Councilman Parker Agelasto addresses Mayor Levar Stoney during a joint meeting between City Council, School Board and the mayor on Monday. (Photo by Jackie Kruszewski)
After months of public meetings, some slimming edits and one news conference on the steps of City Hall, the Richmond City Council and School Board passed resolutions supporting the mayor’s education compact with little fanfare on Monday night.
Billed as a “first stage” and committing both bodies to more meetings, the resolutions found unanimous support at a 20-minute joint meeting of the two governing bodies with Mayor Levar Stoney — the second of its kind this year.
The resolution commits the elected officials to:
- Quarterly meetings of the full council, School Board, the mayor, the Richmond Public Schools superintendent and administrative staff,
- The establishment of an advisory “education compact team” that meets monthly and contains representatives from council, the board, the mayor’s office, RPS leadership, parents, teachers and nonprofit, civic and philanthropic leaders,
- And, a regular meeting between representatives of city agencies whose operations directly affect children and families — known as the “children’s cabinet.”
The compact was the cornerstone of Stoney’s education plan on the campaign trail last year — a pledge to meet and collaborate more with both groups. It was meant as an antidote to a political climate marred by infighting and public frustration at various times during the last two administrations.
“I understand citizens don’t want the mayor to run the school system,” Stoney said on Monday. “Trust me, I understand. What they do want is for the mayor to find the right balance between supporting the needs of the school system and strengthen the long-term investments we make in public education and our families.”
The compact’s rollout was not all smooth. Early public meetings about it were sometimes met with people more interested in talking about specific problems in the schools than a collaborative pact between governing bodies.
A group of education advocates representing 10 organizations gathered on City Hall’s step in early June to ask that council delay voting on the compact until a new superintendent was hired. (Former Superintendent Dana Bedden’s last day was June 30.)
The mayor released a “reader’s guide” to the compact in July that responded to some criticisms, including those that the compact was a vehicle for certain ideological battles or for the privatization of the schools.
The public input had an impact: The original nine-page draft of the education compact, released by the mayor in February, outlined goals, metrics and tactics for improving student achievement and securing full funding for the schools.
Monday’s resolutions included only the meetings and creation of the teams.
Minor amendments from City Council removed the mayor’s and the superintendent’s ability to send designees to the quarterly meetings and gave the full bodies control over mayoral appointees to the education compact team.
No members of the public spoke about the education compact, either at the joint session or during the School Board’s regular meeting.
Vickie Oakley, the interim chief academic officer at Richmond Public Schools, presents preliminary SOL scores for the district and plans to improve them this coming year. (Photo by Jackie Kruszewski)
The regular School Board meeting that followed the joint meeting was a good reminder of the challenges Richmond Public Schools face.
Vickie Oakley, the interim chief academic officer at Richmond Public Schools, presented preliminary SOL scores for the district. English writing saw improved scores, but English reading, mathematics and science scores went down. History and social science scores stayed level.
Interim Superintendent Tommy Kranz said there would be school-by-school SOL data at the end of September.
Kranz also updated the board on volunteer efforts to beautify George Mason Elementary School before it opens. The school was the subject of a special meeting on July 31, where some board members hoped to close the decrepit school and move students to other buildings before the new academic year. At Kranz’ recommendation, they later voted against that plan.
The School Board also:
- Approved changes to its bylaws,
- Approved the creation of an ad-hoc committee to discuss potential uses of a property donated to the school system by Altria,
- Heard an update from Kranz about 115 remaining teacher vacancies,
- Saw the latest version of the “Memorandum of Understanding” that the school system is entering into with the Virginia Department of Education,
- Honored former RPS student Kevin Snead, who was recently drafted into the NFL.
