Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of profiles on candidates running in the November election for the Rockingham County School Board’s 3rd District seat. Profiles of the other two candidates were published on Aug. 5 and 6.
By Megan Cullins, contributor
When Lauren Mullen was in high school, she found herself bored and uninterested and dropped out. In less than a year, she went back to get her degree then later became a double Duke, receiving two degrees from JMU.
Mullen said she never wants a child to feel the same way in school as she did in high school and wants to make learning more efficient and equitable.
Mullen is a first-time candidate for the Rockingham County School Board who is running against incumbent school board member Matt Cross and Hilary Irons in the three-candidate District 3 race. That area covers precincts in Melrose, Keezletown, Massannetta, Crossroads, Port Republic and Grottoes.
Unity and leadership — that’s what Lauren Mullen said she plans on contributing to the Rockingham County School Board.
“I’ve said from Day 1, I don’t want to be the ‘anyone but Matt Cross’ candidate as it undermines me and my abilities.” Mullen said.
Mullen is a lab director and assistant professor of nursing at James Madison University. She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degree from JMU and went on to work as a nurse.
After living in Maine, Mullen and her husband moved to Rockingham County about 20 years ago.
Mullen worked at a hospital until she ended up with an injury that left her unable to continue working at the hospital. She said she realized she really loved teaching and went on to work at Massanutten Technical Center (MTC), where she ran a nursing program.
In 2014, the JMU nursing director called Mullen saying that she wanted to start a simulation program at the university, and she wanted Mullen to oversee it.
“It’s basically creating situations for students to have a safe environment in order to amplify aspects of the real world, but in a safe environment,” Mullen said.
Brandi Walton, who works with Mullen at JMU and met Mullen when giving birth to her first child, thinks highly of Mullen.
“I’ve always admired her ability to advocate for fairness and respect for all. I’ve had firsthand experience witnessing her leading with integrity, listening with an open mind, and always putting students first,” Walton said. “Watching her work over the years has been nothing short of inspiring.”
Addressing school employee pay and SOLs
Mullen said she wants to look at the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) testing, saying she believes that SOLs creates an environment where students are being taught how to take the tests and believes that more research needs to be done into the benefits of standardized testing.
Mullen decided to run for school board because she’s always wanted to run for public office and said her time working as a nurse and in administration has sharpened skills she believes will benefit the school district.
“It’s something very familiar to me: curriculum, budget policies, education processes, administration, working on boards, like everything,” Mullen said. “I have every single piece of experience to be successful in that position.”
An issue that Mullen plans to focus on is the Massanutten Technical Center. This spring, a disagreement erupted between the Rockingham County School Board and the Harrisonburg City Public Schools’ board regarding the oversight of the technical and professional school. Because the school has more students from the county, that district pays a majority of expenses, and some county school board members want to hold a voting majority on MTC’s board. And as a result of the conflict between the two school boards, the city school board this week voted to end its involvement with the vocational school at the end of the 2026-27 academic year.
Mullen said supporting the technical school should be a priority, especially as it helps prepare students for crucial jobs.
She also said she has always been interested in the salary of school nurses.
“School nurses were being paid approximately $10,000 less than a city nurse and their responsive scope of responsibility was the exact same,” she said.
Entry level school nurses at RCPS make a base salary of $31,276. This salary increases based on years of experience and nurses with 41 or more years of experience have a base salary of $55,275.
School nurses are in charge of the wellbeing of a school’s students and don’t only take care of cuts and bruises but help kids who may have chronic health conditions get care while they’re at school. They are the first people in the event of a medical emergency.
Addressing book bans
Last year, the Rockingham County School Board temporarily banned 57 books to review them and have since permanently banned 19 books.
“Books were meant to be for adventure. They were meant for knowledge, escaping, finding context in your own personal life,” Mullen said. “Kids use books to find their own expression. And I just don’t know if unilateral bans are working. Plus, you bypass a whole group of people you’re supposed to be working with. And you don’t give space for any alternative collaboration, and that’s what we’re supposed to be doing.”
Mullen said the school board has become political.
“I feel school boards are one of those things you need to be unbiased. There’s too much polarization,” she said.
Unlike her two opponents, Mullen is not seeking any endorsements from political parties. Both Cross and Irons have sought the Rockingham County Republican Party’s formal backing.
In her free time, Mullen said she likes to go on weekend trips with her husband. Now that her three kids are adults they have more time to for out of state getaways. She also likes to fish and occasionally swing a golf club on the course.
She has some family out of state since she’s from Florida, but most of her family including children and grandkids live in the Rockingham County area.
Mullen hopes that she can bring a level of empathy to the school board and that she can bring unity that allows for members of the board to work together.
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