CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — During the over hour-and-a-half closed session of a special meeting Tuesday morning, the Albemarle School Board officially directed Acting Superintendent Dr. Chandra Hayes and Chief Legal Officer Josiah Black to hire Richmond-based law firm Harman, Claytor, Corrigan & Wellman to conduct an independent investigation into the division.
The investigation comes after months of backlash into the school system following the June arrest of former Hollymead Elementary staffer Michael Swiney. That backlash led to numerous calls for an independent investigation, including from local public officials like Rep. John McGuire, State Sen. Creigh Deeds, and Del. Katrina Callsen and Amy Laufer.
“We want a thorough, timely and robust investigation by Harman Claytor,” Samuel Miller representative Bob Beard said during the meeting. “And we anticipate that ACPS will give them a full access to the facts. We want to know what happened, and we want to know, to make sure our kids in ACPS are safe, always. Our staff is safe. And to make [sure] what happened, allegedly happened, at Hollymead and other schools, never happens again.”…