Q&A with Stan Jones, write-in candidate for Fredericksburg School Board
September 15, 2026
Stan Jones is running a write-in campaign for at-large representative to Fredericksburg School Board. He was appointed last month to serve as interim at-large representative until the end of this year.
Jones has worked in public education for 30 years, including as superintendent of Danville City Schools and deputy superintendent of Stafford County schools. He has also served on boards and in leadership positions at education and youth-oriented nonprofit organizations.
Jones moved to Fredericksburg in 2020, and in 2025, he ran as a write-in candidate for the Ward 4 School Board seat. He spoke with the Free Press about why he’s running as a write-in candidate again, what he can bring to Fredericksburg City Public Schools, and what good leadership looks like.
Fredericksburg Free Press: Why are you running for School Board?
Stan Jones: Bottom line — it’s in my DNA. I’m built to serve. So most anything I’ve done in my life has been geared towards, what can I do to make my community better? Part of what led to my write-in campaign in 2025 was that I was approached by a group of parents [after the deadline for filing paperwork to be on the ballot] who had heard about me and my experience. Based on that, and given who I am and the way I was raised, I felt compelled to pursue it. But quite honestly, I had been thinking of pursuing it – that just created a sense of urgency.
I think my experience lends itself to assisting with Fredericksburg City Schools becoming better.
FFP: What are the biggest challenges facing the school division?
SJ: I’m pleased to see that [SOL] scores are up; that’s a step in the right direction. And to the superintendent and School Board’s credit, they’ve just opened two new schools. But candidly, we have a lot more work to do. The biggest single challenge is to improve student performance. That’s a big challenge for all divisions, but Fredericksburg, in my opinion, has the resources such that we should be able to have steady improvement every year. It’s a well-funded system that has tremendous community support, and that is the beginning of success. Part of being a school board member is learning about why we are having the challenges we have, how are we leveraging our resources to meet the challenges, and do we have the capacity through our staff to be able to meet those challenges. And then the most important thing about improving student performance is the culture and climate in the schools. Kids have to feel safe and the environment should be conducive to learning. I don’t think that’s as much of a challenge because of the new schools, but we still need that parity across all the schools.
FFP: What’s your definition of good leadership?
SJ: A really successful leader is someone who leads alongside people, and also both in front of and behind them.The leader has to set the mission and the vision, get people to buy into the mission, and support the staff in implementing that mission through making sure they have appropriate resources and are crystal clear on what the priorities are.
FFP: What role does the School Board play in ensuring the school division’s success?
SJ: Excellence in the board room will result in excellence in the classroom. If you break that down, it means leadership at every level of the organization will result in success across the organization.
The board is the governing body with the responsibility for hiring the superintendent, overseeing the budget, and setting policy. If we do this with excellence, it will not only trickle down, but should also trickle up: it goes both ways.
I don’t think there’s anybody in Fredericksburg schools who doesn’t want the schools to be successful. The question is, do we all understand what that means in terms of how we behave, how we lead, how we show up every day. It takes an entire village. I know we have very dedicated staff in Fredericksburg City, but dedicated staff still need support in order for the school division and children and families to be successful. I understand what good governance is and combined with the fact that I’ve led a school division, I think that makes me unique as a candidate.
FFP: Are the challenges facing Fredericksburg City schools unique to the city? Does a candidate need to be from Fredericksburg to know how to address the division’s challenges?
SJ: I think the challenges are broad. For example, every school division struggles with making sure students with disabilities are meeting performance targets, but some have a lot more success than others. What are they doing that we aren’t doing? How are they leveraging the resources that they have? It’s what you do with the funding you receive that determines what your outcomes will be.
I don’t have to be from here to know how to support what needs to be done here. That’s a flawed perspective. I think sometimes, when you’ve been in the community for too long, you don’t see things outside of it, because you haven’t been outside of it. The issues are not exclusive to Fredericksburg. They’re just not. And it’s not so large of a community that you can’t build relationships. There are a lot of people working in the school system now that I’ve worked with throughout my career.
FFP: You’ve been endorsed by the Fredericksburg Democratic Committee. Did you seek that endorsement?
SJ: I contacted both the GOP and the Democrats to ask for their endorsement and support. I strongly believe that schools should never be partisan. I understand that elected officers are partisan, but if we can’t meet halfway and focus on what’s best for kids, then we have a bigger problem.
FFP: Why are you running as a write-in candidate again?
I had to submit two financial disclosures, one to the School Board after my appointment and one to get on the ballot, and I missed the deadline to file for the ballot. This is the first time I’ve made that mistake, and I will not make it again. No one is more upset with me than me, but I’m hoping to move past it.
Fortunately, there is still a viable opportunity for me to be considered as a candidate, and luckily “Stan Jones” is a pretty easy name to write.
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