An at-large school board candidate emerges

Joy Jiandani, who works as a child behavior educator and is a PTA leader, has begun running for one of the countywide seats on the Fairfax County School Board. She lives in Springfield. Annandale Today reports she is expected to meet strong competition in a Democratic primary next spring. All school board members and county supervisors face voters in 2027, and the article says the three current at-large members, Ryan McElveen, Ilryong Moon and Kyle McDaniel, have not said whether they will seek another term.

According to her campaign website, Jiandani grew up in Queens with a single mother and was the first in her family to finish high school and college. She holds a master's degree in bilingual special education from George Washington University. She has taught in Washington, D.C., Prince George's County and Alexandria, and she started a behavioral health practice in 2020.

She says schools should give every student fair access to opportunities, resources and individualized support. She questions the district's recent $623,000 purchase of a quantum computer for Skyview High School given talk of budget limits and larger classes. She opposes assigning teachers to metal detector screening at some high schools, saying it harms trust with students. At an Oct. 9 hearing on a proposed Dominion Energy/NextEra merger, she said schools need dependable, affordable power, citing more than 1,400 power interruptions for district students since July 2025. The article says state Sens. Stella Pekarsky and Carroll Foy have endorsed her.