Celebrations, Challenges, and a New Board
The Fredericksburg City School Board kicked off its 2026 meeting with some positive academic news, recognition of significant challenges ahead, and a new slate of Board leaders.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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At the first Fredericksburg School Board meeting of 2026 on Monday, there were celebrations of excellence and accomplishments. There were also acknowledgements of where there’s room for improvement in the school division.
One celebration came early in Monday’s meeting, when the division’s director of teacher quality, Tristin Fidler, presented the 2026 Excellence in Teaching awards to educators from each of city’s six schools and programs.
Two educators from each school received Excellence in Teaching awards and one from each school was named Teacher of the Year. All of the recipients were honored at their schools before winter break, Fidler said. (See the names of all honorees in our meeting preview here.)
The division-wide Teacher of the Year, Ciera Jacobs, a third-grade teacher at Lafayette Elementary School, will now submit a portfolio to be considered for the Virginia Department of Education's Mary V. Bicouvaris Virginia Teacher of the Year program.
Another celebration came during the instructional update provided later in the meeting by Brendon Albon, the new chief academic officer. Albon gave an overview of how division schools fared under federal accountability standards set by the Every Student Succeeds Act. Every year, the federal government identifies schools as being in need of Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) if there is one or more underperforming student group.
Additionally, every three years, the federal government identifies the lowest performing 5% of Title I schools as Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) schools. Also every three years, TSI schools that continue to have one or more low performing student group are identified for Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI).
Albon noted that for the 2024-25 school year, both Hugh Mercer and Lafayette elementary schools were identified as ATSI schools. Hugh Mercer was identified based on the performance of four student groups (Black students, economically disadvantaged students, Hispanic students, and students with disabilities) and Lafayette on the performance of three (Black and Hispanic students, and students with disabilities).
This year, both schools have moved to a lower level of federal accountability, Albon said, and both schools also reduced the number of low performing student groups. At Hugh Mercer, Black students are no longer a low performing student group, and at Lafayette, the only low performing group is students with disabilities.
Albon also highlighted the fact that Walker-Grant Middle School was identified as a TSI school last year based on the performance of six student groups—Black, Hispanic, multiracial, and white students, economically disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities.
This year, Walker-Grant is no longer a federally identified school at any level.
“This is massive, massive growth for us,” Albon said. “It’s vital that you understand that our schools are progressing.”
Albon acknowledged that the performance of students with disabilities and English language learners continues to fall below federal and state standards. In response to a question from School Board member Molly McFadden, he said there is “a very long list of things” that have already been implemented to improve outcomes for English language learners.
One of the steps being taken is “a review of staffing levels and resources for English language and special education,” he said. The division is also reviewing “lesson planning and pacing practices and existing instructional resources” to see if there are ways to better support teachers and give them more time for individualized instruction, Albon said.
Monday’s meeting also showed that transportation is another area where improvements are needed and may be on the way. Last month, several bus drivers addressed the School Board to describe poor working conditions, low and inconsistent pay, and a lack of staff and resources in the transportation department.
This came after the introduction of a new routing system and a shortage of drivers at the beginning of the school year resulted in lengthy and chaotic bus rides for many school children and angered parents.
On Monday, the president and vice president of the Fredericksburg Education Association, the local chapter of the statewide union for teachers and other school professionals, addressed the bus drivers’ concerns—which included a lack of hot water in the trailer that houses the department and “nonfunctioning” tablets on school buses, among others.
“Since [December], I want to acknowledge that [superintendent Marci] Catlett and [deputy superintendent Matt] Eberhardt have taken meaningful steps to listen and engage,” said FEA president John Ferrara. “They have visited the department and witnessed the challenges first hand. They have also made themselves available for individual conversations and provided formal methods” for sharing concerns.
“FEA remains committed to working collaboratively with the administration” to solve these issues, Ferrara said.
Tom Conway, the FEA vice president, thanked division leadership for “considering the requests of our transportation workers.”
“It strikes me that these are reasonable requests—things like having hot water in the bathrooms in their facility, having a safe, up-to-date maintenance facility, being reasonably compensated for the work they do,” Conway said.
Jaral Jones, director of transportation, said during his update later in the meeting that an ad hoc committee has been assembled to “examine and ultimately propose ways the system [for time reporting and billing for extra duty runs] can be improved.”
“We want to ensure drivers are being compensated fairly for any extra runs or field trip assignments,” he said. “Such consideration will include compensating drivers at their normal rate rather than a flat hourly rate, which was often less than the normal rate.”
Jones said that “feedback and dialogue over past several weeks has proven helpful.”
“We will continue to seek input from stakeholders as we adjust and improve moving forward,” he said.
Monday’s meeting started with organization of the board for 2026. Ward 2 representative Katie Pomeroy was elected chair for 2026 by a vote of 5 to 0. Ward 4 representative Malvina Kay abstained from voting to elect Pomeroy, without explanation.
Molly McFadden, one of two at-large representatives, was unanimously elected vice chair.
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