Three new members of the Loudoun County School Board (LCSB) were sworn in on January 6, 2026, at the Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) Administrative Offices in Ashburn. Loudoun County Circuit Court Clerk Gary M. Clemens administered the oath of office to Ross Svenson (Broad Run District), Jon Pepper (Dulles District), and Amy Riccardi (Sterling District). April Chandler (Algonkian District) and Lauren Shernoff (Leesburg District) renewed their oath of office after being re-elected.
Following the swearing-in, the School Board held its Annual Organizational Meeting.
April Chandler was elected chair by a 5-4 vote. She was nominated by Ross Svenson.
“I am committed to maintaining stability for both the School Board and the division,” said newly-elected Chair April Chandler. “I am also focusing on providing opportunities for meaningful engagement with the community so that we may work together and produce cutting edge education for our students.”
Chair Chandler succeeds former school board chair Melinda Mansfield, who did not seek re-election.
Anne Donohue was elected vice chair on a 5-4 vote after being nominated by Dr. Sumera Rashid.
In addition, with a 7-2 vote, Ross Svenson was elected as delegate to the Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA) and Kari LaBell was elected as the alternate.
The board set the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month as its regular meeting dates, with the meetings scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. There will be no School Board meetings in July, and one meeting in August and December.
Chair Chandler has the discretion to reschedule the date and/or time of any School Board meeting.
In other School Board actions, Shari Byrne was retained as Clerk of the School Board with Marie Ingram as Deputy Clerk of the School Board.