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Vol. 37, No. 42 | Richmond Suburban News | February 2, 2022
Masks no longer required in HCPS Davidson to serve as interim supervisor
Unanimous decision supports Youngkin’s executive order
By Christina Amano Dolan Editor
By Jim Ridolphi For The Mechanicsville Local With a unanimous school board vote last week making masks optional in Hanover County schools, the district became the first in the Richmond metro area to abandon current policy requiring masks for all students. Earlier this month, Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield counties opted to maintain their current mask requirements, in effect defying Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s recent executive order that allows parents the right to opt out of the current requirement. While holding the vote was predictable based on previous actions of the board
Jim Ridolphi/for The Local
Interested parties packed the meeting room at the HCPS Central Office last week to express their views on changes to the current mandated mask policy in Hanover County. In the end, the School Board voted 7-0 to remove the current mask mandate.
regarding mask requirements, the unanimous vote on Monday, Jan. 24 was surprising. In August, the panel voted 4-3 to make masks optional in Hanover schools, but former Gov. Ralph Northam’s mandated policy requiring masks was instituted the following day.
“I think it’s important that it was unanimous,” South Anna school board representative Bob May said following the vote. A packed audience filled the board room, a majority of them in favor of Youngkin’s executive order, and took advantage of a one-
hour public comment period to express their dismay with the current policy. About two thirds of the speakers expressed support for Youngkin’s executive order and dismissed the benefits of mask wearing and noted the negative effects see MASKS, pg. 18
HANOVER – The Hanover County Board of Supervisors appointed Robert Allen Davidson as the interim Beaverdam District supervisor last week. Davidson will fill the seat of the late Aubrey M. “Bucky” Stanley, who the board had honored during a previous meeting for his 38 years of dedicated service. According to Madam Chair Angela Kelly-Wiecek, the Chickahominy District supervisor, a wide variety of interested Beaverdam community members applied for the vacant position. While it was a difficult decision for board members to select among a pool of many qualified people, Kelly-Wiecek presented Davidson on Wednesday, Jan. 26 as a “fine nominee who will represent the citizens well.” Davidson has served the
Christina Amano Dolan/The Local
Angela Kelly-Wiecek announces the nomination of Robert Allen Davidson for interim supervisor of the Beaverdam District during the Jan. 26 board of supervisors meeting.
public safety and law enforcement community of Hanover County for over 30 years and now works in corporate intelligence and security. He has extensive knowledge of government and experience in budgeting and allocation, according to Kelly-Wiecek. “Anyone who will spend that amount of time in public see DAVIDSON, pg. 4
Superintendent’s 2022-23 proposed budget receives rave reviews By Jim Ridolphi For The Mechanicsville Local Hanover County school board members listened to a series of glowing reviews regarding the proposed fiscal year (FY) 2022-23 budget at a special public hearing held last week at the Central Office. The comments included praise for salary increases for all employees included in the proposal, but also commended the efforts of administrators to devise a plan
that meets the needs of teachers and students in a challenging environment. Hanover school superintendent Dr. Michael Gill presented that budget earlier in the month, and the board is scheduled to consider the proposal at its Feb. 8 regular meeting. In addition to providing salary increases of at least 5% for all school employees, the $277.5 million proposal also adds positions to address growing needs in career and technical educa-
tion (CTE), mental health and emotional well being, advanced studies and behavioral management. The plan also establishes a training academy to assist provisionally certified teachers in obtaining full accreditation. Atlee High School principal John Wheeler spoke on behalf of all high school principals in the county and said he’d witnessed a number of school budgets in his 24-year career in public education, but this one stood out in his mind.
“In my 21 years as an administrator – including the past 12 as a high school principal – I have seen a number of budgets proposed and implemented,” he said. “I have never, however, seen a budget like Dr. Gill’s 2022-23 budget that has been proposed.” He explained his reasoning. “As we continue to experience yet another challenging school year I’m extremely impressed with the commitsee BUDGET, pg. 2
