During March and April of 2026, I read articles reported in the Henrico Citizen Newspaper about bickering between the Henrico County Board of Supervisors and the Henrico County School Board.
The focus was about the budget and human resource requests from the school board.
Henrico County’s Board of Supervisors eventually approved a nearly two billion dollar budget.
For lots of reasons, I worry about public bickering between the two boards.
My calendar never allowed me to sign up to speak at a Board of Supervisor’s meeting. So, on the evening of Thursday, April 30, I was on the agenda to speak in person during the Public Forum.
In the Public Forum, speakers are allowed three minutes. Here are my comments:
Mr. Chairman, members of the Board, Dr. Cashwell, all school board employees, and the Henrico school community, my name is Bill Pike, a retired educator.
In the opening scene of the movie, Mr. Holland’s Opus, Principal Helen Jacobs, is talking with her new band director, Glenn Holland. It is Mr. Holland’s first day on the job.
Mr. Holland tells his principal that he never expected to be teaching in a high school. He confesses that he only earned his teaching certificate to have something to fall back on.
Mrs. Jacobs states to Mr. Holland, “I don’t think of teaching as a fall back position. I grow nervous around people who do.”
Knowing myself as a confirmed worrier, and whiner, I grow nervous when I read in the Henrico Citizen about the budget bickering between our Henrico County School Board and Board of Supervisors.
Experience tells me public posturing like that rarely has a positive impact for either board. Those moments of frustration can actually sow negative seeds which might just hinder future dialogue between both boards at a critical time.
Yes, advocating for fully funded budgets and meeting personnel requests is important to that process.
But, do you realize, how many school boards in Virginia would sell their souls to the devil for a $971 million dollar budget?
Our world has changed. It is more complicated.
I saw that first hand on April 16 when I attended the Faith-Based Leaders luncheon on the campus of Virginia Randolph.
I learned more about the needs of our schools and how relationships in our diverse communities are being established to meet those needs.
At the end of the day, bickering and whining between the school board and board of supervisors isn’t going to address the needs of our students and teachers.
However, building relationships will.
Think about this quote from Abraham Lincoln:
“Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?”
Thanks for your time, your leadership, and for listening to a rapidly aging, grumpy geezer. Good luck the last month of this school year.
might be baloney 