Henrico School Board applauds passage of ‘Lucia’s Law,’ pushes for more safe gun storage legislation

Henrico School Board members thanked Gov. Glenn Youngkin for signing a bill – named in honor of slain Henrico teenager Lucia Bremer – that holds parents accountable for safely storing their firearms.

“Lucia’s Law,” introduced by Henrico lawmakers Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg (D-16th District) and Del. Rodney Willett (58th-District), imposes a felony charge on parents or guardians who do not safely store their guns away from minors who have demonstrated violent or threatening behavior. The parents of 13-year-old Lucia Bremer, who was shot and killed in 2021 by a 14-year-old while walking home from school, spoke at the General Assembly in support of the bill.

The Henrico School Board listed safe weapons storage and parental accountability as two priorities for their 2024 legislative agenda. The student who shot Bremer had a history of police encounters and hospitalizations, but was still able to gain access to the firearm of his 52-year-old guardian.

Youngkin signed the bill on March 26, the three-year anniversary of Bremer’s death.

“This is a significant step in the right direction for accountability for parents to safely store their firearms and keep them out of our schools,” said board vice-chair Marcie Shea, who represents the Tuckahoe District, where the Bremer family resides. “Particularly to have signed it on March 26, which is a heavy day in my district and in my community, and having Lucia’s Law signed on that day was definitely a ray of light.”

School board members expressed disappointment that another bill, which would have mandated locking devices for firearms stored in households with children, was vetoed by Youngkin on March 27. Youngkin also vetoed several other bills related to gun control.

“That’s obviously very frustrating to me just given my district and the concern that many parents have about safe storage,” said Three Chopt District board member Madison Irving. “I also think we don’t put enough emphasis on the suicides that come from guns and not having those stored safely at home.”

In their legislative priorities, the school board also listed their support for revisions to Virginia’s K-12 education funding formula after a July 2023 report revealed that Virginia schools were underfunded. Bills that promoted changes to the current funding system, however, failed to pass through the General Assembly. Provisions that would have eliminated the cap on spending for support staff positions also failed to be implemented in the 2024-2026 conference budget.

“It is unfortunate, given the state of education in Virginia, there wasn’t progress made on the support cap and the SOQ funding,” said Brookland District board member Kristi Kinsella. “Which makes it very fortunate that we live in Henrico where our locality and our counterparts support funding schools 100%.”

Shea also emphasized the need for more state education funding.

“We cannot just on the local dollar move the needle for the entire education sector,” she said. “In order to really move this needle for our staff, our employees, the state funding model has to change.”

However, the school board did see some “wins” this legislative session related to state funding and support, according to HCPS Assistant Communications Director Ken Blackstone, the school board’s legislative liaison.

Blackstone said that Henrico Schools is set to receive about $20 million more in state aid with the upcoming conference budget. Bills that will ensure more teachers for English language learners, provide an extra funding source for school building projects, and raise the average teacher salary in Virginia to the national average by 2028 also passed through this session.

A bill directly sponsored by Henrico Schools, which will allow special education teachers to earn their licenses through the alternative “career switcher” pathway, also made it through the General Assembly.

HCPS Director of Exceptional Education Katie Smith worked to create the bill, which she said would allow more qualified candidates to become special education teachers in Henrico and other localities.

“Right now, it’s not a surprise, we don’t have a lot of people going through the four-year traditional path to enter becoming a special education teacher,” she said. “So it’s a pathway should a college or university take advantage of it, that will actually create a pipeline of qualified teachers from the get-go.”

Many bills still have yet to be signed, vetoed or amended by Youngkin, according to Blackstone. However, school board members lauded the 2024 legislative session as an overall success for HCPS’ priorities.

“Everything else is tremendous, I think we’re making a lot of progress on these priorities,” Irving said

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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.