Heated discussion erupts at Henrico Board of Supervisors meeting over school redistricting, disparities in schools

Henrico Board of Supervisors members criticized the school board’s decision to hold off on a high school redistricting plan and urged board members to “do more” to address disparities between schools across the county at a joint budget meeting.

Last week, the Henrico School Board voted 3-2 to drop a redistricting proposal that would change the attendance zones of Douglas S. Freeman High, Mills E. Godwin High, Henrico High, and Highland Springs High to help balance out capacity. BOS members made it clear they were not satisfied with the board’s decision.

“I can’t for the life of me understand nor support the lack of action,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Dan Schmitt (Brookland District). “I think we missed on moving forward with a project that was super easy. . . we missed. And I'd love to see you go back and un-miss.”

The proposal would have shifted some students zoned for Freeman into Godwin High to help alleviate Freeman's overcrowding and would have shifted some students zoned for Highland Springs into Henrico High to increase Henrico’s student enrollment. Both board chair Marcie Shea (Tuckahoe District) and member Ryan Young (Fairfield District) had supported the proposal.

“Incredible to me, the lack of action that we are elected here to do,” Schmitt said to school board members. “The county is supportive of making the adjustments that Ms. Shea wanted to make and Mr. Young supported. I don’t understand why we have inaction to move, there’s no excuse for it.”

While the March 20 budget meeting was scheduled to end at 10 a.m., discussions between the two boards continued until about 11:30 a.m. School board vice-chair Madison Irving (Three Chopt District), who is also an economics teacher at James River High in Chesterfield, left the meeting after 10 a.m., with Shea saying he had to return to his teaching duties.

Several supervisors voiced frustrations that Irving was absent for the rest of the meeting.

“Come on man, take off a couple extra hours,” said BOS member Tyrone Nelson (Varina District). “It’s hard to have these conversations and he can’t even be a part of them, whether he chooses to or he can’t because of his job. It’s not just fair.”

Said Schmitt: “I will echo what Mr. Nelson said – it is frustrating, it’s confusing, it’s disappointing to me that a person integral to this conversation isn’t here. I think all nine of us would sit here ’till midnight and beyond, and it’s frustrating that a person integral to the conversation doesn’t have the wherewithal to be here with us today – spoken from a person with another full-time job.”

However, Irving said that his departure was simply because he needed to return to his classroom and the meeting had run over the scheduled time, according to Henrico Schools spokesperson Eileen Cox.

“He left the meeting to return to his classroom. He did not ‘storm out,’” she told the Citizen. “He had arranged for a substitute teacher for the scheduled time of the meeting; unfortunately, it started a bit late and ran longer than expected,

“Knowing first-hand the impacts of teacher shortages and the importance of having a quality teacher with students as much as possible, Mr. Irving simply returned to his classroom as previously planned.”

Frustrations surface around redistricting

Following a presentation from HCPS Superintendent Amy Cashwell on the proposed schools budget, BOS members switched the discussion to school redistricting, with BOS member Jody Rogish (Tuckahoe District) urging school board members to address overcrowding at Freeman – a situation that has persisted for the past seven years, he said. 

“I have an email from one of the students at Freeman, I want to read these numbers. These are the class sizes at Freeman for one student – his government class, 27 [students]; microeconomics, 34 [students]; English, 34 [students]; AP Calculus, 36 [students]; physics, 25 [students]; computer science, 29 [students],” he said. “I’m asking the board to support the chair on whatever they can do next fall. It’s kind of insane that those numbers are out there and then we’re continuing to put more kids in there.”

BOS member Misty Roundtree (Three Chopt District) said she believed that support for the redistricting proposal dropped after several students and staff members voiced concerns about overcrowding at J.R. Tucker High School – which was not included in the proposal. However, Roundtree said that Tucker’s overcrowding should have been considered a separate, and also tackleable, issue from the proposal.

“My understanding was that the redistricting had been being considered for several months, had support, and then that changed. And my understanding or perception is because there was a discussion brought in about Tucker,” she said. “Why was it that a totally separate, standalone plan and discussion seemed to be laid by the wayside because a Tucker discussion came in?”

As of January, Freeman High and Tucker High are the two only schools in Henrico to be overcapacity. Freeman, with a student population of 1,836, is about 100.3% to 101.4% overcapacity, while Tucker has a student body of 2,064 and a capacity of 99.4% to 100.3%.

School board member Alicia Atkins (Varina District) said that the board’s decision to hold off on redistricting stemmed from concerns about hefty transportation costs and wanting a more “comprehensive” look at the division’s attendance zones.

“There are other pieces at play. And so it is a pause, I did not hear a ‘no’ from the board,” she said. “We are going to pause this effort so that we can review any unintended consequences.”

Board member Kristi Kinsella (Brookland District) also said that the board was set on doing a comprehensive “analysis” of school zones this coming fall, but not a comprehensive redistricting.

'We still seem so far behind'

BOS members also urged the school board to better tackle continuing disparities between schools on the West End and schools in Eastern Henrico. Disparities in the schools impact all other government departments, said Roundtree, because schools are so integral to where people choose to live.

“What drives the location? The schools. . . And yet, schools stand out as this big, glaring albatross,” she said. “And until we get families that are just as willing to live on the eastern side of the county, and know confidently that their children are going to get quality education, as they are on the western side.”

Roundtree urged the school board to come up with more “out-of-the-box” ideas, saying that the BOS could provide the money necessary and that Cashwell and County Manager John Vithoulkas would be ready to support.

“The frustration is. . . the money keeps going in, and there is not a correlation it seems from the money that is being added in to having the actual transformative impact” said Roundtree. “We have great confidence in Dr. Cashwell, I know she’s doing everything that she can, just as Mr. Vithoulkas. . . but the tone is on y’all. . . so i’m encouraging you guys to do whatever, out-of-the-box thinking, to make these changes

“Money is not a factor. We have given you guys everything you have asked for since I've been on this board,” Nelson added. “And it just breaks my heart that we still seem to be so far behind.”

However, BOS vice-chair Roscoe Cooper (Fairfield District), who previously served on the school board, said that HCPS was “chipping away” at remaining disparities, and that despite challenges, progress has and will continue to be made.

“I want to say, on behalf of those people that work in our schools, the effort they put into it – they work hard,” he said. “And that’s the problem, that’s never the story. You take one score and don’t look at it complementary with the growth metrics, you won’t get the comprehensive picture.”

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s Report for America Corps member and education reporter. Her position is dependent upon reader support; make a tax-deductible contribution to the Citizen through RFA here.