Fredericksburg City School Board Chair Katie Pomeroy has used her gavel exactly twice since taking over the role in January.
The second instance came during the board’s February meeting, when city resident Bryan Stelmok accused Ward 3 board member Annie Langdon of — among other things — sharing his child’s educational placement and other confidential information while campaigning last year.
“I did look at our policy after that,” Pomeroy said in a phone interview. “I wanted to know if I had done the right thing.”
On Monday, the city school board voted unanimously to adopt an updated policy that includes the following provision: “Comments that amount to a personal attack against any school board member and cause unnecessary delay or disruption to a meeting are not allowed.”
According to Pomeroy, the board first instructed staff to review comment policies in surrounding school districts and also consulted a team of attorneys. The old policy, she said, was little more than a paragraph long and lacked specifics, including the role of the board chair in maintaining decorum.
The policy, entitled KD (also BDDH), was last updated in May 2021.
“I think that the important thing to know is that the Fredericksburg School Board loves to hear from our citizens,” Pomeroy said. “I want to hear their complaints and concerns… The purpose of this policy is not to stifle; it is to create an environment where people feel respect and there’s decorum.”
The updated policy calls on the board chair to “warn a speaker of breaches of decorum or of these rules prior to ruling the action as ‘out of order’, terminating speaking privileges, or taking other action to preserve the civility, decorum and orderly conduct of the meeting.”
During the body’s March meeting, Deputy Superintendent Matt Eberhardt outlined a draft version of the updated 11-point policy for the first time. Eberhardt said his staff paid particularly close attention to policies in Northern Virginia school districts where boards had come under increased legal scrutiny in recent years.
“We understand the significant issue here,” Eberhardt said at the time. “We also understand we want to hear from community members. But we want to do so in a respectful way.”
Stelmok took the podium again at Monday’s meeting, accusing the board of “hiding behind closed doors and policies that are clearly meant to chill public comment.” (Stelmok’s wife, Sarah, ran unsuccessfully against Langdon in the Ward 3 election last fall.)
“All this policy is going to accomplish,” he said, “is quashing the public’s right to questioning their elected officials.”
Reached by text message, Langdon wrote that the changes “will allow our meetings to remain focused on the important work of serving the students, staff and families of city schools while giving the forum the reverence it deserves.” She declined to comment on Stelmok’s claims.
There was no discussion among the board prior to Monday’s vote, which was conducted by roll call.
Langdon made the motion.
