After months of HVAC problems, Henrico leaders answer CBS 6’s questions about what went wrong

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — After months of reporting on widespread HVAC problems in Henrico County schools, CBS 6 had the opportunity Tuesday to sit down with the two people at the top of the county and school division to ask what went wrong and what happens next.

CBS 6 Investigative Reporter Melissa Hipolit interviewed Henrico County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Amy Cashwell and Henrico County Manager Vithoulkas following the completion of two third-party assessments examining HVAC operations within the school division and county government.

Dozens of Henrico schools have dealt with elevated temperatures and HVAC failures over the past year, prompting complaints from teachers and families and questions about how the school division maintains its buildings.

Watch: Henrico touts HVAC progress, but families at this school say temps still unbearable

CBS 6 has requested interviews with Cashwell and Vithoulkas over the past several months while investigating those problems. The county offered Tuesday's joint interview following the completion of the outside assessments.

Those assessments found problems that went beyond aging or failing HVAC equipment. The reviews described operations that remain heavily reactive and identified gaps involving work-order tracking, staffing, maintenance practices and accountability.

The school division's assessment also identified a recurring lack of clear ownership. Among its findings: no one was accountable for the quality of work-order data, there was no identified owner overseeing vendor relationships and there was no consistent process or accountability for making sure problems identified during preventive-maintenance inspections were ultimately repaired.

The decision to have Cashwell and Vithoulkas sit down together also underscored what they said will be a joint effort between the school division and county government to address the problems identified in the reviews.

During the extensive interview, Hipolit asked Cashwell about one issue CBS 6 has previously reported on: the school division's work-order system.

Watch: 625 open HVAC work orders in Henrico schools, COO questions data accuracy

Hipolit: “Did you know that the work order system was the mess that it was, and that, you know, people would put orders in the system, according to the principal at Godwin High School, and they would just be closed out and nothing would have been done? Did you know about those?”Cashwell said she wasn't familiar with the details of the system but had been hearing broader concerns.

“I wasn't familiar with the nuances of the work system, but I do regularly talk to our administrators,” Cashwell said. “The challenge related to communication of a need, and then the what's next and when it's repaired, was something that was bubbling up, and we began to make sure we were really digging in to understand what those causes were and are.”Hipolit also asked Vithoulkas how problems identified in the assessments were allowed to persist under the county's leadership.

Vithoulkas called some of the findings unacceptable and acknowledged responsibility at the top.

“This absolutely happened on our watch,” Vithoulkas said.He pointed to several contributing factors, including deferred maintenance, human error and outdated systems and processes. But he said the county and school division now have a plan to address the problems together.

And he made a promise about what families should expect going forward:

“The promise that's being made today is that the experience that we had in the fall, you're not going to experience again,” Vithoulkas said. “And we're going to do everything that we can collectively to make sure that that promise is kept.”

CBS 6 will have much more from the interview in the coming days, including Cashwell's response to questions about accountability, why Vithoulkas continues to have confidence in Cashwell, and how the county and school division say they plan to address the problems identified by the third-party assessments.

This is a developing story, so check back with WTVR.com for updates. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have info, photos or videos to share.