On Tuesday, October 20, at 1:25 pm, in the George Mason auditorium, the Lasso will host a candidate forum for the eight candidates vying for three seats on the Falls Church City School Board.

The forum, which is closed to the general public, will give students an opportunity to hear directly from the candidates their stance on school issues, specifically those pertaining to Mason.

All students, especially those eligible to vote in the November 3 election, are encouraged to attend.

“It’s important to promote active civic mindedness at a young age,” said AP Government teacher, Pamela Mahony.

Candidates scheduled to be in attendance are Erin Gill, Mark Kaye, Alison Kutchma, Jacob Radcliffe, Phil Reitinger, Kieran Sharpe, and Becky Smerdon.

Current chairman, Justin Castillo, and Sharpe are incumbents in the election and their chairs, as well as one other, are up for election. Castillo is the only candidate who will not be present.

The forum will feature topics such as possible school construction, budget concerns, and more. Students can submit a question to candidates online using this poll. At the forum, students may submit questions for candidates as well.

Tuesday’s forum is the second time candidates will square off in the Mason auditorium within a week. School Board candidates came together for a public forum on Thursday, October 15.

Controversy Hangs Over Forum
On September 4, candidate Becky Smerdon, chair of the Local Special Education Advisory Committee (LSEAC), complained to the board that FCCPS Superintendent, Dr. Toni Jones, violated regulations when she by passed Smerdon’s authority to send two emails to the LSEAC, even though Smerdon, as chair, had previously explicitly asked Jones to communicate only through Smerdon.

The first email Jones sent contained a survey about the effectiveness of the committee in the past year to prepare for the upcoming training with a consultant from the Virginia Department of Education.

The survey results were quite damning to the committee and chair, considering 5 out of 9 members (chair and vice chair included) disagreed or disagreed strongly when asked if meetings facilitated focus and progress on important issues, and if work was positive and productive.

Her second email simply stated that the first meeting of the LSEAC would be the training session with a Virginia Department of Education consultant on October 5, a part of the 5.12 policy by the school board.

In response to these two emails, Smerdon issued a formal complaint to the School Board claiming that Jones was in “violation of the superintendent’s role under the Regulations Governing Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities in Virginia.”

Secondly, Smerdon demanded that that Jones retract both emails, formally apologize to Smerdon, and be banned from sending further emails to the committee.

The second salvo by Smerdon toward the school board arrived on September 30. A petition was filed at the Arlington County Circuit Court against Policy 5.12 by Smerdon, Daniel and Kristina Rice, and William Royce.

The petition complains that the policy “dilutes the expertise and focus of the LSEAC by adding new membership classes, denied appointment of otherwise qualified parents of children with disabilities, or individuals with disabilities, who do not have arbitrarily defined ‘skills or background;’ restricts the ability of parents and community members to interacts with the CACs, particularly with the LSEAC, by placing burdensome restraints on the conduct of advisory committee members in the performance of their roles and responsibilities, adds to and reprioritizes the listing of LSEAC functions; and imposes restrictive operating procedures which ultimately thwart the purpose of the CACs.”

On October 2, Castillo released a seven page, single-spaced, rationale for a unanimous school board decision not to punish Superintendent Jones.

In his response, Castillo declined to complete Smerdon’s requests on the grounds that “No advisory committee chair should try to prohibit the Superintendent (or anyone else) from communicating with committee members. Further, we remind advisory committee chairs and committee members that they do not have the authority to supervise FCCPS employees.”

The above statement is extracted from the conclusion of Castillo’s rationale, which also included that the committee operates under Policy 5.12.

Online Firestorm
When the Falls Church News-Press published a story on the petition submission, a firestorm of comments ensued, including a defense by Smerdon herself, support for Smerdon from fellow school board candidate, Alison Kutchma, and a variety of disapproving comments towards Smerdon’s petition.

“A group of citizens exercised their rights and responsibility to request a judicial review of school board policy vis a via state regulations because we believe that the school board overstepped their authority,” said Smerdon in the FCNP comment section.

A man identifying himself as Bill Royce made the bold and unsupported claim that Superintendent Jones funnels her salary through the News-Press in return for positive press for the School Board.

A commenter identifying herself as Hillary Crockett, a member of the LSEAC committee, posted a comment critical of Smerdon’s leadership on the committee.

“By a quick resort to legal petitions, complaints and person attacks, Ms. Smerdon is stopping work at a committee that should be helping some of the neediest in the city and disheartening talented school staff,” said the comment attributed to Crockett.

The comment firestorm is not limited to the specific story concerning the petition. There have been hundreds of comments on any recent story concerning the school board upcoming elections and debates.

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