Melanie Meren

Melanie Meren

Fairfax County Public Schools, Hunter Mill District

Tenure

2019 - Present

Term ends

2028

Years in position

6

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Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 7, 2023

Education

Bachelor's

State University of New York at Albany, 1999

Graduate

Duke University, 2022

Personal

Profession

Public policy advocate

Contact

Official Facebook

Campaign website

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Melanie Meren is a member of the Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, representing Hunter Mill District. She assumed office on December 12, 2019. Her current term ends on January 1, 2028.

Meren ran for re-election to the Fairfax County Public Schools to represent Hunter Mill District in Virginia. She won in the general election on November 7, 2023.

Meren completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Melanie Meren earned a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Albany in 1999 and a graduate degree from Duke University in 2022. Her career experience includes working as a public policy advocate.

Elections

2023

See also: Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia, elections (2023)

General election

General election for Fairfax County Public Schools, Hunter Mill District

Incumbent Melanie Meren defeated Harry Randall Jackson in the general election for Fairfax County Public Schools, Hunter Mill District on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Melanie Meren (Nonpartisan)	72.4	30,398
	Submit photo	Harry Randall Jackson (Nonpartisan)	27.0	11,325
		Other/Write-in votes	0.6	241

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 41,964
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Paul David Thomas (Nonpartisan)
• Geoffrey Akey (Nonpartisan)

Endorsements

Meren received the following endorsements.

• Frmr. Fairfax Sch. Brd. Memb. Stuart Gibson
• Fairfax County, Va., Democratic Party
• Fairfax County Federation of Teachers
• Fairfax Education Association
• CASA in Action
• Everytown for Gun Safety
• Fairfax County Public Schools Pride
• We the People for Education
• Radhika Murari - Activist
• David Walrod - Fairfax Cnty. Federation of Teachers Pres.

Pledges

Meren signed the following pledges.

• Everytown for Gun Safety

2019

See also: Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia, elections (2019)

General election

General election for Fairfax County Public Schools, Hunter Mill District

Melanie Meren defeated Laura Drain in the general election for Fairfax County Public Schools, Hunter Mill District on November 5, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Melanie Meren (Nonpartisan)	69.9	25,401
		Laura Drain (Nonpartisan)	29.8	10,830
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	127

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 36,358 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2023

Melanie Meren completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Meren's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am an education policy professional, parent, and community advocate who believes that strong schools make a strong community.

Students, families, staff, and residents of Hunter Mill and Fairfax County deserve to be represented by an experienced public servant like myself, who improves access to opportunities for all students in FCPS to fulfill their

destinies for success; strengthens public policy that frames how FCPS uses public resources to reflect its values; and fosters trust, civility, and respect in public service during a turbulent time in American democracy.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Educate all children for their own personal success that cultivates their paths beyond school and into adulthood.
• Fortify our teaching force through appropriate compensation, vital instructional resources and support, and reasonable expectations on teachers’ time.
• Offer safe, human-centered spaces and facilities that inspire learning and create connections among school, community, and the natural environment.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

* Outdoor learning spaces for all students: Obtained $6 Million in state construction funds to place an outdoor learning space in every school!

• Improving literacy instruction for all students: Championed the bi-partisan Virginia Literacy Act of 2022; approved $$$ for adoption of science of reading and new language arts resources.
  
• Examining access and quality of instruction and special education: Authorized audits of academic programs and of special education services to analyze where to best invest in student success.
  
• Funding staff positions to support technology use in learning: Obtained funding for one full-time School Based Technology Specialist (SBTS) per elementary school, where previously it was a part-time position.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I remember seeing the tragedy of the Space Shuttle "Challenger" explode, while watching on TV in my classroom. I was eight. Knowing there was a teacher on board, Christa McAuliffe, made it extra tragic to me at that age, and moreso years later as I grew to prioritize education for myself and my career.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was my dream job - working at the US Department of Education in the nation's capital in 2002, Master’s degree in hand from the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University. Employed in the Elementary and Secondary Education Office for three years, I worked as a civil servant in the heart of the sweeping change ushered in by the No Child Left Behind Act. Traveling to states and meeting with educators showed me the power that education policy has on educators, students, systems, and communities. Seeking a more holistic and effective approach to education became the core tenet to all my future work.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

Please see my campaign website at www.MelanieMeren.com. Thank you.

Who are your constituents?

Please see my official website, at www.FCPS.edu/Meren. Thank you.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Fairfax County Federation of Teachers (local affiliate of AFT)

Fairfax Education Association (local affiliate of NEA)
FCPS Pride

CASA In Action

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Note: Meren submitted the above survey responses to Ballotpedia on September 8, 2023.

Show past responsesHide past responses

April 6 submission

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Melanie Kadlic Meren has a lifelong passion for promoting strong schools to make strong communities.

Melanie’s work to improve education spans decades. As a middle school student growing up on Long Island, NY, she gathered hundreds of peer signatures to oppose school district budget cuts – her first foray into education advocacy. Near the same time, during a family trip to Washington, DC, Melanie envisioned returning to that city one day to promote education policies that help all children.

Melanie achieved that goal when she began her career at the US Department of Education in 2002, Master’s degree in hand from the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University. Employed in the Elementary and Secondary Education Office, she worked as a civil servant in the heart of the sweeping change ushered in by the No Child Left Behind Act. Traveling to states and meeting with educators showed Melanie the power that education policy has on educators, students, systems, and communities. Seeking a more holistic and effective approach to education became the core tenet to all her future work.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Educate all children for their own personal success that cultivates their paths beyond school and into adulthood.
• Fortify our teaching force through appropriate compensation, vital instructional resources and support, and reasonable expectations on teachers’ time
• Offer safe, human-centered spaces and facilities that inspire learning and create connections among school, community, and the natural environment

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Melanie has been an independent communications consultant at MKM Strategies for over 10 years. As a communications, organizational management, and public policy professional, she specializes in local, statewide, and national efforts to strengthen education. She has a particular passion for connecting children with nature and environmental stewardship. She uses her skills in communications, network building, and organizational management to get things done. Melanie prides herself in keeping the joy present in her work, and collaborating alongside others.

Advocacy and community are at the core of her life. Joined by her husband, Drew Meren, the two are active in local government. Melanie is the elementary school PTA Green Team Chair at her children’s school to help support the Eco-Schools program. She is a member of the Fairfax Special Education Parent Teacher Association (SEPTA), the Virginia Association for Environmental Education, and the Fairfax NAACP. Until 2019, she was a Leadership Team member for eight years of NoVA Outside, the alliance for outdoor educators in Northern Virginia.

Melanie completed the prestigious Sorensen Institute’s Political Leaders Program in December 2018, having spent a year exploring policy issues across Virginia.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Note: Meren submitted the above survey responses to Ballotpedia on April 6, 2021.

Other survey responses

Ballotpedia identified the following surveys, interviews, and questionnaires Meren completed for other organizations. If you are aware of a link that should be added, email us.

• Patch
• ACLU Fairfax, 4PublicEducation, Stand and Deliver Virginia
• League of Women Voters
• Fairfax Democrats

2019

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released November 1, 2019

Melanie Meren did not complete Ballotpedia's 2019 Candidate Connection survey.

See also

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