By Heather Michon
Correspondent
Fluvanna County Public School Superintendent Peter Gretz’s contract was renewed for a new four-year term at the School Board meeting on Wednesday (Sept. 11).
“We don’t agree on everything, Dr. Gretz, but we all collectively agree on extending your contract,” said James Kelley (Palmyra).
It was a moment of unanimity in a meeting overshadowed by controversy stemming from the donation of a basket of clothing and stickers from Fork Union-based Red Arrow TV to the Central Elementary Fall Festival fundraiser.
Red Arrow TV produces hunting shows featuring Kip Campbell, who also owns Red Arrow Weapons.
A group of parents objected to a school accepting a donation from a company affiliated with weapons, particularly in light of the most recent school shooting in Georgia.
Further complicating the issue, Fork Union School Board representative Danny Reed works for the company in question. According to his LinkedIn page, he has been marketing director and brand development director for Red Arrow since 2015.
In a Facebook video posted on Sept. 5, he described himself as an independent contractor to Red Arrow Weapons. “I actually work for a company named Shotfish Productions,” he said. “Y’all get your facts straight.”
Campbell founded Shotfish Productions in 2005. In online searches, the company shares an address in Fork Union with Red Arrow TV and Red Arrow Weapons.
In the same video, Reed said “keyboard warriors” online were using “wizardry and manipulation” to launch a personal attack on him through his employer.
“There are folks in this community, a very, very small percentage of folks in this county, who thrive on chaos and confusion,” he said.
Chair Andrew Pullen posted his own video the same day supporting Reed. In it, he argued that Red Arrow TV has donated for years without complaints and that this was nothing more than a discontented group “playing politics” and exploiting the tragedy in Georgia.
This was the atmosphere going into the meeting on Wednesday.
There were a large number of Red Arrow supporters in the audience, along with a slightly smaller group of opponents. A deputy stood in the hallway outside the auditorium, although Capt. Aaron Hurd of the Fluvanna County Sheriff’s Office confirmed there was no specific threat.
“We are not a gun company. Red Arrow TV is a company that promotes hunting, fishing, trapping, and conservation and getting people involved in the outdoors,” said Kip Campbell during public comments. “That’s what our TV show, our national TV show, that’s what it’s all about.”
“I think that one side is trying to silence the other side,” he continued. “So it’s more of an authoritarian-type move. If you have these certain values and beliefs, we want to silence your voice.”
For Georgianna Joslin, a vocal critic of the donation, the attempts to silence debate were coming not from parents, but from key members of the board.
“What we are trying to do here is to look after the kids, that’s all. Whether you agree with us or not, whether you think our concerns are valid or not, we feel they are, and we feel they need to be heard and addressed by the people that we address them to,” she said. “We do not deserve to have an elected official publicly call us out as an embarrassment and to be told that our behavior is abhorrent and disgusting because we have a belief that differs from his.”
At one point in the meeting, Kelley quizzed Dr. Gretz on the district’s policies on potentially controversial donations.
Gretz said their legal counsel had advised using existing policies as a framework to “evaluate the content in a way that maintains some level of control over what comes in, but still respects equal access and First Amendment issues related to an open event like [the Fall Festival].”
After a few minutes of discussion between Kelley and Gretz, Pullen cut it short and said it was time to move on to the rest of the agenda.
Members heard updates on Abrams Academy’s renovation plans, next year’s budget schedule, the capital improvement plan, and damage caused by vultures roosting on Central Elementary’s roof.
Gretz noted that a group of vultures at rest is referred to as a “committee” of vultures.
The final 20 minutes of the meeting again focused on Red Arrow.
As members had their opportunity to make comments at the meeting’s end, Kelley said that “I think we need to treat one another with empathy and respect. Start from a place of best intent and ensure that nobody’s safety is threatened.”
“I do also think that my line of inquiry was rushed during this board meeting,” he added. “You all may not agree with my line of questioning as it relates to policies, but I would not interrupt or try to push along a conversation just because I felt uncomfortable or didn’t like what I was hearing.”
Pullen interrupted, saying “you served as chair, you understand Robert’s Rules of Order. We can set a timeline for debate in the future if you’d like. You can have three minutes, and the other side can have three minutes, and we can wrap it all up after that, or we can let it go until it seems like it’s not going anywhere, and it’s becoming disruptive.”
In his comments, Reed noted that he had only received two emails on the controversy in recent weeks. “We can’t just jump right into social media and the court of public opinion without even asking a question to a School Board member first.”
Pullen essentially agreed with the premise that there were two sides to the debate – and left no question on which side he supported.
He described his relationship with the Campbells and others as close to him as family, “a family that has been in our community for generations.”
“We’re going to defend them whether I’m on School Board or not,” he said. “I’m going to say something if you attack them.”
