Melanie Meren is an education policy professional, parent, and community advocate who believes that strong schools make a strong community.
Melanie is the current Hunter Mill Representative on the Fairfax County School Board, first elected in 2019.

Melanie’s Plan for Fairfax:
- Learning: Educate all children for their own personal success that cultivates their paths beyond school and into adulthood.
- Employment: Fortify our teaching force through appropriate compensation, vital instructional resources and support, and reasonable expectations on teachers’ time.
- Safety: Offer safe, human-centered spaces and facilities that inspire learning and create connections among school, community, and the natural environment.
Melanie’s results for Hunter Mill – and Fairfax County – since 2020
Learning:
- 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.
- Bringing recess to all middle schools. Revised the recess policy.
Employment:
- Raising pay for educators, elementary school principals, instructional assistants, substitute teachers, and bus drivers.
- Hiring the 2021 National Superintendent of the Year in 2022, Dr. Michelle Reid, to lead Fairfax Public Schools.
- Hiring public health expertise: Led effort to direct the Superintendent to hire an expert in public health, in response to on-going COVID era needs.
Safety:
- Improving safe routes to schools: Flint Hill, McNair Upper, and Wolftrap Elementary Schools all received traffic safety upgrades.
- Securing school building entrances: Led the effort to fund entry-way security vestibules at all eligible schools.
- Codifying students’ safety and well-being: Crafted and approved policies, including about restraint & seclusion; wellness; nondiscrimination of students identifying as LGBTQIA+; and staff process for reporting suspected child abuse.

Melanie is uniquely qualified to continue serving as your School Board member.
As a parent of two children in Fairfax County Public Schools and a resident of Fairfax County since 2005, Melanie experiences the opportunities, challenges, and realities of raising a family here.
As a community leader, she has advocated for responsible public school funding since 2015.
Her career in education public policy and programming means she deeply understands our public education system.



















