Gunston Hall Bill Carried Over To 2013 Session

Legislation that would have revamped the mission of Gunston Hall has been carried over by the Committee on Education and Health to the 2013 Virginia General Assembly session.

The bill, SB137, was sponsored by Virginia Sen. Linda "Toddy" Puller (D-36) and said that the Board of Regents, Board of Visitors and Board of Advisors must work together to help manage Gunston Hall. 

"I would like for the [Gunston Hall] situation to go away, but it's still consuming a lot of my emails and phone calls," said Puller, who spoke to Patch on a cell phone from the Senate floor. "The most important thing is hiring an education coordinator, and I'll be making trips to Gunston Hall to continue to monitor what's going on there... Ultimately, the bill will stay alive unless I get the Committee to vote on something else next year." 

What Happened

The controversy began last year after Gunston Hall Executive Director David Reese fired the longtime education coordinator. The management came under further scrutiny after a number of staff departrures and a reduction of mansion events.

Gunston Hall First Regent Wylie Raab made a number of concessions, including filling the education coordinator position, in a Jan. 23rd letter to Virginia Secretary of Education Laura Fornash. 

"It was never the intent of the Board of Regents to leave that position vacant indefinitely," Raab wrote. "During the interim year we reconfigured responsibilities of other employees to insure that the duties of the former Education Coordinator were carried out. As a result, while limited staff carried additional burdens during this time, there was no reduction in educational programming."

Also in the letter:

• A staffer on behalf of the Education Secretary is invited to numerous meetings with the Board of Regents
• Any Gunston Hall financial or governing documentation is available 
• Input from the Secretary's office will be welcomed in the annual review of the director. 

Still Working

Former Del. Jim Dillard, a member of the Gunston Hall Board of Advisors, said he was speaking with Secretary Fornash this week.

"I'm looking forward to the meting to discuss certain resolutions to the problems," Dillard said. "We have to expand the role of the Board of Visitors and have them perform their function, which is to create an annual report on the management and performance of Gunston Hall... Then, we'll see what we can do with the director, because that's the rest of the problem."