Coraggio Consulting
Albemarle County School Board Regular Meeting, Thursday, June 11, 2026

Date: Thursday, June 11, 2026
Place: Albemarle County Public Schools / School Board meeting, Virginia
Length: 1h 45m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1F2oTQVzQ4

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-14. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:01] Thank you so much. Are you ready? I would like to bring today's board meeting on June 11th to order. Thank you so much. Apologies for the delay. We needed a little bit more time in closed session. Do I have any motions? Do I have a motion bringing us out of closed session?

[00:00:19] Yes, Chair Berlin. I move that the board certify by recorded vote that to the best of each board member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the motion authorizing the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered in the closed meeting. Second. Moved by Ms. Spillman, seconded by Ms. Lee. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? We are now out of closed meeting.

[00:00:46] Coming out of closed meeting, do I have any motions? I have one. Please go forward with your motion, Ms. Osborne. I nominate David Foreman to be the principal at Stone Robinson Elementary, John Wheeler to be the principal at Baker Butler Elementary, and Krista Liverman to be the principal at Stony Point Elementary.

[00:01:12] In addition, I move we approve the administrative appointments and tenure recommendations as presented. Second. Moved by Ms. Osborne, second by Ms. Lee. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed?

[00:01:27] Congratulations to our new principals. The next motion on our agenda tonight is a roll call. We use this to check sound to make sure that everyone in the audience can hear us as well as everyone online and we have a new protocol where we're double checking and triple checking that everyone online has both clear sound and sight so that they have it to listen to today and so we also preserve our recordings for future for those who need to listen to them.

[00:01:55] I'm going to start with Ms. Daphne Kaiser. Daphne Kaiser, Assistant Superintendent for School and Community Engagement.

[00:02:03] Jason Grant, chief communications officer. Kate Acuff, Jack Jewett, representative. Judy Lee Rivanna district. Ellen Osborn, Scottsville district. Rebecca Berlin, Whitehall district. Allison Spillman, at-large representative. Jim Dillenbeck, Rio district. Bob Beard, Samuel Miller district. Matthew Hawes. Josiah Black, chief legal officer. Tanisha Thompson, coordinator of office operations and executive support. Christine Thompson, clerk of the board. Rajan Schmidt, chief operating officer.

[00:02:38] And thank you to our officers who serve us today to keep us safe here and every day in our community. The next piece on our agenda is our Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand if you are able.

[00:03:05] We will now pause for a moment of silence. For tonight, I want to share some sad news for you regarding a student and the child nutritionist at one of our schools.

[00:03:28] It is with great sadness that I share the passing of our child nutrition teammate, Anna Young. We were fortunate to have Anna join us through a work-study program during her academic years with Albemarle County Public Schools. and we were incredibly glad when she chose to continue her career with us following her graduation from host high. Anna brought a wonderful positive energy and a bright smile with her each day and she will be deeply missed. Please keep Anna's family and friends in your thoughts during this difficult time. For obituary information about Anna please see who would I will now we should all

[00:04:07] now take a moment of silence. Thank you so much. Thank you. The next item on our agenda is 3.0 approval of our agenda. Do I have any motions on approval of tonight's agenda? Chair, I am moving to amend tonight's agenda. I move that we

[00:04:43] will immediately hear public comment and then resume our closed meeting. We will postpone the remaining business to another date. Second. So just to make sure everyone is clear what we are doing, instead of moving forward with today's agenda as a whole, if this moves forward, we will only have public comment and and then the school board will move back into closed session.

[00:05:09] - All those in favor of this amendment? - Aye. - Any opposed? - I think we do need to also approve the consent agenda tonight. - Yeah, okay. - So to amend that motion to include after the consent agenda.

