Leadership of school board in question as Staunton School Board calls meeting for Wednesday night

STAUNTON — Late Tuesday afternoon, the clerk of the Staunton School Board sent out an email that a called meeting of the board would be held Wednesday night, May 1, at 6 p.m.

The only topic on the agenda: Consideration of school board leadership.

"The Staunton City School Board will convene in a special called meeting on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. in the Rita S. Wilson Council Chambers located on the first floor of City Hall, 116 W. Beverley Street," the email read. "The purpose of the called meeting is to consider the status of the School Board leadership."

Beyond that, there is no further indication of the exact topic that will be discussed, although it seems certain it will involve Chair Natasha McCurdy. As reported by The News Leader on April 19 , McCurdy and her twin sister, Felecia Neil, are both under investigation after money reportedly went missing from the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) at Staunton's A.R. Ware Elementary School.

Neil is the PTA's treasurer. The sisters own Queen City Games and Gifts, and purchases at the store came into question in the affidavit obtained by The News Leader.

"No criminal charges have been filed in connection with the investigation that is alleging embezzlement, grand larceny and obtaining money by false pretenses," Brad Zinn wrote in The News Leader story.

In an effort to obtain Ware's PTA minutes last week, The News Leader contacted principal William "Billy" Brown. A message left with Brown went unanswered.

McCurdy, who was first elected in 2018 in a special election for a two-year term, and then again in 2020 for a regular four-year term, does not plan to run again in November. Her term is up at the end of this year and, two days before the story broke, she told The News Leader, when asked if she was running again, "No, I'm done."

The News Leader reached out to the other members of the school board the day the story published, asking if there had been or will there be any discussions about making a change in who is chair or asking her to step down from the board. No board remember has yet to respond.

"I am aware of these allegations and have cooperated from the the beginning, and will continue to do so," McCurdy said in a statement to The News Leader. "The records will show that I have not done anything wrong. I look forward to being cleared of any wrongdoing. Beyond that I will not comment on an ongoing investigation."

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— Patrick Hite is The News Leader's education reporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite . Subscribe to us at newsleader.com .

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Leadership of school board in question as Staunton School Board calls meeting for Wednesday night