Henrico School Board gets an earful in first virtual listening session

The Henrico School Board Wednesday hosted the first of three virtual listening sessions – this one about equity and opportunity – and Henrico residents voiced their concerns about how the school system can foster an inclusive environment in light of Chair Micky Ogburn sharing an offensive post on Facebook earlier this month.

Ogburn quickly deleted the shared post, which featured an image of The Grinch extending his middle finger and a poem lamenting the decision of Dr. Seuss’s publishing company to stop publication of several books it deemed racist. She later admitted that she had not looked closely at the post or its disturbing picture and issued a public apology.

But a number of citizens voiced their disapproval during Wednesday’s 100-minute session, which became tense at times.

Susan Goldstein, the first resident to speak, said that the county deserved an explanation.

"We cannot move forward after last week's events," Goldstein said. "I think Ms. Ogburn needs to tell us what she loved about that racist post. How can we sit here and have strategic goals when we haven't dealt with what happened last week?"

Martina Jones said that the situation posed a contradiction.

"My concern is that students get consequences when they post inappropriate pictures and words on social media platforms, so what consequences that I would like to see is happening to her for her behavior that she has shown," Jones said, "because we're sending mixed messages to our students."

The sessions are designed to address the four cornerstones that outline the board's work; “equity and opportunity” was the first it chose to cover. After school officials outlined the six goals in their strategic plan to improve inclusivity in the county — to be achieved by 2025 — residents had the opportunity to provide feedback.

Another reoccurring theme during the virtual meeting was the lack of representation in upper-level courses across student demographics. Jenny N. Smith, an eighth-grade English teacher at Quioccasin Middle School, said that the problem wasn't new but just as pressing.

"I know we talk about it a lot at a high school level, but honestly, it goes all the way back to elementary school because a lot of times our kids come to us in middle school and that path is set," Smith said. "If they're in a particular math, science or social studies class by sixth grade, it is really difficult for them to move on to a more advanced track.

"We know that those advanced track classes come with more opportunities, like with scholarships applying to specialty centers — everyone can apply to those specialty centers, but you're a better candidate if you've taken a certain kind of coursework— and it's problematic."

Sally R. Burgess, another Henrico educator, said that the county needed to provide more support for students in the LGBTQ community and gender-nonconforming youth. She pointed out the need for using correct pronouns in the classroom, letting students use the locker room for their gender identity, adding mental health support for these students and recognizing that they live intersectional lives.

"I believe that we are failing our LGBTQ students, particularly our LGBTQ students of color and gender non-conforming youth," Burgess said. "There's a lot of work to be done in this county around intersectionality of both race and ethnicity, and sexual orientation and gender identity."

Numerous residents brought up their concerns with the county's school curriculum and what they considered its lack of diversity. Alma Kenup, a parent and teacher at Quioccasin Middle, said that she felt the county needed to incorporate more languages into its communications and its schools.

"I'm fortunate that I'm fluent in English and I'm an educator that can communicate this need, but I feel like we really need to bring all voices to the table, and being more inclusive of language is another step in that direction," Kenup said. "I would like to see our World Languages Department be more inclusive of the wonderful diversity that we have in languages already."

As Goldstein said at the beginning of the comment period, many felt that "one hour is not enough time to discuss equity and diversity in Henrico County."

But participants still found time to discuss a number of topics, ranging from inappropriate school assignments given to their children to the school board's influence over the future of Henrico's racial environment.

The next virtual listening session will take place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 27, and will cover the “relationships” cornerstone. On May 25, the board will be holding its third and final session about the “academic growth” cornerstone, to be held at the same time.

For details, visit https://henricoschools.us/2021/03/18/help-hcps-move-forward-attend-a-school-board-virtual-listening-session-and-share-your-views/.