Tag: Matt Haas

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Coronavirus News

Tough call: Albemarle allows in-person learning for select students, while Charlottesville opts for all-virtual reopening

Charlottesville City Schools will reopen virtually for all students, while Albemarle County will allow a limited selection of students to participate in in-person learning. PC: Eze Amos

After weeks of discussion and debate, the verdict is in: Charlottesville City Schools will reopen virtually for all students, while Albemarle County will allow a limited selection of students to participate in in-person learning. Both districts finalized their decisions at school board meetings on Thursday.

During the division’s virtual meeting, ACPS staff detailed the division’s five stages of reopening. Superintendent Matt Haas recommended the board approve the second stage for the first nine weeks of school. Most students will begin the year learning online only, but the plan makes an exception for students with inadequate internet access that cannot be improved, those with special needs who cannot fulfill their individual education plans at home, and English learners with low proficiency levels in fourth through 12th grades.

These students—an estimated 1,000 to 1,500—will be put into pods of 10 or fewer, and paired with a learning coach, who will assist them with their online coursework. Everyone will be required to wear masks and adhere to social distancing within the school buildings, which will be regularly cleaned and disinfected, among other mitigation measures. Bus service will be provided for families who request it.

All students and staff members coming into the school buildings will be doing so voluntarily, Haas emphasized throughout the meeting. 

In the coming week, Albemarle will release more details on how it’s revamping virtual learning, which will include both asynchronous and synchronous coursework, and what actions it will take if a student or staff member involved in in-person instruction contracts COVID-19.

Ahead of Charlottesville’s virtual meeting, Superintendent Rosa Atkins recommended that the board approve an all-virtual model for the first nine weeks of school, pointing toward the rising cases and positivity rate in the area and many remaining unanswered safety questions. She emphasized that virtual learning in the fall would greatly differ from the experience offered in the spring, and would include a variety of new features, from social-emotional learning to peer engagement.

Both divisions will revisit their decisions in the middle of the first quarter to evaluate whether they will move forward with reopening, or stay in the same phase for the next school quarter.

Though all classes will be online, Charlottesville plans to host individual in-person, socially-distanced meet-and-greets with teachers, which students and their families will sign up for. Additionally, it is possible that a small number of students in great need of in-person instruction will be grouped into pods, and have classes in outdoor settings, said Atkins.

About 200 families in Charlottesville have indicated they need child care, she added. The division is working with community partners—including the Boys & Girls Club, Piedmont Family YMCA, and City of Promise—to figure out how to best provide assistance. Students could participate in virtual learning while at a child care center.

Feelings about virtual reopening were mixed in the county. Board members Judy Le and Ellen Osborne emphasized the various risks of in-person learning and lack of solid data on how the virus transmits between children, and preferred to start with stage one, or all-virtual classes.

“I just don’t feel like I can put our most vulnerable students into the middle of a grand experiment, and have them take that home to their communities,” said Osborne.

However, board member Katrina Callsen expressed concern for the families she has heard from who are unable to adequately participate in distance learning, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds.

The board initially did not agree to reopen under stage two, with members David Oberg and Graham Paige siding with Le and Osborne against the plan. However, Oberg changed his mind after a 10 minute break, and voted to approve it, along with Callsen, Jonno Alcaro, and Kate Acuff.

Albemarle parents and staff were also split on reopening plans, per the division’s latest surveys. Out of nearly 7,000 responses, 71 percent of parents ranged from “somewhat” to “extremely” concerned about sending their student to school for in-person learning in the fall, but 67 percent preferred that the division adopt a hybrid reopening model.

Meanwhile, 65 percent of staff respondents did not feel comfortable returning to the classroom. 

If the pandemic worsens in the area—especially after UVA students return—Haas has the authority to revert the division all the way back to stage one without approval from the board.

While the Charlottesville School Board’s vote approving an all-virtual reopening was unanimous, results from a phone and web survey were split. A majority of staff (about 60 percent) preferred an all-virtual reopening, but families showed nearly equivalent support for face-to-face and online-only learning. 

During public comment, most speakers advocated for a hybrid model, particularly for younger students and those from marginalized backgrounds. 

“There is no clear consensus among families about the best path forward…I’m not sure why we are straying from the multipath system that was first designed,” said Richard Feero, who works for Abundant Life Ministries and lives in the Prospect community. “Choosing an all-virtual path to start the school year punishes working-class, predominantly Black and brown families in the city….Why not just give this small segment the option to have their children attend school in-person?”

