Henrico has had a good year for school safety, but recent Georgia shooting sparks continued worries

Henrico County’s Three Chopt District Supervisor Misty Whitehead was met with complicated feelings when she watched her 10-year-old son get on the bus to school the morning after a deadly school shooting at a Georgia high school.

“I know we’re all parents of Henrico County students, and it’s another day after that I had to put my kid on a bus after other children didn’t come home from their school day,” Whitehead said in an emotional speech at a Henrico Board of Supervisors retreat at Deep Run Recreation Center Sept. 5 with Henrico Schools officials. “So many of our kids are growing up where their entire scholastic lives have been in the school shooting era.”

The Sept. 4 shooting, which left two students and two teachers dead, is just one of many recent school shootings in the past few years that have prompted school divisions across the country to take stronger security measures, such as placing more police officers in schools or equipping schools with metal or weapons detectors.

Students in Henrico Schools saw several new security initiatives on their first day of school Aug. 19, including new weapons scanners in elementary schools, along with more school security officers to work the scanners. Students also have received mandatory ID cards that must be worn throughout the school day.

This school year is the first that all HCPS schools are equipped with weapons scanners, which HCPS began implementing in middle and high schools last school year. The scanners initially met with mixed reactions from students and parents. Whitehead said that at first she herself was concerned about the impact of the scanners on students’ mental health but is now grateful to see HCPS successfully taking steps to increase student safety.

“I want to thank you all with the school system in Henrico, because as hard as it is to put my 10-year-old on a bus the morning after a school shooting, I think about what I see everyday when I go to his school,” Whitehead said. “And I see the measures that are put in place and continue to be.”

In the past few years, HCPS has recovered more than 14 firearms from school campuses, including elementary and middle school campuses. But since adding the weapons scanners and SSOs during the 2023-2024 school year, HCPS has reported no incidents of firearms being brought into school.

HCPS also has added 95 additional SSOs and school resource officers during this past year and is still actively recruiting for SSO positions that need to be filled in elementary schools. Despite her initial hesitation about increasing police presence in schools, Whitehead said that the addition of more SROs, and more SSOs, will provide students with more trusted adults who they can turn to in a safety crisis.

“It’s normal for our kids to have clear backpacks and it’s normal for them to have active shooter drills and all of these things, and if that has to be our kids’ normal, than we should also have our kids’ normal being that there are people at the ready that they can got to at any moment in their schools,” Whitehead said. “I feel like schools have to be their safe place, and SSOs really strike a good balance and our SRO program here in Henrico is incredibly strong.”

HCPS Superintendent Amy Cashwell said the school division will continue to focus on maintaining school security.

“Know that Henrico County Public Schools, the [Henrico School Board], the team and I never are complacent when it comes to school safety,” Cashwell said. “We take it so seriously. It is primary to all we do.”

HCPS’ efforts mirror similar safety initiatives taken by other Central Virginia school districts; Richmond Public Schools implemented a clear backpack policy for students this past July, and just hours following the Sept 4. Georgia shooting, several Richmond-area school divisions announced that they were increasing police presence at schools.

Henrico Schools also implemented a stricter phone policy this school year as a part of their enhanced safety measures, requiring students to put their cell phones either in their backpacks or in division-provided pouches during every class.

Many HCPS teachers have appreciated the new phone rules, according to Brookland District Supervisor Dan Schmitt.

“The cell phone policy – I’ve been at a few athletic events this week and had a chance to talk to teachers, and they used the word ‘game changer,’ so thank you,” Schmitt said. “And the security stuff, as Ms. Whitehead said, we were reminded yesterday that we are on the right path.”

While no firearms were found in HCPS during the 2023-2024 school year, several tasers and pepper spray were detected by weapons scanners during the first few months of 2023 in two high schools. HCPS has not yet released a full report on the number of weapons detected during the remainder of the 2023-2024 school year.

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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.