Candidate Profile: Jon Pepper For Loudoun County School Board

DULLES, VA — Jon Pepper, a teacher and father of two Loudoun County Public Schools students, is seeking election to the Dulles District seat of the Loudoun County School Board in the Nov. 4, 2025 general election.

Five of the nine school board seats are up for election in 2025 as the school board moved to staggered terms. Pepper is running against Santos Muñoz. Current Dulles District representative and school board Chair Melinda Mansfield is not seeking re-election. Other districts with elections in 2025 are Algonkian, Broad Run, Leesburg and Sterling.

In addition to the school board elections, Loudoun County voters will have Virginia governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and Virginia House of Delegates seats on the ballot. There are also Loudoun County bond questions on school projects, parks and recreation and public safety projects, and transportation projects on the ballot. The Towns of Middleburg and Round Hill elections are on the ballot within those towns.

Early voting for the general election began on Friday, Sept. 19. More information on how to vote is available from the Loudoun County Office of Elections.

Patch asked candidates for Loudoun County School Board to fill out a candidate questionnaire with the same questions. Here are Pepper's responses:

Name

Jon Pepper

Office Sought

School Board -- Dulles District

Campaign Website

jonpepperforschoolboard.com

Age (As of Nov. 4 election)

45

Education

Certification in Education Leadership from University of Virginia (2013)
Master's in Curriculum and Instruction from Virginia Tech (2008)
Bachelor's in Environmental Science from Washington University in St. Louis (2002)

Teacher

Family

I am married with two children, a 4th grader and kindergartner in LCPS.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Previous public office positions or appointments

None

Why are you seeking this office?

For over 20 years, I have worked in a variety of roles in public schools across Northern Virginia. When my wife and I were looking to move and start a family we chose Loudoun County, in large part, because of the reputation of the schools and our experience with our children has exceeded my high expectations.

That being said, our public schools, both in Loudoun County and nationwide, are under attack. Students, particularly those with disabilities or who are learning English, continue to lag behind their peers. Schools don’t have the resources to meet the needs of today's diverse learners, and the federal government is actively looking to wash their hands of the Department of Education which provided funding and legal protection for the rights of many students. Policies put in place by administrators and “experts” who haven’t been in the classroom in decades on topics such as grading or late work serve to actively undermine the autonomy of teachers and increase student anxiety. Our educators are overworked and underpaid, and often asked to serve in roles for which they were not trained. And to top it off, private and religious entities continue to look to siphon dollars from our public schools through such means as state-mandated programs, testing software, or even vouchers.

I am running to ensure excellence in public education in Loudoun County. This means working to recruit and retain the best educators in Virginia through strong working conditions and competitive salaries and benefits. It means implementing policies to make sure all students feel safe and secure in schools, whether it is preventing and standing up to bullying, improving access to counseling and mental health resources, or working to prevent external threats like drugs or gun violence. It also means taking a look at issues like rezoning to ensure that we try to keep our students together from grades K-12 so that they can build and maintain strong peer groups that offer friendship and support. We also need to continue to support programs like the transition center or aftercare in our Title I schools that help our students with the greatest need, or programs like our Academies that serve students who wish to expand their academic horizons. The vast majority of LCPS parents will tell you the education their students receive in our schools is very good, and I want to work to make it excellent for all students.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidate(s) seeking this post?

Besides some policy beliefs, the major differences revolve around personal stake and personal experience.

I am the only candidate who is a current LCPS parent, so I have a personal stake in ensuring that our students are safe in schools and that the education they receive is excellent. Because of this, I will always fight for resources and opportunities that improve the lives of not just my students, but all students enrolled in LCPS.

As far as personal experience, I am the only candidate who has worked in public education. I have spent the last 20 years of my life as a science teacher, coach (football, scholastic bowl, mock trial), dean of students, assistant principal, and curriculum designer. I have also served as president of my local education association and have worked on school system budgets and policy in cooperation with my district's central office administration. I understand the actual challenges facing public education today -- things like the increase in student anxiety, loss of teacher autonomy, low compensation for teachers and support staff, and the vilification of educators for political gain and have real-world experience in developing solutions to those problems. I speak the language of public education and can hit the ground running on Day 1 without a significant learning curve.

