School Board race outcomes indicate Jason Kamras is safe for another four years

Election results from Tuesday’s School Board races indicate schools Superintendent Jason Kamras will likely get another four years in Richmond when contract renewal discussions begin this winter.

Voters ushered in at least four new members — Matthew Percival in the 1st District, Katie Ricard in the 2nd District, Ali Faruk in the 3rd District and E.J. “Emmett Jay” Jafari in the 8th District — who have said they believe Kamras should remain at the helm of Richmond Public Schools. 

“Our student outcomes are moving in the right direction. That’s why I support keeping him,” said Faruk at a League of Women Voters forum this September. 

“I believe the gains that RPS has made has shown that the leadership is working,” Ricard told The Richmonder. 

And Percival at the September forum said Kamras “has done a great job of turning things around.” 

“I feel that he’s been working in an environment where he hasn’t had free rein,” he said. “I would like to see what Kamras is capable of doing in an unfettered environment.” 

Jafari has said that while he has some concerns about issues within the division, “that does not rise to the level of nor warrant superintendent termination conversation.” 

Kamras will need five members of the nine-person board to back him for another four years. When added to existing support on the board, four new votes would push him over the threshold. 

Seventh District member Cheryl Burke, who will return to the board this January after an unopposed run, has been an ally of the superintendent throughout her term. And 5th District member Stephanie Rizzi, who successfully defended her seat against Mamie Taylor Tuesday, has also indicated she’s leaning toward keeping him, saying that “as long as the superintendent is making progress towards the goals and is improving, they should stay as long as they deliver the results. …Right now, all of the results are on the upswing.” 

The superintendent, who came to Richmond from D.C. Public Schools in February 2018 as the highest-paid chief in the division’s history, has had a rocky history with the School Board. Beginning in 2020, a five-person majority routinely opposed his administration’s recommendations, and the possibility that his contract would not be renewed in 2021 led to the emergence of a “Keep Kamras” campaign among some Richmond parents. 

His job also apparently came under threat in August 2022, when the state released dismal post-pandemic test scores for the division. Scores have since risen, with five new Richmond schools accredited by the state this year. 

Earlier this year, the Richmond Crusade for Voters, a group that emerged in response to Massive Resistance to increase Black voting power and continues to issue influential — and sometimes controversial — endorsements in local elections, called for his removal. 

Kamras, however, has also developed a loyal following among many parents during his tenure, and recent years have seen some improvement in the superintendent-School Board relationship.

Rizzi, who in the early years of her term frequently voted against Kamras’ recommendations, said in an October interview that she had seen significant changes in how the superintendent leads the division and interacts with the School Board.

“I have seen from him more of an interest in working collaboratively with City Council and with the School Board to arrive at policy decisions that are going to lead us in the right way or lead our kids in the right way,” she said. “As long as a superintendent’s performance goals are met, then I can’t argue to release them.”