School Board meetings have developed a familiar rhythm – Chaos, walk-outs, and work.
Spotsylvania County School Board meetings have become a play in three acts.
Act I: The drama. Usually started by Lisa Phelps or April Gillespie, with accusations, screaming, the occasional bull horn, and an unwillingness to obey the directives of the chair.
Act II: The walk-out. As the meeting moves from the public comments, where the drama sometimes occurs, Phelps and Gillespie will sometimes leave the dais for the balance of the meeting, as they did this week.
Act III: The work. The remaining school board members focus on the business of the board as it relates to the school district.
Subscribed
Acts I and II played out on Monday evening.
Act III, fortunately, did too.
Superintendent Comments
Safety was top-of-mind for Superintendent Clint Mitchell on Monday evening. Hic comments covered both an incident in late September where a bus monitor sexually molested three children, per a press release issued by the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office.
“The first thing I did on Monday after the unfortunate incident was to check on every one of the families and their well-being,” Mitchell said.
In response to complaints raised during public comments that he should have done more, Mitchell explained that “We’re not trying to revictimize those victims. We want to make sure this person never does this again to any student.”
He went on to highlight four initiatives that the school division is now working to implement to improve safety in schools.
The first is the use of LightSpeed, which uses AI technology “to scan and flag concerning indicators within online documents, apps, email, chat messages, browsers, (and more) and sends alerts to designated district staff and highly-trained Lightspeed Safety Specialists—aiding in early intervention,” according to its website.
Additional initiatives include:
- Implementation of weapons detection system in our high schools
- Introducing an ap by December to allow citizens to submit tips to the school division so the school division can intervene when there are issues of safety
- Two more schools are going to receive secure entrances
From there, Mitchell transitioned to highlight what is being accomplished in the division, despite significant challenges.
About accreditation, Mitchell said: “sixteen out of 17 elementary schools are fully accredited. That doesn’t happen by accident, even with all of the vacancies, and the fact that we don’t have the ‘highest quality of teachers’ because they have left our district…. We’re doing this because these staff members in here are training first-year teachers in order to meet the needs of our children. Five of 7 middle schools are fully accredited, and 4 out 5 high schools. Twenty-five of 29 schools met full accreditation. That’s what we should be talking about, not the nonsense that we hear this evening.”
Mitchell also introduced the Superintendent Evaluation System he will roll out. The objective of the system, he said, “is to get an in-depth discussion around the rubric and standards of the Superintendent’s evaluation. It’s done when the board announces it to the public.”
According to comments made by vice-chair Nicole Cole, this marks the “first time” since she has been on the Board that this type of evaluation will be conducted. Chair Lorita Daniels noted her appreciation for the timeline that was provided.
Budget Work
Rusty Davis, supervisor of maintenance for the school system, and Kenny Forrest, executive director of operations, delivered a presentation about the budget work the division is about to undertake.
The report covered three areas:
- Review preparations done for the 2026 operational budget
- Review the 2026 budget calendar
- Examine the current 2025 CIP, setting the stage for the proposed 2026 CIP
Of particular concern in the operational budget is the replacement of the HVAC system at Chancellor Middle and Chancellor High Schools, which the Advance reported on in March.
The CIP for 2026 has $51.4 millions to work with and is spread over three areas: Capital Maintenance, Capital Technology, and Capital Transportation.
Long term, the division will need to focus on three new projects that the division has identified as necessary to support its changing demographics. The three projects are:
- New Elementary School – $84,600,000
- New Career and Technical Center – $143,000,000
- Repurpose Career Technology – $64,200,000
The full schedule for the budget process, which begins October 28, is provided below and is found online.
Local Obituaries
To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit our website at the link that follows.
Support Award-winning, Locally Focused Journalism
The FXBG Advance cuts through the talking points to deliver both incisive and informative news about the issues, people, and organizations that daily affect your life. And we do it in a multi-partisan format that has no equal in this region. Over the past year, our reporting was:
$8 a month supports great journalism
- First to report on a Spotsylvania School teacher arrested for bringing drugs onto campus.
- First to report on new facility fees leveled by MWHC on patient bills.
- First to detail controversial traffic numbers submitted by Stafford staff on the Buc-ee’s project
- Provided extensive coverage of the cellphone bans that are sweeping local school districts.
- And so much more, like Clay Jones, Drew Gallagher, Hank Silverberg, and more.
For just $8 a month, you can help support top-flight journalism that puts people over policies.
Your contributions 100% support our journalists.
Help us as we continue to grow!
Support FXBG Advance for $8 a month
