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Why Fairfax schools may lock student cell phones up during class
To help curb the growing concerns of what kind of impact cellphones have on children in school, officials at Fairfax County Public Schools are about to explore ways to further limit cellphone access. During a meeting to discuss student policies on Thursday, the board approved a motion by Member At-Large Kyle McDaniel for the superintendent to develop a plan for secure cellphone storage, such as lockers or magnetic pouches. The board would consider the plan for the next school year.
Yancey: From graduation walk-outs to police in riot gear, the campus protests in context
Virginia made national news over the weekend when some students walked out of the graduation ceremonies at Virginia Commonwealth University when Gov. Glenn Youngkin started speaking. Some left to express support for Palestinians, others protested some of Youngkin’s policies and still others the VCU board’s decision not to require that students take a course in racial literacy. Maybe some were protesting all three. This wasn’t the only school that saw some kind of protest at its graduation ceremonies — there were pro-Palestinian demonstrations at multiple schools across the country over the weekend. It’s also not the first time that students have walked out on Youngkin.
Letter: Vendor warned Petersburg about lawsuit potential for accepting pre-approval casino bids
At least one of the five companies bidding for Petersburg’s casino business raised questions with the city about soliciting bids for the development based on hope that the state legislature would allow Petersburg to get it. In a Feb. 21 letter to City Manager March Altman, The Warrenton Group said they raised the questions because when the city called for the bids, its fate as a casino host city was still in the hands of the Virginia General Assembly.
Virginia child care rating system aims to improve kids’ school readiness
Virginia has implemented new guidelines to establish a unified rating and improvement system to assess the commonwealth’s publicly funded early childhood care providers. Approximately 75% of child care programs that received public funding previously did not participate in the state’s voluntary quality measures, according to Del. David Buolva, D-Fairfax, who co-patroned 2020 legislation that led to all publicly funded providers being required to participate.
What to know about Virginia’s newly revealed budget deal
It took a little while, but Virginia’s Democratic-led General Assembly and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin have come up with a budget deal both sides can apparently live with. Legislative documents outlining the agreement were released Saturday morning to allow the budget to be voted on today when lawmakers return to Richmond for a special session focused on finishing the budget. The special session is happening because Youngkin and Democratic leaders spent months publicly sparring over budget priorities and didn’t come to an agreement last month under the state’s usual timeline to pass a budget.
School Board votes for Arlington Career Center contract with no prevailing wage agreement
The Arlington School Board has approved construction of a new Arlington Career Center building without a guarantee of paying workers a prevailing wage. Seeking to avoid rebidding the project and causing at least a year of delays, Board members voted 4-0 last night (Thursday) to finalize a $132 million contract that has drawn criticism from Arlington state representatives, labor groups and the local NAACP chapter.
UVa administrators and faculty paint conflicting pictures of May 4 encampment clearing
At a University-run virtual town hall Tuesday and an independently organized faculty-led town hall Thursday, administrators and faculty presented differing accounts of the events of May 4, when police forcibly cleared a pro-Palestine encampment near the University Chapel. The details contested between the town halls included the clarity of the University’s tent policy, aggressiveness of protesters, provision of medical treatment and the presence of suspicious individuals at the encampment.
UVa Faculty Senate calls for an external review of May 4 clearing of encampment
The University’s Faculty Senate passed a motion at a meeting May 10 to call for a University-wide external review of the events on and leading up to May 4, when police forcibly cleared a pro-Palestine encampment outside the University Chapel. University President Jim Ryan and other administrators attended the meeting, where they answered questions from Senators, including questions regarding their decision to authorize the use of police force at the encampment. The Senate also discussed various senator-proposed motions regarding the events that transpired.
Williamsburg asks joint school district to improve city students’ performance as potential breakup looms
As Williamsburg mulls breaking away from its joint school district with James City County, city leaders want to know what the district is going to do to improve the performance of Williamsburg students. This comes after a feasibility study from the city on creating an independent school district laid bare the stark difference in academic achievement between students from Williamsburg and their peers from James City County.
70 years after Brown v. Board, many Virginia students separated by race, economic class
When the U.S. Supreme Court ordered school desegregation in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education, the court hoped K-12 schools across the nation would give equal opportunities to both Black and white students. Many believed that tying the fate of Black students to the fate of their white peers would lift Black students because of white parents’ and legislators’ resources and political leverage to provide for their own children. But today, nearly 70 years after the landmark ruling, students in Virginia remain largely separated by race and economic class. While segregation is no longer mandated by public policy, it is reinforced by school attendance zones and segregated housing patterns.