First lady Michelle Obama’s request to speak at a Chesterfield County elementary school, while on the campaign trail in Virginia, was rejected by the school officials, citing that it went against school policy.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the Chesterfield school officials refused to discuss the request made by the Obama campaign.
However, James Holland, a Dale District Supervisor, and the only Democrat on the five-member Chesterfield board said, “I do believe and think that Mrs. Obama, the first lady, should be allowed to attend a Chesterfield school.” He continued, “I know it’s not school policy. However, I just do not agree with that, because I think it’s an honor for the first lady to visit a school.”
The Obama campaign in a released statement said that the campaign considers a wide range of locations to when planning its events and the school was among the possible locations, however, the campaign decided on CenterStage theater as the preferred location to hold their event.