CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — Frustrations from parents reached a boiling point at a community meeting at Hollymead Elementary School on Wednesday, held in the aftermath of the arrest of Hollymead counselor Michael Swiney, who was arrested on 11 felony counts related to allegations of sex crimes on children last week.

During the meeting, parents expressed, sometimes through shouting and other times through tears, their frustrations with ACPS and Hollymead leadership for their handling of the situation.

ACPS Superintendent Dr. Matthew Haas and Hollymead Principal Joe McCauley were both in attendance and answered questions, alongside School Board Chair Rebecca Berlin and Board member Judy Le, who represents the Rivanna District that Hollymead is located in. Acting ACPD chief Camille Stewart was also in attendance among others from ACPS and Child Protective Services.

The bulk of the questions, and frustrations, were directed toward Haas and McCauley.

During the meeting, many parents said they were not notified when their children were taken out of class to meet with Swiney, the school’s social emotional learning coach. Many said they had expressed their concerns to McCauley but saw no change.

One parent even said they told McCauley that Swiney had locked her son in his office and refused to let him out until a teacher intervened. The parent claimed McCauley told her she was “overreacting,” which McCauley vehemently denied.

Teachers said they were unaware that Swiney was not licensed in psychology or counseling, with Haas at one point comparing the role to a teacher assistant.

But second grade teacher Pam Snead said at one point that she had never been told the SEL Coach was a TA.

“I have never sat in any sort of meeting about a child with administration and a TA, but I have sat in them with Mike Swiney,” Snead said. “So that makes it seem like he wasn’t just a TA. Mike Swiney, you know, if you radioed a call for someone, TAs don’t have the walkies to answer those calls, but Mike Swiney did.”

Parents and teachers also said they were not informed as to why Swiney did not return to Hollymead in January, when he was put on administrative leave.

The meeting was scheduled and announced Monday, the same day a petition was drafted by parents, demanding accountability and transparency from ACPS and the Albemarle School Board.

While the Swiney case was the inciting incident, Hollymead parent Sarah Wilson told Cville Right Now before the meeting on Wednesday she believed the conversation regarding transparency from ACPS and Hollymead was “long overdue.” She said there are concerns about ACPS listening to both parents and teachers, especially at Hollymead.

“I feel like this is a culmination of years of lack of trust, lack of listening, lack of responding appropriately to concerns,” she said. “And I’m hoping that through this process, somehow there will be a way to rebuild that.”

The meeting, originally scheduled for one hour, dragged on for 40 extra minutes, with multiple attempts to stop it by ACPS halted by still frustrated parents. At one point, a grandparent, who previously said she had changed residency due to her granddaughter being assaulted by a teacher, cursed out McCauley.

Afterward, McCauley spoke to the crowd in the auditorium, saying “if the allegations are true, this will haunt me for the rest of my life as principal.”

“My number one priority right now is to think about how I can restore trust in the community,” he later said. “I don’t know how to do that, other than just say how much I care for your kids.”

Ultimately, parents said they wanted a concrete plan for how ACPS would prevent this in the future. Berlin said the school board will be discussing the Swiney case and the policies relevant to it during its meeting tomorrow afternoon, in which there is a public comment session.

McCauley also said he and his staff will be informing the parents of any child who records show met with Swiney, although many others may have met with him without it being recorded.

ACPS spokesperson Jason Grant said during the meeting the recording of the meeting will also be posted by ACPS with a transcript, and the questions submitted that weren’t addressed will be answered online at ACPS’ website. If the question cannot be answered, ACPS will include the reason why.

But while both McCauley and Haas reiterated their accessibility to the families through the meeting, others still accused both throughout the meeting of not taking their prior concerns seriously. Wilson said it’s a problem that has been prevalent at both Hollymead and throughout ACPS, and she believes it has contributed to the emotion that was palpable Wednesday night.

“There’s been a pattern of parent concerns being dismissed by Hollymead and dismissed by ACPS,” Wilson said. “And so there is zero trust in either administration, either Hollymead or ACPS to handle this appropriately, and so I think that is really impacting how upset people are and how much information they’re demanding because we don’t trust them.”