As a parent of four children in the local schools, Chantilly's Carl Cecil wants to become part of Fairfax County's School Board. To do so, he will try to unseat incumbent Kathy Smith as the board representative from Sully District.
"I've been thinking about it for a couple years," he said. "I'm the kind of person who believes that, if something's not right, you should do something about it."
Cecil, 45, has lived in the Sutton Oaks community, nine years, and in Sully, 12 years total. He and wife Karen have three girls and a boy: Kelly, 15, a Chantilly High sophomore; Claire, 14, a Rocky Run eighth-grader; Annie, 8, a Poplar Tree Elementary third-grader and Patrick, almost 6, a kindergartner there.
Cecil's dad was in the Army, so he was born in Germany and grew up in Indiana — where his mom was his first political inspiration. "She was the first woman elected to the City Council in Greenwood, Ind.," he said. "I went door-to-door campaigning with her, and my mom won the primary by six votes."
However, Cecil later followed in his father's footsteps. He attended West Point, served 17 years in the Army and retired as a major. He's now a Realtor with Century 21 New Millennium in Centreville. He's also served five years on the Sutton Oaks Homeowners Association Board, two years as president.
He's coached Chantilly Youth Association soccer and volleyball, nine years, and is on CYA's soccer board. He's on Chantilly High's PTSA board and the county Council of PTAs executive board. Previously, he was on FCPS' language arts and foreign language advisory committees.
In addition, Cecil's on Rep. Frank Wolf's (R-10th) service academy selection board and is a West Point admissions representative. He's vice-chair of Sully District's Republican Committee and worked on campaigns for Del. Gary Reese (R-67th), Del. Tim Hugo (R-40th) and Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-37th). Now, he's running for office, himself (see www.CarlCecilForSullySchools.org).
"I believe I can make a difference and provide better leadership," he said. "I see what's going on now [in the schools], and I'm not particularly pleased. For example, I believe in phonics; I think the way we teach our kids reading could be better."
Noting that Smith voted for the sex survey, Cecil said, "It's an unnecessary use of funds — not to mention the message it sends. By us taking a survey, we seem to condone [teen sexual behavior]. And I'm firmly for reducing class size; [Smith] has voted to increase [it]."
He's opposed to "the manner in which the [school] superintendent's pay raise was handled and says, if he got the chance, he'd "hire great principals, keep great teachers and increase teacher pay."