Albemarle Supervisors Approve Call for School Oversight

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors unanimously urged the county school board to strengthen child-abuse reporting protections, establish whistleblower safeguards, improve compliance with public-records laws, and provide updates on an independent investigation and crisis response. The supervisors also asked Virginia’s Department of Education to review and monitor the district, while acknowledging they cannot directly control school operations. The resolution follows arrests of school employees and administrators in cases involving alleged sexual abuse and failures to report suspected abuse, along with concerns that staff feared retaliation. The school board thanked supervisors for the resolution, said employees may report directly to child-protection authorities, shared a nonconfidential outline of its investigation, and requested a joint work session in November.