Candidates seeking an open School Board seat are focusing on student achievement, the school system’s budget and the impact of the Trump administration.
“We deserve to get our money’s worth” from funds that support schools, said James “Vell” Rives IV at a Tuesday candidate forum sponsored by the Arlington County Civic Federation.
Joining Rives on the dais were Monique “Moe” Bryant and Major Mike Webb. They are vying for the seat of Mary Kadera, who is not seeking re-election and whose seat is the only one up for election this year.
The winner on Nov. 4, who takes office Jan. 1, will join a five-member elected body that has seen significant turnover in recent years.
Webb arrived at the forum as it was almost over, leaving most of the back-and-forth between Rives and Democratic endorsee Bryant.
Both voiced concern about local impacts of Trump-era federal downsizing, budget cuts and immigration enforcement.
“The potential loss of federal funds is a real concern,” said Bryant, who is making her first bid for elected office.
She said “immigration enforcement and fears” are causing some families to avoid taking steps like applying for free and reduced-price meals, and that the school system should be “making sure no child is distracted by hunger when they are in our charge.”
Rives added his own concerns about immigration-enforcement efforts.
“I feel for the kids who are affected by immigration politics,” he said. “Our charge is to educate every child.”
Todd Truitt, the Civic Federation’s education chair and moderator of the forum, said a panel discussion by Arlington youth several months ago revealed unease with the school system’s grading policies. Critics say those policies promote the concept of equity over achievement.
“Students themselves are concerned,” Truitt said, pressing candidates for their views.
Rives and Bryant each expressed a willingness to revisit grading policies.
“Equity is a good thing, but equity should not be a lowering of standards,” he said.
“I hear those concerns,” Bryant added. She said the school system needed to “maintain rigor” to make sure students were prepared for the future.
As he has in past campaigns, Rives pressed the school system to address its current locker-room and gender policies. School leadership currently is locked in a battle with the U.S. Department of Education over the matter.
Kadera, the School Board’s longest serving member at four years, announced in January she would not seek a second term. That makes her the latest in a string of Board members having left after relatively short tenures of six or fewer years.
Under state law, school board seats officially are nonpartisan posts. While political parties can’t formally nominate candidates, and party labels are not included on the ballot, parties can “endorse” candidates and list them on sample ballots.
No one has served on the School Board without first winning the Democratic endorsement since David Foster, who held office as a Republican-leaning independent from 2000-07.
Bryant received 69% of the vote over June Prakash in the Arlington County Democratic Committee’s caucus, held in June. While she is new to the campaign trail, her two general-election opponents each have waged campaigns several times in the past.
Rives has run for School Board three times, losing to Democratic endorsees each time:
- In 2022, he received 30% of the vote in a two-way race against Bethany Zecher Sutton
- In 2023, he garnered 18% of the vote against Miranda Turner
- In 2024, he earned 13.8% of the vote against Kathleen Clark (36.5%), Zuraya Tapia-Hadley (32.9%) and Paul Weiss (16.5%) in a year when two seats were on the ballot
Last year, Rives’ candidacy was supported by the Forward Party, which in 2024 also backed Madison Granger for County Board. He also has won support of the fledgling party this year.
Webb has run for office three times before, also losing to Democrats each time:
- In 2017, he received 18% of the vote in a three-way School Board race that included Monique O’Grady (70%) and Alison Dough (10%)
- In 2021, he garnered 19% of the vote in the School Board race against Kadera
- In 2023, running as an independent for House of Delegates, he received 17% of the vote against Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-3)
At the forum, Webb acknowledged he was in the race mostly to provide a forum for his views, largely focused on the response to the Covid pandemic.
“I do not have any expectation of being on the School Board,” he said.
Rives said he has hopes of pulling out a victory despite the power of the Democratic endorsement held by Bryant.
“My message resonates with most Democrats,” he said. “I think we can win this seat, but we have to get the word out.”
School Board members preside over a school division of 27,000 students and an annual budget that has reached $845 million. Per-student spending for Arlington schools is the highest in the D.C. suburbs.
