Three seats on Roanoke County’s five-person school board are up for election this fall, with three incumbents facing off against newcomer challengers.
Though school board members run as independents in Virginia, many run with endorsements from local parties. The candidates for school board in Roanoke County represent a wide range of views across the political spectrum, but have more in common than voters might expect. Teacher pay is a key issue for each candidate, and they all share concerns about mental health and bullying.
The common ground shared among the candidates could reset the tone for a school board that’s become known in recent years for its crowded meetings where tensions sometimes run high.
Learn more about the candidates and key issues facing Roanoke County schools below. For details about specific district races, read to the bottom or click here:
- Hollins District race
- Windsor Hills District race
- Vinton District race
Teacher pay top of mind for school board candidates
Teacher compensation was a common theme among questionnaires the candidates submitted for Cardinal News’ Voter Guide.
The county has increased pay for teachers over the years, but still lags behind some nearby school divisions. All six candidates for the three school board seats said that competitive pay is important in recruiting and retaining teachers.
In the Hollins district, incumbent David Linden faces off against challenger E. Winter Schassberger.
Linden said that he’s voted for teacher pay increases each time the option has been available, and that while the county may not be able to compete with the city schools’ salaries, he’ll continue to advocate for increasing teacher pay. “We feel like the work environment in our schools is superior to maybe some of the others, and we will continue to do everything we can” to support teachers, he said.
Linden is in his second term on the school board.
Schassberger agreed that financial compensation and other forms of support go hand in hand to show teachers they are valued. “It’s part of school governance to make sure that school’s not just great for students, but it’s great for teachers, for educators,” she said.
Both candidates for the Hollins seat brought up the loss of the county’s employee health clinic earlier this year. Roanoke County schools withdrew from a joint contract with the county that provided free health visits for employees seeking acute and preventative care, along with lab services.
The majority of the school board voted to end the contract and put the cost savings toward lowering employee health insurance premiums. Linden was the sole vote against the termination and said at the time he thought the board was rushing the decision.
The clinic saw more than 1,400 patients in 2024, according to school division data.
Schassberger said that the elimination of the health clinic for employees highlighted the need to increase compensation for county educators. “We have to pay them well and offer them benefits and support them,” she said.
In the Windsor Hills district, incumbent Cheryl Facciani faces challenger Ryan White.
Facciani was elected to the board in 2021 and pointed to her history of supporting salary increases since joining the board. “These raises reflect my commitment to valuing our educators’ dedication while balancing fiscal responsibility,” she said by email. “I’ll advocate for continued competitive pay increases, collaborating with the board and county supervisors to secure sustainable funding.”
She and her opponent both said they’d push for additional support staff in schools, including instructional assistants.
White also added that increased professional development opportunities for teachers are another complementary option to increasing pay to show support for teachers. “When you’re paying less than average, that sends a pretty clear message that you’re not valuing their skills or expertise,” he said. “And teachers are the experts in their classrooms.”
White said that increasing teacher pay depends on collaborative relationships with local government as well as advocacy at the state level.
In the Vinton district, incumbent Tim Greenway faces challenger Amber Reed.
Greenway was elected to the Roanoke County School Board in 2015. He said he counts increasing teacher pay as one of his greatest achievements on the board and plans to continue advocating for educator compensation. Greenway said he has three grandkids in Roanoke County schools currently, and several family members who teach in the division. “It’s personal. It’s close,” he said.
Reed, a teacher at Westside Elementary School in Roanoke, said the challenges teachers are facing in the division are similar to what teachers in city schools and around the nation are facing.
“I think if we could at least get to the national average, that would be great,” she said. “However, I do understand there has to be money to do that.”
She said figuring out meaningful raises for teachers requires creativity on the part of the school board to find ways to generate revenue while spending wisely.
National Education Association data lists a national average teacher salary of $72,030 for the 2023-2024 school year. Virginia Department of Education data on teacher pay notes that it calculates its averages differently from the NEA, which includes pay information for substitute teachers.
Mental health, bullying concerns cast shadow over division
Some Roanoke County School Board meetings over the past few years have been tension-filled, as residents spoke during public comment on pandemic mask rules, a controversy centering around rainbow decor, and the division’s policies for transgender students, among other concerns.
On more than one occasion, a meeting attendee has been arrested for disorderly conduct.
An event casting a shadow over the division is the death of a 10-year-old student by suicide in March. The death has prompted the division to take a closer look at its bullying policies.
Across the open seats in Roanoke County, candidates agreed that supporting students’ mental health and well-being was a priority.
In the Hollins District, incumbent Linden said he supports the discipline framework the division already uses and believes it’s working to curb bullying. But he’d like further communication with parents to support the work of educators.
Linden said he “would love to figure out a way for public schools to increase parental involvement at all levels.”
Challenger Schassberger said similarly that addressing bullying issues relies on fostering community relationships.
“The school system must communicate transparently and frequently with the community,” she said. Though parent-teacher relationships are important, she said, “It’s not just the teacher’s job. It does fall to the school board to bring the community to the schools and invite them in and start building those relationships from the top.”
In the Windsor Hills District, incumbent Facciani said she’ll continue to focus on school safety, discipline and mental health issues if she wins a second term.
“We must remain proactive and continue to address all bullying with a zero tolerance policy,” she said. “Increased efforts will be made to align anti-bullying efforts with education on the dangers of cell phones.”
The school system has announced a series of community meetings this fall to educate parents on dangers linked to youth cellphone use.
Challenger White said that bullying behavior must be better understood in order to reduce it. “I want to push for more transparent and open conversations about what’s going on inside and outside of our schools together,” he said.
White is calling for transparent practices to address bullying, and “avoiding policies that marginalize students,” he noted in his candidate questionnaire.
