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There’s temporary relief for those who were frustrated with Henrico County Public Schools’ planned countywide redistricting effort.
The Henrico County School Board agreed Thursday to end that process for now and instead work to address attendance “hotspots” in the school division in time for the beginning of school next fall.
The board agreed to first seek solutions to three major problems:
• the use of the new space at Holladay Elementary School, which is being doubled in size and which Brookland District member Kristi Kinsella suggested be used to serve 218 pre-K students in her district;
• overcrowding in Colonial Trail and Rivers Edge elementary schools in the Three Chopt District;
• addressing inequity at Quioccasin Middle School (identified by the high rate of students there who receive free and reduced lunches, compared with other middle schools in the district).
Previously, the Henrico redistricting committee had narrowed the map options to two, D4 and E4, before the Board paused the process on April 6 because of COVID-19 concerns. The board Thursday decided not to continue with those maps because of the effects of COVID-19 and unknown factors, such as when funding will be available for capital projects. (Henrico’s Board of Supervisors halted funding of most capital projects as a budget-balancing move once the pandemic hit.)
Kinsella: Don't 'Band-Aid' the problem
Kinsella was the initial proponent of a two-phased approach to address urgent problems and then work on a comprehensive redistricting plan later by proactively planning, budgeting and setting priorities.
“I do not wish to do a Band-Aid,” Kinsella said. “We saw a Band-Aid redistricting process — no disrespect — three years ago that didn’t fix the problem. And I would like for this board to be very proactive in its planning and budgeting and how we look at capacity and programming.”
The Brookland District is overcrowded, Kinsella said. Glen Allen High School has not seen an exodus of students this year, she said, but instead went from being at 103 percent capacity to 107 percent capacity.
Three Chopt District board member Micky Ogburn said her district also was overcrowded. Projections show Rivers Edge Elementary School enrollment exceeding its capacity, while the current enrollment at Colonial Trail Elementary already exceeds its capacity.
Part of the D4 map solved the capacity problems for those schools, Ogburn said, so that portion might be worth examining or retaining.
Board member Marcie Shea said that while capacity was not a pressing, or phase 1, issue for her Tuckahoe District, equity among middle schools was.
Fifty-two percent of students at Quioccasin Middle School receive free and reduced lunches, while Tuckahoe Middle has a 32 percent free and reduced lunch rate, and Pocahontas Middle a 22 percent rate.
“I think there are some small moves that we can make between some of those schools that maintain and keep elementary school communities together,” Shea said, “that can provide more equity in the disparity there between the economic deprivation.”
Board member Alicia Atkins, who represents the Varina District, said that she was focused on the quality of instruction, wellness and equity in the division, but that she had heard from families in the Varina District and that getting children back in school buildings – not redistricting – was her top priority.
Board chairman Roscoe Cooper III of the Fairfield District said multiple factors – such as the lack of a plan to use the old Highland Springs High School building, unknown capital improvement projects, enrollment numbers and others – made redistricting nebulous,
Atkins suggested that the old Highland Springs building be used for wraparound services.
Superintendent Amy Cashwell and Henrico Schools Chief Financial Officer Chris Sorensen will present potential strategies to address the identified hotspots at the board’s Oct. 8 meeting.
Board members debated the timeline for implementing a second phase of redistricting. Cooper initially said he would like to see how phase 1 goes first, while Kinsella said implementation for fall 2022 — when the current “bubble” of students in the seventh through 10th grades would be in ninth through 12th — was a necessity for her to agree to a phased approach.
Ogburn suggested that the board finalize a plan for fall 2021 in January — Sorensen said families would need as much time as possible to plan for the fall — and then use that data in a year to plan the process for the fall of 2022. Other board members agreed.
The second, comprehensive phase of redistricting would examine capacity, programming, specialty centers, capital projects and more, based on board discussion.
Cashwell noted that the School Board would like to have a joint meeting with the Board of Supervisors to discuss the plan for capital projects before planning phase 2.
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