During its school board meeting on August 6, Charlottesville staff will give a presentation with more details on how it will implement distance learning for students in special education, ESL, and preschool. 

Albemarle’s next meeting is scheduled for August 13.

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News

(Don’t) take it down: Removal of Cale black history poster sparks backlash

Several Cale parents and teachers, along with other community members, came to last Thursday’s school board meeting to express their concerns over the removal of a black history poster. PC: staff photo

On February 10, local conservative radio host Rob Schilling posted a photo of a Black History Month poster from Cale Elementary School on his blog, with the headline “Fomenting dissension at Cale Elementary.” Three days later, Albemarle County Public Schools Superintendent Matt Haas left a comment agreeing that the poster was causing dissension among students, and said it was coming down that afternoon.

That decision—and the response to Schilling before the school community was officially notified—angered many Cale parents, teachers, and staff, along with other local residents, several of whom came to the February 27 school board meeting to express their concerns.

Cale teachers Lori Ann Stoddart and Katie Morgans read a collective statement signed by 33 teachers and staff at the school, some choosing to sign “X” instead of their names out of fear of being fired. 

“Matt Haas’ actions have done harm to the teachers, students, and families of the Mountain View/Cale Elementary community,” Stoddart said. “People of color within our staff, student body, and families feel demeaned and disrespected by the removal of a poster that contained nothing but historical fact and was used as instructional material for teachers in our school.”

The poster, written in colorful letters on yellow laminated paper, read: “Dear Students, They didn’t steal slaves. They stole scientists, doctors, architects, teachers, entrepreneurs, astronomers, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, etc. and made them slaves. Sincerely, your ancestors.” It was based on a poster Jovan Bradshaw, a teacher at Magnolia Middle School in Mississippi, created for her classroom for Black History Month last year.

Both in his comments on Schilling’s blog and at the meeting, Haas agreed that the poster’s message was “true and compelling.” But he said because the school’s Black History Month committee did not plan an academic program for the poster, it “spawned destructive confrontations between students who obviously lacked the mature perspective to understand the intent of the message.”

Although the same poster was put up in the school’s cafeteria last year, and didn’t cause any issues, Haas said at the meeting that this year’s poster was bigger, and placed outside the school’s main office, where it was much more visible.

He said about a dozen staff members reported to Cale Principal Cyndi Wells that the poster was “divisive,” and caused disagreements among students. Wells called him, he said, to discuss the issue and, after conferring with the school board’s legal counsel and Phil Giaramita, ACPS’ strategic communications officer, they decided to take the poster down.

ACPS Superintendent Matt Haas took heat for the removal of a Black History Month poster. PC: Hate-Free Schools Coalition of Albemarle County

 

In addition to not providing an “age-appropriate context” for the poster, Cale’s Black History Month committee, which includes about a dozen teachers, did not receive approval to put up the poster from Wells, who became principal last July, Haas explained. Stoddart and Morgans believe that Haas unfairly blamed Cale’s teachers.

“By abruptly removing the poster and falsely claiming that Mountain View/Cale teachers were not using the poster instructionally, Matt Haas robbed our school community of the opportunity for learning about and understanding each other,” Stoddard said during the meeting. “When Matt Haas could have led our school and our county in a bold conversation of our shared past, he chose instead to pander to those who did not want our community to evolve.”

Cale parent Tannis Fuller was particularly displeased with Haas’ communication about the poster’s removal. She said that on February 13, several hours after Haas left his comment on Schilling’s blog, she received a vague email from Wells about the poster, but nothing from Haas. 

“Am I to understand that Haas found it more important to assure a community not affected by the poster that the poster was coming down, than to assure the faculty, staff, and students of Cale that he had their backs?” Fuller asked. “To whom is Matt Haas accountable? The readers of the blog or the faculty, staff, and students of Cale?”

Haas, however, did not view his comments on Schilling’s blog as problematic.

“If I’m made aware that someone has posted something about the school system on their site, whatever I communicate I’m going to put it on that site. I also did it on the Hate-Free Schools [Coalition of Albemarle County] Facebook page,” he said. “That’s just what I do.” 

Hate-Free Schools member Amanda Moxham emphasized that the poster needed to be put back up, and encouraged the school to have a discussion with students about the controversy surrounding it.

