Albemarle County Public Schools (ACPS) and its School Board are again drawing public scrutiny as three more staff members have been arrested and another School Board member has resigned.
Title IX Coordinator Erin Stone, Deputy Chief Human Resources Officer Brodie Downs and former Hollymead Elementary Principal Joseph McCauley have been arrested and charged with failing to report suspected child abuse, according to a release sent out on Wednesday evening by the Albemarle County Police Department.
The latest arrests are related to the arrest and indictment of Hollymead’s former Social Emotional Learning coach Michael Swiney, who is currently being detained at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail without bail. Swiney was originally indicted on 11 charges of child sexual abuse over the summer. However, additional charges have been added to the case against him, totaling 20 felony indictment charges of sexual crimes involving children, according to ACPD. The additional charges stem from the discovery of three more victims, ACPD said.
Teachers and other employees of public and private schools are required to report any cases of suspected neglect or abuse of any kind toward children to the relevant authorities according to Virginia law. ACPD said that during their investigation, detectives discovered that some ACPS staffers failed to make a report out of fear of retaliation from the school division.
According to ACPD, the court issued recognizance bonds for Stone, Downs and McCauley.
ACPD also asked that anyone with information regarding the Swiney case, or any case of suspected abuse or neglect of a child, call Child Protective Services at 434-972-4010 or the statewide Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 800-552-7096.
Separately on Oct. 7, School Board member Jim Dillenbeck resigned from his Rio District seat. His resignation comes after Dillenbeck hosted a town hall meeting in which he said some 15 ACPS staffers had been placed on leave within the previous 30 days, according to reporting from Cville Right Now. Dillenbeck said he organized the meeting to share updates with his constituents and hear concerns from the community.
The School Board issued a statement after Dillenbeck’s resignation, saying that he should not have shared information related to private personnel matters. The Board said Dillenbeck had “broke our trust” and urged him “as a private citizen, to work to repair the harm he has caused.”
Charlottesville Tomorrow reached out to the Board Chair Rebecca Berlin, and asked how they will fill Dillenbeck’s vacated position.
“The board will announce the process to fill the vacant seat early next week,” Berlin said in an email. “We will open applications up to everyone in the Rio District, but we will also reach back out to those Rio residents who applied for the at-large position to see if they would be interested in applying for the Rio position.”
When asked about alleged “misinformation” spread by Dillenbeck at the town hall meeting, Berlin said “the board cannot comment on confidential personnel information. Our staff deserves the same confidentiality in their personal information as due employees and other organizations.”
Take action
Attend the Oct. 8 Albemarle County School Board meeting
The Albemarle County School Board will hold its next regular meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8 at the Albemarle County office building at 401 McIntire Rd. in the Lambs Lane auditorium on the second floor.
The agenda is posted here, and you can view more information about how to view a live stream of the meeting here. Online sign-ups for public comments have closed, but anyone who wants to speak can sign up in person beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the auditorium.
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