VIRGINIA – Jermiah “Jerry” Fitz has been appointed as the Chief Deputy Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections, Governor Abigail Spanberger announced.

I want to thank Governor Spanberger for the chance to serve the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia and work alongside Director Walters as we move the agency forward. The field of corrections sees both the best times and the most challenging times for the people we encounter. Long-lasting public safety depends upon our agency doing the right things for the right reasons.

Chief Deputy Director Jermiah “Jerry” Fitz

Fitz has served in a variety of leadership positions throughout the agency, bringing nearly 30 years of experience in corrections and public safety to the role.

In 1997, Fitz began his career at District #14 in Danville as a Surveillance Officer and rose to the rank of Chief Probation Officer in Chesterfield County in 2013. He later served in Henrico County and has led VADOC’s Central Region as Regional Administrator for Community Corrections and the Eastern Region as Regional Administrator for Institutions during his career.

Other notable roles that Fitz has served in include Legislative Liaison, Corrections Operations Administrator, and most recently, Deputy Director of Community Corrections since March 2025. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Old Dominion University.

“I offer my sincere congratulations to Chief Deputy Director Fitz on his appointment, and I look forward to the opportunity to continue to work with him to advance our public safety mission,” Director Walters said.

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — A bill being discussed in Richmond could impact what students across Virginia learn in history and social science classrooms.

House Bill 614 would change statewide learning standards by requiring public schools to include the contributions and experiences of groups described as “historically marginalized” in history and social science instruction.

Those groups include racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants and refugees, women, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and people from a range of socioeconomic and religious backgrounds. The proposal has sparked debate among lawmakers and education leaders.

Republican Delegate Tim Griffin said he strongly opposes the bill, arguing it shifts the focus away from what he described as core educational priorities.

“This bill is going to have a negative impact on schools, because instead of worrying about reading, writing, and arithmetic, or in the historical arena, talking about American exceptionalism, it focuses on every single minority that you can ever imagine,” Griffin said.

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Griffin said he believes emphasizing specific groups in the curriculum could come at the expense of teaching broader American history.

“American history is the history of all of us as Americans,” Griffin said. “I hate the dividing us into silos and into different groups. America should be about America, especially this year.”

Supporters of the bill disagree, saying it builds on existing standards rather than replacing them.

Karl Loos, president of the Lynchburg Education Association, said House Bill 614 would help address gaps in what is currently taught in classrooms.

When asked about Griffin’s concerns that the bill is overly focused on diversity, equity and inclusion, Loos said, “I think he is wrong.”

“With the growth of America and the history of America, what this does is it gives us a more complete picture of how all of that came about,” Loos said.

Loos said some historical contributions are currently missing from Virginia’s Standards of Learning.

“The short answer is yes, there is,” Loos said. “There are a variety of contributions made by people that we haven’t really touched on in the SOLs.”

According to Loos, the legislation would not give the state control over local lesson plans, but it would guide how Virginia updates its history and social science standards in future reviews.

The bill was proposed by Delegate Sam Rasoul. ABC 13 reached out to Rasoul for comment, but had not heard back as of publication.

House Bill 614 continues to make its way through the General Assembly.