In Virginia, county school boards are composed of one member from each district in that county, and sometimes include an at-large member. They are elected for four-year terms and oversee the school district by setting the policies and choosing the leadership of public schools, among other duties. The Fluvanna County School Board has five members, one from each district.

In the Cunningham District, incumbent Charles D. Rittenhouse is running against Sarah J. Johnson. Both candidates are registered as Independent with the Virginia Department of Elections.

Charlottesville Tomorrow designed a questionnaire for the candidates based on more than 160 responses we received to a voter survey. We’ve listed the candidates’ responses in the order we received them.

Given the age of some of Fluvanna County’s school facilities, how would you prioritize ongoing maintenance and plan for future renovations to ensure our buildings support a safe and modern learning environment?

Sarah J. Johnson: Fluvanna County currently has four schools divided by specific grades: Pre K–2nd, 3rd–4th, 5th–7th, and 8th–12th. This model is not sustainable long-term. We built the high school with growth and expansion in mind, but we have neglected the other schools, particularly at the elementary school level. We have needed a new elementary school for over a decade now. If we want our county to meet the future, we need to understand that we’re going to grow; we can’t cross our fingers and hope nobody else moves here. We recently underwent a population study; this needs to be carefully reviewed and action taken to address future growth. We also need to prioritize things like safe asbestos removal and necessary maintenance and updates now, but down the road we need to look at building some new schools to meet the needs that exist now and will exist in the future.

Charles D. Rittenhouse: The oldest school building is Central/West Central (not including the Abram’s Academy). There are multiple upgrades being made at Central, currently. Every year, there are constant upgrades included in the [Capital Improvement Plan] .

Many rural school divisions in Virginia face challenges retaining teachers, especially in high-demand subjects like math and special education. How would you approach this issue in Fluvanna County?

Johnson: Currently, we offer the lowest compensation and least accessible benefits out of our neighboring counties.* There is a need for qualified teachers everywhere, so a teacher who opts to teach in Fluvanna instead of driving a few more miles and making $10,000 more a year must be someone who is extremely dedicated to our community. If we’re going to truly attract teachers to our schools, we need to make sure they can work and thrive here. We need to partner with the Board of Supervisors to help diversify and expand the tax base; we can’t continue to get the majority of the money we need to fund our county from homeowners.. We need to be asking for what we need in our yearly budget, not guessing based on what we think the BOS will fund. The school board needs to be strong and passionate advocates for the needs of our schools.

Rittenhouse: Salaries and benefits help with retention. However, many times it is not just the money. There have been numerous teachers who have returned to Fluvanna because of the distance in travel.

*Editor’s note: According to an October 2024 Fluvanna County Public School salary study that was presented to the School Board in April 2025, the county offered lower salaries for several positions compared to the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle, Goochland and Lousia counties. Teacher salary projections based on the fiscal year 2026 budget were also lower compared to the same counties and Charlottesville. According to a health insurance rate analysis presented at the same April 2025 meeting, rates were mostly higher for FCPS employees compared to Charlottesville and Albemarle, Goochland and Lousia counties. 

According to the 2022-2023 Teacher Salary Report from the Virginia Department of Education, which is the most recent statewide report that is publicly available, average public school teacher salaries were lower in Fluvanna County compared to neighboring counties, with the exception of Buckingham County and Cumberland County. 

Fluvanna County’s population has been steadily increasing over the past decade. How should the school district plan for long‑term enrollment growth to ensure safe, modern and well‑functioning schools?

Johnson: I want to stress again how urgently we need to look at the infrastructure of our existing schools and the need for a new elementary school with our county’s rapid growth. Our infrastructure is inadequate, and the fact that all of our schools are located in the same basic geographic area means that we can’t rely on our schools to be community and neighborhood hubs, which is a real lost opportunity. We need to be proactive for the future, not just reacting to what’s in front of us. We’re really going to need some creative thinking and to be open to reimagining how our elementary schools in particular currently work.