“These are the conversations that need to be held at a young age so that when our students get to high school, they’re not combating each other over these ideologies,” Moxham said. 

Following public comment, Haas admitted he “often makes mistakes, especially in terms of my communication style,” and offered a formal apology. But he added that “we all need to take ownership,” and said “there was more that the school staff could have done prior to using the poster to set the stage for a positive dialogue and outcome.”

Cale’s Black History Month committee is currently working with the school’s administration, as well as with Dr. Bernard Hairston, assistant superintendent for school community empowerment, to determine what to do next. Hairston has also met with some African American parents at Cale, who suggested that “with the proper support and context and information, the poster could be [put] back on display,” Haas said.

“I support that…and I think that would be a great next step,” he said. “Someone might say, ‘Well, it’s too late because it was a part of African American History Month.’ But I would also say that it’s not one month out of the year…that’s part of reframing the narrative.” 

Correction 3/6: the Hate-Free Schools member who spoke at ACPS’s School Board meeting on 2/27 is named Amanda Moxham, not Maxhom.

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News

‘Deeply and irreparably sorry:’ Student who threatened ‘ethnic cleansing’ apologizes

Superintendent Matt Haas read a public apology from the Albemarle teen who made a racist threat against CHS students. Staff photo

The 17-year-old Albemarle County student who threatened an “ethnic cleansing” at Charlottesville High in March, prompting a city-wide school closure for two days, has offered an apology in a letter written from the Blue Ridge Juvenile Detention Center.

County schools Superintendent Matt Haas read the letter written by Joao Pedro Souza Ribeiro at a recent press conference.

“All students make mistakes and we want to be here to help them,” Haas said. “I think it will help people understand there is a person behind what happened.”

Ribeiro, who has no prior criminal record and whom prosecutors acknowledged showed no signs of carrying out violence, was charged with a felony and a misdemeanor for making the anonymous threat on the message board 4chan.

The teen says he tried to delete the post almost immediately, but he acknowledged that his explanation “should not and will not” be acceptable to the community.

“That website represents all that I abhor in this world,” Ribeiro said about 4chan, parts of which have been a haven for white supremacists and hate speech. “I regret including racial slurs, including one that targeted my own demographic group and that of my friends. Looking back, I don’t really understand why I did it. Maybe I was looking for support from the hateful people who traffic in the embrace of violence so I could then reveal to them what I really believed and tell them that the joke was on them.”

The letter prompted surprisingly little response on social media, and students contacted for this piece did not respond to a request for comment. Jane Mills, whose daughter is a senior at Albemarle High School, had mixed feelings.

“I run Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry, and we get people doing court-ordered community service, and for some reason, the apology felt like somebody made him do it,” she says. “But like most parents of teenagers, who were dumb teenagers at one time, too, I tend to forgive those dumb judgments and I think we are probably likely to forgive this kid.”

Ribeiro said he’s sorry for letting down the community, and specifically his parents, who cry when they visit him in juvenile detention. “I had never seen my father cry before,” he added.

At the press conference, Haas detailed new measures to encourage students to report potential threats, including an anonymous reporting system and a cash reward.

But in this case, reporting was not the problem. When asked about what the schools are doing to prevent students from posting something like this in the first place, county schools spokesperson Phil Giaramita says it’s “impractical” to block internet access on school property, and one of the most effective ways to deter this behavior is by making students aware of the consequences.

“We’re trying to help students realize that images posted on social media don’t disappear simply because they are deleted and that the punishment can be severe,” he says, though he didn’t offer details.

Amanda Moxham, an organizer with the Hate-Free Schools Coalition of Albemarle County, says her group is “deeply concerned” by the lack of anti-racist eduction in local schools.

She says the county school system “has not acknowledged their role in sustaining a racist system that creates a culture in which making a racist threat is viewed as a joke.”

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News

In brief: Plogging craze, Crozet shuttle, marathon man, and more

Plogging and other Earth Day events

A combination of jogging while picking up trash—who wouldn’t want to go plogging? Easter Sunday, from 1 to 5pm, is your chance.

“Instead of hunting for Easter eggs, we’re hunting for litter,” says organizer and self-proclaimed tree-hugger Brady Earnhart. He’s never been plogging, but was immediately intrigued when he read about the European craze in The New Yorker.

