Meet The Candidate: Ashley Simpson Baird For Alexandria School Board

ALEXANDRIA, VA — As voters begin casting early ballots for Alexandria's Nov. 2 general election, one of the races they will decide is the Alexandria School Board.

The school board is made up of three districts, each of which has three board members who serve a three-year term. Members who are elected in the Nov. 2 election will take office in 2022.Voters will either vote for Alexandria School Board District A, B or C depending on which district they live in. There are five candidates running for three seats in District A, seven candidates running for three seats in District B, and three candidates running for three seats in District C.

One of the District B candidates is Ashley Simpson Baird, whose business Merit Research, Policy, and Evaluation provides equity-related solutions to schools. She has three children — one current ACPS student and two future students.

Learn more about Ashley Simpson Baird and why she is running for Alexandria School Board District B in 2021:

Editor's note: below are the unedited views of the candidate.

Age (as of Election Day)

41

Position sought (mayor, city council, school board, etc.)

Alexandria City Public School Board, District B

Party Affiliation

The School Board election in Alexandria is non-partisan.

Family

My husband Andrew and I are Northern Virginia natives who met for the first time at summer camp. We have chosen to raise our three children—Walker (7), Ames (5), and Hannah (2)—in Alexandria because of the incredible diversity and strong community we’ve found here. As a family, you can often find us biking, swimming, and hiking together. Walker attends George Mason Elementary School and his siblings will join him there in 2022 and 2024. Andrew and I will have children in ACPS through 2037 when Hannah finishes high school.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No one in my family works in ACPS nor Alexandria City Government.

Education

B.A., Pennsylvania State University
M.A., Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, School for International Training
M.A., Teaching Spanish, School for International Training
Ph.D., Education, University of Virginia

Occupation

I have dedicated my career to improving public education. I am the Founder and Principal of Merit Research, Policy, and Evaluation which provides equity-focused solutions to schools, districts, and educational support organizations. The work of a School Board member is very similar to what I do every day in my business—advising education leaders, analyzing data to inform decision making, and creating policy solutions to improve student outcomes.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

I am a first-time candidate.

Campaign website

https://www.ashleysimpsonbaird.com/

Why are you seeking elective office?

Running for School Board is something that I have always aspired to do. I left teaching 10 years ago to pursue my doctorate because I wanted to have a greater impact on public education. I have done that through my research, policy, and technical assistance work, but that has been in places outside of Alexandria. Now, I want to use my expertise to impact our community’s schools and share the knowledge that I have gleaned from other school districts facing similar challenges and opportunities.

I bring multiple perspectives to making decisions that would impact our schools. I have been a teacher, administrator, teacher trainer, researcher, PTA member, and parent. I am confident that I have the knowledge and skills to help get ACPS back on the upward trajectory that it was on before the pandemic. There are so many wonderful things about Alexandria schools but there are also many things that could be better; ACPS students deserve that.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

ACPS is at an inflection point. The decisions that we make now to counter the impacts of the pandemic have the potential to shift the educational trajectories for a generation of students. ACPS must make concrete plans and financial investments to ensure that we counteract unfinished learning and provide necessary social and emotional support to staff and students. On the former, ACPS must strengthen the implementation of its Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, support educators in delivering accelerated learning, and provide targeted, research-based interventions for students who need additional support. On the latter, ACPS needs more mental health professionals in schools and new partnerships with community organizations that can provide wraparound supports.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

Alexandria voters are lucky to have so many strong School Board candidates to choose from in this year’s election and I am honored to be among them. I am an education expert with more than 20 years of experience in improving public education. I bring multiple perspectives to making decisions that would impact ACPS. I have been a classroom teacher, administrator, teacher trainer, researcher, and ACPS parent who will have children in our schools until 2037.

The bulk of my professional work has occurred outside of ACPS and I bring the knowledge of how other school districts facing similar challenges and opportunities have fared. I am the only candidate in District B with a Ph.D. in education and I am the only school board candidate who is a fluent Spanish speaker. This is particularly important given that thirty-seven percent of ACPS students identify as Hispanic/Latinx—the largest racial and ethnic group in ACPS. I started learning Spanish in elementary school, solidified my fluency during my Peace Corps service in Bolivia, and one of my Master’s degrees in teaching Spanish (the other is in teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

There are no incumbents seeking reelection in my District.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

Early on in the pandemic, ACPS did an incredible job of ensuring all students had access to devices and WiFi, making food accessible to families who needed it, and improving the delivery of virtual learning from Spring 2020 to Fall 2021. In the 2020-2021 school year, ACPS should have tried to bring smaller groups of students back for in-person learning earlier in the year, particularly very young students, English learners, and students with special needs.

In Fall 2021, I think ACPS was too late in developing a vaccine mandate and testing plan. Both should have been in place before the start of the school year. The lack of foresight on this has resulted in more children needing to quarantine and miss out on in-person learning at a time when they need to be working on unfinished learning from the last year and a half. Additionally, I think that ACPS should allow principals the leeway to develop school-specific lunch plans that aim to mitigate virus transmission by using outdoor spaces and other areas of the building.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

My campaign platform focuses on the three Rs: Rebuild Trust, Restore Accountability, and Recommit to Equity

These are what will guide my work as a School Board member. We will accomplish those things by strengthening foundational elements of our school system right, including communications, staffing, health and safety, and instruction. This is what will help ACPS emerge from the pandemic as a stronger school district.

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

In addition to 20 years of experience in education and being a small-business owner, I previously served a the chair of the Board of Trustees for the Next Step Public Charter School in Washington, DC. In DC, charter schools are considered local education agencies (i.e., school districts), and their boards approve their budgets, evaluate the school leader, develop policies, and advise staff on programmatic decisions.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

I’m a fan of Brené Brown and adhere to her wisdom that good leaders focus not on “being right” but on “getting it right.” I’m always aiming to get it right.

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

More than ever our community is paying attention to what happens in our city’s schools. We need to leverage that interest to better engage families and community members in our schools and at the same time show them the incredible potential that exists within ACPS.