Rittenhouse: The population has been increasing, but enrollment has been decreasing*.

*Editor’s note: According to U.S. Census data, the population in Fluvanna County has grown steadily since 1970. According to the Virginia Department of Education, enrollment in public schools in the county has decreased since the 2022-2023 school year.

Funding for school districts in Virginia is changing rapidly, with less money coming from the state government and federal support also possibly disappearing. What are some of the ways you are thinking about maintaining funds and services for your school division in this shifting landscape?

Johnson: This is a challenge that absolutely every school system in Virginia is facing to some degree. All of our schools are under the Community Eligibility Provision with both elementary schools being Title I schools*; we are not a community with deep wealth. All Title I schools really rely on federal and state funding. If we lose federal funding, we are going to need the state government to step up. Schools are an absolutely crucial resource. Partnerships, particularly with colleges and universities, will be increasingly critical We also need to aggressively petition for exemptions to the Dillon Rule (which states that local governments only have powers that are expressly granted by the Commonwealth) to allow localities to decide internally that they want to help fund their own schools through special assessments, etc. I don’t know if the voters of Fluvanna will choose to raise their own taxes if it comes to it, but we should be allowed the freedom to vote on it.

Rittenhouse: If federal and state support decreases or “disappears,” we will need to find out-of-the-box ways to help retain our excellent teachers, services, and continued accreditation.

*Editor’s note: The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) refers to a program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that enables schools in lower-income areas to serve breakfast and lunch to enrolled students at no charge. All Fluvanna County Schools are eligible for CEP.

Title I was established by the U.S. Congress under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and later amended under the Every Student Succeeds Act and is intended to provide federal funds to schools in order to help children from households with lower incomes. While state and local budgets provide most of the funding for schools, federal dollars play an outsize role in helping lower-income and rural schools, NPR reports. According to the Virginia Department of Education, Central Elementary and Carysbrook Elementary are Title I schools for the 2025-2026 school year.

School districts across the country — including here in Virginia — are grappling with how to manage student use of cell phones and other devices during the school day. This now includes concerns about access to artificial intelligence tools. What kinds of policies, if any, would you support to manage student use of electronic devices and AI during instructional time?

Johnson: I am still learning about AI usage in our schools and need to hear more from educators to learn their thoughts on it. I do think AI absolutely has its place in this world, including in the workplace, so it would likely be doing a disservice to our students to not teach them the proper ways of using and accessing AI to access needed information. But, I would obviously not condone students using it to write essays, for example. Regarding cell phones, I would also love to hear more from teachers on their thoughts on this. I like the idea of students having access to their phones, because as a parent myself in an increasingly dangerous world, I want to be able to reach my student in an emergency. I want to work with teachers to come up with policies that are a safe and agreeable compromise for everyone.

Rittenhouse: The Fluvanna County School Board, at their September 2025 meeting, passed a state-mandated, bell-to-bell no cell phone policy. This does not mean that students cannot carry cell phones in their backpacks, it just means they cannot be out during class time.

What role do you think career and technical education should play in Fluvanna County Public Schools, and how should the district approach these kinds of programs?

Johnson: I’m thrilled with the impressive programs in career and technical education that already exist in Fluvanna; those programs in the high school are truly a gem and are a model for other schools in the area. It is vitally important we keep funding them and highlighting their success, and also expanding them as we are able to with increased student interest in certain programs. It’s also important that we don’t neglect or undervalue students who want to pursue higher education while we focus on kids who want to pursue career and technical learning. It’s not an either/or situation; you can learn career and technical skills and also pursue higher education. While job training is important, it is also important to learn skills for the sake of learning, whether or not you plan to pursue them as a career.

Rittenhouse: I think career and technical education should be given the same priority as college prep programs.

School board members sometimes face pressure from residents with strongly opposing viewpoints. How would you balance listening to community input with making decisions you believe are in the best interest of students and the school system?

