School Board

Parents support adoption of proposed policies on lewd material; some continue to complain about explicit library books

By Caleb M Soptelean on November 13, 2022 School Board, Schools

During the Nov. 7 Chesterfield County Public Schools board meeting, eight people spoke during public comment, with seven either lauding the pending approval of a new model policy while others lambasted the school board for allowing sexually-explicit books in middle school libraries. During the first reading of proposed policies and revisions, communications officer Shawn Smith noted that Policy 3035 pulled wording verbatim from the state board of education in regard to sexually-explicit content. The policy would require parents to be notified 30 days in advance if any sexually-explicit content would be used as part of curriculum. According to Senate Bill…

Parents complain about lack of staff, bus drivers, other issues; vacancies in Dale District highlighted

By Caleb M Soptelean on October 16, 2022 School Board

The Oct. 11 Chesterfield County Public Schools board meeting was full of public comment, with multiple parents complaining about various issues. Michael Karabinos said there were 16 teacher separations listed as part of the consent agenda. He noted that his daughter’s third-grade teacher left during the school year last year for a job with Capital One. “Teachers are afraid to speak their mind in forums like this,” he said, and encouraged the school district to allow collective bargaining. Dominique Chatters said there is a disproportionate number of vacancies in the Dale District. Anne Taydus said that the district’s Head Start…

Coyner, Morrissey talk Chesterfield Recovery Academy

By Caleb M Soptelean on July 29, 2022 School Board, Schools, State News

On July 29, state Sen. Joe Morrissey (D) and Del. Carrie Coyner (R) discussed the new Chesterfield Recovery Academy, which is set to open Aug. 22 when the other public schools open. The school will be located at 13900 Hull Street Road in Midlothian. The eastern Chesterfield County duo chatted about the school on Morrissey’s program, the Fighting Joe Morrissey Show, which can be viewed live or replayed on Facebook. Morrissey said the high school was the “brainchild” of Coyner, who said the idea sprung from her time serving on the Chesterfield County Public Schools board. “The idea was at…

School board approves final financial plan, employee bonuses

By Caleb M Soptelean on June 26, 2022 School Board, Schools, Teachers

With final passage of a budget by the General Assembly, the Chesterfield County Public Schools board met in a special meeting on June 21 and approved their final fiscal 2023 financial plan. It includes $6 million in one-time bonuses for staff and two-year funding for the Chesterfield Recovery Academy. The latter will get $864,000 this fiscal year and $500,000 next year. With the one-time funds, the school district was able to complete Phase I of Salary Study 2, according to Kimberly Hough, chief of human resources. The salary study began in October last year and compared Chesterfield with 13 other…

Chesterfield schools proceeding with teacher salary increases; graduations coming May 25, 27

By Caleb M Soptelean on May 15, 2022 School Board, Schools

Although Chesterfield County Public Schools are waiting for a Fiscal Year 2023 budget to be adopted by the General Assembly, school officials are proceeding with salary increases for teachers. During a May 10 work session, the schools’ Chief Financial Officer Robert Meister said the increases will range from 8.6 to 8.8 percent. For beginning teachers, the new salary will jump from $46,000 to $49,481. In addition, he said the schools will keep substitute pay at $101.50 a day along with $203 on Fridays and high demand days. The funding is part of an $899.7 million budget approved by the county…

School board approves food warehouse in Chester

By Caleb M Soptelean on April 1, 2022 School Board

On March 8, the Chesterfield County Public Schools Board voted to approve the lease of a food warehouse at 13600 Permilla Springs Drive in Chester. The facility is located east of Interstate 95 and south of Route 618 (Old Bermuda Hundred Road).Berkely Dunbrack, director of food and nutrition services, noted this action will cut out the middleman and enable delivery of fresher food to area schools.The deliveries will begin in August with 25 to 30 percent of food products initially and be at 100 percent by August 2023.Due to the school district’s size, it receives few food distribution bids, he said. The…

Chesterfield school board upholds student mask mandate for now

By Caleb M Soptelean on January 21, 2022 School Board, State News

By a 3-2 vote, the Chesterfield County school board decided during a special meeting on Jan. 20 to continue a mask mandate for students that it imposed last August. The session was called due to an executive order by new Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) that essentially gave the decision regarding student mask use to parents. A federal regulation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still requires mask use on school buses. The school board’s decision only related to school property. After discussion, Bermuda member Ann Coker, who was voted board chair during an earlier meeting in January, made…

Citizens decry firing of high school teacher

By Caleb M Soptelean on October 17, 2021 School Board, Schools

Several local residents continued criticism of the Chesterfield County Public Schools Board during their Oct. 12 meeting. In addition to general criticism about a mask mandate for teachers and students, Anne Taydus called the board to task for the firing of Monacan High School government teacher Stephen Roszel. “You squashed him,” she said. In addition, Taydus said that three school board members are “up for removal,” but she didn’t elaborate other than to say it’s not being covered in the media. Another media outlet reported that she was circulating a recall petition. Roszel also addressed the board during public comment. …

School bus drivers, masks key topics at school board meeting

By Caleb M Soptelean on September 19, 2021 Back-To-School, School Board, Schools

An effort to hire more bus drivers has begun to pay off, according to Chesterfield County Public School officials. As a result of recently increasing the hourly pay for drivers to $20.21 an hour, the school system has over 350 new applicants. During the board’s Sept. 14 afternoon work session, transportation director James C. Frye said the pay rate was increased to $14.84 in September 2019 and then raised to $15.59 in December 2019. This year, it was increased to $17.21 in August and again in September. “We’re very excited about the increase in driver pay,” Frye said. “Chesterfield County…

Chesterfield’s population rises 15%, school board requires masks, approves transgender policy

By Caleb M Soptelean on August 22, 2021 Back-To-School, Politics, School Board, Schools, State News

Chesterfield County grew 15.3 percent from 2010 to 2020 according to preliminary figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. Chesterfield’s growth rate topped Richmond (11) and Henrico (6), but trailed some fast-growing Northern Virginia counties such as Loudoun (34.8), Stafford (21) and Prince William (20). In fact, Loudoun grew so fast it overtook Chesterfield as the state’s fourth-largest locality, behind Fairfax, Prince William and Virginia Beach. The population growth in Northern and Central Virginia will result in a shift of state representation from Southwestern and Southern Virginia. The 16-person independent redistricting commission is working on redrawing boundaries that will go into…

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