Politics & Government

Profile: Kathy Smith, Sully District School Board Candidate

Sully District school board member thinks big picture when making decisions

At A Glance

  • Born: Lakewood, N.J.
  • Education: bachelor's in sociology and elementary education Muhlenberg College (Pa.)
  • Family: married; four children
  • Occupation: former teacher
  • Public office: school board member since 2002

For Kathy Smith, public service comes naturally. The oldest of four kids, she watched her father serve as a school board member, township commitee member, mayor and police commissioner of her hometown. Her mother worked as a high school teacher.

After graduating from Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, Smith began teaching — both in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia — until she had four kids in six years and decided to focus her talents at home.

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But that did not keep her from being active within the public sector. She joined the PTA of her oldest son's school as soon as he started kindergarten, served as president of the PTA for four years at the elementary level, one year at the middle school level and two years at the high school level.

She participated in various committees within Fairfax County Public Schools, helping to make decisions on things such as SOLs and administrative hires.

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She immersed herself in FCPS long ago, and joining the school board in 2002 was the natural next step.

"I'm very passionate about public education. I think public education is one of the things that makes our country so wonderful," said the 56-year-old Sully District school board member, who has been endorsed by the Fairfax County Democratic Committee. "I think it's the great equalizer. It's where every kid's opportunity lies."

Her approach to serving on the school board has remained the same since she was first elected nearly 10 years ago: Think big picture.

By doing so, she believes it allows her to be more open-minded on immediate decisions because she'll be thinking about whether the decision will help the school system get to where it needs to go years from now.

"Obviously, things come up that need attention as quickly as possible and I respond to those as responsibly as possible," Smith said. "But I don't come with a bias that there are single issues I am running on. I'm a firm believer that we're using people's hard-earned dollars to run our school system, so I want to ensure when we do things, we're doing makes sense for us to do. I want to make sure I can tell the public, 'We're using your resources in the best way possible to achieve the greatest outcome we can achieve.'"

To her, thinking big picture is also about thinking beyond the Sully District. Each district doesn't have its own budget nor do members elected to district seats have any type of individual power within that district, she said. Therefore, she has to make decisions as a school board member using the knowledge of her district.

She attends about 30 PTA meetings each year, gathering opinions and concerns from people she might not otherwise hear from because they don't regularly attend school board meetings or join outside schools-related organizations.

In meeting with constituents, she listens for individual problems that likely represent many more families within the school system, then brings the issue up to the school board and FCPS staff to gather research on whether change is necessary and possible for the whole county, not just Sully District.

Smith, who served as chairman of the board from 2009 to 2011, is aware of how closely this year's race is being watched. She said she believes the school board is being perceived as unresponsive, a claim with which she disagrees.

"I think we are listening. Do we change things as soon as some people would like? No. We have to make sure we do our due diligence, to look at the impact from all sides," Smith said. "I think we are responsive, maybe not in the same timeline that advocates think we should be, but we have to be responsible in how we make changes and effect change."

 


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