Amy Riccardi has claimed victory in the Sterling District race for the Loudoun County School Board, defeating incumbent Arben Istrefi by a margin of 51.47% to 47.7% in the November 4 election. This outcome flips another seat in a district long plagued by disputes over student safety and parental input, marking the second such shift in recent years after a similar upset in Ashburn back in 2023.
Riccardi, a longtime Sterling resident and education consultant who ran as an independent, campaigned heavily on reforming the school’s transgender bathroom and locker room policies, which have sparked widespread backlash. The district’s Policy 8040, adopted in 2021, lets students use facilities based on gender identity rather than biological sex, a move that critics say prioritizes ideology over basic protections.
Riccardi pointed to past scandals, including accusations that school officials hushed up sexual assaults on female students in bathrooms at two high schools to smooth the way for the policy’s approval. Those incidents, involving a male student who identified as gender-fluid, fueled national outrage and raised questions about whether administrators were more focused on advancing a progressive agenda than safeguarding kids.
“We want to make sure all of our transgender kids and all of our students in LCPS feel safe in their learning environment. Absolutely. And frankly, kids and teenagers, it’s all about exploring life and how they’re going to fit into it. So, I think it’s creating great safe spaces for them to be able to do that. But on the other hand, parents don’t want boys and girls sharing bathrooms, locker rooms or sports. They just don’t,” Riccardi said in a post-election interview.