[00:05:30] - Do I have a second on that amendment? - All those in favor of that amended. So the order of the agenda will be disapproval of the agenda we will move and me I was go ahead and do the I will move immediately into a vote for the consent agenda and then we will move to public comment and then we will move. Chair Berlin one procedural clarification Ms. Spillman's motion is pending and it was seconded so that motion needs to be disposed of thank you before we can make an amendment. I

[00:06:03] dispose of my motion and I raise a new motion to amend the agenda so that we will hear public comment. Move to approve tonight's consent agenda. Resume our closed meeting from earlier and postpone the remaining business to another date. I think I got that.

[00:06:24] Second. Move by Ms. Spillman. Seconded by, is that correct? Seconded by Dr. Acuff. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? So I first want to sincerely apologize to all of our school members, parents who came forward to talk on our business agenda, our cabinet members, and our principals. This is not something that we normally do, but after

[00:07:00] hearing the discussion at Hollymead yesterday, the public comments that we have had, as well as the phone calls, the school board decided that the best thing to do is for us to hear public comment, because we want to honor your voices for those who came forward. Public comment has not started yet, so if anyone else wants to sign up, but I do have to say I am sorry to everyone. There are many things on our agenda tonight that were very important, including the grading

[00:07:33] policy. I know many staff and many school teachers, parents, principals have worked hard on that that is a very very important item for the school board but we feel like we must have a conversation about Holly me tonight so again I apologize for the preparation you did and the time you spent coming here we will be in touch that will either be moved to our July 9th meeting or we may have work with schedules to sketch and public meeting rules to schedule another

[00:08:11] meeting for that so again we will be moving into a vote on our consent agenda and then we'll be moving to public public comment and then be moving to a closed session so again please please I just want to apologize to everyone who took time preparing for tonight's meeting for those presentations we will be doing them they are very important to us and I will be working with the clerk to reschedule those and we'll get back to you in a timely manner early next week.

[00:08:39] Thank you so much. The next piece on our agenda we have moved 6.0 ahead to I guess that would be 4.0 is the approval of our Consent Agenda. Do I have any motions for tonight's Consent Agenda? I move we approve tonight's Consent Agenda. Second. Moved by Ms. Lee, seconded by Mr. Dillenbeck. All those in favor of tonight's consent agenda, please say aye.

[00:09:10] Aye. Any opposed? Tonight's consent agenda passes. We are now going to move immediately into public comment, so just give me a second to get organized and read the rules and regulations. We have 13 people signed up for public comment today, so everyone will have a full three minutes, but I just want to remind everyone of the guidelines. We welcome public input at our school board meetings to sign up to speak during public comment period. You can do so in several ways. Online sign up is available from 9 a.m on the Monday of the meeting week until 2 p.m on the

[00:09:49] meeting day. You can also call the school board clerk's office and sign up or you can sign up in person until six o'clock or until the public comment period begins. Each speaker will have three minutes to speak tonight. We ask that you state your name and address or voting district and I want to just go over a few of the specific roles because I think they are important. Please address comments to the school board as a whole. Limit comments to school board governments or school division operations. Comments may not be directed to individual board members,

[00:10:25] division leadership, or staff. So I'm just going to repeat that tonight. Comments should be directed to the school board as a body and should relate to matters within the board's work and operation of the division. This is not a forum for debate with board members or for cabinet members, for personal attacks or for remarks directed at individual board members or staff.

[00:10:47] We ask that all comments remain respectful and on topic. The school board will use a timer to track each speaker's time. Once the time is up, speakers are asked to wrap their comments. To remain respectful, please refrain from clapping or other audible forms of support.

[00:11:04] You may stand, you may raise your hand, and please know that debate with the school board is not allowed. Thank you so much. So as I mentioned, we have 13 speakers tonight.

[00:11:21] My first three are Megan Mitchum. Thank you so much for sharing your phonetic spelling. That is very helpful, so I make sure that I respect your names. Bridget Rogers and John Riston. I'm going to amend my note to be 14 speakers tonight, and that is within our limit, and everyone will have three minutes.

[00:11:47] Let's just give the clerk just a minute to get back. And just a reminder, we're all different heights and sizes, so just make sure you pull the microphone as close to your mouth as you're comfortable so that everyone in the audience, as well as online, can hear you.

