WE TOOK AND STAND! WE TOOK A STAND! For nearly an hour parents and educators spoke out at last night’s school board meeting regarding the horrific safety conditions at John Rolfe Middle School and the unwillingness of the administration to address it. Parents spoke of how their children have been negatively impacted emotionally, mentally, and physically as a direct result of the unsafe environment. One parent described the atmosphere at Rolfe as “thuggish” and “street-like” where students “curse like they are grown” and “dress like gangsters”, which directly impacts their attitudes and the atmosphere. She also stated that the adults in the school do nothing when they see this because they will not be supported by administrators or they will be targeted by administrators. There were repeated requests for the school board to intervene and make unannounced visits where the administrators do not have time to get things in order. The question that was consistently asked to the board was, “WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT ROLFE, THIS HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH?” Mrs. Lucas made her fifth appearance before the school board and confronted the injustice, discriminatory, and retaliatory actions of Mr. Armstrong, Rolfe’s principal, and Mr. Morton, Henrico’s superintendent, in recommending her for non-renewal and forcefully reassigning her to another school due to her relentless advocacy on behalf of our children and educators at Rolfe. Many parents spoke out regarding the injustice of the action taken against her as well. Several media representatives were present at the meeting and both, parents and educators had the opportunity to be heard by both the board and the media. MR. MORTON, YOU HAVE BEEN EXPOSED! MR. ARMSTRONG YOU HAVE BEEN EXPOSED! HENRICO COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, YOU HAVE BEEN EXPOSED! NOW, GO DO THE RIGHT THING: 
- TAKE THE NECESSARY ACTIONS TO CLEAN JOHN ROLFE MIDDLE SCHOOL UP FOR OUR CHILDREN AND EDUCATORS (EVEN IF IT MEANS REMOVING MR. ARMSTRONG, WE ALL KNOW THAT MRS. ARCHER SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE PRINCIPAL OF JOHN ROLFE….PARENTS KNOW IT AND TEACHERS KNOW IT!)
- RETURN MRS. LUCAS BACK TO ROLFE AND WITHDRAW THE RETALIATORY NON-RENEWAL RECOMMENDATION (IF THIS IS THE RESPONSE FROM PARENTS AND THE MEDIA JUST BASED ON YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS, MR. MORTON AND MR. ARMSTRONG, JUST THINK OF WHAT TYPE OF VERBAL BEATING YOU WILL HAVE TO TAKE IF HER CONTRACT IS NON-RENEWED UNJUSTLY..IT AIN’T GONE BE PRETTY AT APRIL’S SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
WE WARNED YOU, HENRICO!, WE WARNED YOU! PARENTS ARE TIRED! EDUCATORS ARE TIRED! THE COMMUNITY IS TIRED! IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO DO THE RIGHT THING, OR DO WE NEED TO TAKE THE NECESSARY ACTIONS TO ORGANIZE IN ORDER TO HAVE YOU REPLACED IF YOU DO NOT REPRESENT THE BEST INTERESTS OF OUR CHILDREN AND OUR FAMILIES?!THE BALL IS IN THE BOARD’S COURT…..FOR NOW!