Vinton District incumbent Greenway said that he and Facciani championed limits on student cellphone use in the division prior to the governor’s executive order in 2024. He said social media and phone use can magnify mental health challenges and bullying opportunities.
Challenger Reed called for a need for more mental health services for students. She cited the success of city schools’ use of a telehealth service that provides free mental health visits to students during the school day.
Regarding bullying, Reed said, “There needs to be accountability on the home end as well.”
Candidates say they’re optimistic for the future
A common refrain from challengers is a need for change on the division board.
Reed and Schassberger said their decisions to run for the school board weren’t due specifically to actions by the incumbents, but rather came from a desire for a fresh perspective.
“I think sometimes we need change to shake things up. A different view on things is important. If you stay stagnant, we’re never going to be able to improve long [term],” Reed said.
Reed, Schassberger and White all expressed a desire to foster a transparent, communicative board atmosphere that earns the community’s trust.
“I don’t feel the current board has fostered meaningful communication between families and schools, and I think that has a really big impact on schools when we’re missing that community connection,” Schassberger said.
Schassberger and White have been frequent speakers during public comment periods of school board meetings in recent years.
“I think all too often we hear that the community is raising their voice and sharing concerns with the board, but really not feeling like on the other side of it they’re being heard or listened to,” White said. “I think there’s a lot of room for us to improve how we do that listening, so that we can make sure everybody feels welcomed at the table.”
More on the candidates
Hollins District: David Linden vs. E. Winter Schassberger
David Linden was elected to the Roanoke County School Board in 2017. He served as vice chair for the second half of 2020 and as board chair in 2022. He is principal broker at RealStar Realtors in Roanoke.
Linden said he is particularly proud of the division’s recent capital improvements. The county is building a new career and technical education center in the Hollins district and is renovating Glen Cove and W.E. Cundiff elementary schools. Renovations to William Byrd High School in Vinton wrapped in 2024. “For us to be able to work together with the board of supervisors for the … amount of debt they were willing to take on to get these projects done, I think, is one of the major accomplishments that we’ve had in my eight years,” he said.
If elected to another term, Linden said he would like to see the division “increase parental involvement at all levels” and expand access to mental health counseling for students.
Linden has been endorsed by the Roanoke County Republican Committee.
Schassberger is a teacher’s aide at Northview Preschool. Since 2018, she has volunteered in various roles at Mountain View Elementary School, including room parent and parent-teacher association treasurer and secretary. She has also represented the school on the county’s Title I parent committee.
“Education and the emotional empowerment of kids is a passion of mine,” she said. Her platform centers around improving the culture and climate of the school system by enhancing communication and collaboration.
Schassberger has been endorsed by the Roanoke County Education Association Political Action Committee, the Virginia Democratic Women’s Caucus and the Roanoke County Democratic Committee.
Windsor Hills District: Cheryl Facciani vs. Ryan White
Facciani previously worked as a speech-language pathologist and served on the board of directors for Breakthrough T1D, formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She is a founding member of the School Board Member Alliance, a statewide membership organization for school board members that was created as an alternative to the Virginia School Boards Association.
Facciani said she ran for the board in 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on schools. “I couldn’t stand by while our children were locked out of schools, facing significant learning loss and disruption to their lives,” she said.
She said her achievements include leading the division’s swift adoption of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s transgender model policy in 2023; driving the creation of the county’s 2023 classroom display policy that banned decor relating to political views, sociopolitical issues or religious beliefs; and advocating for grading policy updates in 2024.
If elected for another term, Facciani said she would continue to focus “on advancing student achievement, career readiness, and safe, supportive schools.”
Facciani has been endorsed by the Roanoke County Republican Committee.
Facciani is one of three school board members who are defendants in a federal lawsuit filed by Roanoke County Board of Supervisors member Martha Hooker. Hooker alleged that school board members worked to get her fired from a position in the school division because of how she voted as a supervisor to disburse local school funding. The trial for that case is set for April 2026.
White is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Mindful Mountain Wellness in Roanoke. His platform centers around student and staff safety and support. He said he’d bring to the board an “ability to create a safe space just to listen and be nonjudgmental as we work collaboratively.”
White has been endorsed by the 314 Action Fund Political Action Committee, the Bluegrass Political Action Committee, the Roanoke County Democratic Committee and the Roanoke County Democratic Women’s Caucus, along with the Roanoke County Education Association Political Action Committee.
Vinton District: Tim Greenway vs. Amber Reed
Greenway served as board chair in 2017 and vice chair in 2023. He is principal broker and owner of Mountain View Real Estate.
When asked about his achievements over the past 10 years, Greenway cited the salary increases the board has authorized for teachers each year. “I’ve tried at every turn to take any excess we’ve had, where we saved during the year, and put those towards teacher salaries.” He hopes to continue with that priority in an additional term.
Along with Facciani (see section above), Greenway is one of three school board members who are defendants in a federal lawsuit filed by a member of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors. The trial for that case is set for April 2026.
In July, The Roanoke Times reported that Greenway’s election registration materials were rejected because of issues with his submitted petition pages. Greenway had to obtain new petition signatures and resubmit his petition pages.
Greenway was a candidate in the Republican primary for the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors in 2024. He was defeated by Tammy Shepherd, who now holds the Vinton District seat.
Reed said her perspective as a teacher would make her an asset to the board. “When you’re looking at money, policies, making decisions based on students, teachers and education, I really feel that I’m qualified to do that,” Reed said. “I see it. I hear it. I’m in the battlefield every day.”
She said a good relationship with the county board of supervisors is essential to achieve the division’s goals. And she’d like the county school system to be “a little bit more mindful about where money goes,” by prioritizing students’ and teachers’ academic needs before investing in capital improvements.
Reed has been endorsed by the Roanoke County Education Association Political Action Committee.