Earnhart says his event will probably be more of a stroll than a jog, and will start and end at Rapture on the Downtown Mall. “Get some exercise
while you’re making Charlottesville a prettier place, and hang out with a crowd who feels the way you do about it,” he says.

Participants will break into smaller groups and collect as much garbage as they can from the designated zones, which can be found on a map on the Facebook event page, “Easter Plogging: A Holiday Litter Hunt.”

Bring your smartphone and plastic grocery bags (for collecting) if you’ve got ’em, says Earnhart.

And if you’re in the mood for more environmentally-friendly (and plogging!) events, here are just a few options:

Plog with the prez

Join UVA President Jim Ryan on April 19 at 7am at Madison Hall for running and litter pickup, one of more than 20 university-sponsored Earth Week events. A full schedule can be found at sustainability.virginia.edu.

Break out your bike helmet

Piedmont Environmental Council and other groups are leading a casual ride April 19 at 5:30pm through neighborhood streets, along bike lanes,
and greenways, with an optional social hour and advocacy brainstorming session to follow. Meet at Peloton Station.

Lace up your hiking boots

Join Wild Virginia on a guided two- to three-mile hike at Montpelier April 27 from 10am to noon. The cost is $10 with a $5 recommended donation to Wild Virginia, and those interested can sign up by searching “Nature Exploration Hike at Montpelier” on Eventbrite.

Quote of the week

“[Discriminatory symbols] certainly include Confederate imagery, which evokes a time when black people were enslaved, sold, beaten, and even killed at the whim of their masters.”—Educator/activist Walt Heinecke to the Albemarle School Board April 11

In brief

Don’t go

A petition started by UVA alumna Lacey Kohlmoos asks the men’s basketball team not to visit the White House in the wake of their NCAA championship win, and at press time, the online document had 10,900 of the 11,000 requested John Hancocks. But here’s the catch: While the winner may traditionally be extended an invitation to the president’s abode, as of yet, the Cavaliers have not been invited.

Rebel students

Since Albemarle Superintendent Matt Haas banned white supremacist and Nazi imagery on clothing as disruptive, six students have been counseled, Haas told the school board April 11. The first, reported as wearing a hat with Confederate imagery, also had on a Confederate T-shirt. That student spent several days at home.

Eze Amos

Riot free

Charlottesville police reported minimal mayhem as Hoos celebrated UVA’s national basketball championship into the wee hours of April 9. Police made three misdemeanor arrests for drunk in public, trespassing, and assault. UVA police reported three calls for vandalism, and fire and rescue responded to seven burned sofas/bonfires.

Crozet express

JAUNT is planning to launch a new bus service from Crozet to UVA and Sentara Martha Jefferson starting August 5, with other stops to allow riders to connect with transit options, according to the Progress. JAUNT, which is still seeking input, aims to keep the ride to no more than 45 minutes and will charge $2 each way.

Good pork

Virginia’s U.S. senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine get $43 million in federal funding from HUD for affordable housing in Virginia, including $875,000 for Charlottesville Redevelopment & Housing Authority.

Ryan’s run

UVA prez Jim Ryan ran his ninth Boston Marathon April 15 in honor of 26 teachers, one for every mile. Donors contributed $260 to get an educator who had made a difference listed on Ryan’s shirt.

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Hate-free hats: Student challenges county schools’ new policy on first day

A student who challenged Albemarle Superintendent Matt Haas’ new interpretation of the dress code was sent home after refusing to remove a hat with Confederate imagery.

Just hours after Albemarle County Public Schools’ new interpretation of its dress code went into effect on March 12, a Western Albemarle High student was sent to the principal’s office. He had refused to remove a hat bearing the Confederate insignia.

ACPS Superintendent Matt Haas had emailed parents the previous day to announce a ban on the “wearing of clothing associated with organizations that promote white supremacy, racial division, hatred, or violence,” making clear that included Confederate imagery and the Nazi swastika.

Schools spokesperson Phil Giaramita stresses that the dress code itself has not changed. “It’s the same policy, which does not specify content and is viewpoint neutral,” he says. “But it does say that clothing that becomes disruptive to the learning environment is not permitted.”

While revising the dress code requires approval from the school board, Haas maintains he may interpret the policy within reasonable bounds. At the Albemarle County School Board’s February 14 meeting, he informally declared his intention to bar Confederate imagery on clothing, using the harm and disruption standard of the county’s current dress code.

