'No confidence and no trust': Petersburg Education Association blasts School Board

Bill Atkinson, Petersburg Progress-Index
·2 min read

PETERSBURG – The group representing city educators has issued a no-confidence vote in the School Board over what it called “a series of mishaps” that indicate a lack of support for nothing else besides members’ political futures.

In a resolution read at last week’s board meeting, the Petersburg Education Association chided the School Board for, among other things, failure to negotiate an acceptable collective bargaining agreement with teachers and other education personnel, and a lack of transparency in deciding who the school system’s next superintendent will be. The PEA vowed to be active in recruiting candidates for three board seats on November’s ballot.

“[T]he members of the Petersburg Education Association and the undersigned employees have no confidence, and no trust, in the School Board of Petersburg Public Schools to make sound decisions,” the resolution read. “PEA will seek board members in our community who have the shared goals and objectives of their employees and the community at large.”

The words “no” and “will” were capitalized in the resolution for emphasis.

Potential candidates in wards 2, 4 and 6 have until June 18 to file their paperwork. Two of the three incumbents – Celeste Wynn in Ward 4 and Bernard Lundy in Ward 6 – have filed for re-election. Wynn is facing a challenge for her seat, while Lundy remains unopposed.

A list of board 'failures'

The resolution is the latest in a years-long battle between PEA and the School Board over management of the Petersburg City Public Schools system. It was exacerbated last June when the board adopted then rescinded a collective bargaining pact the union claimed was too one-sided in the system’s favor. Since then, PEA drafted its own version of the agreement and forwarded it to the board, but no action has been taken.

Related: Petersburg School Board could hear collective bargaining as early as next month

In addition to the CBA, the resolution cites the following as other areas where the School Board had failed:

  • holding school leadership accountable for PCPS day-to-day operations and supervising now-former Superintendent Dr. Tamara Sterling, who left last February amid controversy over her working relationship with the board;

  • being “fiscally responsible and custodians” over what PEA called “the limited funds provided by the federal, state and city funders;”

  • transparency over decision-making that affects PCPS employees, including the selection of Sterling’s successor;

  • implementing policies “in a fair and timely manner” to protect employees from any kind of harm; and

  • providing “vision, direction and support for the employees, students and their families and not just your political status.”

"This School Board [has] engaged in a series of mishaps and actions which left the employees deflated, broken and divided," the resolution read.

The resolution was presented at the same meeting where the advisory group hired by the board to vet applicants for the superintendency spelled out the process. The board is expected to name a permanent superintendent in July.

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Teachers union votes no-confidence in School Board