Steve Stuban is running for FFX school board member-at-large

[Anonymous]

I found out this afternoon when I drove by an electoral sign on route 50 and I cried. I'm amazed at the energy this family is putting into making life better for the rest of our kids after the tragedy they have gone through.

[Anonymous]

who is steve stuban? His related to General Stuban?

[Anonymous]

His son, Nick, committed suicide earlier this year after going through the FCPS disciplinary process for drug possession (even though the substance he had was not illegal).

[Anonymous]

I'm very sorry for his loss, but personal tragedy doesn't particularly qualify him for the School Board, which has many issues to handle besides student disciplinary policy.

[Anonymous]

I, too, tip my hat to Steve Stuban for his selflessness and courage. He unquestionably has tremendous credentials to offer as a member of the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) School Board. Here are some of Steve's qualifications: B.S., U.S. Military Academy; M.S. and PhD, George Washington University (Systems Engineering); Professional Engineer (PE); served 24 years, retiring as a LTC, as a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officer; DoD Program Manager of billion Dollar projects; former Asst. Professor, Univ. of Iowa; former Deputy Commandant, DoD Imagery and Mapping School; and one of the key leaders forcing change to FCPS's draconian zero tolerance discipline policy. Please check out Steve's website: http://www.stubanforschoolboard.com/, as well as its link to his Facebook page. I'm confident that Steve will continue his efforts to restore faith in our school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm very sorry for his loss, but personal tragedy doesn't particularly qualify him for the School Board, which has many issues to handle besides student disciplinary policy.

Um...actually, FFX's disciplinary policy is a big concern in our household, and I regret that it took this horrible tragedy for someone to stand up to it. The issues faced by the school board aren't so arcane that a reasonably intelligent and educated person can't come up to speed extremely quickly, so I would vote for conviction and courage any day over, say, past PTA or some nebulous "task force" experience that frankly isn't necessarily relevant or up to date.

[Anonymous]

Steve Stuban has all the "objective" experiential and academic credentials one could wish for from a school board member. Key among these is his empirical, data-based approach to teeing-up issues and solving problems -- something you'd expect from a professional engineer and PhD in engineering. However, his most important attributes are that he has moral courage and is a leader. Steve will ask the tough questions of the superintendent and other board members. He will be energetic and persistent in following up to ensure that the community's interests are served. Those, like I, who have watched Steve work together with community groups to bring about long overdue changes to FCPS's discipline policy know that he is the dedicated leader we need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm very sorry for his loss, but personal tragedy doesn't particularly qualify him for the School Board, which has many issues to handle besides student disciplinary policy.

I'm not acquainted with the candidate but if the credentials that 23:55 has posted are correct, he is far more qualified than a good portion of the incumbents. If you look at their credentials on the FCPS website, many of them don't have a whole lot more to show than PTA service and appointments to committees of various kinds (whooppee). If you read the candidacy pages of the challengers that have already received party endorsements, they are virtually identical from one candidate to the next (eg. we will restore honors courses and use your tax money more efficiently, etc.)

This isn't to detract from some of the worthwhile things some of them have accomplished (eg. Fairgrade) or the value of these goals, but honestly, none of this is rocket science.

Also, given that a school board position is often used as a springboard to higher political office, I'd also much rather vote for the candidate with moral courage, as a PP said, who is in it for the issues rather than for someone who is looking to do this as a way to pad his/her political resume.

[Anonymous]

I looked at the candidate's web page and wasn't impressed. A lot of material about his son and wife with ALS, and very little on the issues.

Not to say he might not be better than some of the current School Board members, but there are some very strong At-Large candidates this year. He won't get my vote.

[Anonymous]

The PP may vote as he or she wishes. However, as those following Fairfax County Schools closely know, the key, overarching issue we have is that the school board is not setting the agenda and, instead, largely (with some exceptions like Tina Hone, Patty Reed and Sandy Evans) rubber stamps whatever the superintendent puts before it. Steve Stuban's main qualifications are that (1) he has the intellect and professional experience to address the issues facing our schools and (2) the guts and drive to stand up to the FCPS administration when it strays. And, it has often strayed . . . e.g., the Clifton Elementray School closing debacle, unfair grading policies and the gold-plated Gatehouse administrative office building fiasco, to name but a few.

[Anonymous]

Here is some food for thought for a PP regarding issues FCPS faces and Steve Stuban's experience and qualifications to address them:

- Curriculum and Teaching: Steve was an Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa; and he was the Deputy Commandant of the DoD Imagery and Mapping School. These teaching and educational administration positions are directly relevant to issues the school board faces daily.

- Construction/Refurbishment: Steve is a professional engineer (PE) and has a B.S. in engineering from the U.S. Military Academy and a M.S. and PhD in systems engineering from George Washington University. He also served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for 24, years, retiring as a LTC. His service included multiple construction and facilities maintenance postings.

