Atkins, Cashwell provide updates during Varina District meeting

Henrico School Board member Alicia Atkins (Varina District) and Superintendent Amy Cashwell answered a range of parent and provider questions from the Varina High School library in a virtual Varina District town hall meeting Thursday night.

Varina District Supervisor Tyrone Nelson also provided details about school construction and a plan for childcare assistance.

The county has set aside $2.5 million from the CARES Act to support childcare for employees and citizens at large this fall, Nelson said, and the Board of Supervisors will vote to allocate the funds Sept. 8. The money will be used to fund full-day child care programs that the YMCA, Henrico Education Foundation and Henrico Police Athletic League will conduct in Henrico public schools, as a way to decrease the weekly costs for families, Nelson said.

“We also have set aside $500,000 out of the 2.5 million for low-income families who may not be able to afford the $100 [per week] in the three organizations,” he said, “and so if you reach out to those organizations, they’ll let you know what you need to do to apply for some reduced care.”

New editions of Highland Springs and J.R. Tucker high schools should be completed in September 2021, Nelson said. The new J.R. Tucker is being constructed on the footprint of the existing school on Parham Road, and the new Highland Springs building adjacent to the current school near Airport Drive.

The new version of Highland Springs will be a more than $100 million project by the time it is finished, he said.

The Family and Community Engagement team is working on training sessions for faith-based communities that will provide childcare during virtual learning, Atkins said. Information is on the school system’s website, and directors can email Atkins or the FACE team to be added to an email distribution list.

One parent asked about receiving schedules so that she could help keep her children accountable.

Parents can create Schoology accounts to help track due dates, and PowerSchool allows parents to see their children’s grades, Cashwell said. Information about those services can be found at https://henricoschools.us/online-services/.

Parents also can reach out to teachers if they are concerned that their children are missing deadlines, she said.

High school schedules should be out by Friday, Aug. 28, Cashwell said. Families should contact their school directors if they do not receive them.

Schools are working to orient students, Cashwell said.

“You can expect that each school…will probably do some virtual events to get excited about the new school year, and that each individual teacher will likely reach out as well. I’ve noticed that a lot of our schools are posting to their website virtual tours of the building,” with teachers welcoming students to their classrooms in videos, she said.

‘We will get through this together’
During the meeting, multiple parents asked about technology issues with their children’s laptops or about the distribution of the machines.

The school system’s technology hubs or hotline can help with those issues, Atkins said. The sites are listed at https://henricoschools.us/covid19/mobile-technology-hubs/, and the hotline number is 328-5207.

School system spokesman Andy Jenks wrote in the chat, “If you need assistance with your student’s login/password or student I.D. number, please email helpdesk@henrico.k12.va.us and a member of our Technology team will respond within 24 hours to provide assistance.”

The school system set a device distribution schedule, but individual schools provide details to their families. Rising sixth-grade students can return their Chromebooks and pick up their Dell laptops at their schools. Secondary students with laptops should visit their schools to have the laptop camera turned on, Cashwell said.

Parents should check their children’s devices and practice using Schoology, Atkins said, to make sure that their children are ready on Sept. 8. Parents should also have their children practice speaking with headphones on, she said. Personally, she prefers over-the-ear headphones to earbuds, since young ones can damage their ears with the latter, Atkins said.

Atkins has received several questions about nutrition, she said. Families will be able to pick up lunches for their children as if they were in school.

They are still working to determine whether debit cards can be used to pay, she said.

Because legally parents have to be the ones to pick up their children’s meals, the school system does not yet have an answer to childcare centers picking up meals for the children in their care, Atkins said in reply to a provider’s question, but it is in discussion.

Atkins and Cashwell encouraged parents to visit the Henrico Schools frequently asked questions page and to stay in contact with their assigned schools. Hattie Crawley, a family advocate at Glen Lea Elementary, spoke briefly to encourage families, particularly those who expressed concerns about being new to the school system, to contact their schools’ family advocates.

Atkins concluded the meeting by saying members of the school system community would get through the situation together.

“While I don’t know what specific situation you are in — I cannot fill your shoes and you cannot fill mine — but here’s what I do know: I do know that we are going to get through this together. I do know that it’s going to take each person checking on their neighbors,” she said. “It’s going to take people asking real tough questions and having an expectation of an answer as well. We will get through this together.

“I love who we are as a district. I love everything that we represent. We are imperfectly perfect, and I love each and every one of you.”