The Spotsylvania County School Board received a glimpse into the leadership style of new Superintendent Clint Mitchell at the first regular meeting of his tenure on Monday.
As Chair Lorita Daniels and Lee Hill District representative Lisa Phelps quarreled over a potential revote on the consent agenda, Mitchell interjected.
Phelps and Berkeley District representative April Gillespie wanted to reconsider their vote to approve the consent agenda because they unintentionally voted on minutes from meetings they did not attend. Daniels believed the pair wanted to obstruct the meeting from moving forward.
Mitchell offered a compromise, saying the board should give them an opportunity to revote on the motion, but also that the back-and-forth must cease. The board voted 6-1 to revote (with Battlefield District representative Nicole Cole dissenting) and approved the consent agenda 5-0 with Phelps and Gillespie abstaining.
“I’m going to ask again, and I’ve said it all along, we have the public watching us,” Mitchell said emphatically. “We have students watching us as we make decisions and lead as a board … So, please, I’m asking you, can we please conduct ourselves in a way so we can move through the agenda and recognize the concerns that you have. We have a lot to cover tonight. We have things we need to talk about and celebrate and we haven’t been able to do that.”
The meeting did move along, but not without repeated allegations from board members and public speakers that Phelps and Gillespie are plotting to cause discord.
County resident Ronald Fiske, who regularly attends meetings, warned Mitchell not to trust Phelps and Gillespie and to always have a third party present if either meets with a member of the division’s staff.
Fiske implored Mitchell to be mindful of senior-level hires by the previous majority on the school board, stating they were unqualified political affiliates aiming to destroy the school system.
“The two holdovers from the 2022-23 board will try to sabotage your administration,” Fiske said, referring to Phelps and Gillespie.
Phelps interrupted Fiske’s comments to question why Daniels allowed him to continue what she considered a personal attack.
Daniels instructed Board Clerk Patty Boller to read the rules of public comments and determined that Fisk did not violate the policy. Fiske concluded his comments by expressing confidence in Mitchell.
“I personally think you’re the man of the hour,” he said. “But you will be held to a high standard.”
Phelps stated that she supports Mitchell, but also told him to “buckle up, because you’re definitely in for a thrilling ride with this opportunity.”
“I appreciate you sitting in that seat and the tenacity that you brought forward already,” she said. “It seems like you’ll do good in that position, and we’re up here to support you the best that we can.”
Other board members did not seem convinced that Phelps’ support was genuine.
Daniels said during her comment period that there is a “concerted effort to discredit the board’s integrity and decisions.”
Battlefield District representative Nicole Cole listed the board’s accomplishments since three new members were seated in January, namely: “We terminated our unqualified employee to be able to have the opportunity to bring qualified leadership to the division,” referring to former Superintendent Mark Taylor, whose dismissal was not supported by Phelps and Gillespie.
“It’s clear there are people who want to distract us here as we do the work on the board and I hope we reflect on that and we look for solutions to eliminate those distractions,” Courtland District board member Carol Medawar said.
Gillespie took exception to that comment. She also said she met with Mitchell and had “an overall very productive” conversation regarding the plan for his first 90 days.
Mitchell visited all 31 schools in the division on Monday, the first day of school for all students. Later in the evening he received a crash course on what to expect at board meetings. Speakers voiced concerns about books that are being used to promote diversity, and the former superintendent’s wife, Fran Taylor, criticized Cole for not placing her hand over her heart during the pledge of allegiance, among other critiques.
“Spotsylvania County Public Schools are in a cycle of unrighteousness and lack of transparency that you can change if you do right by the kids and stop promoting a malignant political agenda,” Fran Taylor told the board.
