EDUCATION
Judge orders Gloucester School Board to release audio of improper closed session
The Gloucester County School Board violated transparency laws when it held a closed meeting in 2021 to discuss “personnel matters” but instead talked about conflicts between board members, according to a local judge who ordered the county to pay $4,000 in legal fees and took the rare step of fining the board $250. School Board […]
Report on Virginia public education standards and policies overdue
Over a four-month period in 2022, Virginia leaders in education and workforce development held a series of meetings to provide recommendations to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration on improving state K-12 education. However, a report on recommendations from those meetings, which were convened to fulfill the requirements of a 2022 law known as House Bill 938, […]
A Republican lawmaker delivered doughnuts to teachers. Then came a political food fight
Earlier this month, Virginia Del. Amanda Batten, R-James City, bought almost 1,000 doughnuts and set out to give them to public school teachers working in her Williamsburg-area district. She marked the occasion with a Facebook post showing her carrying armfuls of doughnut boxes in a multi-school delivery that she said amounted to 996 doughnuts, or […]
Director of Virginia higher education council to step down after 12 years
One of Virginia’s top higher education policy officials is stepping down from his post. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the coordinating body for colleges and universities in the commonwealth, announced Thursday that it will begin its search for a new leader after long-time director Peter Blake said he would be leaving the […]
Tidewater, Southwest, Western regions biggest winners on school construction grants
Tidewater and Eastern Shore school divisions, including those in Norfolk and Newport News, are receiving about a quarter of $365 million in grants Virginia is handing out to modernize and repair school buildings as well as construct new ones. On May 11, the Virginia Board of Education unanimously approved 42 grants to school divisions across […]
Virginia lawmaker hopes new posthumous diploma law will help grieving families and students
By Darlene Johnson / Capital News Service Graduation is a month away for approximately 90,000 Virginia high school seniors. For some, that milestone is cut short by tragedy. When a high school student dies before graduation, it can be difficult for a family to obtain a posthumous diploma. State lawmakers this recent General Assembly session passed House Bill […]
Virginia pushes back renewal date for thousands of teacher licenses amid processing delays
The Virginia Board of Education voted unanimously during a Thursday emergency meeting to extend to June 30, 2024 the expiration date for teacher and other educator licenses that must be regularly renewed. The original deadline was next month. Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons urged the board to consider extending the expiration date, saying systemic […]
Virginian requests federal funding for state Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Fund
The Virginia man who first proposed the creation of a state education fund to help former Black students denied an education under Massive Resistance is asking the federal government for $1 million to support it. Virginia’s Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Fund was created in 2004 and expanded during the 2023 legislative session. Ken […]
Virginia student homelessness numbers near pre-pandemic levels
As Virginia school divisions investigate increases in chronic student absences, data shows the state’s homeless youth rate is returning close to pre-pandemic levels. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia recorded about 10,000 homeless youth in public schools annually. Those numbers dropped by nearly 3,000 students in the 2020-21 school year. Since then, however, they have […]
Virginia schools increasingly eye weapons detectors to keep firearms out of buildings
Across Virginia, public school leaders are considering new measures to address violent threats to students and staff — starting at the front door. However, the proposals, including the addition of weapons detectors to school buildings, come with a cost and call into question the efficacy of existing measures in place in many divisions. Efforts to […]
In FOIA ruling, Va. Supreme Court upholds public’s right to be in meeting rooms
Government bodies in Virginia cannot ask the public to sit in a separate room and observe their meetings through a video feed only, according to the Supreme Court of Virginia. In a unanimous opinion released Thursday, the high court concluded the Suffolk City School Board violated the Virginia Freedom of Information Act in the summer […]
Uncertain timetable on budget puts Virginia schools in tight spot on hiring
Virginia lawmakers’ lack of a timetable for finalizing state budget amendments has left public school leaders uncertain about their own budgets. Some division heads say they are uneasy about their ability to hire and retain teachers because of the lack of clarity on state funding for the next school year. Under the existing two-year budget, […]