City School Board Will Discuss Expectations and Protocols in December Meeting
Ward 4 representative Malvina Kay is the only board member who has not committed to attending.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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After working since early August to try to find a date that works for all board members, the Fredericksburg School Board has scheduled a work session to discuss expectations, norms, and protocols for the evening of December 8—but it’s still not clear if all board members will attend.
Chair Matt Rowe said during Monday’s School Board meeting that the December date worked for most board members but that “currently we have one board member who has not committed.” He asked that board member, Ward 4 representative Malvina Kay, if she could commit to that date.
But Kay said on Monday that she’s not able to commit. She cited the obligations of a new job—though Rowe pointed out that the work session would take place in the evening, outside of work hours.
“I’m not sure, but don’t let me stop you,” Kay said. “I’ve never really been to all the meetings where we [asked for] full participation.”
Rowe discussed his interest in scheduling the work session at the board’s August 4 meeting, following the Advance’s reporting on travel expenses incurred by Kay and At-Large representative Jarvis Bailey, and on Bailey’s involvement in salary negotiations for his son, an assistant principal in the division.
“I think it’s important to take the time to revisit these expectations together in a public and dedicated setting,” Rowe said. “It gives us the opportunity to ensure we’re operating with the same understanding that we continue to uphold the level of professionalism and accountability that the community expects from us.”
Kay has consistently not been available on any of the dates proposed for this work session, according to emails and text messages the Advance received as the result of a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Rowe said on August 4 that he hoped to schedule the meeting for the end of August or early September, and that he would ask a representative from the Virginia School Board Association to facilitate the work session.
In an August 11 email to superintendent Marci Catlett, deputy superintendent Matt Eberhardt, School Board Vice Chair Katie Pomeroy, and the board clerks, he stressed that “the board needs to be polled immediately concerning the work session” and that he would “reach out to every board member individually to convey that this is a top priority and they must find availability” during the last week of August.
In response to an August 12 text message from Rowe inquiring about her availability that week, Kay said she was “not available until after September,” citing work travel obligations, and that she was “not going to list her entire schedule” for Rowe.
In a text message exchange with Rowe on August 12, Pomeroy said it was “disappointing” to hear that Kay would not provide her availability. “I was hopeful that we could have the entire board together to discuss our norms and protocols,” she wrote. She then asked whether Catlett had spoken with Kay—her sister—to express “how vital and important this is to the health of our governance board and to regaining the trust of the citizens.”
The next proposed date for the work session was September 2, a date that worked for the VSBA facilitator and all other board members—including Bailey, who said he could make it work, and Ward 3 representative Jennifer Boyd, who told board clerk Angela Wilson that she would “change her plans” if that was the only day that worked for everyone.
But Kay “declined the offer to meet virtually, or in person, on September 2,” deputy clerk Brina Settles told Rowe in a text message on August 15.
In answer to another round of polling, Kay told the clerks that she would not be available on any date from September 15 through October 3.
She told Wilson in a September 2 email that “dates after September should provide enough time for her to get back in town from work,” but then said a few days later that she was “definitely unavailable from October 1 through October 20.”
On Monday, Rowe said that attempts to schedule the work session in November with 100% board member participation were also unsuccessful.
“I would like to make sure we get this done now, because I definitely don’t want people to have the impression that there could be some of us trying to avoid a meeting like this,” he said. “I want to get ahead of that and make sure we have this meeting so everyone in the city can see that we’re committed to doing things right.”
Kay said she believes that everyone in the city “knows we’re committed to doing things right.” She told Rowe that, “You can’t continue to expect people to be able to do it because you want to do it at that particular time.”
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