Verbal outburst at candidate forum prompts request for Augusta County School Board chair to resign

VERONA — Nick Collins is no stranger to emotional outbursts during Augusta County School Board meetings. His latest incident, at a candidate forum at the Augusta County Government Center Monday night, has prompted a fellow board member to ask for his resignation as chair.

Collins is running for reelection to a seventh term against challenger Sharon Griffin in the North River District.

During his closing remarks, an obviously emotional Collins was talking about a student with disabilities who had led the pledge of allegiance at the most recent school board meeting. An unidentified woman in the second row shouted, "Just stop."

The woman and a man next to her had been chirping at Collins for most of the evening, prompting the moderator to ask the audience on several occasions to respect the candidates and let them speak. That wasn't enough to stop the two from talking back to Collins from the audience. Apparently, the comments by the woman became too much for the school board chair.

"How about shutting up, lady," Collins said, pounding his fist on the table.

The woman then went on a rant that included comments about Superintendent Eric Bond, the constitution and her belief that Collins was manipulating the audience talking about a student with disabilities. The moderator tried to calm things down but it took a deputy to step in and restore order.

Tim Simmons, who represents the Pastures District on the school board, reached out to Collins Tuesday and requested he step down as chair of the board.

Collins declined Simmons' request.

"Last night I was Candidate Collins, not Chairman Collins," he wrote in a text to The News Leader asking for response.

Simmons told the board in an email that Collins' behavior "does not align with the conduct and professionalism we strive to uphold as school board members."

He urged each of the other members to join him in asking Collins to step down.

Mike Lawson, who is running for reelection in the South River District, also took part in the candidate forum Monday.

"Our discussions are often spirited, with differing thoughts, opinions, and points of view," Lawson said in response to Simmons' request. "However, with all due respect to Mr. Collins, his verbal interaction with a constituent at the end of the forum was unacceptable. It is not the behavioral representation to be portrayed to our constituents by any member of the school board, especially the board chair."

Lawson said he would like to see the incident "fairly reviewed and appropriately addressed" by the Augusta County School Board.

As of Wednesday morning, Simmons said Lawson is the only board member who has responded to his email.

The next regular meeting is scheduled for Nov. 2.

A highlight reel of getting fired up

This isn't the first time Collins has been caught up in verbal sparring with community members, with the chair becoming emotional during several school board meetings in recent years.

One of the favorite phrases used by Colllins is some variation of "that just fired me up," something he says when comments by the community or fellow board members don't sit just right with him.

Maybe the most memorable moment came two years ago when a resident, Charles Smiley, stood up to criticize Augusta County Schools' mask mandate, telling board members they wear masks so community members wouldn't recognize them in public.

A fired-up Collins stood from his seat behind the dais and took his mask down. Two members of the audience, including Smiley, charged toward Collins, sending a deputy sheriff into action as he raced toward the men to make sure no physical altercation took place. As the men backed away from Collins, one shouted at him that he was a coward.

Simmons intervened at a July meeting when Collins raised his voice at Jeremy Nance, who was requesting the board to review a library book he had challenged. Nance, who has had repeated run ins with Collins, said he was having trouble getting a response from the board about his concerns. Collins told Nance there was a procedure.

"I get a little fired up when somebody stands up here and says nobody's listening to them," said Collins, who then pounded the dais several times. "There's plenty of ways to get this dealt with."

Then Collins told Nance that he wasn't really supposed to be responding to him during the public comment section, before pounding the dais again.

"I get dad-blamed tired of being accused of all of this crazy stuff," Collins said.

Simmons interrupted, telling Collins his actions weren't appropriate and he should "take it down a notch." Collins agreed, saying, "I'll take your advice."

In his email to board members Tuesday, Simmons said he believes school board members should hold themselves to the highest standards of conduct.

"We serve as role models for the students in our district," Simmons wrote. "Chairman Collins represents all of us on the board, and his aggressive and combative behavior reflects poorly on our collective image."

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— Patrick Hite is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Verbal outburst at Augusta County candidate forum prompts request for Nick Collins to resign