New Superintendent, Silent Schools: Stafford’s Communication Breakdown

Meet the Principal Series Continues: Manassas Local Editor Caitlyn Meisner launched this series at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year to introduce nearly two dozen new principals in Prince William County Schools. Now, we’re shifting focus to highlight the new and existing principals in Manassas City Public Schools. Each principal has answered the same questions (in bold), and their responses will be shared below. Stay tuned as we continue to profile the educational leaders shaping our community’s schools.

Choir Call Answered: We called for Christmas choir performances, and you delivered! The Gainesville Community Choir (GCC) submitted a video and press release about their upcoming shows. Keep those choir videos coming—I’m excited to feature them during the holiday season!

The Gainesville Community Choir will perform a winter collaborative concert titled *“From Darkness to Light.” The program includes Dan Forrest’s LUX: The Dawn from On High and other seasonal selections performed with the Fairfax Choral Society. Catch these performances:

• Friday, December 6 at Grace United Methodist Church in Manassas
• Saturday, December 7 at Annandale United Methodist Church

Stafford Schools Go Silent: We recently reported on Stafford County Public Schools hiring a new superintendent. Interestingly, no press release about the hiring was sent to us, though it was shared with other news organizations. We obtained the press release after filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

This follows an incident where the district’s public information officer asked us to leave the premises after we questioned the school board chair about the ongoing bus crisis. Since then, communication from Stafford Schools has been sparse.

According to the PIO, we’re “not supposed to be asking questions of school board members.” While disappointing, this lack of transparency won’t deter us from bringing you the important stories affecting our community.