[00:12:08] Can you hear me okay? Yes, thank you very much. My name is Megan Mitchum, and I live in the Rio District. I am a graduate student of social work at VCU, specializing in neurodivergent and LGBTQIA plus populations. I've lived in the county for over 20 years, and I've been a Woodbrook parent since 2019. Before I get into the bulk of my remarks, I want to acknowledge that there are two schools impacted by the child sexual abuse allegations, and one of them is a Title I school that's not getting any attention. But that is not the focus of my comments tonight. I would like to start by acknowledging how grateful I am as a parent, social worker, and a human that I live in a

[00:12:46] county that has a written policy on the treatment of transgender and gender expansive students in county schools. I am grateful that this policy has withstood pressure from both state and federal forces that would like to see it eradicated, and I'm grateful for the ACPS staff and school board members with lived experience who put themselves on the line in service of all of our children every day. The policy as written leaves it to each school principal to ensure compliance with the stated policy. As a result, there's a significant variability from school to school and application which leaves the burden on impacted families to advocate for their children. We are at a moment where the federal government is subpoenaing the medical records of minor children and increasing its attacks on

[00:13:24] this vulnerable population in an attempt to eradicate trans and gender expansive people from existence. Nearly every week there is a new attack that sends families of trans and gender expansive youth into an existential spiral and the families uh sorry i lost my spot and the local families that have access to resources are using them to flee public schools the state and the country the families that remain are often the least resource to publicly or privately advocate for their children and they are depleted by the constant fear for their children's safety and survival these families need you all to step up and ensure that each and every one of your schools remains a safe harbor for all students

[00:14:02] including trans and gender expansive students and that ensuring the dignity and worth of each child is the central duty of all school principals, even if it makes them uncomfortable to do so. Thank you. Thank you very much. Our next speaker is Bridget Rogers. My name is Bridget Rogers, holiday mom, family council representative, and I live in the Ravana district. Dr. Haas, Mr. McCauley, your incompetence to serve in your roles was on full display last night at the

[00:14:35] holiday community. I do ask that you speak to the school board as a whole. I am. And not direct any I'm not directing comments. Dr. Haas had five months to alert his board of this issue and proactively create a plan to revise policy to begin to address systemic issues that led to this point. Instead, he showed up at Hollymead empty-handed with nothing of substance to say.

[00:14:58] I am asking that you do not direct a statement to a person or call out an individual person. please keep them to the to the topic and address the whole school board the principal had five months to communicate with families and develop a path forward as a parent representative i've met with them over the course of the school year and experienced refusal to address parent concerns i am sorry ms rogers i want to hear you but i have asked you multiple times not to call out

[00:15:33] individual people okay school board it's unclear how long you've known about this incident but what you saw and heard last night should make this crystal clear for you it's time for you to vote and if you four of you cannot find it in your hearts do the right things for our kids our teachers and our families across this entire school system we request a public list of how every single member voted as to whether to keep matthew house as the superintendent thank you thank you and i am going to repeat myself we want to hear from you i ask that we follow the rules

[00:16:10] that have been set up for this conversation and every other conversation that we have and that we not do not call out individual people please address the school board as a whole or we will have to stop public comment i do not want to do that i do not i ask that you follow the rules we are governed by rules of the state of virginia that i can't change i i cannot i and i cannot This is not a discussion.

[00:16:42] We are governed by rules of the state of Virginia for public open meetings. I do not want to have to ask people to leave. I want-- and all of my colleagues want to hear from you. We just ask that you do-- apologies, sir.

[00:16:57] I just ask that you do not call out individuals by name. That is our policy. I'm sorry. I do not want to-- Or position. Or position. Ma'am, ma'am, I am sorry. I want to hear from you, but I will have to ask someone to remove you if you speak out in a public meeting. That's just the rules, and I have to carry them out. So please, I ask of you to not identify a name or a position.

