EXCLUSIVE: Major Virginia School Board Moves to Shut Down Nation’s Largest TPUSA Chapter
by Victoria Manning
The move in Albemarle County, in Charlottesville, comes after Erika Kirk was scheduled to speak—and after the board met behind closed doors.
The Albemarle School Board is trying to shut down the largest TPUSA chapter in the nation after the TPUSA club scheduled Erika Kirk to speak at their April meeting.
Current district policy allows outside speakers on campus. But the school board recently attempted to shut down another conservative speaker attending the TPUSA club—Family Foundation President Victoria Cobb. The Family Foundation’s attorneys challenged the school board, and the board was slapped down when a court intervened.
Now they're at it again, with the Albemarle School Board—in Charlottesville—scheduled to have a “special budget work session” at their meeting on March 5, 2026. Yet that isn’t the big item on the agenda. The public most likely has no idea that this meeting is actually an attempt to cancel the Western Albemarle High TPUSA club. The board also doesn’t allow public speakers at their “special” meetings.
At their Feb. 26th meeting, board member Allison Spillman made a motion to go into closed session to “to advise with regard to legal and safety considerations relating to a recent request from a student organization at Western Albemarle High School to have a presentation by an outside speaker.” Spillman is the same board member who claims to be the parent of a “trans student” and equated TPUSA with the KKK.
Western Albemarle TPUSA President Noah Coffin told Restoration News the club has over 250 members and 700 students attended their last meeting—more than half of the entire school. Coffin said he was never previously required to get any type of approval from the school board for a speaker. Typically, he meets with administration to go over logistics and create plans for the events.
There is no evidence that the school board has ever gotten involved with the approval of any other club.
Is the Board Violating State and Federal Law?
A Western Albemarle High club called “BRIDGE” invited a former Democrat state delegate, Sally Hudson, to attend a club meeting in 2025. Hudson planned to discuss her political journey and “how to be politically active in your community.” Yet there is no indication that the school board ever held a special or closed meeting to discuss the leftist speaker.
The Equal Access Act of 1984 prohibits schools receiving federal funding “to deny equal access or a fair opportunity to, or discriminate against, any students who wish to conduct a meeting within that limited open forum on the basis of the religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech at such meetings.”
The law also requires that groups receive equal treatment and access—yet the school board seems to be treating conservative and liberal groups differently.
Open meeting laws in Virginia limit the ability for public bodies to conduct business behind closed doors except under very specific circumstances. A discussion about a speaker for a TPUSA event is certainly not an acceptable reason to hide from the public in a closed session.
The meeting being held on March 5, is classified as a “special budget workshop.” The school board’s own policy, and potentially FOIA laws, prohibit agenda items from being added outside the stated call for the meeting without unanimous board approval at the meeting. In this case, the meeting is for a “budget workshop.” Yet major changes to the student organization policy are also on the agenda.
TPUSA in the Crosshairs
The proposed policy changes clearly target TPUSA.
The far-left Southern Poverty Law Center publishes a “hate map” to “track hate and anti-government groups.” They list TPUSA on their website as a hate group, along with other mainstream conservative organizations such as Moms for America, the Alliance Defending Freedom, and Moms for Liberty.
The Albemarle School Board’s proposed policy edits add this provision: “Student organizations that promote or endorse violence, harassment, or hatred toward an identifiable person or group based on race, color, religion, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability or are affiliated with any organizations that do so shall not be permitted.”
The policy doesn’t define “hatred.”
The policy also requires any fundraising by a student organization to be deposited into the school’s account to be deemed “school activity funds.” Any club expenditure must be approved by the principal and if the organization is dissolved, the funds belong to the school.
Attorneys reviewing this matter tell Restoration News they believe there are many unconstitutional provisions in this proposed policy.
The Albemarle School Board meeting on this topic will be held on March 5th at 5:30 p.m. at 401 McIntire Rd. in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Victoria Manning is a Senior Investigative Researcher for Restoration News specializing in education freedom, immigration, and military issues. She is the author of Behind the Wall of Government Schools. Victoria served 8 years as an elected school board member and has a master’s degree in law. She also brings the perspective of a military spouse to her reporting.