Shortly before the meeting, the School Health Advisory Board issued a report concluding that the presence of Confederate imagery would likely impact the ability of students of color to learn and feel safe at school. Haas and school board members David Oberg and Katrina Callsen invoked the report when explaining their support for a ban.

Teachers and administrators have been instructed to respond to violations by notifying the principal, who will call students to the front office and inform them that their clothing is prohibited. Students may not return to class until they have removed or inverted their attire.

At Western Albemarle last week, the student’s father opted to check him out of school.

According to Giaramita, enforcement is not geared toward discipline. For this to work, “it needs to be an act of education or counseling,” he says. “But if a student refuses and continues to show up with the imagery on clothing, it becomes an act of defiance.”

Acts of defiance are punishable by suspension, enforced homeschool, or expulsion, though Giaramita says expulsion is unlikely. (The student is now back in school.)

The new interpretation exempts imagery that has an educational purpose, such as in textbooks and historical films. Notably, the drama department at Western performed The Sound of Music, complete with swastikas and students playing SS guards, that same week. “It’s a matter of context,” says Giaramita, adding that the drama director brought in a history teacher to talk to students about World War II, the German takeover of Austria, and the Nazi regime.

Free speech has figured prominently in the debate over Confederate imagery in schools. Several members of the school board have questioned the legality of a ban, citing an infamous case in 2002, in which Alan Newsom sued after he was forced to wear his NRA T-shirt inside out at Jack Jouett Middle School.

When asked about the new interpretation, his father, Fred Newsom, says he thought that issue had been settled with Alan’s lawsuit. “If only popular speech is protected, there’s really no right of free speech,” he says. “It comes down to if there’s a disruption. I can understand the motivation to try to avoid a disruption.”

ACPS legal counsel Ross Holden advised Haas that the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld bans of disruptive clothing if the dress code itself is content neutral, says Giaramita.

The Albemarle County School Board is scheduled to discuss hateful imagery on clothing at its April 11 meeting.

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Some county residents have strong opinions about what’s appropriate for Black History Month

Walton Middle School is under fire for including City Councilor Wes Bellamy’s photo in a Black History Month display. Photo by Eze Amos

Controversy erupted recently over including a local politician and activist in a Black History Month display at Walton Middle School—and we bet you can guess who it is.

City Councilor Wes Bellamy had some community members clutching their metaphorical pearls when his photo appeared alongside those of historical black figures such as Harriet Tubman, Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, and Barack Obama, in an exhibit of approximately 50 photos that lined several hallways of the school.

“It was a desire to slip a very non-deserving person over on the teachers, community, and, most horribly, the students,” says Tom Stargell, a retired Walton teacher of nearly 40 years, who helped open the school in 1975.

Stargell’s concerns also appeared in the Scottsville Weekly, where he asked a representative from the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors to respond.

Supervisor Rick Randolph, who represents Scottsville, said in a written note to the paper that the school board would be a more appropriate group from which to solicit a response, but he also offered a few of his own thoughts.

“As a former middle school teacher, my strong suspicion is that not a single student at Walton, unprompted by an adult, has taken offense to this photo of the Bellamy family,” said Randolph. “Even if a student did notice this inoffensive picture, Dr. Bellamy deserves consideration as a positive role model for all youth.”

County resident Denise Davis, in an email to ACPS Superintendent Matt Haas, disagrees. “I am trying to comprehend how and why anyone of you could arrive at such twisted logic that it is appropriate to place Wes Bellamy’s picture alongside of the distinguished African Americans in the hall at Walton Middle School. This is a man who is a known racist, has verbally made it clear he absolutely has no use for white people, and, as you may recall, made the statement ‘it is not rape if she moans.’”

Middle school principal Josh Walton said in a statement that Bellamy is among the local black leaders who volunteered to work with students in the M-Cubed program at the school, which was developed to help male African American students improve in math. His wife also works at Walton.

“The use of Mr. Bellamy’s photo, nonetheless, was inappropriate,” said the principal, because Bellamy is up for re-election this year, and Walton says the school wouldn’t want it to appear as a political endorsement.

“More important,” the principal added, “I do not believe his inclusion in the exhibit fit with the theme of recognizing African American role models down through history who have had a lasting and positive influence upon our nation.”

Says Stargell, “No doubt there are persons at Walton who wish to further Mr. Bellamy’s political agenda…They got caught. They now say Bellamy was not deserving.”

