Campaign Update, January 2025

​Dear Friend,

It has been my joy to serve on the school board for the last three years. This is the most purposeful, fulfilling work I have ever had. I have loved meeting new people, learning new things, stretching myself, and feeling like I am contributing to important, positive changes in our schools. 

I genuinely believe I would be happy doing this work forever. I say this despite its demands and challenges, some of which I would never have chosen for myself or made public in the way that happened for me last year. If I didn’t love the work so much, then the toxicity aimed at me, personally, from some of my former colleagues would have driven me out the door already.

It is no secret that I have concerns about the Arlington Dems Caucus process connected to school board elections. I am grateful to the Dems for opening a forum on this topic in 2022 and making some reforms based on what they heard.

Here's some additional feedback on the Caucus: If I have done my research correctly, I would be the first candidate standing for re-election who has a 9 to 5 full time job, the school board job, the extra work of being Chair, and a partner and school-age children at home. That is indeed a lot. Holding the Caucus means that someone like me needs to figure out how to do all that and add several months of extra campaigning in the spring, before the state’s June filing deadline, which would otherwise be when a campaign could launch.

This spring, I will also be leading the school board and the community through some serious and overdue budget work. 

I love a good challenge–and until very recently, I believed I was up for the challenge of campaigning for a second term. But added to all of this, I am now navigating a serious family situation that needs my time and energy for the foreseeable future. I am struggling with it, and I need to acknowledge my limits. I can’t run a campaign and take care of myself and my husband and family in this moment, all at the same time. 

I will repeat–I love this work. I hope that sometime in my life I will have the opportunity to do it again. But in this campaign cycle, I will not be seeking a second term.

In choosing your next school board member, I urge you to prioritize certain habits of mind over specific domain knowledge. APS knowledge can be learned. What can’t be learned, in my experience, are the dispositions of curiosity, humility, open-mindedness, and self-scrutiny. 

My work on the School Board has never been about me, and it has never been about being part of an elite group that believes rigidly and narrowly in its own insular correctness and expertise. My work on the School Board has been about listening to you, learning from you, and exercising my best judgment on your behalf. 

I encourage you to listen closely to discern if candidates hold a genuine belief that good ideas and valuable perspectives can come from all parts of our community, and if their sense of accountability to the community they serve will extend beyond Election Day.  I will be listening closely, too, and I plan to make an endorsement and support the best candidate in any way I can.

Thank you for placing your trust in me and giving me this amazing opportunity to serve. I indeed have been blessed.