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When it comes to the boundary issue...
Vote Tom Wilson for Sully District
Voices of Fairfax undertook an endorsement process because community members repeatedly asked who, based upon our research, would best represent their concerns.  This has been a time-consuming process, full of intense and respectful debate with input from residents throughout Fairfax County.  We appreciate the time candidates provided in responding to our questionnaire, meeting with us, participating in debates, and making themselves available at community events.  We encourage you to exercise your VOICE at the ballot box, and we look forward to working with the new School Board.
Tom Wilson is an incumbent running for re-election. As one of the few “Dads" on the board, Tom fights for public engagement in school board meetings with a clear way of speaking common sense. He believes the public should be considered first and foremost and never kept at arms length.
tomwilson4schoolboard.com
✓   Against proposed boundary policy 8130.8
The proposed policy 8130.8 was almost voted in by the current school board without input from the community, and would have given the board power to move more children without public engagement and rezone students based on their socio-economic and/or racial characteristics.

Tom states in our questionnaire “I am opposed to both how these changes were made and the changes themselves….I believe the public is right to be alarmed that this could mean almost anything, depending on who is in charge of the school system. The policy does not explain what composition is ideal or how that composition would be achieved.”​
​✓   Supports keeping families in their neighborhood school of choice
The current school board majority is interested in potentially rezoning your neighborhood out of your school of choice, ignoring the impact on your community and property values, in order to distribute the demographics across the county. The current board wanted to remove from the considerations for a boundary change the impact on neighborhoods and overall impact on families and students among other concerning changes.

Tom states clearly that, “I will prioritize neighborhood schools because I believe that neighborhood schools help parents and students participate more in the life of the school.” He is particularly concerned about children that do not fit neatly into a racial classification. He has a daughter from China but he and his wife are caucasian. He asks how would the board classify his daughter - as
Asian or Caucasian? How would bi-racial children be classified?
✓   Offers innovative short term and long term solutions for overcrowding
Tom believes that, “the presence of so many trailers at our school buildings is testament to the fact that previous School Boards did not work together adequately with the Board of Supervisors to plan for the future growth in Fairfax County.” More coordination with the Board of Supervisors is necessary.
​✓   ​Advocates for active, ongoing community input
Tom criticizes the current school board majority for using “tactics to stall, obfuscate, and shut down public comment and free speech. As he states on this website, “The public should be considered first and foremost. We need public engagement. Right now, we are keeping the public at arm’s length. There are too few spots for the public to speak. The public is given too little time. We spend too much time talking about things the public does not care about and too little time having the conversations they want to hear. Too many sensitive and controversial topics are hidden behind closed doors…These are all aspects of Board meetings I would change if I could.”
​✓   Tom has 4 children who are current or former FCPS students
Tom is the only father on the School Board who has a child currently attending FCPS schools.

Right now, Tom is one of only two members of the school board, himself and Elizabeth Shultz, who have children attending FCPS. We need to keep a parent like Tom on the board to continue to represent current families.
​✓   ​​Tom is an accomplished lawyer and small business owner
Tom graduated from Lake Braddock High School in 1984, Cornell University in 1988, and Northwestern School of Law in 1995. After working for big law firms for several years, Tom opened his solo law practice in 2007, which he continues to run.