Henrico School Board compromises on staggered in-person return beginning Feb. 22

Henrico students will begin returning to school on a staggered basis Feb. 22, following a Henrico School Board vote Thursday afternoon.

By a vote of 4-1, the board opted to return pre-kindergarten through second-grade students whose families chose an in-person return on that day, followed by a March 1 return for grades 3 through 5, as well as sixth and ninth-graders, and a March 8 return for return for all other middle and high school students.

During the first two weeks, in-person learning will take place only on Mondays and Tuesday, in order to allow Henrico Schools employees who are receiving COVID-19 vaccinations to get their second doses on those Wednesdays through Fridays. During the third week and all subsequent weeks, all in-person students will attend school Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesdays will be a virtual learning day for all students, so that schools can be deep-cleaned and to allow opportunity for planning for teachers who will be teaching in-person and virtual students.

According to updated numbers provided to the Citizen Thursday, about 40.5% of elementary school students, 34% of middle school students and 29% of high school students are planning to return in person.

The board's decision represented something of a compromise among board members – two of whom (Tuckahoe’s Marcie Shea and Three Chopt’s Micky Ogburn) wanted students to begin returning Feb. 15 and three of whom (Brookland’s Kristi Kinsella, Fairfield’s Roscoe Cooper and Varina’s Alicia Atkins) favored later return dates.

Kinsella, Cooper and Atkins expressed concerns about returning students and staff members before all employees who wanted to be vaccinated had received their second doses – even though the school system’s health committee had unanimously indicated that a return would be safe even before a COVID-19 vaccine became available.

Ogburn put forth the plan that the board ultimately approved as a way to combine the two other proposals (one beginning Feb. 15, the other Feb. 22) it was considering. Those plans would have staggered the return over a four-week period, while Ogburn’s combined into one week the return for third, fourth and fifth-graders with that for sixth and ninth-graders, since those students would be in different buildings.

Kinsella voted against the final proposal because it didn’t allow enough for all school system employees who are being vaccinated to receive their second doses and have full protection. She particularly objected on behalf of secondary school teachers, citing July comments from Henrico Health Director Danny Avula, who said that teens transmit the virus like adults.

“Whether we said [in-person learning wouldn't begin until employees were] fully vaccinated, it was certainly implied to our employees," Kinsella said.

All school system employees who elected to be vaccinated – nearly 6,000 in total, according to HCPS Chief of Staff Beth Teigen – will have received their first doses by Feb. 5. They’ll receive their second doses exactly 28 days after their first, she said – between Feb. 17 and March 5.

Shea initially proposed a three-week return plan beginning Feb. 15, while Kinsella proposed one beginning Feb. 22 (though hers would have delayed the return for secondary students until March 15).

“The most important point is that our schools are safe to return students and staff to the building," Shea said, citing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, Gov. Ralph Northam and the HCPS health committee.

Ogburn also favored a Feb. 15 return, while Cooper had suggested an initial return date of no earlier than March 8 and Atkins said she would wait to start until March 15.

"I can’t agree to delaying any more," Ogburn said. "We were virtual all spring, it’s been almost a year that our students have been out of school, and we have a contingent of students who will not return this year. We have parents who have expressed 'We are ready to go back into the building, we have been ready to go back into the building,' and our health committee says it’s safe. I can’t really find a reason to buck the science.

“I don’t know what we’re waiting for.”

Atkins and Cooper ultimately met Ogburn and Shea in the middle to pass the proposal, after revised proposals from Kinsella and Shea garnered no other support.

Three board members shared their personal COVID stories, with Atkins and Ogburn saying that they had contracted the virus and Cooper (a pastor) indicating that he had officiated many funerals for COVID victims and that his 75-year-old father had been hospitalized by it.

Atkins suggested that while returning to school in person would be beneficial for some, it wouldn’t provide a magic elixir.

“The truth is, we had students struggling before this pandemic – and they were in our buildings. Putting our students in the buildings doesn’t resolve some of those challenges,” she said.

School employees who have not received accommodations to work virtually will be expected to return to their schools one week before their students do.

Those who did receive accommodations will retain them regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not, HCPS Human Resources Director Francine Bouldin said. But, she said, some who have accommodations have requested to come back to school in person after being vaccinated.

Teigen told the board that the county's schools are ready to receive students and that significant mitigation efforts have been completed.

“Our mitigation strategies are sound, and our schools are prepared for in-person learning,” she said. The air filtration systems of all but six schools have been updated, she said, and those six have been provided with air purifiers because some or all of their filtration systems couldn't be updated.

Plexiglass desk guards have been installed for every student and teacher at every school, Teigen said, as well as at all public-facing areas within schools, such as the main office.

In-person students who travel during the school system's spring break in April will be asked to learn virtually for seven days upon their return, if they are tested for the virus, or 10 days if they are not tested, Teigen said.

Atkins, echoing thoughts from other board members, said that the pandemic has created many emotions and permitted no ultimate solution for everyone.

"I have seen tears from seniors who don’t really feel like seniors," she said. "I have seen tears from parents that just don’t really know how to keep going. I have seen tears from students that were excited. Whether they were tears of joy or tears of pain or tears just from stress, I’ve seen a lot – I’ve seen ‘em.”

At the beginning of the board’s meeting, which was called only to hear an update from its health committee and then adopt a return plan, Ogburn gave an endorsement of Superintendent Amy Cashwell and said she was speaking for the entire board in doing so.

“We who work with her most closely see the profound care that Dr. Cashwell takes with our students, the staff and the community,” Ogburn said. "She has been faced with countless decisions this year that have no best answers. Dr. Cashwell has handled it all with grace and integrity and seemingly boundless energy. We firmly support Dr. Cashwell.”

Cashwell has earned a mix of praise and criticism from community members – some of whom have objected to what they perceive as indecisive leadership and frequent changes in plans during the pandemic, others of whom have lauded her willingness to adapt and respond as conditions and data change.

Thursday's meeting was the first time that the school board had voted on a return date since initially voting in October to begin sending students back Nov. 30. Cashwell implemented several subsequent delays to that plan – first as COVID number increased, then to allow employees to be vaccinated – with authority granted by the board.