[00:17:21] Just share your concerns with the entire school board. We are here to listen, but I need you to follow those rules. This is not a debate, and I cannot answer a question. Thank you, sir.

[00:17:42] Hello, my name is John Riston. I'm in the Whitehall District and I'm up here today to ask you for a three-day extension on the June 1st deadline for getting an exchange student application in. We were fortunate enough to host an exchange student last year. He was a member of the Youth Exchange and Study Program.

[00:18:05] He had to come over to our house during the second semester. He had to leave his previous host family through no fault of his own. He went to Western Albemarle High School, and he made such an impact on the students that they wrote a petition to allow him to walk at graduation.

[00:18:24] We decided to host another two kids this year, and we waited to make our decision because, unfortunately, last year I was laid off, and there's whispers of layoffs again. And my wife was unclear about what was going to happen at her job, And we just decided, our student Kadir, also known as Keegan, he returned on the 2nd.

[00:18:52] And we decided then that we were just going to go ahead and we'll take it as it comes. We talked to our coordinator on the 3rd. She got the application in on the 4th and was informed that the deadline was June 1st and they were not going to budge. Let me tell you a little bit about this program.

[00:19:10] This is not a program where rich kids pay a lot of money and come. This is a merit-based program from the U.S. Department of State. Kids, there is a rigorous application process. The best and the brightest kids from their countries come here. This was a program started when the Soviet Union fell, and these students come here, and it's a diplomatic exchange program.

[00:19:34] The point of it is that they'll come here, they will learn about America, they will go back to their countries, and when they become the future leaders in their countries, they'll have a much more favorable opinion of our country so for those reasons i'm humbly asking that uh you all grant me a three-day extension the paperwork was in by june 4th and allow us to host these two students thank you thank you very much the next three speakers i have

[00:20:04] are helen dempsey hennifer ashley four and lisa broadaway good evening my name is helen dempsey hennifer my pronouns are they them and i am a parent of albemarle students and a local mental health practice owner. I had planned to be here to talk about Pride Month and the importance of supporting LGBTQ students in my role as a social worker and owner of a practice focused on intentionally inclusive care, acknowledging Albemarle County school policies that express

[00:20:44] a commitment to uphold and respect the identities of transgender and non-binary students, which were targeted in a statement issued by this year from the White House. Given my responsibility to mental health care in our community, these sort of statements rattle me. And also, I've never been prouder. Today, people are angry. At the elementary school, both of my children, Woodbrook, attended.

[00:21:09] My kids are now in their teens and young adulthood. Current students have reported sexual violence at the hands of a teacher. That deserves anger and focus. It is also not lost on me that at the core of sexual violence in schools and the way we fail LGBTQ students is the same issue. From where I stand both involve denying young people agency over their lives and experiences. What is sexual violence if not the stripping away of one's own agency? In a recent survey of LGBTQ youth in

[00:21:46] Virginia, 49% of LGBTQ youth reported wanting but not receiving mental health care. The most commonly reported barrier was that they were afraid to talk about their mental health concerns with someone else. In school, students are learning not just academics, but whether they can expect people to respect them, to listen. The logistics of how we do better as a community may yet be unclear, but healing these harms requires us to move in a direction of accountability to honor each child fully as a person deserving of agency. I wish each of you and all of our

[00:22:26] children, safety, relationships that take accountability for their impact, and a celebration of all your identities. Happy Pride. Thank you so much for your comments and happy Pride Day to everyone. Ashley Forre. Hi, I'm Ashley Forre, Whitehall District. I'm an Albemarle County

[00:23:02] resident of 13 years. I'm a UVA graduate and an Albemarle County public school parent. Since I apparently need to address the school board. I wanted to catch some of you up on what you might have missed last night. Hollymead families and teachers bravely shared their experience. They begged for guidance and they turned their lives around in order to be at an evening meeting in person on short notice. They were met with rudeness, pushback, and it was appalling. As a parent at Brownsville Elementary, I realize now that

[00:23:38] based on the current policies that could have easily been any one of us sitting in their shoes last night. This issue is not unique to Hollymead Elementary and all parents of Albemarle County Public School students should be concerned. I was horrified to learn last night that there is no policy in place to prevent adult staff members from being alone behind closed doors with a child.

