Of the four School Board members whose terms expire at the end of the year, Falmouth District representative Dr. Sarah Chase is the only one running to retain her seat.
She's also the only candidate whose running unopposed.
During her four years on the Stafford County School Board, Chase, a psychology professor who teaches at St. Mary's University in Maryland, experienced the coronavirus pandemic's issues, the departure of the district's school superintendent, and political redistricting in the county.
"It took a long time for me to decide to run again, but it's an important responsibility and we need different people on the board who have done their due diligence and their research in making these decisions," said Chase.
Chase said that her experience not only as a member of the Board but as someone who volunteered in the schools before her term would help with the transition that the school board will go through with three new members coming onto the board and a new superintendent to be hired in the next few months to replace the outgoing Dr. Scott Kizner, whose leaving in September.
"We're going into a situation where we have two members of the Board who only have two years of experience and one who has twenty years of experience and we're getting a new superintendent. I want to stay on and help whoever becomes the new superintendent to acclimate to the school system," says Chase.
Chase is also proud of some of the board's success during her term, such as purchasing the old Fredericksburg Christian School off Garrisonville Road in North Stafford, which became the Northstar Early Childhood Education Center. The center, according to Chase, provided necessary space for the developmental needs of the students.
Chase also touts the opening of Moncure Elementary, stating that they got it open on time as a success. Chase is also staying on when students are coming back to school after having to adapt to the issues brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. While some teachers and students with special needs or in need of internet access did stay in the buildings, most were relegated to virtual learning throughout the 2020 school year.
Students began to trickle back into the school soon after some elementary school students returned in October, while some high school students could return in February 2021. Many worked on hybrid programs during that time, spending half the time in class and the other half online.
"It wasn't ideal, I'm not going to pretend that everything worked out great. But for a difficult situation, it worked as well as we could make it work," says Chase of the school's adaptations to the pandemic.
Another issue for some Stafford residents is requiring students, teachers, and staff to wear masks as they returned to school on Aug. 9. Gov. Ralph Northam says a new law requires all school divisions across the state to require masks, although the author of the law disagrees. The forced mask mandate for everyone inside school buildings will stand until September 21, when the board will revisit the issue and decide whether or not to continue with the mask mandates.
Chase is especially concerned about potential exposure to the virus as students go on vacation with their families during the four-day weekend for Labor Day, which falls on Monday, September 6.
Chase hopes to retain her seat on the school board and focus on the challenges that Stafford County is currently facing. The County's growth and need for more schools to accommodate that growth concern the board is planning for. The board is currently looking for a site for the county's sixth high school and is working on a new elementary school plan.
The board continues to face teacher retention, which has long been a challenge for Stafford due to Spotsylvania having a competitive salary and Prince William County offering a much higher salary to teachers. Dr. Chase hopes to narrow that particular gap and would have liked to have done it sooner, but as with all things affected by the pandemic, things changed.
"We had planned to make an increase in teacher's pay during the year of COVID, but then it hit and we weren't able to implement it. We did start it this year and we're hoping that in the next four years we can get that salary increase for teachers and licensed staff taken care of," said Chase.
Early voting begins on Saturday, September 18. Election Day is Tuesday, November 2.
In addition to the Falmouth seat, the School Board seats for the Aquia, Garrisonville, and Hartwood districts are also open.
