she will be "looking out for the best interest of marginalized communities."

The superintendent search process was conducted by search firm GR Consulting. In the early stages, the school community was surveyed about what they are looking for in a superintendent. GR Consulting held stakeholder groups with pre-selected staff, parents, students, and community members and organizations as well as the public town halls. After the community feedback component, the interview process with candidates is private until the school board votes to appoint a new superintendent.

This is a developing story. Patch will update this story with additional details at a later time.