[00:24:05] It is especially concerning because after talking to many parents in the last 24 hours, many of us have been under the impression that there is a policy. We were all wrong. We've been operating under assumptions, and I am so thankful for the brave students and teachers who came forward to report what was happening, for the adults who listened, and for the police who are finally investigating this.

[00:24:32] You have opened our eyes to an opportunity to make positive change. I'm asking the school board to consider implementing a safety in numbers policy that would prevent children from being alone behind closed doors with a staff member.

[00:24:49] I'm also asking the school board to do a complete walkthrough of the school buildings with someone from an outside agency, a police officer, a victim advocate, somebody who is trained to know what kind of physical areas need more visibility, or when a camera or a large window should be added.

[00:25:07] While a safety in numbers policy would present logistical and financial challenges, after hearing what has happened to the children at Hollymead Elementary and Woodbrook Elementary, I just don't care. We made what we thought were impossible changes in 2020 in the name of safety.

[00:25:27] And we as a community are able to come together as parents in Albemarle County and do incredible things for our students. Thank you. Thank you so much. Lisa Broadway. I'm sure you all recognize my name from the email you received.

[00:25:49] My name is Lisa Brodaway, and I'm a parent of children in the Elmore County Public School District. I'm a special education teacher. I'm here tonight to make a formal request for the public record. I am not asking the board to disclose anything. A formal preservation request has been sent to ACPS today by me regarding concerns related to an employee arrest, possible prior concerns at another school, a Title I school that is being ignored, and the employees transfer a reassignment within the district.

[00:26:19] I am asking for four immediate actions. First, preserve all records related to this matter, including emails, text messages, HR reports, Title IX records, transfer or reassignment records, reports of outside agencies, principal communications, superintendent communications, board communications, and records held on district-issued or personal devices used for the district business.

[00:26:46] Second, ensure that all relevant information has been referred to the appropriate outside agencies, including law enforcement, CPS, the VDOE, and any applicable Title IX or civil rights office.

[00:27:03] I am under no, I am not naive enough to believe that my son's race and his autism diagnosis were not the reason that it was easy to target him.

[00:27:23] Third, retain an independent outside investigator, not district leadership to determine what ACPS officials knew, when they knew it, and whether or not required reports were made, why any transfer or reassignment occurred, and whether any administrator failed to do their job correctly.

[00:27:55] Finally, I ask district staff to bring to the board within six weeks a public framework for proposed student safety policy revisions addressing staff-student boundaries, one-on-one interactions, closed-door meetings that should not be allowed, visibility, documentation, supervision, reporting obligations, and the enforcement of those things.

[00:28:28] Everyone involved in this has failed these children and I have failed my child as well. If ACPS' current policy is that there is no policy preventing an adult staff member from being alone with a child, that is a huge oversight and a massive gap in your preparation here.

[00:28:54] Thank you so much. Thank you for your email and we have a record of those three recommendations. I appreciate you sending those. those. The next three speakers are Cassandra Baber, Judy Brandly, and Sarah Paulsworth. Good evening. I'm Cassandra Baber. I live in the Rivanna District.

