Kyle McDaniel is a Democrat-endorsed member of the school board in Fairfax County in Virginia. He is accused of embezzling $175,000 by his former employer. Blue Label Aviation filed suit alleging McDaniel spent funds on his school board campaign and family vacations.

McDaniel hasn’t directly denied the allegations, despite claiming he would fight the $525,000 lawsuit. He is the chairman of the budget committee for the school board. In his statement he states that “This is a business dispute between myself and my former partner.” I will let this go to court, where I plan to win. I won’t be letting the media get involved.

McDaniel also implies that he does not intend to resign from the school board. In his statement , he continues: “My focus was and will continue to be on fully funding and a supporting a public educational system that is responsive to the needs our children and community. I won’t let this situation distract from that.”

McDaniel’s “focus” makes for an interesting discussion. He denied, in October 2023, that district leaders kept any secrets from the parents. He stated: “You will probably hear that FCPS hides things from parents. This is completely false. It’s just a political talking-point.”

Just a few weeks before McDaniel’s claim, Fairfax County middle schools attempted to hide their lesson on “white guilty” from parents. Teachers at Fairfax County public schools must also undergo training which forces them to conceal their children’s gender changes from parents.

McDaniel was a strong supporter of the LGBT community. Many people believe that it was done for political reasons. McDaniel announced that he was bisexual during his 2023 school board run. The LGBTQ Victory Fund gave him contributions and Karl Frisch donated $15,369, the current board chairman, who took his oath on books like Gender Queer. McDaniel took his oath on Homegoing instead of a religious book.

The allegations of embezzlement are causing Fairfax County taxpayers to be even more concerned about McDaniel as a member of the elected school board. Ironically, his campaign was based on honesty. On a community questionnaire from September 2023, responded that “In my field of aviation, dishonesty is not tolerated because it can cause people to be hurt.” I apply the same philosophy to my public service career: I will not tolerate dishonesty.

Many have argued against a public official embezzling large sums from his employer and that he shouldn’t serve on the board of education. Others suggest that he shouldn’t continue to be the chair of the school board Budget Committee.

Mark Spooner is a Fairfax resident, and the author of Fairfax Schools Monitor blog . He writes: “If McDaniel misappropriated the funds of a smaller corporation, as alleged, then he’s unfit to oversee the massive $4,000,000,000 expenditure of a government entity.” He should either resign voluntarily from the School Board, or be forced to.

Local leaders have been remarkably quiet about the issue, despite Fairfax residents’ outspokenness. I sent an e-mail to Sandy Anderson, Vice Chairwoman of the Fairfax County Board of Education, and Karl Frisch, Chairman, requesting their comments. In the email, I asked, “Does Kyle McDaniel need to resign? Do you believe it’s appropriate for Kyle McDaniel, who oversees the proposed budget of Fairfax County Public Schools at $4 billion, to be Chair of its Budget Committee?

As of the publication date, neither party has made a comment.

Fairfax County Public Schools’ official statement also fails to address Fairfax residents’ credible concerns regarding McDaniel’s integrity. It states: “We were made aware that a civil suit was filed against School Board member Kyle McDaniel. This is a continuing business and legal dispute. “We will not comment further on this matter at this time. We respect the legal proceedings.”

Paulette Altmaier is a Fairfax County resident who sent an email to Jeff McKay, the chairman of Fairfax County Board of Supervisors (D), after details of the lawsuit were made public. She expressed her concern about McDaniel. McKay replied, “While these allegations are troubling and serious, they are still only allegations.” Everyone deserves to have a fair trial and I will not pass judgement until after the legal process has been completed. “It is important to remember that these accusations only concern Mr. McDaniel’s work in private sector.”

McKay doesn’t mention that McDaniel is still on the board of the school district as the budget chair. 51.5% are also allocated to the public schools in the district. The county’s chairman should not be so indifferent about the alleged irregularities.

Altmaier agrees. She responded to McKay on April 7: “Are You Saying That Criminal Dishonesty In The Private Sector Is Unimportant If A Person Is Now In The Public Sector? This is an irresponsible stance. You are responsible for scrutinizing and making public all expense reports McDaniel has submitted, both past and current.”

Fairfax County leaders’ silence and willingness to let McDaniel continue as chair of the budget committee of the school board reflects their continued disregard for the public as well as their incompetence and weak leadership. This is another example of the Democratic Party’s tendency to put party politics before principles.

FairfaxGOP originally wrote this and published it as Kyle McDaniel, Democrat Fairfax County School Board Chair Sued for Embezzlement