David Fauth is an engineer for a data analytics firm, and a long-time Stafford County resident who has education coursing through veins.
Fauth’s father served on the board while he was growing up, his mother and grandmother were teachers as well. Together they influenced Fauth’s belief in the value of education.
Fauth, along with his wife of 31 years, Nancy, a nurse, raised four children who attended Stafford County Public Schools which, according to him afforded his children a good educational experience. His children range in age from 20 to 27.
Today, Fauth has volunteered his time to the county from teaching children at the Stafford Baptist and Mount Ararat churches, donating food and supplies to area neighborhoods, coaching soccer games, and officiating swim meets.
Fauth wants to bring the values of community service to the school board where he wants to be, in his words, a servant leader who wants to discuss ways to solve problems and rejoice in what is working.
Fauth will run against Maya Guy for the Stafford County School Board seat representing the Aquia District. Potomac Local News interviewed Fauth on what he hopes to bring to the table and to discuss some of the issues that the Stafford Schools are dealing with.
What made you decide to run for the school board?
I want to serve my community and the people who live here. I have lived in Stafford County for 25 years and my family has benefited from SCPS. I have continually volunteered throughout my time in Stafford County by giving back to the community.
Strong schools build a strong community. Each elementary, middle and high school brings together the community and builds up the community. I want to continue to help strengthen our school system.
Local elections are extremely important for the local community and the quality of life in that community. There are 7 School Board members and 7 Board of Supervisors. These 14 people have such an influence on the quality of life for Stafford County both in the short and long term. These elections provide an opportunity for Stafford County residents to make decisions on who they want to lead them. Their reasoning and input is very important to me because it helps me serve them all better.
If elected, what do you believe you can bring to the table?
I have been a volunteer while living and working in Stafford County most of my adult life. Part of that involves good listening skills, which I have. I work very hard to actively listen to whomever is talking to me. I avoid interrupting and arguing, instead preferring to discuss ways to solve problems and rejoice in what is working.
In my consulting career, I spent a lot of time in budget development, resource analysis, resource allocation and prioritization. As the School Board works with the Board of Supervisors on budget development, those skills will be important to ensure the School Board requests a budget to meet the needs of the schools.
As a consultant working on an executive staff, I saw multiple different leadership styles. I learned a lot about how people make decisions, what data they need, and what questions they ask. SCPS will have a new Superintendent, a majority of new representatives on the BoS and on the School Board. My experiences interacting with decision makers will be invaluable as a School Board member.
What are the strengths of Stafford County Schools?
The strengths of the Stafford County Schools are the people working for SCPS. This includes administrators, teachers, para-professionals and bus drivers.
As a resident of Stafford County for over 25 years, I have seen several of the teachers that my children have had now move into administration positions. I have seen the impact that various staff have had on my children and it has been so rewarding. They are really our strength.
We have a diverse student population. The ability to learn from one another within a diverse student population is invaluable.
Our schools provide an excellent academic education in the core curriculum and also in additional academic activities such as Model UN, Stats Program, NJROTC, Governor's School and DECA. The schools also have excellent extra-curricular opportunities in athletics, fine arts, marching bands and various clubs to name a few.
What new opportunities do you think should be brought to Stafford County students?
It is encouraging to see the Virginia Department of Education discuss new math courses in data analytics, data science, and mathematical modeling. I don’t agree with the Virginia Mathematics Pathway Initiative but I do see a need for these types of courses as the corporate world moves into more data-driven decision making.
Concurrently, we should examine what additional courses/training we can provide for those students that want to pursue a trade through a trade school (plumbing/welding / etc.). Maybe it is in drone flying or some type of career in aviation.
What do you believe can be done about teacher retention in the County?
[Stafford County Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Kizner] and the current School Board has done a good job on reworking the current teacher pay scale and working to get an improved pay scale for our teachers. I commend the current School Board for offering some funding to pay off student loans for new teachers in Stafford County.
We need to continue these efforts and make sure the pay scales are competitive with the surrounding counties (especially Prince William County).
New facilities are necessary to relieve overcrowding at our schools. Invest in renovations of the older schools should be a priority. We need to work to reduce classroom sizes which we can do by building a new HS and elementary school. The environments that the teachers work in must be conducive for effective teaching and learning.
Working with the Board of Supervisors is important in order to make Stafford an attractive place to work and live. Stafford is an expensive place to live and I applaud the BoS for trying to provide housing for our public servants. Improvement is needed in ways to attract businesses into Stafford County so teachers will want to live, shop, and dine here.
Not every student is bound for college and we should be providing opportunities as we can for those students. There are high schools in the country that provide trade or skills so that when the student graduates, he or she can immediately start working in their chosen field. I would like to see more of these degrees/diplomas/certifications offered.
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