Spotsylvania School Board Elects New Leadership
Megan Jackson is chair, and Belen Rodas is vice chair for 2025.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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Megan Jackson, the newly elected chair of the Spotsylvania School Board, said Monday that she hopes the board will “say goodbye to chaos, at least most of it,” in 2025.
Jackson, who joined the board in January of 2024 as the Livingston district representative, was elected at Monday’s annual organizational meeting by a vote of 4-to-3, supported by colleagues Belen Rodas, Carol Medawar, April Gillespie, and Lisa Phelps.
The board elected Belen Rodas, the Chancellor district representative, to serve as vice chair, by a vote of 5-to-2, with Nicole Cole and Carol Medawar opposed.
Jackson did not vote for herself to be chair, stating during board member comments that she would have preferred to serve as vice chair first.
“But I am honored to serve [as chair] and to continue learning and making decisions in the best interest of all students,” she continued. “I hope this board is willing to work together in this new year with a fresh perspective that says ‘goodbye’ to the chaos, at least most of it, and welcomes healthy debate while maintaining respect, fairness, and professionalism.”
During the annual organizational portion of Monday’s meeting, the board also appointed the clerk and deputy clerk, approved the meeting calendar, appointed a designee to attend meetings and sign documents in the superintendent’s absence, and reaffirmed the Code of Ethics.
Phelps and Gillespie voted against affirming the Code of Ethics. Phelps asked for language to be added to the Code stating that it will not be used to discipline School Board members.
The board last year voted to reprimand Phelps for violations to the Code of Ethics. Jackson noted on Monday that the board later rescinded that reprimand but still has not arrived at “a resolution” of the issues it attempted to address.
Jackson asked Phelps if the board could discuss her suggestion during a work session, as it would be a revision to an existing regulation, but Phelps said the board could “either agree to it or not” that evening.
The majority of board members did not support Phelps’s substitute motion to add the language.
Revisions to the Code of Ethics came up later in the meeting, as one of two action items. Phelps and Gillespie voted against approving revisions to the Code of Ethics that the board discussed at its November 2024 retreat.
The revisions are part of the board’s Governance Manuel, which was adopted at the December 9, 2024, meeting.
The revisions include the addition of two sentences: “I will represent SCPS at the local, state, and national levels in areas about public education” and “I will delegate authority for the administration of the schools to the Division Superintendent and his/her staff.”
The revisions also add the phrase “in a professional and respectful manner” to the phrase, “I will encourage individual board member expression of opinion and establish an open, two-way communication process with all segments of the community.”
The second action item on the agenda for Monday’s meeting was a vote on whether to approve a $500 per month wage increase for School Board members. The increase would bring School Board members’ annual salary from $12,000 to $18,000.
This increase was approved by a previous School Board in December of 2023, for implementation this year, but as Phillip Trayer, chief financial officer for the school division, explained on Monday, the measure was not approved during the time frame required by Virginia Code for implementation this year.
A vote to approve the raise on Monday would have permitted it to be implemented in January of 2026. However, the board voted 4-to-3 against approving the raise.
If approved, the raise would have affected four of the seven board members—Jackson, Rodas, Daniels, and Medawar, whose seats are not up for reelection in November.
Three seats are up for reelection in November—Lee Hill, represented by Phelps; Berkeley, represented by Gillespie; and Battlefield, represented by Cole.
Cole has announced that she is not seeking reelection this year, but neither Phelps nor Gillespie have announced their intentions.
Cole and Medawar said they supported the raise because it reflects the hard work board members put into the job.
“This is a service-oriented job, and I think valuing the work that service-oriented professions do means you value that work in all cases,” Medawar said.
Phelps and Gillespie both supported the raise when it first came up in December of 2023, but voted against it on Monday.
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