[00:29:30] I'm a Holly Mead parent. I'm also an ACPS educator of 19 years, and tonight I'm speaking as a parent and stakeholder who, like many others, isn't entirely sure if my child has been affected by the massive failure of leadership at all levels in this situation. I want to bring up a couple points and the first is that yes we need more transparent and clear coherent policies governing these

[00:30:03] types of scenarios. However, this was in essence a failure of leadership in many different ways. Parents are heartbroken and enraged because each separate as yet unnumbered individual tragedy is the product of human error. There was a a policy requiring Mike Sweeney to document every interaction he had with our children and for him to notify those whose children were being serviced. And that did not happen. No leader, no supervisor,

[00:30:37] no evaluator, knew or cared to find out, involved in diligent oversight by self-reflective leaders who are wise enough to value, honor, and respond to staff and parent concerns could have prevented much, if not all of this. Leaders whose perceptions aren't clouded by hubris, who recognize that leadership means owning everything that happens, whether it's in a school or a division, can prevent unimaginable things. Good leaders ask hard questions of others and

[00:31:14] themselves, and when the unimaginable happens, we look to our leaders for accountability and action, or at a bare minimum, the willingness to stay at the microphone and continue confronting hard realities and questions, even though they're uncomfortable. And if you have no idea what to do because this is hard and unprecedented and nobody really knows what to do then ask other people and that brings me to my second point which is to talk to the teachers talk to the people who have worked in that building some of them for decades and have much to offer about what they observed about their own

[00:31:49] experiences at every point in this entire disaster and talk with them don't Don't outsource those conversations to HR or to division leadership or to other people who can filter and they need to be heard. I'm running out of time, but as someone you can't imagine having referred children to that man, my heart is with them and all goodwill and faith that the parent

[00:32:25] community has for ACPS and for Holly Mead lies with them. Thank you. Thank you very much. Judy Bradley. Is Judy Bradley here? Let me give one more minute. If Judy Bradley is not here, we will

[00:32:53] move to Sarah Paulsworth. Good evening. My name is Sarah Paulsworth and I am a parent of a Holymead Elementary student. Patrick Henry once warned, the liberties of a people never were nor ever will be secure when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.

[00:33:28] In light of the sex crimes committed by Mike Swinney against students at Holymead, these words take painful relevance. Today, it feels more accurate to say the safety of our children in Hollymead and throughout ACPS never was nor ever will be assured when the actions of school and district administrators are concealed from parents, caregivers, and the community.

[00:33:53] On June 5th, I submitted a FOIA request to ACPS, Hollymead, and Woodbrook. Although the official response deadline has not lapsed, ACPS's communications officer has already informed me that much of what I requested may fall under exemptions. That early communication raises concerns, and those concerns exist alongside a broader long-standing issue, the district's persistent lack of transparency, a lack that risks creating an environment of impunity. I will not accept impunity, especially when it concerns the safety of my children

[00:34:30] and the children of my neighbors and friends. Virginia's FOIA law is unambiguous. It states the affairs of government are not intended to be conducted in an atmosphere of secrecy, since at all times the public is to be the beneficiary of any action taken at any level of government.

[00:34:49] All public records and meetings shall be presumed open unless an exemption is properly invoked. The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to promote an increased awareness of all persons of governmental activities. This chapter shall not be construed to discourage the free discussion by government officials or employees of public matters with the citizens of the Commonwealth.

[00:35:14] All public bodies shall make reasonable efforts to reach an agreement with a requester concerning the productions of records requested. So let me be clear what I'm seeking and what our community deserves. Were there prior complaints, Title IX or otherwise, involving Mr. Swinney with students or anyone in the ACPS community?

[00:35:36] Were past and current complaints regarding Mr. Swinney handled properly under Title IX and Virginia mandatory reporter laws? Why was Mr. Swinney transferred from Woodbrook to Hollymead? Why were parents, especially those with students who Mr. Swinney directly interacted with, not notified sooner about the ACP investigation?

[00:35:58] This is not what we're asking for. It's what we're entitled to. None of the questions I have raised, nor those of the many community members here tonight or 500 individuals who signed are seeking any HIPAA or PII.

[00:36:14] We're tired of your vague assurances and your platitudes. They're insufficient. Our children deserve better. Thank you so much for your comments. The next three speakers are Nancy Koenig, I'm sorry, Nancy Koenig, Tanisha Hudson, and Reid Chorbach.

