On Thursday (July 10), the Alexandria School Board will elect its chair and vice chair for the 2025-2026 school year.
Last month, current Vice Chair Kelly Carmichael Booz announced that she would not seek the vice chair or chair positions, leaving the question of her succession open. Rief is currently supported by several Board Members for reelection to a third term, according to sources.
Rief was first elected to the School Board in 2018 and was unanimously chosen as chair by her fellow board members in 2023 and 2024. She took the helm after former Board Member Meagan Alderton served as chair for two years.
Booz announced that she was stepping away from Board leadership in the June 12 School Board meeting. She complimented the work of Rief and Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt.
Booz said she was grateful that Rief “is interested in running for Chair again to help with continuity during this transition and to keep building on the so many processes that we’ve worked on together with Dr. Kay-Wyatt.”
Booz continued, “This has not been an easy decision. Serving in this role has been an incredible honor—one I’ve taken seriously, and one I’m deeply grateful for.”
Aside from Booz and Rief, there are only four School Board members with significant experience governing the school system. Board Member Tim Beaty was elected in a special election in Jan. 2024, and Members Christopher Harris and Ashley Simpson Baird were both elected in 2021 and reelected last fall. Members Ryan Reyna, Alexander Scioscia, Donna Kenley, and Abdulahi Abdalla were elected last fall.
Booz challenged her fellow Board members to work over the remainder of their terms on “long-overdue structural change,” like shifting terms of office from three to four years, and holding staggered elections.
“Continuity and Institutional knowledge is critical to strong governance, and we all know the costs—practically and relationally—when it resets every three years,” she said. Council willing to seek an Alexandria city charter change within that same three-year window, and a General Assembly willing to vote to support a city charter change before a new election structure can take place.”
ALXnow has reached out to Rief for comment.