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, is [Walton] that far out into left field shooting marbles, or does he honest to God think that Wes Bellamy is some shining star?” asks Davis.

All of the leaders’ photos were taken down at the end of the month. According to county schools spokesperson Phil Giaramita, next year students will have a role in deciding how to celebrate Black History Month.

Bellamy declined to comment.

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Rutherford Institute weighs in on county schools’ hate imagery ban

Local activists have long called for hate symbols including Confederate imagery to be banned in Albemarle County schools. Photo by Eze Amos

Anti-racist activists have spent more than a year advocating for a ban of hate symbols in Albemarle county schools, and after months of the school board deferring an official vote, the superintendent took matters into his own hands last week to prohibit such imagery in the dress code. Now, a constitutional attorney says he better watch out for a lawsuit.

Some school board members had previously voiced their concerns about the legality of such a prohibition—especially in light of the $150,000 First Amendment lawsuit they were smacked with in 2002 for denying a Jack Jouett middle schooler the right to wear his NRA camp shirt to school.

“Images of white supremacy, including Confederate and Nazi imagery, should not be permitted in our schools because they cause substantial disruption,” Superintendent Matt Haas read from a statement at the February 28 school board meeting, where he announced that he will ban explicit symbols, lettering, or any insignia associated with violence or white supremacy.

John Whitehead. Photo by Stephen Canty

John Whitehead, a constitutional attorney and president of the Rutherford Institute, says when policies are as vague and subjective as he says the Albemarle County Public Schools’ policy is, it lays the groundwork for a host of civil liberties violations.

The move is “consistent with a trend being played out in schools across the country—and in the courts—to censor First Amendment activities under the guise of school safety,” says Whitehead. “As a result, even American flag apparel was banned as dangerous in one major case.”

While this and other hate speech policies may make some students feel safer in the short term, he says it’s the Rutherford Institute’s position that they won’t actually make the schools any safer.

“Ultimately, what we must decide is whether the schools are here to censor or are they here to educate?” says Whitehead. “While this ACPS policy is inevitably going to result in a legal challenge, it’s not going to resolve the underlying problem of racism in our community and in our country, which is something that needs to be addressed and discussed openly and worked out in an open, supportive environment by the students and mediated by school officials.”

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Superintendent says Confederate imagery disrupts learning, but board chair postpones vote

The February 14 Albemarle County School Board meeting got heated after Chair Jonno Alcaro tabled a resolution that would restrict Confederate imagery on clothing in schools until the next meeting. Hate-Free Schools Coalition of Albemarle County provided refreshments. Photo by Eze Amos

A resolution to ban Confederate imagery on clothing in Albemarle schools was back on the agenda at the February 14 Albemarle County School Board meeting. The last time the issue came up, in August, six people were arrested.

School board members were split on the issue, and again postponed a decision, to the dismay of both attendees and Superintendent Matt Haas, who said he was ready to ban the imagery because it created a disruption to learning.

Haas says that rationale, supported by a recent report from the School Health Advisory Board that concluded Confederate imagery might be harmful to students, could protect the board should a lawsuit ensue. But several school board members, citing a 2003 First Amendment lawsuit from a Jack Jouett sixth grader not allowed to wear his NRA T-shirt, expressed concerns about infringing on students’ rights.

At first, the meeting was business as usual. After commending eight Albemarle students on qualifying for the Daily Progress Regional Spelling Bee, board members listened to local middle schoolers attest to the importance of extracurricular civics programs.

Then came public comment. Most speakers, many with Hate-Free Schools Coalition of Albemarle County, pressed the board to pass the resolution banning Confederate imagery. They delivered impassioned pleas stressing that minority children cannot feel safe around classmates wearing Confederate imagery, as audience members stood up in solidarity.

“To allow children to wear [Confederate imagery], carry it into a school, is no different from having them bring in swastikas,” said Matthew Christensen, a social worker. “I have seen the violence. I have seen the hatred. It has such an impact on our kids and it’s going to stay with them; it’s not going to go away when the image disappears.”

Star Peterson, one of the victims injured in the August 12 vehicular assault, spoke about the use of Confederate imagery during local hate rallies in 2017. “During the summer of hate…Richard Spencer and his people marched by a family festival with Confederate flags,” she said. “I can tell you I saw Confederate flags at a KKK rally. I can tell you I saw Confederate flags with my own eyes at the Unite the Right rally. There is no question of their significance.”

