Meet The Candidate: Kathleen Tysse For Falls Church School Board

FALLS CHURCH, VA — In addition to voting for statewide office in Virginia, along with candidates for House of Delegates, residents of the City of Falls Church will be voting for candidates to fill seats on the city council and school board.

As part of 2021 election coverage, Patch has asked each of the candidates in Falls Church to fill out a questionnaire to describe why they think they're the best person to fill the job they're running for.

This questionnaire was completed by Kathleen Tysse, who is running for Falls Church City School Board.

Four seats are opening up on the school board in November due to a mix of resignations and incumbents passing on reelection.

In Virginia, school board positions are officially nonpartisan, meaning none of the candidates running for Falls Church City School Board will have party affiliations next to their names on the ballot.

In-person early voting began at Falls Church City Hall at 300 Park Avenue on Sept. 17. In-person voting will be available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents can also vote in person on two Saturdays: Oct. 23 and 30 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Learn more about Tysse and why she is running for Falls Church City School Board in 2021:

Candidate

Kathleen Tysse

Age (as of Election Day)

41

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

School Board Member

Family

I have four kids ages 7-13, a husband of 15 years, and a pandemic puppy who just turned 1.

Education

Master of Teaching from University of Virginia, BA in Sociology also from UVA.

Occupation

I am currently a stay-at-home mother.

Campaign website

www.kathleentysse.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I am a former teacher with a Master of Teaching in elementary education, a mother with four children in three FCCPS schools, and recently served as the President of our elementary PTA. I understand what makes schools great, and I believe FCCPS schools deserve their reputation for excellence. But we should always strive to be better. During a time of so much social and political turmoil, we're being forced to make countless difficult decisions about our safety, our priorities, and our values. I believe I can be a leader who can make those decisions for our schools rooted in experience and strong relationships, who brings a balanced perspective on our community's many strengths, and who commits to serving the greater good.

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

The single most pressing issue facing our community is an issue every community faces: how do we continue to expand access to opportunity for all students in our schools to ensure that each student maximizes their potential? I want to make sure all of our students, in general and within specific populations such as ESOL, Special Education, and our students from lower-income families, feel fully valued and achieve their academic goals. I support our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy and the important first steps we have taken in this effort. However, I want our schools to be a leader in equity across the region and to do that we need to keep taking action. I support the recommendations from our Infrastructure Assessment of Diversity to increase the recruitment and retention of diverse teachers and staff and to implement a curriculum audit. Finally, I would like our community as a whole to dig deeper to see how we can open our doors wider.

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

I believe my significant history of service to our local community (as outlined in my answer below), paired with my background and training in education, distinguishes me from the other candidates seeking this post. I have spent many years investing in our community, trying to do my part to make it stronger, and have built many strong relationships across the Little City. I believe these traits leave me well poised to be a successful School Board Member.

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

The current pandemic hit FCCPS schools during my term as the President of the elementary PTA. What I saw from my somewhat insider view during those excruciating months was really remarkable. Our leaders are extremely hard-working and also incredibly kind and decent people, our teachers are outrageously dedicated, and our community has many incredible ways to support its families. In some ways, seeing how strong the “bones” of our school system were during that extremely difficult time is what motivated me to want to serve in a deeper way on the School Board. Online and hybrid learning was often hard and sometimes even traumatic. I know because I had four kids learning at home on their screens. Of course, every decision our leadership made during that time was not perfect. And there were some significant missteps in messaging and communication. However, during a time with ever-changing data and insufficient guidance from above, our leaders kept our community safe and our students learning — all while navigating their own personal response to national trauma. Our teachers, and then our older students, were vaccinated en masse. And we were the first public school system in the region to open. That all came at a price, as any path would have. It is now the responsibility of our leaders to help our community heal with strategies such as increased mental health resources, reviewing for gaps in implemented curriculum, delaying or reducing assessments during recovery, and honestly evaluating communication plans for stronger community connection in the future.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

I respect the professional expertise of teachers. I believe our teachers deserve to be treated like the highly trained professionals they are. While it’s important to have high expectations and hold our teachers accountable for the incredibly important work they do, I feel strongly that that should be done with respect and acknowledgment of their knowledge and skills. They deserve a clear channel to use their voice and a seat at the table when decisions are being made.

I will lead with responsive and open communication. Because I understand how schools are run and I know our decision makers, I trust that countless impossible decisions were made in very good faith. And I think if the way those decisions were made was communicated in a clearer way, more of the community would have that trust, too. If elected, I would like to help build a better strategy for communication between the school board and the community.

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

• President-elect (2018-2019) and President (2019-2020) of the Falls Church Elementary PTA
• As part of my role as PTA President, I served on the 2020-2021 Calendar Committee and the Superintendent's Advisory Council, Summer 2020
• PTA room parent for all of my four children while they were in elementary school
• FCCPS Gifted Education Advisory Committee (2020-current)
• Mary Riley Styles Public Library Board of Trustees (2018-current)
• Mary Riley Styles Public Library Foundation Development Committee (2019-current)
• Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America Volunteer (2017-current)
• Gun Legislation Working Group member, advisory to Falls Church City Council (2020)

• Master of Teaching from University of Virginia
• Public school teacher for Charlottesville City Public Schools
• Private school teacher at International Baccalaureate school in Quito, Ecuador
• Developed curriculum and instruction for Primary Years Programme
• Rock Spring Cooperative Preschool Board Member, including Vice-President and President

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Keep a little space in your heart for the improbable. -Elizabeth Warren

RELATED: VA Election 2021: Early Voting Set To Begin In Falls Church