Johnson: The School Board has a history of undervaluing public engagement. I have a strongly different perspective on that. I think community engagement and debate about the issues that matter in the schools is absolutely vital, and that one of the most important roles of the school board is to facilitate community engagement. Schools are a laboratory of ideas: we want our students to care about issues that matter in their lives, be emboldened to advocate for those ideas, and be willing to participate in public discourse about them. Why shouldn’t our community be a model for our students in being public citizens? We don’t elect school board members to “know better” and make all the decisions for us: we want them to be channels for how the people want things to happen in Fluvanna County. We owe the people who voted us in, the right to be heard.

Rittenhouse: I always make decisions based on what is best for the students, parents, teachers, and the school community. Even in the face of the current atmosphere of lack of civility, verbal attacks, and political jargon, I can keep focused on what is really important.

Are there any other pressing issues facing Fluvanna County Public Schools you would like voters to know about?

Johnson: Fluvanna County Schools are significantly underfunded compared to neighboring districts, and this lack of investment has a direct impact on our ability to fully support students with learning differences. We haven’t adequately budgeted for the resources we need to provide support for students with [Individualized Education Programs] or 504 plans. I have spoken with many Fluvanna parents who are frustrated with the lack of support for their kids; many of these potential FCPS families have chosen to homeschool their kids, put them in private schools or enroll them in neighboring public school districts, driving them to Charlottesville or Albemarle every day just so their needs can be met. I want to be clear: this isn’t the fault of our educators and support staff, who do an absolutely wonderful job with the limited resources they have. The problem is underinvestment and a failure to prioritize these critical needs in our budget. This is the responsibility of the school board and the board of supervisors, not the teachers. We are doing a huge disservice to our students by failing to provide the funding that would allow us to prioritize mental health resources and support for kids with learning differences.

Rittenhouse: As mentioned in the question above, population may be increasing, but enrollment is decreasing. The constant hiring of more employees may be something that needs to be addressed.

More about the candidate and issues

• Sarah J Johnson campaign contributions from the Virginia Public Access Project
• Charles D Rittenhouse campaign contributions from the Virginia Public Access Project
• Report on school board budget, teacher salaries and benefits from Fluvanna Review
• Coverage of recent school board meeting discussing state SOL and textbook mandates from the Fluvanna Review
• School board votes on cell phone policy, discusses additional School Resource Officers from the Fluvanna Review
• Coverage of controversy over board member taking a job as a teacher with FCPS from the Fluvanna Review

Here are key dates and deadlines in the 2025 elections

Friday, May 2, 2025	Early voting for primaries begins weekdays at local registrar’s offices.
Tuesday, May 27, 2025	Deadline to register to vote or update an existing registration for the primary election. You can still vote in the primary if you miss this deadline by registering at the polling place and casting a provisional ballot. You do not have to be a member of a political party to vote in that party’s primary election. However, you can only vote in one party’s primary election each year.
Friday, June 6, 2025, 5:00 p.m.	Deadline to apply for your ballot to be mailed to you. Requests must be received by your local registrar’s offices by 5 p.m.
Friday, June 6, 2025, 5:00 p.m.	Deadline to apply online for an absentee ballot using the Citizen Portal.
Saturday, June 7, 2025	Local voter registration offices open on Saturdays for early voting for primaries.
Saturday, June 14, 2025, 5:00 p.m.	Early voting for primaries ends at local registrar’s offices.
Tuesday, June 17, 2025	Primary Election Day!
Friday, Sept. 19 to Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025 5:00 p.m.	Check with your local registrar’s office for early in-person voting.
Friday, Oct. 24, 2025, 5:00 p.m.	Deadline to apply with your local registrar’s office for a ballot to be mailed to you.
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025	Election Day!

We will update this list periodically as deadlines approach or we receive new information.

Register to vote, check your registration, find your polling places and apply to vote absentee at the Virginia Department of Elections here. Remember, even if you miss registration deadlines, you can register through Election Day and vote using a provisional ballot.

Need to know if you’re eligible to vote? Here are resources from the Virginia Department of Elections.