Fairfax County’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People alleges that finalists for outgoing superintendent Scott Brabrand’s role may not be able to meet the demands of the public school system.
In a statement to community members, the organization said it would share the names of two candidates for superintendent — Cheryl Logan and Michelle Reid, both doctoral degree holders and superintendents of public school systems — because the school district did not include them in the candidate selection process.
“[While] we have heard back from a few, we are disappointed that their reaction was not about the surprising data or comparative characteristics of the divisions, but rather to express dismay that whistleblowers reached out to us and that we acted on their behalf,” Fairfax NAACP said, in part.
The five-page statement, which relied heavily on public data from both Logan’s and Reid’s respective school districts, highlights the demographic and program differences between school systems.
WTOP reached out to a spokesperson for the Fairfax County school board to confirm the details and respond to claims the county’s NAACP to hire its first Black and second female school system head. The board declined to comment.
“This is a confidential, personnel matter and there will be no further comment,” the spokesperson said.
Nevertheless, the NAACP said that the broad differences between Logan and Reid should be made public in the hopes that the board will make the best decision.
“At a time of unprecedented challenge locally and across the country, we want to do everything we can to assure that our division gets the leader best equipped to hit the ground running,” the organization said.
