Youngkin issues executive order to create cell phone-free classrooms; Henrico regulates vaping shops near schools

Jul 13, 2024

This week in news, Gov. Youngkin signs an executive order calling for a ban on cell phones in school classrooms, the Henrico Board of Supervisors adopts regulations to push vaping shops farther away from schools, and Henrico Schools’ summer engagement tour aims to tackle chronic absenteeism across the district.

Also congratulations to the Citizen’s Patty Kruszewski for winning a national press award for her column piece!!

Cell phone crack down

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin Tuesday signed an executive order that calls on the Virginia Department of Education to develop new policies and procedures for schools across the commonwealth to implement a cell phone-free classrooms.

The order directs VDOE to produce a draft version of guidance by Aug. 15 and final guidance the following month, so that school systems statewide can adopt cell phone-free education policies and procedures by Jan. 1, 2025, according to Youngkin’s directive. (There are no legal penalties for school systems that choose not to adopt the order.)

“This essential action will promote a healthier and more focused educational environment where every child is free to learn,” Youngkin said.

The Henrico Board of Supervisors has adopted new restrictions regulating where vaping shops can be located.

The shops now will be prohibited within 1,000 feet of a school or 2,000 feet (or a little less than half a mile) of a park or another vaping shop, according to the regulations approved by the board July 9. Further, they would be limited to certain zoning areas, and a business also would need to apply for a provisional use permit before being allowed to open one anywhere in the county.

There are currently 40 vaping shops in Henrico, Assistant Henrico Planning Director Ben Blankinship told supervisors, and their growth has been relatively quick during the past few years, leading to concerns that minors were using these stores.

Staff members from Henrico Schools’ Family and Community Engagement team are visiting 12 housing communities this summer to tackle a rising problem for many school systems post-pandemic: school absences.

While HCPS staffers have conducted similar community visits in past summers, they wanted to broaden their reach to all parts of the county this year with an expansive “summer tour” that includes other community organizations as well, according to HCPS family and community specialist Leslie Velez.

“We’ve coordinated internally to expand our reach to other communities so that we can basically broaden the support just across the district,” Velez said. “Instead of just focusing on one area, we really wanted to be intentional about scaling the tour. So we’re on the East End, we’re in the central area [of Henrico] and also out west.”

Henrico County Public Schools has received a $100,000 federal grant to help it purchase a new electric school bus that will be transformed into a mobile classroom for environmental education.

The “Green Wheels for Bright Minds Ecobus,” is designed to be used for immersive environmental educational experiences for students at 21 Title I elementary schools in Henrico that have high numbers of students from low-income families.

“Environmental and science education has never been more important, and this project will help provide deeper learning experiences to schools and communities that don’t always have those resources,” said Amy Cashwell, HCPS superintendent, in a press release.

Photos of the week

Congrats to Highland Springs ACE Center students for placing second in the VA State SkillsUSA Competition and to Tucker High students for placing fifth in Website Coding & Development at the FBLA National Leadership Conference! (photo creds to @henricocte and @jrtuckertigers)