Hall prevails in civil case involving her dismissal by Accomack School Board

By Linda Cicoira

An order was filed Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court that favored former Accomack Schools Superintendent Rhonda Hall in a civil case regarding violations of the state Freedom of Information Act.

Visiting Judge Afshin Farashahi ruled that the School Board violated the Act in its meeting notice for an Oct. 23, 2024, session in which the board voted to terminate Hall from her post. The five in favor of firing Hall were Chairperson Janet Martin-Turner, Vice Chair Edward Taylor, and members Glenn Neal, Jason Weippert, and Stefanie Jackson Bowman. Those against the action were members Jesse Speidel, Lisa Johnson, Camesha Handy, and Malcolm White.

“Upon consideration of the pleadings, motions, and other materials filed by the parties and evidence received by the court and for the reasons explained on the record and as clarified by the court in an email dated April 30, 2025, Judge Farashahi made the following rulings.

That the public notice of the meeting was “neither timely nor reasonable under the circumstances,” that “the notice was defective and inadequate in describing the meeting as ‘closed’ and stating that it would be held in the ‘school board conference room,'” and “the school board failed to conduct an open meeting session before the closed meeting portion on Oct. 23, 2024.”

     The court granted injunctive relief in favor of Hall, meaning she is entitled to an award, which would be determined when another court date is set. The five school board members who voted to remove Hall from her job were also named individually in the lawsuit filed by Hall.