Arlington’s superintendent earns passing grades from the two Democratic candidates vying for a post on the School Board.
At an online candidate forum hosted by the Arlington NAACP, Monique “Moe” Bryant and June Prakash voiced support for Superintendent Francisco Durán but challenged other aspects of Arlington Public Schools leadership.
“I really like the engagement that has been going on,” Bryant said of Durán’s 5-year tenure.
“I do have confidence in him,” Prakash said of Durán. “I would vote for him to continue.”
Durán was plucked from the bureaucracy of Fairfax County Public Schools in mid-2020, just as the pandemic began, to lead the 27,000-student Arlington school system. Controversies under his tenure have included the rollout of health-care changes, human-resources challenges and budget priorities.
Prakash, who serves as president of the Arlington Education Association, said Durán merits accolades for “the strides that have been made under his watch.”
Despite concerns that “we need to do more,” Bryant — who heads the training organization Challenging Racism — said the superintendent deserves the opportunity to continue in office.
“I too have confidence in our superintendent,” she said after Prakash spoke.
Earlier in the 90-minute online debate, however, the school system’s leadership came in for criticism from both candidates.
Echoing themes that have run throughout the campaign, Bryant said too often the community and staff is left out of decision-making.
“Engagement should be the first step, never the last,” she said, suggesting that the public’s belief in school-system accountability “is at an all-time low.”
Prakash said the next School Board member needs to bring new experiences and perspectives, and dig beyond data that “looks wonderful on paper” but masks problems.
“I will not vote just to go along with the group,” she said.
Asked how the school system overall was doing, both candidates hedged their bets.
“I would say we potentially are better than most,” said Bryant, adding that there was the opportunity for improvement.
“APS is trying, but there’s room for growth,” Prakash said.
The forum, moderated by NAACP education chair Tia Alfred, drew about 65 attendees.
Bryant and Prakash are vying in the Arlington County Democratic Committee caucus. Each began campaigning in February with remarks to the committee.
The winner moves on to the general election in the race to succeed Mary Kadera, who is not seeking a second term.
Online caucus voting began April 19 and will run through May 10. In addition, there are two days of in-person voting from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.: Sunday, May 4 at Washington-Liberty High School and Saturday, May 10 at Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School.
While School Board races in Virginia are officially nonpartisan, political parties have the ability to endorse candidates.
All five current School Board members won Democratic caucuses before gaining general-election victories, and no non-Democrat has served on the body since Republican-leaning independent David Foster nearly 20 years ago.