- Budgeting: Steve has managed multi-billion Dollar budgets, including most recently as a lead engineer for the construction of the new Geospatial Intelligence Agency headquarters building at Ft. Belvoir. His PhD dissertation focused on reducing construction risks and construction costs.

I've known Steve for 30 years. What you see is what you get. And what you get is an honorable, intelligent man who will do more for the children and other citizens of our County than any other candidate for school board.

[Anonymous]

There are other at-large candidates who are more than prepared to take on Jack Dale; know more than Stuban does about other issues that the School Board has to handle; and aren't dealing with such difficult personal tragedy.

I wish him the best, but don't see him as especially qualified, and would be concerned that he would be unable to give the position adequate attention. I have been around adults with ALS. It is a truly debilitating disease that demands a great deal of other family members.

Vellkoff, McElveen, Dai-Kendall and Brown-Kaplan would all be better in my opinion, and people wouldn't go around treating them with kid gloves because of their personal circumstances, either. Stuban couldn't even get the local Republicans to endorse him. I'd be happy if he were on a task force on student discipline, but that's about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Steve Stuban has all the "objective" experiential and academic credentials one could wish for from a school board member. Key among these is his empirical, data-based approach to teeing-up issues and solving problems -- something you'd expect from a professional engineer and PhD in engineering. However, his most important attributes are that he has moral courage and is a leader. Steve will ask the tough questions of the superintendent and other board members. He will be energetic and persistent in following up to ensure that the community's interests are served. Those, like I, who have watched Steve work together with community groups to bring about long overdue changes to FCPS's discipline policy know that he is the dedicated leader we need.

Professional background sounds like Phil Niedzelski-Eichner's. Phil was a very smart guy who was on the School Board for a while until he got a position with the Federal Government. He was thoughtful, and quite ineffective. Patty Reed, his successor, doesn't have as spiffy a resume, yet is much better because she spends a lot of time at meetings listening to parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Steve Stuban has all the "objective" experiential and academic credentials one could wish for from a school board member. Key among these is his empirical, data-based approach to teeing-up issues and solving problems -- something you'd expect from a professional engineer and PhD in engineering. However, his most important attributes are that he has moral courage and is a leader. Steve will ask the tough questions of the superintendent and other board members. He will be energetic and persistent in following up to ensure that the community's interests are served. Those, like I, who have watched Steve work together with community groups to bring about long overdue changes to FCPS's discipline policy know that he is the dedicated leader we need.

Professional background sounds like Phil Niedzelski-Eichner's. Phil was a very smart guy who was on the School Board for a while until he got a position with the Federal Government. He was thoughtful, and quite ineffective. Patty Reed, his successor, doesn't have as spiffy a resume, yet is much better because she spends a lot of time at meetings listening to parents.

I don't see how the "polished professional background leads to ineffectiveness" computes. You seem to be suggesting that the person's background doesn't matter as long as he/she is a good listener. I don't know much about Steve Stuban but it seems to me that he has been extremly effective in a short amount of time in getting changes to FFX's atrocious discipline policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are other at-large candidates who are more than prepared to take on Jack Dale; know more than Stuban does about other issues that the School Board has to handle; and aren't dealing with such difficult personal tragedy.

I wish him the best, but don't see him as especially qualified, and would be concerned that he would be unable to give the position adequate attention. I have been around adults with ALS. It is a truly debilitating disease that demands a great deal of other family members.

Vellkoff, McElveen, Dai-Kendall and Brown-Kaplan would all be better in my opinion, and people wouldn't go around treating them with kid gloves because of their personal circumstances, either. Stuban couldn't even get the local Republicans to endorse him. I'd be happy if he were on a task force on student discipline, but that's about it.

Interesting. Could you please further explain why?
I looked at these candidates' pages and I guess I'm not impressed with the first three.
Vellkoff is a software engineer and his school and "operational" experience appears to be a position on the PTA. PTA experience is really inadequate to deal with the budget issues of a huge bureaucracy.
McElveen does not seem to have operational experience either.
Dai-Kendall's page looks impressive for about 3 seconds because she contrasts a 7% increase in enrollment and teaching staff to a 47% increase in the budget during the last decade, until you realize she's talking about nominal, not real numbers. The cost of living increase across the country as a whole during that time was on the order of 26%, which would result in a 28% increase taking the additional enrollment into account. And I don't have local numbers but I would be willing to bet that the inflation increase in this area was much higher considering the staggering levels reached during the housing bubble and the relatively low unemployment rate. She seems to have absolutely no idea what she's talking about and she's definitely off my list.
Brown-Kaplan is the only one of the four that stood out as having excellent legislative/ bureaucratic experience, but she also seems short on operational experience running what is in essence a large nonprofit.