GOOCHLAND COUNTY, Va. — Dr. Andy Armstrong is set to take over as superintendent of Goochland County Public Schools next week, but many people there are still wondering why the school board felt it needed to abruptly switch the school system’s top leader.
“You brokered a back-room deal after the new guy agreed to hate the people you hate and harm the students you want to harm. Good old cronyism,” is how one resident described their dismay with the situation to the board at last week’s school board meeting.
Emotions spilled out at that meeting where the board announced the appointment of the new superintendent.
Dr. Armstrong is no stranger to Goochland, having most recently been the interim superintendent there in 2023 before he left to take a leadership position at the Virginia Department of Education.
“There is no place I would rather be,” Dr. Armstrong said.
Residents said it’s not that they dislike Dr. Armstrong.
"Dr. Armstrong, we have no issue with him; he has been a great community partner,” one man said. “It’s about the board is perceived as racist, and what they are doing is breeding a lot of tension in the community, and they have to be careful because it’s going to breed a backlash.”
They’re upset with how the board suddenly terminated the previous superintendent, Dr. Michael Cromartie, without cause after he held that role for not even two years.
“You fire him without cause and you replaced him with a white man. It doesn’t matter how qualified he was, the job wasn’t his to have,” one woman said.
The Goochland School Board voted to end Dr. Cromartie’s employment on April 1 at a special meeting. But officials said they would not provide additional information about why because it was a personnel action.
Dr. Cromartie will receive one year of salary and benefits, which the school system said equates to about $190,000 in salary.
“Since you squandered our money, you need to pay us back by giving us all of your salaries and returning all pay you have ever received,” one man told the board.
Another resident told the board that he trusts their decision making.
“I trust that you were looking out for the greater good of all the students in Goochland schools,” he said.
While others, like Richard Verlander, question how the board went about the superintendent switch.
“The fix was in. This was a done deal. This was a fait accompli," Verlander said. "I don’t understand how you can have in the wings the replacement if this wasn’t orchestrated from the get-go.”
CBS 6 asked the school system if they posted the position, and how many applicants they received, but they did not directly answer those questions and instead wrote: "The hiring of the Superintendent is the responsibility of the School Board. As such, the School Board led the process and determined the timeline for selecting the new Superintendent."
“I shouldn’t have to tell you how bad the optics of this are, but I’m going to say it out loud. It looks like racism,” one woman said to the board.
CBS 6 investigative reporter Melissa Hipolit asked School Board Chair Meredith Moses about that accusation.
She said the board “is not racist,” and that Dr. Cromartie "was not fired because of his race."
Dr. Armstrong will take over on April 22.
Moses said that Dr. Armstrong is right for Goochland’s students and the entire school community.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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