What do you see as the top issues facing your locality, and how do you address them in your campaign platform?

Some of the top issues facing Loudoun County Public Schools include issues related to student safety, access to academic excellence, issues related to school finance, and zoning issues.

As far as student safety is concerned, I believe that all students have the right to feel safe in school. That means protection from bullying and harassment and it also means protection from dangers of external threats like drugs or gun violence. This also means supporting policies that promote ideas like common sense gun reform (I'm proud to be recommended by Moms Demand Action), the sharing of drug/overdose information with the community, or those that affirm the rights of all students to live life according to their beliefs.

When I talk about access to academic excellence, it includes things like expanding STEM and career and technical education for our students, ensuring that we continue to fund our Academies and continue partnerships with Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology while finding ways for more students to avail themselves of these opportunities, and increasing science education in our elementary schools. It also includes ensuring that our struggling learners are not left behind by supporting instruction for our English language learners, providing resources like free enhanced aftercare for our Title I populations, and continuing to support programs like our Transition Center so that special needs students can develop partnerships with the community.

School finance is a tricky issue, as LCPS and most school divisions are going to have funding challenges now and into the near future. That being said, we need to ensure that LCPS remains competitive with other school divisions for the best educators and some of that includes increasing pay and benefits while supporting the collective bargaining rights of educators. Personally, I cannot afford to work as a teacher in Loudoun County, as I would take a large pay cut, and I know that salary keeps other residents of Loudoun from working in LCPS. Additionally, by ensuring a greater standard of living for our educators and having them work in the community in which they live, educators are more connected to the schools and willing to give back to the community.

Finally, rezoning is a major personal issue in my district. My neighborhood was recently rezoned to a new middle and high school, forcing my daughter to leave half of her elementary school friends behind in two years when she enters middle school. I support a rezoning plan that groups students by elementary school into "feeders" that all feed the same middle and high school sequence, thus keeping students together from grades K-12. This supports a student's sense of belonging and eases some of the most difficult times in a student's career, the time when they transition between schools.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have served in almost every role possible in public schools. Whether it is developing curriculum related to SOL, AP, or IB standards, piloting an online school program, or working to develop school and school system budgets during difficult times like the 2009 financial crisis, I have successfully done it all and most challenges do not faze me. As a school administrator, I helped bring the IB Middle Years' Program to my school district, help transition our school to a more efficient online record-keeping system for discipline, and help ensure that our school system went to 1-to-1 with technology. I am also used to parents being upset at decisions I've made (even though they were in the best interests of students and the school) and have thick skin that shows I won't fade when challenged.

Outside of my full-time job as an educator, I also work as a professional development trainer teaching math and science teachers around the country how to integrate online simulations into their classrooms. I have worked with diverse groups of adult learners, been able to navigate the world of school bureaucracy, and seen the difference first-hand between high-performing and not-so-high-performing school divisions. I can take the best of what I have seen and learned and bring it to LCPS.

Finally, outside of education, I am the referee-in-chief of the Washington, DC division of the National Ball Hockey League and just returned as one of 20 referees around the country selected to officiate in the national championships. If I can handle the pressure of making spur of the moment decisions based on visual evidence, rooted in rules, and with 40 angry adults watching every move I make, being on the LCPS school board seems like a walk in the park.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

At the end of the day, even though I am running for political office, I don't see myself as a politician. Truly, I am a dad who just wants the very best for his children (and all children in Loudoun County) and a teacher who strongly believes that public education is the backbone of our country and that we must do everything to support it.

Every problem that a public school faces should be solved by asking two questions: 1) What does the law say? and 2) What is in the best interest of all students?

My positions are always based on the idea that public schools are for everyone, and that the decisions I make need to support the best interests of all students within the confines of current law.