Orange County School Board certifies closed session, approves personnel agenda and names new Locust Grove Middle principal

At its meeting, the Orange County School Board convened a closed session under the Code of Virginia §2.2-3711(A) to discuss personnel matters and later certified the closed meeting by a 4–0 roll call. The board then approved a personnel agenda that included transfers, employment, terminations, resignations, salary adjustments and extracurricular and coaching appointments and formally appointed Marlene Rombach as principal of Locust Grove Middle School.

Why it matters: Leadership and personnel decisions affect school operations, staffing and program continuity at Locust Grove Middle and across the division; the board also directed staff to post the now-vacant assistant principal position.

Board action and certification: The board motioned to convene the closed session citing Code of Virginia §2.2-3711(A), returned to open session and adopted a certification under Code of Virginia §2.2-3712(D) that only lawfully exempted public business was discussed. In the roll call to certify the closed session, the board recorded four yes votes: Miss Anderson (aye), Miss Dawson (aye), Miss Harrington (aye) and Mister Rickett (aye). The clerk certified the vote as 4–0.

Personnel agenda and appointment: After the closed-session certification, Superintendent Dr. Hornick recommended approval of the personnel actions as presented in closed session. The board approved the personnel agenda by voice vote; the motion was seconded by Jack Sleban and the chair called for the ayes. The personnel agenda as announced included transfers, employment, termination, resignation, salary adjustments, and extracurricular and coaching appointments. The meeting record does not provide a named mover for the approving motion; the tally for that vote beyond the voice "ayes" was not specified in the transcript.

Locust Grove Middle principal: The board announced the appointment of Marlene Rombach as principal of Locust Grove Middle School, effective immediately. The superintendent said Rombach served as assistant principal at Locust Grove Middle since 2022 and previously worked as a teacher, instructional coach and assistant principal in Greene County. According to the announcement, Rombach holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Virginia Commonwealth University and a master’s degree in leadership from James Madison University. Rombach is quoted in the record saying she has "truly enjoyed my time serving as the assistant principal at Locust Grove Middle" and looks forward to "building on the strong foundation" with staff, students and families. The superintendent said Rombach is on vacation and will return Monday; the board applauded her appointment.

Administrative follow-up: The superintendent said the division will post the assistant principal position that Rombach vacated and begin the search to fill it. The board did not provide additional public details in the meeting record about timelines for that hire or about the specific individuals affected by other items on the personnel agenda.

What was not specified in the record: The transcript does not list named movers for the closed-session motion or the personnel-approval motion, and it does not provide a roll-call tally for the personnel-approval vote beyond the voice vote of "ayes." The transcript lists categories of personnel action but does not itemize individual hires, terminations or salary amounts in open session.

Next steps: The assistant principal job will be posted and the division will proceed with the hiring process; the board’s personnel approvals and the principal appointment were entered into the public record at the meeting.