VACo County Pulse Podcast

Uplifting Our Children Through Education | Episode 3 | Prince Edward County, School Funding & Infrastructure; Honoring the Past — Building the Future

• Virginia Association of Counties

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In this episode of the Uplifting Our Children Through Education series, host Jeremy R. Bennett sits down with three local leaders from Prince Edward County to explore the powerful intersection of history, policy and infrastructure in public education.
Joining Jeremy are:

  • Douglas W. Stanley, County Administrator for Prince Edward County;
  • Cainain Townsend, Executive Director of the Robert Russa Moton Museum and member of the Prince Edward County School Board; and
  • Dr. Donald “Chip” Jones, Jr., Superintendent of Prince Edward County Public Schools.

Together they trace the legacy of Barbara Johns and the 1951 Moton School student protest, challenge the realities of aging school infrastructure in a rural locality, and dive into efforts to finance tomorrow’s learning environments — including recent state-legislative initiatives around local referenda, sales-tax options and the future of school-construction funding. Listeners will learn how the community is balancing heritage, equity and capital investment, and what it takes for counties like Prince Edward to uplift children through strategic partnerships and forward-looking planning.