SPORTS: All three county football teams win; Fauquier cross country report. PAGES 13, 14, 15 September 13, 2023
Our 206th year | Vol. 206, No. 37 | www.Fauquier.com | $1.50 VIRGINIA PRESS ASSOCIATION: BEST SMALL NEWSPAPER IN VIRGINIA 2017-2022
Lee District
Stephanie Litter-Reber
Marshall District
Steve Lewis
Duke Bland
Scott District
Danielle Dean
Larry Blocker
Clay Campbell
School board challengers tout support for ‘parents rights’ Both incumbents, challengers want to boost teacher pay By Anya Sczerzenie
Fauquier Times Staff Writer
Although all five seats on the Fauquier County School Board are up for re-election on Nov. 7, only three races are opposed. In the Lee, Marshall and Scott districts, incumbent School Board Chair Stephanie Litter-Reber and School Board Mem-
bers Duke Bland and Clay Campbell are facing challenges from political newcomers. Two of the new candidates — Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Steve Lewis, who is vying for the Lee District seat, and Larry Blocker, who is running in the Scott District — have signed the “parent pledge” authored by the conservative parents’ group Moms for Liberty. The pledge asks signers to help prevent “government overreach” in schools and defend parents’ rights to decide the education, health care and “moral upbringing” of their children.
Danielle Dean, who is running in the Marshall District, has not signed the pledge but says she agrees with some of the group’s tenets, including support for “parents’ rights” and informing parents about sexually explicit books and other instructional material in schools. In the Cedar Run and Center districts, incumbents Donna Grove and Susan Pauling, respectively, are unopposed. See CANDIDATES, page 4
Ruritans remember 9/11, unveil new memorial Hunter Savery
Fauquier Times Staff Writer
PHOTO BY WILLIAM OAKES
Two veterans and a young member of the Junior ROTC salute during the Sumerduck Ruritans’ Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony on Sept. 11, the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
Fauquier residents, as well as religious and political leaders, gathered at the Sumerduck Ruritan Club Monday for a remembrance ceremony for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Dozens paid their respects from folding chairs spread across the club’s front lawn. Local pastors joined the community in prayer, and members of the Liberty High School choir performed the national anthem, “Oh Shenandoah” and “God Save America.” The challenges of commemorating the day’s events, which happened 22 years ago, were apparent. None of the teenage singers from
the Liberty High School choir were alive in 2001. The same was true for the members of the Junior ROTC color guard and many audience members. “We’ve got a lot of young folks, and they don’t know the experience we’ve had,” said Pastor Chaz Campbell of Calverton Baptist Church. Looking out into the crowd, Del. Phillip Scott, R-88th, echoed Campbell. “I see many faces that did not experience that day. Count yourself as blessed.” The importance of remembrance and educating the next generation were recurrent themes throughout the ceremony. See MEMORIAL, page 3
Fauquier schools show mixed results on SOL tests, page 5
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