Dec. 12 was a graduation day of sorts for Arlington’s two departing School Board members.
“Your work has made a real difference,” Board chair Mary Kadera told Cristina Diaz-Torres and David Priddy at the meeting, the body’s final one of the year.
It also marks the last meeting for the duo, who were elected in 2020. Neither Diaz-Torres nor Priddy sought re-election this year.
They will be succeeded by Zuraya Tapia-Hadley and Kathleen Clark, who emerged victorious in November’s four-way School Board election.
Priddy, who grew up in Arlington and graduated from Wakefield High School, said serving on the body required an open mind and willingness to listen to all points of view.
“You need to have the ability to put your ego aside … do what’s in the best interests of the students,” he said. “That’s why we’re here.”
Diaz-Torres recalled that she first began thinking about running for office in 2019, after seeing too many local students dropping out. She viewed the school system as “the place that failed these kids.”
“This is Arlington,” Diaz-Torres said. “We should have done better.”
Efforts in more recent years have served to “get us closer to a system that will no longer leave students by the wayside,” she said during valedictory remarks at the Dec. 12 meeting.
Diaz-Torres, Priddy and others seeking the Democratic endorsement for School Board were in the midst of campaigning in March 2020 when the pandemic roared in.
They took office in January 2021, as school leaders were still working to find a road map out of the lockdowns that resulted.
“We will always be linked to Covid and our response to it,” Priddy said.
The pandemic brought to an “abrupt and crushing stop” to educational progress that was being made, Diaz-Torres said. But both departing elected officials said they believed that, on balance, school leaders acted in the best interests of students and the community.
“We’ve created programs that meet [students] where they are,” Diaz-Torres said.
While they ran against one another in the 2020 Democratic caucus, Priddy and Diaz-Torres effectively became a team during the general-election race. Even today, they communicate daily, Diaz-Torres said.
Joining the Dec. 12 meeting were the three Board members who had welcomed Diaz-Torres and Priddy on their arrival in 2021: Monique O’Grady, Barbara Kanninen and Reid Goldstein. Their seats have since been filled by Kadera, Bethany Sutton and Miranda Turner.
While school board posts across Virginia technically are nonpartisan, political parties can — and often do — endorse candidates. No non-Democrat has served on Arlington’s body since the 2000-08 tenure of Republican-leaning independent David Foster.
Kadera’s seat will be on the ballot in November 2025. Democrats will select their endorsee in a springtime caucus.
What does the future hold for the two departing Board members? Diaz-Torres in the past year became a new mother, and Priddy said that while he plans to take a break, he will continue to advocate for schools, particularly those in South Arlington like Thomas Jefferson Middle and Wakefield High.
Kadera said their continued involvement would be welcomed.
“We hope you will always stay part of the [Arlington Public Schools] family,” she said.