[00:36:40] I'm Nancy Koenig from Scottsville. I retired from the county after teaching for more than 30 years in three schools, and I'm a parent of a Monticello graduate. From listening to proceedings at previous meetings and looking at the scores posted on the county's website, I wonder if the focus of ACPS is in line with the Commonwealth, which states that we have high expectations and excellence for all learners. Certainly the opportunity for a teacher to give a zero to a student who does not hand in assignments is not a matter of high

[00:37:18] expectations. That policy takes away from the self-respect of the student and restricts the opportunity of the student to feel the accomplishment of having taken on a task and having succeeded. I also note on the website that many schools are off track. Five elementary schools as well as one middle school. Two other elementary schools need intensive support. For how long has this been true?

[00:37:45] I could not find reports of previous years on the VDOE website. From reading books about teaching different ethnic groups and students from low socioeconomic groups, as well as from my experience, I wonder if the lack of comparable achievement by black students to their white peers is perhaps a matter of culture and the economic status of some of them.

[00:38:09] When comparing the reading and math scores of black students with that of economically disadvantaged students, I see a great similarity. One of the authors that I read, Lisa Delpit of Harvard, discusses the teaching methods and words needed for teaching various ethnic groups.

[00:38:30] She proposes explicit instructions rather than words of implied intention and appeal. For instance, put those scissors on that shelf rather than, is that where the scissors belong? Thomas Sowell of Stanford University reports of many schools throughout the country that show that high academic standards, high expectations, high demands by the teachers, no tolerance of misbehavior, and explicit instruction of phonics versus whole language are responsible for the success of minority and low-income students.

[00:39:06] None of this says that there is just one way of teaching all students. Successful schools with minorities and low-income students make sure to teach basic things that are neglected when the focus on academics is not present.

[00:39:22] Regardless of ethnicity or socioeconomic status, new principles with old-fashioned ideas about education, direct instruction versus discovery, and teachers versus facilitators are ideas agreed on by all authors. Perhaps renewing some of these strategies would raise the score as well as quell behavior problems. Thank you. Thank you so much. Tanisha Hudson. Good evening. As someone that put two kids through Albemarle County, I am really appalled and I want

[00:40:00] to look at each one of you up here and say you got to get us fine and I'm gonna tell you why. As a mother of a black child who was on an IEP, I have watched black kids get lynched by the school district for almost 18 years. And then when white women cry, y'all ready to fire somebody. But then when I come to you for IEPs and kids who clearly have been with teachers, instructional assistants, special ed staff alone, predominantly black kids, as she just stated, I don't know where she went with the dresser when it just spoke.

[00:40:37] Low socioeconomic children who are on IEPs. They go with teachers alone all the time. And they're talking about Holly Meade, who went along with this man by theyself. How many black kids was harassed? Do we know?

[00:40:52] Did you ask? Did you investigate? Did you do any of that? Nah, but y'all ready to fire somebody. In 2017, y'all all were screaming for change. Some of these people probably were too. These are probably the same people that led the no imagery campaign. They didn't want hate crimes posted in Albemarle County schools.

[00:41:12] Well, the Trumpster has spoken, and he stepped on Albemarle County toes because you all said, you know what, we haven't done it right for 1,800 years. We ain't done it right. Black people have been treated the worst. This county has not had a black board of supervisors since it been established.

[00:41:31] And we want to talk about racism, right? we want to talk about der that was just somehow mysteriously taken away right that's what we want to talk about i want to say this that i want to be clear when i say this white women are not the only women that cry white women are not the only women that speak for transparency black women been doing it too and you didn't give it to us and so if you didn't give it to us first of all let me give them a little lesson okay i'm not speaking to y'all now i'm speaking to the crowd as an ongoing investigation, you can't speak on what's happening. And I'm pretty sure that the school

