Virginia Beach principals call for change
Administrators want protection from ‘slanderous’ comments during board meetings
VIRGINIA BEACH — A group of principals want the Virginia Beach School Board to change its public comment policy so division personnel are not subjected to “slanderous opinions” and “unsubstantiated accusations.”
A letter signed by the Virginia Beach Association of Elementary School Principals and the Virginia Beach Association of Secondary School Principals requested a change to the board’s policy, which allows community members to discuss whatever they want in the recorded and widely shared formal meeting. It asks the board to make it so division personnel names can’t be shared during the televised portion of a board meeting and uphold the division’s policy which protects confidential personnel matters.
Three administrators spoke Monday night at a school board meeting with a crowd of more principals behind them.
“We do this job because we love our kids,” Principal Greg Furlich from Rosemont Forest Elementary School told the board. “And we are passionate about public education.
“At the end of the day, however, we are also husbands, wives, fathers and mothers. We go to tee-ball games and coach volleyball. We go to church and do volunteer work. We live in the community. When unfounded comments are shared in a public forum, our lives — not just our work lives — are negatively affected.”
According to the letter, the current practice can create long-term negative effects for the personnel named including “hindering future employment opportunities” and “scarring the reputation of staff members with their school community.”
“We must be able to do our jobs without fear of being subjected to unvetted accusations in a public forum,” said Paige Scherr, a principal at Virginia Beach Middle School and the president of the secondary school principals’ association.
Kimani Vaughan, the principal at Arrowhead Elementary School, said there are processes in place to investigate and address concerns regarding division staff. She said changing the policy would better support the employees.
“We must ensure our students have the highest quality educators leading and supporting them,” she said. “In order to attract and retain, we must ensure our employees are treated with respect and have the necessary support from the board.”
In the past, public comments relating to items on the agenda were televised. There was also time for community members to speak on non-agenda items, but this was done off camera. This changed last year, allowing all matters to be discussed on camera.
School board member Beverly Anderson recently suggested the board return to the past policy to better protect division employees. She brought the topic to a policy review committee and referred to comments made during the April 26 meeting.
At that time, a woman said her child was abused on a school bus and demanded the resignations of the Rosemont Elementary administration. During that recorded public comment, she alleged the school’s principal and an assistant principal had acted improperly after learning of the allegation. Anderson later said that the claims were determined to be unfounded.
The board approved the appointment of a new principal for Rosemont Elementary during Monday’s meeting. Superintendent Aaron Spence said in an email Tuesday that the previous principal had taken a literacy coordinator position in the division’s central office, which he described as “a position she sought, interviewed for and is imminently qualified for.”
Any policy change could be months away. There is another policy review meeting in July. After that, it will be presented to the board as an information item first, then brought forward again for a final decision. Because public comment policy is a part of the board’s bylaws, it will take seven board members voting in favor of the change for it to be approved.