Hollymead Elementary Principal Joseph McCauley, who was placed on administrative leave after the school’s social emotional learning coach was one of two ACPS staffers arrested on charges of sexual crimes involving children, will not return to school in the fall, interim Albemarle County Public Schools Superintendent Chandra Hayes told parents on July 2.
Hayes stepped into the interim superintendent role after the Albemarle County School Board asked former superintendent Matthew Haas to resign during the June 11 school board meeting Soon after Haas’ resignation, McCauley was placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
“I’m sorry that we dropped the ball as a division,” Hayes said to the handful of parents who attended a meeting at Hollymead Elementary on Thursday. “I’m sorry that your last experience in this space may not have felt yours or been inviting and positive, but what I’m here to do is hopefully help us move forward. I don’t take lightly the responsibility that the school board has placed upon me.”
Hayes repeatedly apologized to those few parents and teachers who were able to make it to the meeting. She also informed them that ACPS administration is working to make changes, asking them to fill out a survey that was sent to parents and teachers.
“I fully acknowledge that the last few weeks have been extremely difficult for this community and for the Albemarle community in general,” said Hayes. “I want to make sure what I do is right, and what we do as a district is right for you as well. We don’t have unlimited staff or unlimited resources, but there are things that we can do, and that’s listen and take from what you share with us and put into play.”
Hayes added that the social emotional learning coach (SEL), an unlicensed position, will be eliminated at Hollymead effective immediately, and will be phased out in the rest of ACPS schools.
“We felt it best that this school did not receive another SEL coach or mental health support specialist,” said Hayes, adding that they will hire a full-time counselor.
All mental health specialists will require a certification, said Hayes.
“If you don’t have a license, there’s plenty of things that you could do,” she said. “Counseling, mental health support is not that, and so they’re going to work to clearly identify what those roles can do, what they should be doing, so that when they’re in buildings, principal staff know exactly what to expect.”
ACPS is hoping to have an interim principal for Hollymead by June 13, Hayes said.
While we can’t cover every story that’s important to you, we do our best to be responsive to your needs. We use tips from readers to choose which stories to cover, to incorporate information into broader reports or to help us decide how to grow Charlottesville Tomorrow. Here’s where you can tell us what you think we should be covering.
More on central Virginia schools
After the arrests of two ACPS staffers for sexual crimes involving children, here are some resources to help families
As community members in Albemarle County continue to process the recent arrests, here are local and national mental health and child safety resources.
A Louisa County High School teacher is transforming practice rooms into recording studios
Band Director and Teacher Micah Lee is using his music theory class to teach students about creating, recording and producing original music.
After another vote, Charlottesville City School Board moving ahead with school resource officers
During an April 16 work session, Board member Zyahna Bryant made a motion to rescind the Board’s March 2025 decision to bring police officers back to school campuses, but the motion failed.
More local News
Albemarle County School Board to host two more town halls in early November
The meetings follow the arrests of two ACPS administrators and a former principal for failure to report child abuse.
Judge dismisses most claims in UVA Health lawsuit, allows others alleging workplace retaliation to proceed
The ruling comes a year after the lawsuit was filed and nearly two years after UVA Health faculty raised concerns about patient safety, workplace retaliation and leadership practices.
Local election officials unfazed by Justice Department monitoring surge
While the DOJ plans to send 1,000 monitors to the polls, including four in Charlottesville, election officials say monitoring is a routine occurrence that they are well prepared to handle.
Need healthcare, but worried about the cost? These free health clinics are happening monthly in Fluvanna
The clinics offer health screenings, private doctor visits, Medicaid assistance, food and other resources on the first Thursday of each month. The next clinic is on Nov. 5.
In Q&A, Brian Vincent says there’s no room for party politics in Farmville’s mayoral race
“Town government is about water lines, fire trucks, budgets and housing. None of that is Republican or Democrat,” said Brian Vincent, who is running for re-election against Christian Fox. Fox did not respond to Q&A.
