Goochland County’s School Board met in a newly prepared smaller room at the high school last week, designed to bring attendees and the board closer together to facilitate communication.

If the hope was for more amicable public comment, it didn’t seem to work.

Board members and administrative staff sat on a raised dais before several rows of chairs in a conference room at GHS adjacent to the auditorium.

During previous meetings citizens had complained that it was difficult to hear board members speak or to see slide show presentations in the auditorium.

Superintendent Linda Underwood said the new venue may also be used for the monthly workshop meetings.

The new room brought citizens and the board closer together physically, but there still appeared to be a wide gulf between the school administration and the parents it serves.

One issue of contention is the recently announced principal switch, which saw Randolph Elementary School principal Stacy Austin and Goochland Elementary School’s Dianna Gordon change jobs for the upcoming school year.

“I can’t believe there was a compelling reason for the principal changes,” said Connie McRoberts during the first public comment period. She asked that the administration reconsider the decision.

Her sentiments were echoed by several other speakers.

Charles Costello called the switch “shocking” and compared it to a divorce.

“I fault you for rubber stamping this power play,” he told school board members.

During the second public comment period, Beth Hardy lamented the lost opportunity for communication surrounding the decision to transfer the principals.

Noting that she had received more than 60 emails opposing the switch, Hardy said the main concern was the way the change was handled, with parents learning of it at the last minute.

“It undermines public confidence,” she said.

Hardy said the principal episode overshadowed other examples of positive communication, such as a July 1 presentation by Assistant Superintendent Peter Gretz to the parents of the Goochland Gifted Center students who will be returning to their home schools.

“It was a brilliant example of doing it right,” said Hardy of that session.

Between public comment periods, the board dispatched several action items, all on unanimous votes.

In short order they approved a Title II teacher quality application, a technology resolution which will bring in $180,000 of state technology funds, an acceptable use policy for technology, the career and technical advisory committee and a five-year technology plan.

Consideration of the gifted five-year plan was deferred until the July 27 workshop meeting.

The board also approved the gifted bylaws and the gifted advisory committee annual report, delivered by Liz Alford.

The technology plan, presented by Director of Secondary Education Tom DeWeerd and Webmaster and Supervisor of Instructional Technology John Hendron, calls for $1.5 million in spending for technology in the current fiscal year.

This expenditure will increase to slightly more than $1.9 million in 2015-2016, and three additional positions will be added by the last year of the plan.

Board vice-chair Ivan O. Mattox asked several questions after the presentation of the technology plan, mentioning concerns about sufficient support to enable teachers to effectively use the equipment.

“Are we satisfying the staff so they don’t get frustrated?” asked Mattox.

That’s why additional staff is needed, countered Hendron. “Without more coaches in our schools we are limited,” he said.

On the subject of the principal transfer, Underwood said she stood behind the decision.

“That is still my recommendation,” she said, adding that she would have preferred to have announced the decision right after the end of the school year, but as has already been reported, the two principals were out of town at the time. She reiterated that it was a matter of matching personnel with the right skill set for the right job, and said the switch had been under consideration for years.

Underwood noted that each principal would be taking their guidance counselors with them to their new school assignments, a move approved in the personnel action summary in last week’s meeting.

Photo by Ken Odor
The new meeting room brings participants, below, and school administration closer together.

Photo by Ken Odor
School board and administration members sit on a raised dais in a new meeting room chosen to replace the GHS auditorium as the venue for the monthly school board meeting.