'I'm begging you': Henrico chairman urges superintendent to address low academic performance in Eastern schools; school staff make another plea for collective bargaining
Henrico board chairman urges superintendent to focus on Eastern schools, HCPS staff make another push for collective bargaining, Freeman High students compete in NASA competition, and the county announces funding for school replacement projects.
Also, if you have a teacher you would like to nominate for our Henrico’s Top Teachers issue, you have until March 31 to fill out our form!
Thank you to Tuckahoe Middle School for inviting me to speak with eighth graders today for Career Day! I hope some of them go on to become local journalists!
Calls out 'embarrassing' SOL scores
Henrico Board of Supervisors Chairman Tyrone Nelson asked Henrico Schools leaders March 21 to put an end to the “same old story” of achievement gaps between schools in the West End and those in Eastern Henrico during a meeting about the division’s proposed Fiscal Year 2025 budget.
Nelson, who has represented the Varina District since 2012, emphasized the stark difference between last year’s state Standards of Learning assessment pass rates in Varina and Fairfield District schools, which often hovered around 30-50%, and those in West End schools, which were often around 70-90% or higher.
“When I look at SOL pass rates 2022-2023, I mean I don’t even want to read them, they’re embarrassing,” Nelson said. “This is 12 years of me saying the same thing…I’m begging you all, focus your attention on getting our East End schools up.”
Continued demands from school staff
Teachers, counselors, instructional assistants, and other staffers from Henrico’s public schools took to the Henrico School Board’s online forum this month to again demand the school division adopt collective bargaining for all school employees.
HCPS staff members submitted more than 200 comments in support of collective bargaining that filled most of the 43 pages of the school board’s March 14 online public forum. School staffers and supporters of the Henrico Education Association, the labor union that represents HCPS educators, also submitted almost 200 comments at the board’s Feb. 22 meeting.
Elizabeth Broda, a HEA leader and Henrico High teacher, said that HCPS employees will continue to speak out on collective bargaining at future school board online and in-person forums.
Nominate a teacher by March 31
In May, the Henrico Citizen will publish its 12th Henrico's Top Teachers issue, profiling 20 of the top teachers in Henrico County, from the preschool through high school levels. We encourage you to nominate one, or several, of the current teachers who have made a difference in your life, or in the lives of your children, friends, brothers or sisters. Public and private school teachers are eligible to be nominated. To nominate a teacher (or teachers), please click here.
Freeman students 'Plant the Moon'
A physics class at Douglas S. Freeman High School may be the first to grow oyster mushrooms in moon dirt for NASA’s international Plant the Moon Challenge.
The group of high-schoolers, led by their physics teacher Orien Altman, certainly do have a challenge ahead of them – they were given only $200 to do what even NASA scientists haven’t been able to accomplish. But after weeks of doing their own research, the students are confident that they can tackle the notoriously inhospitable moon dirt and be the first to successfully grow pink oyster mushrooms.
Altman’s class will be joined by another physics class at Freeman led by Tom Gallo to be the first Richmond-area students to participate in NASA’s competition, in which elementary, middle and high schools from around the world have participated annually for the past few years.
Funding for school replacements
Henrico County’s capital improvement needs during the next decade are estimated to total about $4.6 billion, according to the county’s Fiscal Year 2025-2034 Capital Improvement Program. Of that amount, county officials estimate that they’ll need about $2.2 billion for transportation projects and about $863.1 million for education projects.
Among the projects proposed for funding in the 2024-2025 capital budget: $122.3 million in education-related projects, including the replacement of Quioccasin Middle School and initial funding for the replacements of Johnson, Longan and Jackson Davis elementaries; nearly $120 million for water and sewer projects and $5 million for countywide pedestrian improvements.
The recommended $327.1 million capital budget for the coming fiscal year would include the following school system projects…
Photos of the week
Elementary schoolers at Kaechele dressed up as their future jobs for Career Dress Up Day (photo creds to @kescoyotes)
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