Joint meeting between Henrico supervisors, school board descends into heated arguments

The atmosphere was already tense when Henrico Schools leaders entered the county board room on Thursday afternoon, with county staffers joking: “Bring out your popcorn.” But just a hour-and-a-half later, several school leaders left the room fuming.

After a budget presentation during which HCPS Superintendent Amy Cashwell highlighted the fact that the school system is slated to receive 62 fewer positions than it requested from the board of supervisors, the conversation dissolved into spats between several school and county leaders.

Near the end of the 90-minute discussion, Three Chopt District Supervisor Misty Roundtree asked Cashwell about how HCPS is addressing a common perception held by families in the county: that schools in Western Henrico are superior to schools in Eastern Henrico. 

“What can be done about that greater issue? Because when we hear this presentation, and the comment is made that Henrico County is a destination for schools, for school children, it’s not true for half the county,” she said. “People’s perception is that Eastern Henrico schools are not why they’re moving to Henrico County. And I’m frustrated because I don’t know what is being done to pointedly address that.

“And what I am saying is not a denigration of schools in the East End,” Roundtree continued. “I feel like if we just keep saying Henrico is a great county and we don’t acknowledge that this is something we need to affirmatively address, then those perceptions continue to persist.”

Cashwell said that HCPS works every day to “fact check” any myths being perpetuated about schools, and told Roundtree she would “welcome a conversation” with her to “put some facts behind where the investments are” across the school system. Henrico School Board representative Alicia Atkins, who represents Eastern Henrico’s Varina District, also jumped in to respond to Roundtree.

“Part of that perception continues to magnify when it’s repeated consistently. And I hope that you will take Dr. Cashwell, or any of us, including myself, on the opportunity to understand facts versus what you’re hearing,” Atkins said. “I’m not interested in feeding deception or dysfunction. What I am interested in is just offering you the opportunity, if you are willing to listen.”

Roundtree then responded: “Ms. Atkins, you know I’m in those schools all the time!” to which Atkins replied: “I don’t know that. I haven’t seen you there, so I can’t speak to that. I’ve not seen you.”

Heated conversations continued after this interaction, with Tuckahoe District supervisor Jody Rogish questioning Cashwell about how many of the 91 new staff positions would be instructional.

“Some of the schools are still struggling to read, and I’m not seeing the positions, frankly, go to those activities,” he said. “I’m not disagreeing with some of these positions. . . but I’m going to have a hard time approving the 91 without. . . ”

Cashwell responded that the school system had added 51 new reading specialists last year. More than half of the 91 new positions this year would be instructional, while other positions would include maintenance staff and school counselors.

But after the budget discussion concluded, county and school leaders continued to argue about the school personnel ratio.

“Madison, you claim to be a teacher, you claim to have a finance background,” Rogish said to school board chair and Three Chopt District representative Madison Irving, who works as an economics teacher at a Chesterfield high school. The argument then continued outside of the board room as other school board members intervened.

Much of the hostility between the board of supervisors and the school board stems from a lack of communication, said Roundtree, as well as personality differences. Many supervisors and school board members from the same district do not have consistent or effective communication about school issues, she said.

“There is a significant lack of communication. I think it’s been lacking since I’ve been here,” Roundtree said, who joined the board in 2024. “Some of it is personality driven. I don’t have a lot of conversation and communication with Madison. I probably talk more to [school board member Ryan] Young in Fairfield, but that’s also because I’ve known him for longer just personally. I don’t have a personal relationship with Mr. Irving.”

County and school leaders spar about proposed budget reductions, HVAC issues

During the budget discussion, school leaders emphasized the impact that proposed cuts to new positions would have on the school system. While the school board initially proposed 153 new positions for this upcoming school year, the board of supervisors has incorporated only 91 of those positions in the county budget – citing the lack of new state education aid this year.

Those reductions would mean that HCPS would only be able to add 20 new English learner teachers instead of 50, seven exceptional education staff instead of 27, and 12 fewer positions for renovated and rebuilt schools. HCPS also would not meet the state requirement for the English learner teacher-to-student ratio, because 90% of HCPS’ ESL population demonstrate high needs.

“We would actually need about 100 positions to meet the state requirement [for ESL teachers],” said Cashwell. “We are adding 20.”

“It’s not wants, it’s critical needs,” Brookland District school board member Kristi Kinsella said about HCPS’ original budget request.

The school system also has been struggling for months with widespread HVAC issues, leaving several school classrooms without heat this past winter. The county’s proposed budget would provide HCPS $20 million in maintenance funding, but school leaders said that many HVAC issues stem from the minimal maintenance funding HCPS received from the county during the past two decades.

“I believe that stagnant funding number that went on for decades was two or 2.5 million [annually] – for over 70 buildings for roofing and mechanical needs,” said Tuckahoe school board member Marcie Shea.

“Requests came well before my tenure, well before anyone sitting on this board, for increased roofing and mechanical [funding],” Cashwell said. “So our systems grew, needs grew, and that budget did not grow. . . I’m not casting blame, but the needs are real and they are decades-long in the making.”

County Manager John Vithoulkas said that the “record is pretty clear” that the county has responded “anytime there’s a request that’s been put forward” by the schools for needed HVAC repair funding. Roundtree also said that a lack of communication from HCPS on HVAC issues may be hampering progress.

“What I’m hearing being told almost sounds like the alarm should have been being sounded every year,” she said. “I don’t know that the communication is there, and I find myself answering a lot of school-related questions, even though I’m not on the school board, because parents bring them to me.”

After a smooth budget week of largely friendly encounters with other county departments, Roundtree said the board of supervisors were frustrated with school leaders’ lack of acknowledgement of persistent issues in the division, specifically tropes that exist about Eastern Henrico schools and the real disparities that remain between eastern and western schools.

“I know how many obstacles [the schools] face and the systemic things that we’re still trying to fix on our end, but we have accountability on our end as a board to try to address things. We’re owning it and saying we recognize that this is real,” she said. “And so that was really what I was trying to get across, was, let's stop dancing around what we all in this room know is the reality of the perception of east versus west, because you don't hear it in the [schools] presentation.”

To respond to the wide range of school maintenance needs, Henrico's general government is creating a position that will oversee maintenance orders both for the school system and general government.

Roundtree said that she wants to talk about the negative perceptions to normalize the conversation, not perpetuate myths. But each year the board of supervisors meets with the school board, conversations quickly become defensive, she said.

“I don’t understand the defensiveness. It always feels like a defensive conversation,” she said. “And how can we be collaborative when everybody wants to defend why they haven’t fixed it all along?”

After the meeting concluded, school board members said they would continue to push for more positions and funding in the budget if state aid becomes available. 

“Our expectation is that if the state budget comes in over projection, we expect that money to be immediately allocated towards these positions,” said Irving.

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.