The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors is straying out of its lane to demand that the Albemarle County School Board take action to address concerns in the county school system.
The Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution to that effect at its meeting on Thursday, in the midst of the ongoing controversy over two elementary school staffers arrested in the spring on child porn and child sexual battery charges – and the recent arrests of three current or former administrators with for failure to comply with Virginia’s mandatory child-abuse reporting law.
ICYMI
- Albemarle County: School system employee arrested in child sex crimes case
- Albemarle County: Fifth grade teacher arrested on two felony child porn charges
- Albemarle County schools leader resigns as division deals with fallout from child sex arrests
- Albemarle County school administrator placed on leave amid sexual harassment probe
- Former Albemarle County Schools employee indicted on nine new sexual battery charges
- Albemarle County school leaders indicted in child abuse reporting law case
“During this critical time, we must remember what is important,” Board of Supervisors Chair Ned Gallaway said in a statement. We want to thank the dedicated teachers and school staff who work every day to educate and inspire our children. Their work is demanding and important. We must help ensure they have a supportive environment where they can raise concerns without fear of retaliation and focus on helping students learn and thrive.”
The county government, in a release, addressed what the BOS can and can’t do to force action from the school system, noting that the Board of Supervisors “does not directly oversee school operations.”
Under what the BOS can do:
- Articulate expectations and concerns
- Request transparency, reports, and verification
- Communicate concerns to the Virginia Department of Education and request state-level involvement
- Incorporate funding into future budget priorities
Under what the BOS cannot do:
- Direct or manage School Board operations
- Mandate personnel actions, investigations, or disciplinary measures
- Require specific policy revisions
- Conduct internal HR or legal investigations
The resolution requests that the School Board:
- Ensure policies and procedures are in place for mandated reporting.
- Publicly share the scope of work and current status of the internal investigation approved on Aug. 4.
- Launch an independent review of allegations of a culture of psychological safety and employee retaliation concerns.
- Establish an anonymous whistleblower program.
- Review the handling of FOIA requests and develop and publish a corrective action plan to ensure compliance.
- Develop and publicly share a crisis plan to guide the organization through these concerns while protecting student safety and learning opportunities.
- Provide regular updates to the Board of Supervisors for accountability and transparency with the community.
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Chris Graham