[00:42:10] district reported what happened before anybody reported it. They don't know that. You know, they swear up and down they never got in trouble, right? They never got arrested. They don't know how the law works. There's two cops here that can tell them. I'm pretty sure y'all reported what Mr. Sweeney was doing. And I don't want to say his name, but everybody else did, so I might as will, right? You can't speak on open litigation. Let them know that. You can't speak when somebody is going to court because unlike how they think, you're innocent until proven guilty. You can't automatically say what a person did or didn't do until they get their day in court. So I say this

[00:42:47] and I'm going to end with this. Before you think to fire somebody, you put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself, if it was you on the chopping block for your job, what would you do? How would you at how would you advocate for yourself if people want to file you because things are not going their way they're going to do this every time thank you so much i appreciate your comments every time they can do this thank you so much our next speaker is reed chorbach please correct

[00:43:19] my spelling i'm not my spelling but my pronunciation is a reed chorbach here no the next speaker is Melinda Smith the final speaker that we have is Danielle Richardson I'm sorry Daniel Richardson I apologize sir thank you Daniel

[00:43:55] Richardson I'm a father of a student that goes to Holly me tonight I live in Holly me I'm here because I was angry last night after the meeting that we had at Holly me and I think that's probably understandable I felt like there was a a lot of information that was revealed at this meeting that could have easily been sent out to all of the families. And that's why I'm here today is to talk about that. I think there were details, probably not specific details, but details that we could have shared. I think I got three, maybe

[00:44:30] four emails from the county talking about what happened. I mean, it was the generic statement saying we arrested somebody at the school and we can't say anything else. That's pretty much the gist of those emails. But you could have told us that there was a long list of people that we were going to contact who were seen by the teacher. And you could have also said that there were reports that the abuse was happening in the halls and at the playground. Because I'm sure

[00:45:08] parents were telling you this. You probably could have shared more information with us. And that probably contributed to this feeling that parents have that ACPS isn't being transparent.

[00:45:23] We say it in all of the emails that we're being transparent, but it doesn't feel like we are actually transparent with our actions and the content that's in those emails. So the thing that I'm asking for is that the action plan that you guys made, you sent it out in an email today.

[00:45:47] I want you to continue to be transparent as you actually do those things on the list. And think about what it means to be transparent and think about if you are actually telling us if you're accomplishing those things on the list.

[00:46:07] And lastly, because I'm angry about all of this, my daughter roamed those same halls as the person that was arrested. I got advice yesterday at a leadership meeting that said that we should replace employees that are not contributing to the safety of our students.

[00:46:31] And I would encourage the school board to do that same assessment with anyone on the cabinet, especially anyone that was involved with the communication plan for this incident. Thank you.

[00:46:48] Thank you so much. And thank you to everyone who provided public comment today. We are now going to move into the next part of our agenda, which, as we mentioned, is to do a vote to reconvene into closed session.

[00:47:09] Chair, I move that we resume closed session for the reasons stated earlier. Seconds. Moved by Ms. Spillman, seconded by Ms. Lee. All those in favor of resuming into closed session? Aye. Any opposed? We will now move into closed

[00:47:26] session. Thank you all for staying with us. We are back from closed session. Do I

[01:42:40] have a meeting, do I have a motion coming out of closed, do I have a closed session certification coming out of closed session. Yes, Chair Berlin. I move that the board certified by recorded vote to the best of each board member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the motion authorizing the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered in the closed meeting. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? We are now out of closed session. I have an announcement coming out of closed meeting. It is this

[01:43:15] board's obligation to rebuild the trust with this community. And because of that, we have asked Dr. Haas for his resignation, and we have instructed our legal officer to work with Dr. Haas on the details. An interim superintendent will be named in the coming days. Thank you so much. I also want to acknowledge that in addition to managing the superintendent and the budget, our third responsibility as a board is to manage our policies and practices and we will be looking

[01:43:51] into and amending our policies as necessary to deal with the issues that have been raised in the hollymead and woodbrook community and hopefully we will have be able to move forward with that in the next couple of weeks thank you miss billman do i have any other comments from the board before we close this meeting seeing no other comments from the board I am now closing this meeting at 8:30 thank you so much

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