Henrico Schools proposes $852 million budget; human trafficking course expanded to all HCPS middle and high schools
Henrico Schools’ $852 million recommended budget, which still has to be approved by the Henrico School Board, would ensure that 62 staff positions funded by expiring COVID relief grants would remain on the payroll.
This week, HCPS announced that a piloted human trafficking prevention course would be expanded to all middle and high schools. The parents of slain Henrico middle schooler Lucia Bremer urged state lawmakers to promote safe gun storage.
Parents also spoke out about school security measures at a school board town hall and HCPS opened a new bigger ACE building at Hermitage High School.
$34.3 million increase in budget
Henrico Schools officials presented an $852 million recommended budget for Fiscal Year 2025, an increase of $34.3 million or 4.2% from the current fiscal year’s budget, to the Henrico School Board Jan. 25.
The proposed budget would fund the 62 staff positions added through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), a federal grant for COVID relief, during the next two years by tapping into $10 million of savings. All positions would switch onto the HCPS payroll once the ESSER III grant expires in Sept. 2024.
The budget would allow HCPS to permanently add 31 school counselors, two social workers, 13 library assistants, and a total of 51 reading specialists, one for each elementary school, to the general fund. These counselor, social worker and library assistant positions – and a number of the reading specialist positions – were previously funded by the one-time ESSER grant.
Trafficking prevention course
A human trafficking curriculum that started as a pilot project at two Henrico County high schools is being expanded to all 22 of the school division’s middle and high schools.
The “Prevention Project” uses research-based, age-appropriate lessons to equip students to recognize the warning signs of human trafficking and empower them to practice healthy boundaries to keep themselves safe.
More than 55,000 students in 21 states have used the curriculum since it debuted as part of a 2012 pilot program at Hermitage and Mills Godwin high schools. The initial program was created using seed money from AT&T, and has since been expanded by Freekind, a Virginia-based nonprofit.
Bremer family speaks to VA lawmakers
The family of a Henrico County teen killed by a classmate asked lawmakers in Richmond Wednesday to take steps to prevent future tragedies like theirs.
Lucia Bremer was killed in 2021 by 14-year-old Dylan Williams as she walked home from school. The shooter, who has since pleaded guilty, took the gun from his legal guardian.
“Lucia is dead in part because an adult gun owner made a choice to leave his firearm easily accessible to his teenager,” Meredith, Lucia’s mother, said.
The guardian was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor but wasn’t convicted.
Parents praise school security boost
School security, student mental health, parent engagement, and affordable afterschool opportunities were among the topics discussed by Henrico Schools parents, teachers and even a few students at the Henrico School Board town hall Jan. 30.
School board members, HCPS Superintendent Amy Cashwell, and two members of the Henrico Board of Supervisors – Misty Whitehead (Three Chopt District) and Jody Rogish (Tuckahoe District)) – met with attendees in small groups at the event to receive input on initiatives HCPS has taken in the past year. A couple of HCPS staff members acted as facilitators of the conversations.
Several parents said they appreciated the new security measures the school division put in place this school year, including the weapons scanners placed at all middle and high schools and the 75 school security officers added to serve all schools.
New 'state-of-the-art' ACE building
Henrico Schools opened its new 85,000-square-foot Advanced Career Education Center building at Hermitage High School on Jan. 8 for students in the Workforce & Career Development program.
The new facility, which sits in front of the old ACE Center building at Hermitage, has a modern concept with floor-to-ceiling glass windows and a big forum space with round tables at the entrance of the building that seats 400. Surrounding the forum are classrooms visible to visitors via the large glass windows that show a number of the center’s programs: culinary arts, video and media productions, web design, radio broadcasting, and more.
“It has taken about a year to get us to the point where we’re opening up the building today,” Hermitage ACE Center Principal Dale King said in a video on Henrico Schools’ social media.
Photo of the week
Happy Black History Month! At 12 years old, Daisy Jane Cooper (now Jane Cooper Johnson) was the first Black student at Richmond’s Westhampton School in 1961. Here she is in front of a new statue created to memorialize the racial integration of Richmond Public Schools (photo creds to Axios Richmond).
MORE IN HENRICO
Injured Henrico High football alum Samar Lemons to receive Community Courage Award
Q&A: VanValkenburg discusses housing, education and life in the Virginia Senate
Henrico Schools to host immunization clinics for rising 7th, 12th grade students
Henrico School Board to host Feb. 7 public hearing about proposed budget
MORE IN VA
Senate Democrats kill 3 Republican bills dealing with transgender students
With child care increasingly unaffordable, Virginia lawmakers propose long-term fixes
Hanover panel votes to remove LGBTQ+ love story from school libraries
GOP delegate seeks to allow any school employee to carry a firearm
NATIONAL NEWS
In gridlocked Congress, unlikely issue of cellphones in schools forges bipartisan bonds
Test scores are rebounding after pandemic school closures, but some students will never catch up
Thank you so much for reading!
💬Let’s chat! Email me at liana@henricocitizen.com to send thoughts, tips, or just to say hi.
📬Did someone forward you this newsletter? You can sign up HERE.
📱Follow me on Twitter at @LianaHardy12 and on Instagram at @lianahardy.henrico.