CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – With increased scrutiny from the public and Albemarle Board of Supervisors, the county school board met for a work session on Thursday and took steps toward improving its transparency and compliance.
Coming out of its closed session, the board began the open meeting by formally motioning Acting Superintendent Dr. Chandra Hayes to develop 30-, 60- and 90-day plans for how the division can strengthen its compliance, transparency and public trust, as well as to establish a compliance and constituent services office and director.
The motion, brought forward by Vice Chair and Scottsville representative Ellen Osborne, passed unanimously, 6-0.
“I think one of the things we have heard loud and clear from the public is making sure that there is data available that we can share to show the percentages of compliance that we were making,” Chair and White Hall District representative Rebecca Berlin said. “And part of that office is to think about and to make a recommendation (of) what are those regular reports, be they every two months, every three months, that need to come before the board and the public so that that data is there and it’s transparent.”
The work session marked the first time the School Board had formally met since the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution last Thursday, calling on the board to tighten its mandated reporting policies and improve transparency with the public.
The resolution formally requested the school board, among other things, confirm that adequate protection is provided to safeguard mandated reporters, establish an anonymous whistle-blower reporting mechanism, develop and publicize a crisis-management plan, and have an independent audit to evaluate its FOIA compliance.
While Thursday’s motion didn’t quite cover the full extent of the supervisors’ formal requests, Samuel Miller representative Bob Beard took time during his comments on the motion to “thank the Board of Supervisors for their input and let them know that we’re listening.”
“And I think these motions are an important way to strengthen the infrastructure of the division,” he said. “And we are all focused on division improvement, and we want to do the best for our 14,000 students and teachers and families, and I thank the administration and Dr. Hayes for coming forward with this, and we look forward to (making) this a reality.”
With the Board of Supervisors now joining the calls on ACPS to improve its compliance and transparency, At-Large member David Storm was clear about what he hoped to see out of the plans.
“I would like you to be bold if this is approved, to come to us with ideas that will make a real difference and not just things that will look good on paper,” Storm said to Hayes. “We need to get to the bottom of a lot of the things that people in the community have been talking about. And without real change, I’m not certain how successful you can be and how successful we can be.
“So, I think that what you bring to us will need to be something robust, and don’t be afraid to ask for a lot. We will get the support as best we can. But do not leave things out because you think that it might be too expensive or it might be a step too far.”
The division’s formal efforts to increase its compliance and transparency will include both its FOIA responses and communication with Child Protective Services, the latter of which has come under further scrutiny following the Oct. 7 arrests of ACPS’s Deputy Chief Human Resources Officer Brodie Downs and Assistant School Division Counsel & Title IX Coordinator Erin Stone, as well as former Hollymead Elementary School Principal Joe McCauley. All three were charged with three counts of failure to report a case of child abuse.
Since the arrests, ACPS has named Jessica Cochran as its Interim Title IX Coordinator, a move that happened last week, according to ACPS spokesperson Jason Grant. Stone is still employed by the division as Assistant School Division Counsel.
As a whole, Thursday’s work session focused on the work ahead for both the school board and division as a whole as it looks to move forward from the scandals of the past four months.
The most pertinent agenda item was a presentation from Hazard, Young, and Associates, the firm selected to lead ACPS’s Superintendent search.
As part of its presentation, HYA went into detail about its proposal for the “Engagement Phase” of the search. HYA President Dr. Nanci Perez presented a proposed timeline for this phase, which would include an online survey, which HYA recommended be open from Nov. 16 through Dec. 18, and interviews and focus groups during that same time period.
The input collected from families, students and staff through these methods would inform the development of a Leadership Profile Report, which would be presented and approved by the board at its Jan. 14 Operational Business Meeting. Perez said that profile will serve as “the roadmap for what this division and all of its stakeholders want to see in the next leader.”
“(Candidates) then tailor their experience and the outcomes that they had in their career to show you that they’ve in fact done that work,” Perez said.
Perez also said the profile provides the board with a “rubric” that it can use for its evaluations of each candidate.
“It’s important that the board then is faithful and goes back to the profile that was developed by all your stakeholders and match your evaluation of the candidates to that profile,” she said.
As the School Board looks ahead to the upcoming Superintendent search, it has also undergone another search for a new board member after the resignation of Rio District representative Jim Dillenbeck on Oct. 7.
Applications for the open Rio District seat are now open through Sunday at 11:59 p.m. This is the second time the board will be conducting a search for a new member in the past two months, as the board selected Storm to fill its At-Large seat less than a month ago.
The schedule for this upcoming search mirrors the previous one, with applications of all qualified candidates to be posted to ACPS’s website on Wednesday, one day before the candidates will be interviewed in a special meeting of the School Board next Thursday.
The following week, the board will hold a public hearing on the candidates before selecting its new member during its regular business meeting on Nov. 12.
While Dillenbeck resigned following a controversial Sept. 30 town hall he held, the board is still committed to holding similar events with constituents.
The first such event, which Berlin called a “listening session,” will be Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Northside Library, with her and Rivanna representative Judy Le hearing from families from Baker-Butler and Hollymead Elementary, as well as Lakeside Middle School. Berlin said the event is being planned in conjunction with ACPS Family Council, and families will have the opportunity to submit questions beforehand, with all questions and answers being shared after the event as well.
