Join the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs for a Lunch and Learn Zoom presentation featuring James Lane, Ed.D., Virginia Department of Education superintendent of public instruction, and Maria Pitre-Martin, Ph.D., superintendent of Petersburg City Public Schools.

Lane will discuss how the Virginia Department of Education is supporting school divisions for returning to instruction in the fall through face-to-face, hybrid and virtual models adopted by K-12 schools. Pitre-Martin will discuss how Petersburg City Public Schools has monitored the COVID-19 pandemic through intentional planning and data to provide support to students and families while establishing a “new normal” for the 2020-21 school year.

Wilder School Dean Susan Gooden, Ph.D., will make opening remarks, and School of Education Dean Andrew Daire, Ph.D., will moderate. The presentation includes a Q&A session with the audience. The session will be recorded and shared afterward through email and the Wilder School YouTube channel.

Register for the Zoom link now. Have questions or need more information? Contact James Wasilewski, director of development, at wasilewskijr@vcu.edu.

About the speakers

James Lane, Ed.D., became Virginia’s 25th superintendent of public instruction in June 2018. Among his duties is leading the Virginia is for Learners initiative, a commitment to ensure that every public school student is ready to thrive after graduation. Lane has served as a division superintendent in Chesterfield, Goochland and Middlesex counties and was 2017 Virginia Superintendent of the Year for his leadership in Goochland County. He was one of 100 superintendents to attend the 2014 ConnectEd Superintendents Summit at the White House.

Maria Pitre-Martin, Ph.D., has been superintendent of Petersburg City Public Schools since July 2019. With public education experience spanning three decades, she has served in leadership positions at the school, district and state level, including deputy state superintendent for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, chief academic officer for the School District of Philadelphia and assistant superintendent for the East Baton Rouge Parish School System in Louisiana.

About the moderator

Andrew Daire, Ph.D., joined the VCU School of Education as dean in June 2016. Daire came to VCU from the University of Houston, where he served as the College of Education’s associate dean for research for nearly two years. Combining an academic and clinical background in counseling and psychology with expertise in research, he has more than 25 years of experience in higher education, including at the University of Central Florida, where he co-founded the university's Marriage and Family Research Institute and also served as the College of Education’s associate dean for research.