After current FCPS schools superintendent Scott Brabrand announced his retirement set to take effect after the 2021-2022 school year, a new superintendent has been needed to fill his place. The new candidate set to take Dr. Brabrand’s place is Dr. Michelle Reid, a former superintendent from Washington State, who won Superintendent of the Year by the AASA in the 2020-2021 season. She also won the school board confirmation vote by 9-3.

Reid’s confirmation has been causing controversy both inside and outside of FCPS. Before her confirmation vote, many students from different high schools, including McLean High School, walked out in protest. Many opponents state that the only student-led town hall that questioned Reid had just 11 people, which cannot fully represent the 180,000 total students who go to FCPS schools. Protesters have also noted that Northshore School District, the area which Reid previously worked in, is a majority white area with only a fraction of the students that FCPS has. In fact, there are actually twice the amount of English-learning students in FCPS than there are total students in Northshore.

Even the president of the Fairfax County NAACP, or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, has stated that Reid must have a proven record of meeting needs of English learners, improving graduation rates, and closing the achievement gap among other qualifications if she wants to truly serve the whole FCPS community.

Despite all of the people against this choice, FCPS promotes Dr. Reid’s achievements on their website, including how she established Northshore’s Racial and Educational Justice Department. Reid will serve as superintendent from July of this year until 2026.