Charter schools get a frosty reception at School Board candidate forum — except in the 4th District

At a School Board forum Monday night, the idea of creating new charter schools in Richmond received little support from candidates — except in the 4th District, where all three people running said they would back the idea if there was sufficient community support. 

“I am an advocate for more charter schools in the city of Richmond if it is a community-focused effort,” said Angela Fontaine. “I do not believe in schools being placed upon or forced upon anyone in any district. But if [Richmond Public Schools] isn’t going to fulfill the needs of some of our neighborhoods and the community gets together like they did for Patrick Henry, then I’m for that 100%.” 

Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts is one of just two charters in Richmond, along with the Career Education and Employment Academy, which serves students with disabilities. 

Charters remain controversial in Virginia, where school boards have the power to block their creation. Only seven are currently operating, although Republicans at the state level have pushed for more in recent years: In 2022, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a goal of launching at least 20 new public charter schools. That hasn’t happened, but 15 lab schools — a cousin of the charter that is connected with an existing college or university — have been approved under his leadership, and the State Board of Education this summer resurrected its long-dormant charter schools committee. 

Richmond school leaders have generally opposed charter schools on the grounds that they could divert investment in public education in a division already struggling to meet the needs of students. 

“The process of charterization is one that necessarily sows division, prioritizing competition over collaborative solutions able to meet the needs of all Virginia’s children,” current 3rd District member Kenya Gibson wrote in a 2022 editorial for Democratic blog Blue Virginia.

Patrick Henry was the exception. The first elementary charter in the state, the school began operating in 2010, despite opposition from the Richmond chapter of the NAACP and the Richmond Education Association, the local teachers union. Its charter has since been renewed by the School Board several times. 

But a 2018 proposal by parents to set up a charter middle school flopped after it faced opposition from the majority of the School Board and Superintendent Jason Kamras.

Skepticism of charters appears to remain strong on the board. Fifteen of this year’s 16 School Board candidates participated in the Monday forum hosted by the Richmond-area chapter of the Virginia League of Women Voters and The Richmonder. (Only 7th District incumbent Cheryl Burke, who has no challenger, was absent.) Asked to raise their hand if they would support additional charters in Richmond, no candidate for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th or 9th district seats did so. 

But the three candidates running for the 4th District seat all expressed some level of receptiveness to the idea. Besides Fontaine, who has a child currently attending Patrick Henry, both incumbent Garrett Sawyer and Wesley Hedgepeth said they would be open to a conversation about further charters if enough community members wanted them. 

“We should always make sure that we’re having those courageous conversations looking at what the needs are for all 21,000 children that attend RPS and figuring out where they will fit the best and where they can be set up for the best ability to achieve,” said Sawyer. 

Hedgepeth, who served three years on Patrick Henry’s board of directors, took a similar stance, saying, “If the community desires it, I would support an additional public charter school like Patrick Henry.” 

“We were accountable to the RPS board,” he said of his time as a director. “We were accountable to state standards. I would never support spending public money where there’s not accountability to the government. I believe that’s integral to this.” 

This April, a group called New Schools for Virginia proposed a charter on Richmond’s Northside in the old Albert V. Norrell Elementary building.