PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — Alyson Satterwhite is the first person to file her candidacy for Chairman of the Prince Willam County School Board for a November 2018 Special Election.
The current Gainesville District representative on the Board since 2012, she say’s she’ll run on a record of accomplishments.
“I am excited today to announce my campaign for Prince William County School Board Chairman-at-Large,” stated Satterwhite in an email. “Prince William County is a very special place that attracts families from all around the world, and I love this community. The quality of life, public safety, and vicinity to government service and economic opportunities are why so many families choose to locate here; it’s why my family chose to retire here from the military 13 years ago.”
Satterwhite pushed for some $3 million in new funds to this year’s school division budget to hire school counselors to evaluate student mental health and promote school safety.
Her decision to run for the Chairman job in a Special Election to be held in November comes after Ryan Sawyers unexpectedly resigned earlier this month. Satterwhite did not seek temporary appointment to the seat, which will be made next month.
She was often at odds with Sawyers and called for his resignation during Sawyers’s two years on the board. She opposed him when he tried to remove legal counsel from the Board, and when he refused to accept some $21 million to build a larger than planned high school in the western end of the county to ease overcrowding.
Satterwhite says she wants to make the School Board less partisan while focusing on reducing the number of students per classroom (Prince William County regularly ranks as having the highest class sizes in the Washington, D.C. region), increase fiscal responsibility, and transparency with the public.
Prince William County elections spokesman Matthew Wilson said Thursday that Satterwhite had field one of the four pieces of paper required for her candidacy, a state of origination. This form is required for candidates raising cash for the campaign and is due within 10 days of the first donation received by the campaign.
She’ll still have to file an official declaration of candidacy form, and statement of economic interest.
So far, she’s the only candidate on file to run in the November Special Election scheduled for Nov. 6. Whoever is elected will complete the final two years of Sawyer’s term ending in 2019.
Occoquan District School Board member Lillie Jessie was appointed interim Chairman while the Board reviews candidates to fill the temp role, a job Jessie doesn’t want.
