McLean Resident Runs for School Board Seat

McLean resident Greg Brandon, a single dad of two, declared his candidacy for an at-large seat on the Fairfax County School Board yesterday afternoon.

"Parents, teachers and students need an active voice on the school board and I'm that voice," said Brandon, a retired Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy and former president and treasurer of the Chesterbrook Elementary School.

Brandon announced his candidacy at the home of friends on Kirby Road before a crowd of about 50 people that included Dranesville Supervisor John Foust, Dranesville School Board member Jane Strauss, school board member Sandra Evans, of the Mason District, state Del. Kaye Kory, D-Annandale and North Springfield, the president of the Fairfax Teachers Union, representatives of the Fairfax County Democratic Party, the Fairfax Education Coalition  and school advocates.

All 12 seats on the county school board are up for election this year. Three of them are at-large seats. This is a nonpartisan election.

Brandon, a native of Elkton, Md, is a graduate of of Elkton High School, and Washington College in Chestertown, Md. He also holds an MBA from Marymount University and an MA from George Washington University, he said.

His service in the U.S. Navy brought he and his family to McLean. His wife , U.S. Navy Capt. Kathleen McGrath, the first woman commander of a U.S. warship, died of cancer in 2002.

Their children now attend Longfellow Middle School.

"We need to restore some credibility to the school board," he said in an interview after his formal announcement. "We need to include people not listened to . . . I don't like the idea of insularity. We need to break down some of these walls."

Also attending the announcement were Dr. Deborah Jackson, principal of McLean High School, and Carole Kihm, principal of Longfellow.

John Farrell, chairman of the education committee of the Fairfax County Democrats, also attended. His committee recommends policy he said. But the party will endorse candidates at its May 24 meeting at Falls Church High School.

The school board election is a nonpartisan election but both political parties endorse candidates.

"I'm excited that we have so many qualified candidates who are prepared to take the Fairfax County Public Schools in a new direction--- more openness, transparency, reforming the discipline policy and greater respect for parent advocates," Farrell said.