Anne Holton among applicants for vacant 6th District school board seat
Anne Holton, a prominent lawyer, education advocate and wife of U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), has thrown her hat in the ring to fill the vacant 6th District seat on the Richmond School Board.
The division announced a total of five applicants who have various backgrounds ranging from health to politics and education.
“RPS has made big strides toward improving student outcomes under its current leadership and I would love to help further those efforts if given the opportunity to serve,” she told The Richmonder. “I think I particularly could add some useful perspective from my work at the state level.”
Originally from Roanoke, Holton served as secretary of education for the state under former Gov. Terry McAuliffe from 2014 to 2016, before being later appointed to the State Board of Education a year later, serving until 2025.
She is the daughter of Linwood Holton, a former governor of Virginia who was known for supporting civil rights and racial integration of public schools in Richmond.
His daughter helped desegregate the current Martin Luther King Middle School – then Mosby Middle – by attending the school as a student from 1970 to 1972, before doing the same at Open High.
In 2014, she gave a TEDx talk while she was the secretary of education entitled “A Love Letter,” where she expressed her love for RPS stemming from her experiences of desegregation.
Holton was also recently appointed to serve on Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger’s transition team.
She moved to the 6th District over three years ago, and acknowledged that her connections to the district may not be as deep as other candidates.
“I look forward to supporting the good work of the Board and superintendent in any way I can regardless of whether I am appointed to this seat,” she said. “If appointed, I will work hard to connect with all the communities within the 6th District and to be a strong voice for them as well as for students and teachers throughout the city.”
Four other candidates will interview for the position
Another significant candidate eyeing the seat is Victor McKenzie Jr., the newly-appointed CEO of Virginia Health Catalyst – a health advocacy nonprofit. He currently serves on the Richmond Planning Commission.
In 2023 he ran for Virginia House of Delegates District 82, which includes Petersburg and parts of Dinwiddie, Prince George and Surry counties. He lost in the Democratic primary election to Kimberly Pope Adams.
In the same year, Richard Walker also ran for District 79 – which includes parts of Richmond – but similarly lost to current Del. Rae Cousins (D-Richmond) during the Democratic primary election.
He too is going after the 6th District seat. He is founder of Bridging the Gap in Virginia, a nonprofit that provides programs to marginalized individuals involving criminal justice reform, workforce development and environmental justice.
Katina Harris, an RPS teacher who has taught at Thomas C. Boushall Middle School, has also applied for the position. She was the former president of the Richmond Education Association – the union representing RPS teachers and support staff – and received the Richmond NAACP President’s Award in 2023. She also has children who attended Richmond schools.
Another candidate is Jacqueline McDonnough, an professor emerita at the School of Education at VCU. She has a focus on science education.
The seat was previously held by Shonda Harris-Muhammed, who announced at the end of the year that she was stepping down from the Board to become the acting superintendent of Southampton County Public Schools.
Victoria A. Ifatusin
All five candidates will be interviewed publicly by the School Board on Tuesday, Jan. 20. The body will vote in one of the applicants at its scheduled Board meeting on Monday, Feb. 2.
Contact Reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin at vifatusin@richmonder.org
