Two former PTA presidents seek 2nd District school board seat, differ on superintendent

For both Mariah White and Katie Ricard, the path to power passes through the parent-teacher association.

White, who was first elected to represent the 2nd District on the School Board in 2020, became a prominent local voice as she sought to reorganize Carver Elementary School’s PTA in the years surrounding a cheating scandal that tarnished the school’s once-shining academic reputation. 

Now she’s being challenged by Ricard, the head of Fox Elementary’s PTA at the time a devastating fire gutted the school in February 2022. 

Ricard is pointing to that experience, as well as her years as a teacher and administrator, as key reasons voters should choose her at the polls Nov. 5. 

“We have both been PTA presidents,” Ricard acknowledged, adding, “but I was PTA president the year of the fire, and that really taught me a lot about what support our teachers need and also how to bring a community together and focus on an issue.” 

White meanwhile said in emailed responses to questions from The Richmonder that she’s offering “proven educational leadership, a collaborative approach, and a clear vision for achieving equity and excellence” while also being committed to transparency and accountability. 

The contest is one of five for open School Board seats that is being closely watched this year. To date, Ricard has outstripped White in fundraising, bringing in almost $18,000 to her opponent’s $1,400, according to data from the Virginia Public Access Project. She’s also garnered the endorsement of Richmonders for Effective Governance of Schools, a group that emerged earlier this year to push for a more “governance-minded” School Board after several years of highly public infighting among members of the body. 

White has racked up two valuable endorsements of her own, from the Richmond Crusade for Voters and the Richmond Education Association, the local teachers union.

A retired U.S. Army major who now works for the U.S. Department of Defense and holds a master’s in education, White has two adopted sons who attend Richmond Public Schools. Before she unseated former School Board member Scott Barlow in 2020, she ran two campaigns for the seat in 2012 and 2016, but lost both times. 

She is a particular advocate for the Richmond Success Academy, the division’s alternative school. White frequently brings up the school, which draws students from all around Richmond but is located in the 2nd District, during board meetings.

Ricard spent 13 years as a teacher and administrator, most recently as an assistant principal at Monacan High School in Chesterfield County, and holds a master’s in educational leadership. She currently works as the director of youth ministry for St. James Episcopal Church, while two of her three children attend Richmond Public Schools. 

“I took this job at the church serving in youth ministry because it provided the flexibility I needed for my family,” she said. “But I miss thinking about public education. I miss talking about how to get kids to graduation. I love problem solving with limited resources.” 

Kamras a major topic in race

The two candidates appear to have different views of schools Superintendent Jason Kamras. 

An outspoken member of the School Board, White was part of the majority in a 5-4 voting bloc that routinely opposed the recommendations of Kamras’ administration for several years, including votes to block a proposed rezoning of the overcrowded River City Middle School (a decision the board later reversed) and to shift responsibility for school construction from the city to the schools. 

After the Huguenot High School graduation shooting in June 2023, White was among the members who voted to commission a third-party investigation into what occurred, suggesting that Kamras be suspended if it was not done. She later voted against publicly releasing the report.  

In 2021, White voted against a four-year renewal of Kamras’ contract. Asked about whether she believed Kamras should remain in the role when it comes up for reconsideration next year, White said in an email that she “would consider factors such as student academic growth, progress in addressing facilities challenges, effectiveness in building collaborative relationships, and demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion.” 

“If I determine that Superintendent Kamras is the right leader to drive the necessary improvements and transformations, I would support his continued tenure,” she wrote. “However, if I conclude that new leadership is needed to address the district’s persistent challenges, I would not hesitate to recommend a change in Superintendent.” 

More than that, she hasn’t said. At a League of Women Voters candidate forum this September that was moderated by The Richmonder, White backed up 6th District member Shonda Harris-Muhammed’s assertion that board members cannot publicly evaluate the superintendent’s performance. 

“Closed door means closed door. When you’re on this board, you do not come out and speak on behalf of your employee,” she said. “The superintendent works for this board. We can’t just come out and say, Oh, we’re going to keep him or we’re not. We’re going to decide that as a board.” 

Ricard, in contrast, has said the board should retain Kamras. 

“When I would evaluate my teachers every year, we would look at what had they done to move the arrow on student success,” she said at the same forum, echoing views she outlined in an interview with The Richmonder. “So I think about that with our superintendent. How has under his leadership our students’ arrow of success moved? And it has. Chronic absenteeism is down. Our [Standards of Learning] scores are up. And our graduation rate is up.

“That is success,” she continued. “The other thing I would just comment on is removing a superintendent creates more instability in our schools as we go through that transition. And once again, if we are having success, is it worth the instability of a new superintendent? I would say no.” 

Priorities

White has outlined five priorities if reelected: increasing student test scores and graduation rates by 10%, renovating at least five schools annually, hosting quarterly town halls and establishing a parent advisory council, conducting annual audits and aligning 90% of the budget with strategic priorities, and strengthening governance by establishing clear goals and quarterly progress reviews.

“The school system has a dedicated staff but faces challenges related to low academic performance and outdated facilities,” she wrote in an email. “Our immediate focus must be on improving student outcomes and modernizing infrastructure.” 

She acknowledged that the School Board has “faced challenges related to cohesion and strategic direction” in recent years, saying there’s room for improvement in how transparent the board is as well as how it collaborates and sets priorities. 

Ricard too said she believes there’s “a lack of collaboration sometimes” on the board.

“You’ve seen it in School Board meetings where they lose their temper with each other,” she said. “I haven’t seen that as much recently, but even last year. And I think sometimes the superintendent comes and isn’t sure what decision is going to be made, and I think that lack of trust between everyone sometimes prevents the collaboration that needs to happen.” 

Her key priorities include greater accessibility to 2nd District residents, expanding career and technical education and improving teacher retention. 

“The teacher shortage is a real thing. It’s not just something Richmond is dealing with; all school districts are dealing with it,” she said. “But Richmond is not necessarily retaining teachers either. They come in for a year, they get overwhelmed, they leave the field or go to another district. So we are constantly retraining staff. And it just feels counterintuitive.” 

At the League of Women Voters forum, she was even more blunt: “It makes no sense to me that we hire incredible young teachers right out of school and then they leave us two years later. That’s our fault. We have not supported them.”

For students, she said career and technical education offers an “underutilized” way to keep young people engaged in their education while also gaining the skills they need for adulthood. 

“This current generation is looking at college skeptically. It costs a lot of money, and very often they graduate and don’t even use what their degree is for,” said Ricard. 

This story has been updated to note that only two of Ricard's three children attend RPS schools.