Henrico supervisors, school board members share more about working relationship and 'weirdness' described at joint meeting

Henrico Schools Superintendent Amy Cashwell is investigating the “weirdness” brought up by some members of the Henrico Board of Supervisors regarding relationships with the schools, according to School Board Chair Alicia Atkins.

At a joint meeting with the school board Oct. 22, Supervisor Chairman Tyrone Nelson, who represents the Varina District, and other supervisors expressed concerns about possible friction between the board of supervisors and the school board. At recent visits to some schools, Nelson and Brookland District Supervisor Dan Schmitt said they felt “weirdness” when interacting with school principals who seemed hesitant to talk to them.

Atkins said that the meeting was the first time she had heard about these concerns, but that Cashwell would “dig deeper” into any issues occuring at the school building level. She also said that Cashwell is investigating other concerns voiced by Nelson, including roadblocks he had experienced when trying to contribute community funds to certain schools and reports he heard about politicians being turned away from schools.

“I certainly had conversations with Superintendent Cashwell so that she can dig into it a little bit more. I am unaware of any politician or elected official being told that they could not tour our schools, and so I take that seriously,” Atkins said. “And we want every dime of money the board of supervisors want to give to schools, so we don’t want to create barriers, we want to be bridges.”

Nelson, who said he did not want to comment further on the “weirdness” he brought up at the joint meeting, noted that both boards had new members join this past year and that new relationships may “take a little bit to gel.”

“We’re all in on supporting our schools. We don’t want drama with our schools,” he said. “I know we have new school board members. Our chair is serving as chair for the first time…every time there’s a new leader on either board, and we generally rotate every year, there’s the potential for new changes. I mean that’s just human nature. I don’t want to go any more into it than that.”

Following the November 2023 local elections for both the board of supervisors and the school board, three new supervisors and two new school board members were sworn into their new roles. This past January, Atkins, after being reelected to her Varina District seat, was elected as the new school board chair and Nelson was elected as the supervisor chairman for a third time.

At the Oct. 22 joint meeting, the two boards also discussed a proposal for collective bargaining for HCPS employees, which the school board ultimately rejected two days later after several Board of Supervisors members brought up some concerns. Controversial topics such as collective bargaining can often lead to some disagreements, Atkins said, especially as both boards are still working to form new relationships.

“The topics that we’re discussing are highly sensitive and complicated,” Atkins said. “I just think that as we have more time to spend with one another to understand these complexities, that we’ll continue to build those trusting relationships.”

The board of supervisors and the school board usually meet only twice a year, but individual members of both boards often will meet outside of that to discuss projects for their districts, Nelson said, depending on how open members are to meeting with each other.

“Generally most of my colleagues talk to their school board colleagues. Some of them talk often,” Nelson said. “It really is a person-to-person decision. I’ve served with two different school board members, one of them I’ve met with way more than I’ve met with the other…So it’s a personality thing. Sometimes folks don’t want to talk, they’re doing their own thing.”

Atkins said that while she and Nelson do not meet frequently, and sometimes have different approaches to issues, they maintain a good working relationship and both want the best for the schools and residents in the Varina District. 

“I don’t think that we have this sort of steady, you know, we’ll chat five times a week, but we do make sure that we connect when there are topics that we need to discuss,” said Atkins, who last week announced that she will seek the Democratic nomination for the 81st District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates next year. “We have a good relationship and it’s always going to be tested with hard topics. However, we do care deeply about [the Varina District]. And sometimes our approach is the same, sometimes our approach is different.”

School board member Madison Irving, who was elected to the Three Chopt District seat last year, also said that while he and his supervisor counterpart only meet occasionally, they make sure to tackle any issues that come up in their district. Irving said that both boards have a good working relationship with each other and that he personally has not experienced any of the “weirdness” mentioned.

“In terms of my experience, I think our working relationship has been excellent. I think we all want to do what’s best in helping our communities,” he said. “And there’s never been any tension on wondering if somebody’s doing what’s best for everybody…so I haven’t experienced any friction on that part.”

Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas and Cashwell, as well as their respective staffs, meet consistently throughout the year, and even more frequently prior to the budgeting process each spring, according to Vithoulkas. He said that supporting public schools is the board of supervisors’ “top funding priority.”

“In prior years, both boards have worked in an incredibly cohesive manner…at the end of the day, this board of supervisors – working with willing counterparts on the school board – will always take care of our school system,” Vithoulkas said. “And I will continue to work with the best superintendent I have ever worked with. Our county’s success is inextricably linked to the success of our schools.”

This year, both the board of supervisors and the school board have a majority of members that are either officially or unofficially supported by the Democratic Party (school board members must officially run as independents). However, partisanship has not played a significant role over the past year when it comes to county leadership, Irving said.

“I’ve never been in a meeting with anybody since I’ve been in this role where partisanship has been discussed,” he said. “It’s always about what can we do to best support our communities and ensuring that everybody’s receiving a meaningful education and they feel safe and they feel heard. But partisanship never comes in play.”

Nelson said that during his time as supervisor, which has spanned 12 years, oftentimes personality played a bigger role in working relationships than partisanship, and that he has had many great relationships with his Republican colleagues.

“Clearly because parties have ideology that they subscribe to, then you may have some more like-mindedness – and then sometimes you don’t,” Nelson said. “You know, I really think it’s about the relationship.”

Within the board of supervisors this past year, both returning members and new members have formed close relationships, Nelson said, saying that the group “vibes as people.”

“I think it’s really more so we like each other as human beings as much as it has anything to do with party ideology. We just vibe as human beings, all of us. That doesn’t mean that we aren’t going to have different opinions, because we do,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we just like each other as people. It’s just good when you work with folks you like.”

Atkins said that strong relationships have similarly formed between school board members over the past year.

“I’ve been sort of marinating in a space of peace, which is quite shocking to be honest, but that is because of the excellence and the positive attitudes that my school board colleagues have in not only just building relationships, but embracing the differences and understanding the similarities,” she said. 

Individual relationships between supervisors and school board members are important, Nelson said, as well as the leadership from the county manager and school superintendent, which he said has helped guide both boards in the right direction.

“I think the board of supervisors member–school board member relationship is integral…so I would encourage all elected officials who serve in the same district to have some level of conversation,” he said. “Once the team gels, then we can do some good work together…so I think we’re going to be fine. We have a great county manager and great school superintendent.”

Atkins said that while it will “take some time” to build working relationships, especially with new members on both boards, all members are committed to working together for their districts and the county as a whole.

“We simply will need time to build those relationships and as tough topics come, we’ll have to learn how to navigate those. And during times of success, we certainly celebrate together,” she said. “It most definitely is going to depend on what our residents want from us and how to be a champion for that.”

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s Report for America Corps member and education reporter. Her position is dependent upon reader support; make a tax-deductible contribution to the Citizen through RFA here.