Teachers and parents urge Albemarle school board to delay broad adoption of grading policy and reconsider principal reassignment at Greer

A group of teachers, parents and community members told the Albemarle County Public Schools board on March 26 that a proposed adoption of the division’s grading policy should be delayed to allow teacher input and clearer implementation guidelines, and several speakers asked the board to reverse a superintendent’s reassignment of Greer Elementary’s principal.

Alicia Selenas, a Spanish teacher at Western Albamar High School, said the policy’s retake guidelines encourage students to rely on second chances rather than develop time-management and executive-functioning skills. “The constant options of retakes sets up false expectations for college level academic work,” she said, arguing the retake approach can “inflate grades with second time advantage” and increase chances for cheating during retakes.

Melinda Smith, a high-school science teacher, told the board she surveyed secondary faculty and said 211 high-school teachers and 93 middle-school teachers had responded; in that sample she reported that 100% of the responding high-school teachers and 96.7% of middle-school respondents opposed adopting the policy for another five years without changes. “I urge you to both reject this proposal … and address the failure by central leadership to gather and present data,” Smith said.

Family Council officer Heidi Gilman Bennett urged the board not to approve the policy by consent and criticized what she called a failed process during the pandemic-era adoption. “Not asking for engagement is insulting. It will also lead to failure in implementation,” she said.

Separately, several speakers addressed a personnel decision at Greer Elementary. Holly ODM, a Greer teacher, said Superintendent Hos asked Principal Steve Saunders to leave his leadership position at the Title I Greer and reassign him to Crosseé Elementary. “This decision by Superintendent Hos is not in line with your value of stability,” she said, asking the board to urge the superintendent to reconsider because Greer — she said — needs steady, trusted leadership. Bo Odum, who identified himself as an assistant dean at the University of Virginia and a Greer parent, called the reassignment “a transfer of harm” that takes leadership from the district’s most vulnerable students.

Board response and next steps

Rebecca Berlin responded to public concerns by saying staff are already working to address the process problems raised. Berlin said the board had asked for a redline and for an ongoing committee made up of school staff to be part of the policy review; she said that committee work and additional communications were already underway. The grading policy item was removed from the consent agenda and the board requested a fuller presentation on implementation and consultation before taking further action.

The board did not vote on the policy at the March 26 meeting. The meeting record shows the board approved the consent agenda with the grading policy item pulled for further review; the board asked staff to bring a presentation that discusses implementation and stakeholder engagement at a future meeting.