Earlier this year, Megan Sawant – a rising senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology – was elected by the countywide Superintendent’s Advisory Council (SAC) to serve a one-year term as student representative to the Fairfax County School Board.
“It is an honor,” Sawant said at her first board meeting in July, where she succeeded Rida Karim, a junior at Woodson High School, and laid out some of her priorities for the coming year.
Sawant becomes the 54th student representative to the School Board in a line traced back to the 1970s. In its most early incarnation, the post had voting powers, but now it is advisory in nature.
In her remarks at the July 11 School Board meeting, Sawant said one of her key goals for the coming year was to “create two-way communication between students and the board.”
“It’s not just about bringing student voices to the table but also about taking the board’s decisions back to the students,” she said. “My voice and my role don’t serve their purpose without the collective student voice, and hearing from the important backgrounds they have. For the student voice to be effective, it’s crucial they know what happens at the School Board and understand the thought process behind the decisions made.”
“It’s not just about representing the student voice, but also about understanding the diverse experiences of students across our county,” Sawant added. “What one student experiences in one region can be vastly different from what another student experiences in a different region.”
On Sawant’s short-term to-do list is aiding in the selection of student representatives to a host of School Board advisory committees in time for the start of school. More than 50 students applied for various posts, she noted.
“Reading the students’ passionate responses about their experiences has been inspiring and fills me with confidence about the perspective the selected members will bring,” she said.
As part of standard School Board procedure, time is allocated at each formal meeting for remarks by the student representative, who also can participate in discussions at the dais.
Across Virginia, localities are allowed, but not required, to have student members serving on their School Boards. Legislation by Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington-Alexandria) that would have required student representation on school boards did not succeed in the 2024 General Assembly session.
