The local government affect

There’s no better way to understand local government than to see it in action.

For over ten years, education professor Wendell Roberts has been leading students to Richmond School Board and Richmond City Council Meetings with the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement (CCE). Participants see our representatives deliberate on laws, policies, budgets, and school operations.

"I like to promote local government, because that's the level of law that really affects people's lives," Roberts said. "I don't think people pay as much attention to that as they should."

With an extensive public legal career, Roberts is no stranger to the inner workings of local government, and he has served as the School Board attorney for Chesterfield County Public Schools since 2016.

"There's a lot of legal work that goes along with an organization like ours, which is 11,000 employees, 65,000 kids, and each one of those kids has a parent or legal guardian," Roberts said.

In 2012, he was invited by the School of Professional & Continuing Studies to teach Education Law and Ethics with Dave Myers, who was serving as the superintendent of New Kent County Public Schools.

"The concept of the course is co-taught by an attorney and a school leader practitioner to balance both the legal side and the ethics side," Roberts said.

Roberts identified that visiting School Board meetings should be part of the class syllabus.

"If you're going to be a principal or an educational leader, you really need to know what the School Board is and you need to know how the school division operates," Roberts said.

Roberts discovered that the CCE was hosting local government excursions and a partnership began. The CCE coordinates registration, transportation, and dinner for each excursion, and Roberts offers introductory remarks and an outline of things for the students to look for.

"Wendell has been a wonderful partner through the years, helping our students learn what it means to be engaged citizens and providing key information before meetings," said Sasha Hollister, CCE assistant director of community relationships and place-based engagement.

The excursions are open to both graduate and undergraduate, staff, and faculty. Political science major Kyle Giardine has attended and helped organize multiple excursions as a CCE public policy program associate.

"Watching public debate play out over numerous local issues concerning the budget, school safety, and educational outcomes was especially illuminating," Giardine said. "I’m thankful that Professor Roberts not only shared his expertise on policies and procedures at RPS but gave us a more critical understanding of how it fits within the broader national K-12 education landscape."

Conversations on the shuttle rides back to campus are particularly energetic as students reflect on what they witnessed.

"I draw energy from being around a lot of young people," Roberts said. "These are the people who are going to kind of carry the ball forward. I think it's exciting."