Snow days, Fairfax County memes and social media clout—these are the most well-known aspects of school board member Ryan McElveen throughout FCPS. But he plans to bring much more to the table if elected as the chairman for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

The chairman has the duties of various party officials, acting as the mayor of the county. All the candidates’ hard work to obtain this position will be reflected by the outcome of the Fairfax County General and Special Election on Nov. 5, 2019.

McElveen’s friendly presence on social media has already captivated the attention of students across Fairfax County.

“He’s popular because he announces all the snow days, so obviously students care a lot about that. He’s also a reachable and kind of a funny person on Twitter and Instagram,” junior Sarah Gu said.

Beyond his lighthearted online presence, McElveen has ideas to address problems that have affected the county for years.

“During my school board experience for the past eight years, we have seen underfunded budgets for education which [have] led us to program [cuts], fees for students and lagging teacher salaries,” McElveen said.

One of McElveen’s main objectives to improve Fairfax County is strengthening the education system.

“My first passion will always be education, and as county chairman, I will hold the purse strings for every program in the county, and education is the biggest part of that,” McElveen said.

Beyond education, Fairfax County suffers from several other issues including economic divisions, which McElveen hopes to resolve.

“I think decisions in the past have created a stark divide [in the county], which is essentially two Fairfaxes,” McElveen said. “There are socioeconomic divisions, racial divisions, all sorts of divisions.”

McElveen wants to address many issues that have recently had a large impact on numerous schools within the county. The industry average for renovating buildings is 25 years, yet FCPS buildings are being renovated every 37 years on average due to a deficit in funding.

“We continue to push the Board of Supervisors to give us more bond funding for schools, and as chairman, that’s something I’ll prioritize,” McElveen said.

McElveen is facing tough competition as three other experienced candidates are running for the position—Jeff McKay, Tim Chapman and Alicia Plerhoples.
“What I would say is that I am an underdog in this race. You know, a lot of students know me, but the people that usually vote in these elections tend to be an older demographic,” McElveen said.

Adults in Fairfax County may have different opinions towards McElveen’s popularity in comparison to students.

“I think that it would be a popular vote among students, but I’m not sure if his popularity extends to parents as much,” computer science teacher Lesley Frew said.

Even though McElveen faces a number of challenges as he runs for county chairman, he has a positive outlook for the future.

“You just have to put one foot before the next and power on until you eventually reach [your goal],” McElveen said. “Go off and do great things.”