SROs may return to Albemarle schools
After replacing school resource officers with unarmed safety coaches, Albemarle County Public Schools has requested funding to hire a single SRO, in response to parents’ complaints about fights, truancy, vaping, sexual assault, and other student misconduct at Albemarle High School.
The school division’s $257.3 million draft budget request includes $126,000 for the new SRO. In January, Superintendent Matt Haas originally proposed stationing the officer at AHS—however, the current proposal would allow the officer to work at AHS and 10 other schools in the division’s northern feeder pattern, according to The Daily Progress.
The possible return of police to county schools has divided parents. During a January 10 meeting with school board member Judy Le, parents pushed for the division to bring back SROs, claiming the officers would deter student misconduct in bathrooms and other private spaces. In October, the school division said it was investigating an incident involving members of AHS’s junior varsity football team, but did not identify it as a sexual assault. Multiple minors were charged with crimes related to the incident, according to county police.
However, multiple parents urged the county school board not to reinstate SROs during the board’s January 12 meeting, pointing to the negative impact SROs have had on students of color and disabled students, among other marginalized groups.
In response to the backlash against his SRO proposal, Haas said the division is working on other measures to address misconduct, including hiring a new dean of students for behavior intervention and installing single-occupancy restrooms and vape detectors—but if hiring one SRO helps reduce misconduct, he will try to hire more, he told the Progress in January.
Governor stands behind controversial educational policies
During a March 9 CNN town hall focused on public education, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin defended the controversial educational policies he has implemented and supported since taking office, touting the importance of “parents’ rights”—a critical aspect of his successful campaign.
Right after he was sworn into office, Youngkin signed an executive order “ending the use of inherently divisive concepts, including Critical Race Theory” in schools. His administration set up a tip line for parents to report teachers who allegedly violated the order, but quietly shut it down in November. Though educators say that critical race theory, a graduate-level framework for discussing the interactions between race and law, is not taught in K-12 classrooms, Youngkin continues to claim the framework is being used to indoctrinate students.
Using CRT, schools are “teaching children that they’re inherently biased, or racist, because of their race, or their sex, or their religion … that a child is guilty for sins of the past,” claimed the governor during the town hall, “[and] that a child is a victim because of their race or religion or their sex.”
“CRT isn’t a class that’s taught,” he added. “It’s a philosophy that’s incorporated in the curriculum.”
Social studies teacher Brock Barnes questioned the governor on the difference between teaching CRT and “historical injustices, such as slavery and segregation, and the impact this had on Americans.”
“Our standard should be to teach all of it, the good and the bad,” replied Youngkin. “We need to teach it honestly and transparently, but we shouldn’t teach it with judgment. And one of the clear realities is that what had crept into our school systems were divisive concepts … that were forcing our children to judge one another.”
The governor also stood behind his administration’s proposed history and social science standards of learning, claiming they “made sure that everyone understood, for the first time in Virginia, [the] cause of the Civil War was slavery.” Last month, the Virginia Board of Education voted to accept the newest draft of the standards for first review.
In January, the state Department of Education released the latest draft after critics accused the governor’s administration of whitewashing history and teaching historical inaccuracies in its original November proposal. While the previous proposal said there were several causes for the Civil War, the new one says that “slavery and its expansion was the primary cause of the [issues] that divided the nation and was the catalyst for secession of southern states.” However, critics continue to voice concerns about the proposal.
“Do you agree that there’s an unspoken culture of racism and implicit bias against teachers of color within school districts nationwide?” asked high school band director Tryon Barnes, a Democrat. Though the governor agreed that racism exists and should be condemned, he questioned why “everything has to be viewed through a lens of race” and called for Virginians to “put down the judgment and move together in a way that lifts up all people.”
Pushing back against the governor’s proposed transgender student policy, Niko, a 17-year-old Arlington student, said, “Look at me. I am a transgender man. Do you really think that the girls in my high school would feel comfortable sharing a restroom with me?”
Instead of answering the teen’s question directly, the governor touted gender-neutral bathrooms as a solution to his concerns.
“What’s most important is that we try very hard to accommodate students,” said Youngkin. “That’s why I have said many, many times we just need extra bathrooms in schools … so people can use the bathroom that they are in fact comfortable with.”
The controversial proposed policy would force transgender students to participate in school programming and use facilities, like bathrooms and locker rooms, based on the sex they were assigned at birth. School staff would also be prohibited from concealing information about a student’s gender from their parents, and from referring to transgender students by their preferred name and pronouns—unless a parent submits legal documentation of the student’s gender identity, and requests in writing that their child’s name and gender be changed on official school records. Even with parental permission, staff would not be required to use a student’s name and pronouns if it goes against their personal or religious beliefs.
Though the governor’s policy does not address sports, which are subject to Virginia High School League’s rules, Youngkin voiced his disapproval of transgender students playing on teams aligned with their gender identity. “I don’t think it’s controversial—I don’t think that biological boys should be playing sports with biological girls. There’s been decades of efforts in order to gain opportunities for women in sports, and it’s just not fair.” (The VHSL currently permits transgender students to play on sports teams aligned with their gender identity only if they have undergone sex reassignment surgery or been administered hormonal therapy “for a sufficient length of time,” per its website.)
CNN moderator Jake Tapper questioned Youngkin about transgender students who are not supported by their parents.
“This is a moment for counselors, teachers, and parents to come together and deal with what is a difficult issue,” said the governor. “Parents have a right to be engaged in their children’s lives.”
Additionally, the governor argued that gun laws “don’t keep us safe” when questioned about his response to gun violence, particularly an incident in which a 6-year-old boy allegedly shot his teacher in Newport News. Instead, Youngkin advocated for improving the state’s mental health care programs and resources. He also said he would have signed a law requiring the Department of Education to recommend policies about removing books from public school libraries, had it passed the General Assembly.
In brief
Alleged shooters arrested
On March 8, the Charlottesville Police Department arrested Raymaqu’a Antonio Nicholas, 19, in connection with the February 22 murder of Nicklous Gregory Pendleton, 20. Nicholas has been charged with second-degree murder, and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. The same day, Albemarle County police arrested Taquarius Olando Catoe-Anderson, 21, who was wanted on two counts of malicious wounding and using a firearm in the commission of a felony in Charlottesville. Catoe-Anderson is a suspect in a September 28 shooting that left two men injured at the corner of Ninth and Anderson streets, according to the Progress.
Bye-bye BBQ
After 11 years of serving up build-your-own biscuits, pulled pork, and other local favorites, Ace Biscuit & Barbecue closed its doors on March 13. Owner Brian Ashworth told NBC29 that he was unable to sell the Rose Hill restaurant, which has struggled to bring in enough money in recent years. “We are broken-hearted, but also excited for what is to come,” reads a March 10 post on the restaurant’s Instagram. “It has been a wild ride and we are happy you were a part of it.”
(More) BOS bids
Crozet resident Brad Rykal—a military veteran, former defense contractor, author, and podcast host—has filed to run as an independent for the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors White Hall District seat, challenging Democrat Ann Mallek. Last month, Mallek, who has served four terms on the board, announced she is running for the seat for the final time.