Before proceeding to debate, the board reviewed new items added to the Albemarle County schools budget, such as $30,000 earmarked for panic buttons. Then, it took a 30-minute break.

When the meeting reconvened, Assistant Superintendent Bernard Hairston submitted the resolution.

Board members Steve Koleszar, Kate Acuff, and Jason Buyaki, who wore a Confederate tie at one of the board’s previous discussions of the topic, said they felt the ban violated the First Amendment and failed to solve the underlying problem of racism.

Chair Jonno Alcaro implied he was reluctant to pass it for similar reasons, and decided to table the resolution until the next meeting, on February 28, to hear public concerns and allow the board more time to review the language.

Many in the audience were stewing. Amidst shouts of “coward” and “you’re supporting fascism,” Lara Harrison stood in front of the dais and flipped board members off with both hands.

After a minute of murmurs and muffled laughter, Alcaro noticed and asked her to sit down. “I’m not disrupting the meeting,” she replied, sitting on the steps. “I thought you were in favor of free speech.”

She returned to her seat after Alcaro threatened to have her removed.

Harrison had been arrested for trespassing during the special August 30 school board meeting concerning the same policy, though the charges were later dropped.

Audience interruptions continued throughout the meeting, but those heckling the board either stopped after being threatened with removal or stormed out of the auditorium.

Board member David Oberg supported the resolution, as did Graham Paige, who said he had evolved on the issue. Citing the School Health Advisory Board report, Katrina Callsen also supported the resolution.

“I think Confederate imagery should be banned from schools,” she said, comparing it to gang imagery. “Our city was the site of one of the largest hate rallies in recent history and the Confederate flag was a hate symbol.”

All board members in favor said they were willing to face a lawsuit but didn’t think it would happen because of the violent history of the flag in Charlottesville.

In response, Koleszar alluded to MLK. “You know, Martin Luther King warned about how the Northern liberal was more dangerous than the white racist,” he said.

“I am not a Northern liberal,” Paige retorted. The room erupted in laughter.

Haas said he would use his authority to prevent students from wearing Confederate imagery in the meantime. “I want a green light to work with the administrative team to have a plan to proactively tell families that the school board supports our current dress code,” he said. “I am now saying that you cannot wear these outfits to school.”

Nobody objected.

Before adjourning, Alcaro suggested the meeting prompted a change of heart. “I look forward to approving the anti-racism consent resolution in the next meeting,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot that I really need to think through.”

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Another name change? Albemarle school board confronts racist past

Before potentially renaming Cale Elementary School, Albemarle County School Board Chair Kate Acuff wants the superintendent to review the current policy on naming schools, and to examine the names of all schools in the division. Photo by Eze Amos

“White parents would not permit their children to receive instruction from inferior Negro teachers—and they were inferior.”

These recently resurfaced words, which originally appeared in a July 1, 1956, article titled “Virginia’s Creeping Desegregation: Force of the Inevitable” in Commentary Magazine, were said by Dr. Paul Cale, the longest-serving Albemarle County schools superintendent, and the namesake of one of the county’s most diverse elementary schools.

And now that his racist murmurings have been brought to light, some school board members say celebrating the long-gone superintendent doesn’t sit well with them.

“The author writes of Dr. Cale’s agreement that two years after Brown vs. the Board of Education, integration was not practical in Albemarle County and if it were to be enforced, white parents would withdraw their children and stop paying taxes,” said school board chair Kate Acuff October 18 at the board’s most recent meeting. “This was the essential strategy of massive resistance, which was formally born in Virginia only months before this article appeared.”

In a motion that wasn’t on the meeting’s agenda, she called for superintendent Matt Haas to review the current policy on naming school buildings and to review the monikers of all schools in the division, including Cale Elementary School, within six months.

“We should not revere or celebrate these viewpoints nor preserve them in perpetuity in the names of public buildings,” Acuff said. “As this board often has said, in this school division, all should always mean all.”

Local filmmaker Lorenzo Dickerson, who also serves as a web and social media specialist for county schools, says he dug up the Commentary article when creating a presentation for a professional development day for teachers and administrators at his alma mater, Western Albemarle High School. He showed his work to the school board at Acuff’s request.

Dickerson has also directed a film called Albemarle’s Black Classrooms, and focuses his work on telling stories of local African-American history. He’s spent years researching the themes in his name-change prompting presentation.

