Superintendent Sarah Calveric grew increasingly agitated as it became apparent the Caroline County Board of Supervisors wasn’t going to vote to give the school division budget authority over state and federal grant funds it applied for last fall and received this spring.
During Tuesday night’s board of supervisors meeting, Calveric reminded the board that no local funds were being requested, and that several of the grants had immediate timeframes to spend the money — including one with a deadline of this coming Friday.
Initially, the board deadlocked 3-3 on releasing the $2.5 million to the school division, before returning following a brief intermission and voting unanimously to give the schools authority over two of the grants with the most urgent timelines, totaling approximately $1.4 million.
The supervisors will consider giving the school board authority over the remaining grants at their next meeting.
Calveric was dismayed that the release of the grant funds wasn’t on the consent agenda — a list of items usually approved with no debate — and that the board questioned her when no local funding was required.
She said that if the supervisors had accepted multiple offers to open a “collaborative dialogue,” they would have a greater understanding of the school division’s inner-workings and would avoid tense discussions like the one on Tuesday. Before Supervisor Jeff Black’s motion to reconsider the two most urgent grants was approved, Calveric blasted the supervisors for a decision she said would force the division to cut programs and renege on contracts.
“The only people you are hurting in this moment are educators and students,” Calveric said. “Put your head on your pillow tonight and rest however comfortably you can in making this decision tonight because this is shameful and I’m extremely disappointed — extremely.
“We are not asking for a penny … I have everything [documented] I can possibly bring to you regarding this, and you’re not even entertaining a motion to approve. I find that despicable. I will rest easy tonight because I always fight with data, I will fight with truth, and I will always put students and staff first. I wish I could say the same about each of you.”
After Calveric’s statement, Board of Supervisors Chair Clay Forehand, the Madison District representative who voted in favor of releasing the funds along with Black of the Western Caroline District and Nancy Long of the Port Royal District, called for a recess to allow a cooling off period.
The board returned and reconsidered its previous stance. Vice Chair Jeff Sili of the Bowling Green District said during the recess, he advocated for allowing two of the grants to proceed. One is a $30,000 Jobs for Virginia grant that must be spent by Friday, while the other is a $1.4 million grant for All-In funding to combat pandemic-era learning loss that must be spent by June 30.
Sili said it’s “disingenuous” to characterize Tuesday’s discussion as the supervisors refusing the school division grant money.
He said the supervisors are concerned that the school division overestimated its Average Daily Membership (ADM) enrollment figures by 120 students and now must return $1.3 million to the state, which provides funding on a per-pupil basis. Sili said $2.5 million is a lot of money to be added to the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, which expires on June 30.
“While I brokered consensus for the transfer part of the grant money in the amount of $1.4 million that must be used by June 30, as a board member I still have deep concerns about monies granted by the state and federal government for specific programs like math and literacy used to remedy such a large mistake on ADM,” Sili said in a statement to the Free Press.
However, Calveric told the Free Press Wednesday that the grants and the ADM miscalculation are separate issues. She said the grants have language that requires them to be used for a specific purpose. She said the school division is freezing spending and taking other measures to ensure it isn’t over budget at the end of the fiscal year and can return the $1.3 million to the state.
“We’re working internally to make sure we are still in the black at the end of the year or down to zero dollars remaining, so we’re not going back to the supervisors saying we overspent,” Calveric said. “No one wants that.”
During the meeting Tuesday, Calveric also explained why the grant funds arrived so late in the year. She noted that the school board approved them on April 13 and the division made the request for the budget authority to be added to the next board of supervisors meeting.
Calveric said it was “fast and furious” in the fall applying for grants, and the approvals were pushed back because the Virginia Department of Education was late reporting assessment and accreditation data.
A significant portion of the grant funds will be used to support Bowling Green Elementary School and Caroline Middle School, which the VDOE designated as “needs intensive support” and “off track,” respectively. That information was required before applying for the grants. Calveric said the VDOE pledged to supply data by the first week of October this year to avoid future issues.
Supervisor Floyd Thomas of the Mattaponi District, who initially voted against releasing the grant funds, said the timeline put “undue stress” on local officials. Supervisor Reginald Underwood of the Reedy Church District expressed concern about the timeline as well, but Calveric reminded him that just because school is ending doesn’t mean the funds can’t be spent. She said every grant involves training and licensure and “doesn’t pause when school ends.”
“I think you are holding the school division hostage over something we have no control over, Mr. Underwood,” Calveric said.
Underwood responded that he isn’t holding anyone hostage. He also provided data at the end of the meeting showing the increased funding the board of supervisors provided the school division over the years and said that school officials behave like they’re “entitled” to taxpayer funds.
“You’re not entitled to anything,” Underwood said.
