Last Tuesday night the Goochland County School Board adopted revised legislative priorities asserting its position for local autonomy regarding issues impacting Goochland County students, staff, and families. As an additional step toward emphasizing its position regarding local control, the School Board authored a letter addressed to Governor Northam, Attorney General Herring, Lieutenant Governor Fairfax, and the Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates regarding the unconstitutionality of Senate Bill 1303.
The School Board’s letter is not about masks and whether or not students wear masks in school. The current health order from the State Health Commissioner addresses this issue at this time. The intent of the School Board’s letter is to ensure that the authority of local school boards to supervise the schools in local school divisions as granted in Article VIII, Section 7 of the Constitution of Virginia remains at the local level for every issue that impacts our public schools, now and in the future.
Every community in our Commonwealth has its own unique needs, values, and expectations for its public schools. As noted in the Constitution, elected and appointed local school boards represent the varied voices of each community and are authorized to make policy decisions that impact their community’s public schools This is the role of local school boards not lawmakers outside of our community.
Our division remains committed to providing our students and families with excellent experiences as we prepare for our best school year ever! We cannot wait for school to start next week!
Yours in Service,
Karen R. Horn, Chair
District 3, Goochland County School Board
Jeremy J. Raley, Ed.D.
Superintendent