“What surprised me the most was a photo of a black-faced minstrel show that was given at Albemarle High School during the 1962-63 school year,” he says. “I found this photo in the AHS yearbook from that year. It was displayed just as any other typical school play.”

These types of discussions aren’t new to Albemarle. The county school board has recently come under fire by anti-racist activists for its dress code, which allows Confederate imagery. These community members, some with the Anti-Hate Coalition of Albemarle County, considered the most recent meeting a “huge win,” according to the group’s Facebook page.

“I know that the members of this board will continue to struggle with these issues,” said David Oberg, one school board member who has publicly supported the ban on hate symbols in schools. “I hope that as we do, we will engage our entire community on not only the issue of Confederate imagery, but also the issues of systemic discrimination within our schools and within our community.”

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In brief: Diverging diamond, Way’s passing, educator arrested and more

Six road projects, one $36-million package

The Virginia Department of Transportation has identified six upgrades for Albemarle roads, and will choose one contractor
to design and build them for $35.9 million. Citizens can check out and weigh in on the projects from 5:30 to 7:30pm at Western Albemarle High School on Wednesday, October 10, and at Albemarle High on Thursday, October 11.

  • I-64 and U.S. 29 interchange: Eliminates crash-prone loop exit from U.S. 29 south to I-64 east, and installs two left-turn lanes on 29.
  • I-64 and U.S. 250 at Richmond Road: While left-turn lanes are being installed above, this project eliminates the current left turns across traffic onto 64 with a tricky diverging diamond interchange, like the one at Zion Crossroads, which allows lefts without crossing oncoming traffic.
  • U.S. 29 at Fontaine Avenue: Reduces number of lane changes needed to exit 29 north to Fontaine.
  • U.S. 250 at Route 151: Builds a roundabout at the collision-heavy intersection of Alcohol Alley and Rockfish Gap Turnpike near Afton.
  • Route 20 at Proffit and Riggory Ridge roads: Adds a roundabout at this intersection.
  • Berkmar Drive Extended. Adds a quarter-mile connector with Rio Mills Road

 

Quote of the week

“We knew all the details. Maurice always told the councilors.”—Bob Fenwick on former police chief Al Thomas remaining on the public payroll, according to the Daily Progress

In brief

Teacher’s aide indicted

The man knocked to the ground by Deputy Police Chief Greg Jenkins at an August 30 Albemarle County School Board meeting has now been indicted on a felony charge of assaulting a police officer. Michael Reid was among dozens of protesters calling for the school board to ban Confederate imagery from its dress code, and was brought to the hospital after the scuffle with Jenkins, who accused Reid of assaulting him.

Another Miller Center departure

Doug Blackmon. Wikimedia Commons

Douglas Blackmon, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Slavery by Another Name, follows two other senior historians in leaving the Miller Center. The former director of public programs declined to stay after his contract ended, and wrote in an email to the center’s CEO, obtained by the Cavalier Daily, “our ships are traveling on very different bearings.” Like Melvyn Leffler and William Hitchcock, Blackmon also cited the appointment of former Trump aide Marc Short as a factor.

Korte sentenced

Former UVA film studies professor Walter Korte, 75, was ordered to jail October 2 for possessing two child porn images. Korte, who was sentenced to 12 months, had requested electronic home incarceration, but Judge Humes Franklin denied the request. Korte was arrested in 2016 after tossing thousands of legal pornographic images in a UVA dumpster.

Federal lawsuit

Ira Socol, the Albemarle school division’s former chief technology and innovation officer, says he was wrongfully punished for his unauthorized purchase of school furniture earlier this year. He is suing the school board and Superintendent Matt Haas for firing him without a hearing, violating his right to due process, breach of contract, and defamation, according to the complaint.

Preacher, public servant dies

Courtesy Rob Bell

The Reverend Peter Way, who served on Albemarle’s Board of Supervisors and school board, and was the 58th District delegate in the General Assembly, died October 6 at 82. The Keene resident was elected to the House in 1991 in a seven-vote squeaker.

After his retirement from elected office in 1997, he founded the Conservative Coalition, a Tea Party forerunner. “He was a passionate fiscal conservative,” says Paul Wright, who worked with Way in the coalition in the late ’90s.

Way was passionate about his religious beliefs as well, says Wright, but he was not judgmental toward those who did not share his beliefs. “He was one of the good guys in politics.”