When it comes to proposed revisions to the Arlington School Board’s policy governing its own membership, one local resident has an intriguing proposition.
Why not, this resident suggested, require that only parents of current students in the county school system be allowed to serve on the School Board?
The comment was brought up by Steven Marku, the school system’s legislative director, during a School Board briefing on policy revisions held April 11.
Marku, who didn’t identify the respondent, noted that it was Virginia law, not Arlington School Board policy, that governed who can serve on the body.
So far, so good. But then, no doubt in an effort to be helpful, Marku inadvertently overreached.
“All residents of Arlington are eligible to serve on the School Board,” he said.
That would be news to § 22.1-29 of the Code of Virginia, which requires that anyone elected or appointed to a school board must be a qualified voter as well as a resident.
That requirement bars non-citizens plus those who aren’t registered to vote for whatever reason to qualify for ballot access.
The state code is silent on requiring school board members to be parents, and any effort by the General Assembly to either require, or give a local option, to the idea probably would end up in a legal challenge.
The same public commenter also desired that School Board members be prohibited from campaigning for other elected offices while serving on the School Board.
That also likely would run afoul of a number of constitutional rights.
Although others have had interest in doing so, the last School Board member to successfully move up the political food chain was Libby Garvey, who in 2012 was promoted by voters from School Board to County Board.
In the three or four decades before that, a number of School Board members have moved on to both County Board (Mary Hynes) or General Assembly (Judy Connally) service. Mary Margaret Whipple completed a trifecta, advancing from School Board to County Board to state Senate.
In the 1950s, Bob Peck started on the County Board for a term and then served on the School Board before leaving politics behind to concentrate on his eponymous Chevrolet dealership.
