FCPS Board members need to return to the drawing board and hire a qualified superintendent
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) need a qualified administrator at the helm. In a selection process that lacks transparency to parents, FCPS Board members are considering final candidate Dr. Michelle Reid to replace Dr. Scott Brabrand as the school district’s superintendent. By all metrics, Dr. Reid is not qualified. First, her professional experience is limited to districts that are at least eight times smaller than Fairfax County. Comparative information for her more recent school district, Northshore, is contrasted with FCPS in the table below.
Program Comparison
Even in a considerably smaller district, public school students enrolled in Washington’s Northshore District while Dr. Reid was superintendent experienced significant declines of academic achievement in both math and English. This is not particularly surprising given that Northshore was one of the first districts to close its schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and among the last to reopen them.
In-person education was not a priority in Northshore during the pandemic, but social justice appears to be at the top of Dr. Reid’s educational initiatives. During the FCPS superintendent selection process, members of the community panel indicated that Dr. Reid’s ideas were not specific, but “broadly visionary”. She stated several times that she benchmarks with FCPS. Further, Northshore school district website indicates that its schools “work to address the detrimental effects of this history [of privilege and oppression] through our teaching, practice, training and service.” The district’s website further uses a “Diversity Flower” image to promote equity and highlight the intersectionality of all identities – including gender and sexuality – with race.
Despite lacking qualifications as an administrator for a district the scope and size of FCPS, the FCPS Board members might choose to hire Dr. Reid because she explicitly shares their ideas and priorities. FCPS Board members’ prioritization of politics over professionalism in its selection for the new superintendent is highly irresponsible and would be detrimental to FCPS students.
