'Something's not right': Supervisor Nelson, others express frustrations with school board; middle-schoolers go 'gaga' for recess at Short Pump Middle School

Nov 01, 2024

Happy Halloween and Happy Diwali!

And happy almost Election Day — no local elections this year, but here’s a guide to the congressional and senate races happening in Virginia. The last day of in-person early voting is tomorrow.

We will have live election results starting 7 p.m. on Nov. 5 on our website!

Concerns of growing animosity

“Frustrating,” “weirdness,” “jittery,” “uncharted waters” – these are the words Henrico Board of Supervisors Chairman Tyrone Nelson and other supervisors used during a joint meeting Oct. 22 with the Henrico School Board to describe the two boards’ current working relationship.

The boards arranged the meeting to discuss a proposal for collective bargaining for HCPS employees, which the school board ultimately rejected at its work session Oct. 24. However, discussions at the joint meeting shifted from collective bargaining to some board supervisors’ concerns about animosity between the two boards.

Short Pump Middle School is the first middle school in Henrico Schools to offer recess in modern years, but after seeing its success, other middle schools in the county may follow suit with their own recess programs, according to SPMS Principal Jessica Seal.

Short Pump first implemented its recess program last school year with the help of a $10,069 grant from the Henrico Education Foundation, a nonprofit that funds a variety of curricular and extracurricular programs at different HCPS schools. Since then, Seal has seen some positive improvements with student behavior and focus, with recess allowing students a 25-minute mental and physical oasis in their school day.

The Hanover NAACP is sounding the alarm about what officials call discriminatory incidents happening regularly in the county's schools that they believe are not being properly addressed.

During a news conference Wednesday night, members of the organization said they could not remain silent after district officials said a Hanover student wrote a racial slur on a Henrico school bus during a football game at Hanover High School last week.

The group feels the incident "can’t be brushed off" because they say they frequently hear about discrimination and believe new steps are needed to make students of color feel safe.

Henrico County Deputy Registrar Anne Marie Middlesworth knows what her day will look like Nov. 5. She will get to her office at 3:30 a.m to prepare for Election Day and will not leave until after midnight.

In order for election day to operate flawlessly, much must be done behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly.

First, county officials need to select polling places. Henrico County has 90 polling sites, each defined by a geographic area located within boundaries set by roads or rivers.