Henrico School Board to consider adding ‘self-defense’ clause to Code of Student Conduct
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Henrico School Board members will review a number of proposed changes to the Henrico Schools Code of Student Conduct at an April 18 meeting, including one that would clarify when a student’s actions would be considered self-defense.
The proposed change would add a clause allowing students to claim self defense as long as they were “without fault in provoking or bringing on the fight or incident, have reasonably feared, under the circumstances as they existed at the time, that there was an imminent risk of physical harm, and have used no more force than was reasonably necessary to prevent the threatened.”
Another clause would be added under the “Assault/Fighting/Threats” section to instruct administrators that whether a student acted in self-defense “shall be considered if asserted by the student in determining administrative responses.”
The changes, which the board will later vote on at a June 6 meeting, would take effect in August, at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year.
Other proposed revisions included lessening penalties for student athletes who use or possess alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs on school property or off-campus at a school-sponsored activity.
Student athletes who commit a first offense would receive only a 15-day suspension from participating on their sports team and all other extracurricular activities instead of a 30-day suspension. Second offenses would result in a 30-day suspension rather than a year-long suspension from activities, and third offenses would result in a 60-day suspension instead of a suspension lasting a student’s whole high school career.
All students who committed offenses also would have to complete the HCPS Alcohol and Drug Awareness Intervention Program before returning to any sports team activities.
Another change would add clauses about the use of artificial intelligence, clarifying that students are allowed to use HCPS-approved AI tools for class but also adding a clause that includes “the characterization of content generated by Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) as one’s own original work” as a plagiarism offense.
A change to the “Dress Code” section of the Code of Conduct would eliminate the restriction on “cut-off jeans, cut-off sweatpants, or torn, ripped, or slashed clothing that reveals undergarments or body parts excluded by other parts of this code.”
School board members are also set to vote on the 2024-2025 school division budget as well as the 2025-2026 school year calendar at the April 18 meeting. The division’s proposed $881 million budget, which includes a $29 million addition from the Board of Supervisors to distribute pay raises to eligible teachers and bus drivers, would go into effect on July 1.
The proposed 2025-2026 school calendar would not include a staggered start and instead have only one first day for all schools, despite the fact that 56% of participants in the HCPS winter community survey indicated they would support a staggered start. Board members said they would continue to consider the staggered start option for future years at a March 14 meeting.
The school board will also vote on the division’s 2024-2025 Special Education Plan, which would allocate $12 million to HCPS’ special education programs, the majority of which would help fund staffing costs.
Members of the public will have an opportunity to speak at a 6 p.m. public hearing April 18 on a resolution that would sell “surplus property” at the Mount Vernon Adult Education Center site to the Richmond Hebrew Day School (or Rudlin Torah Academy) for $3.6 million. The board will also hold a public forum at their 6:30 p.m. monthly meeting that same day.
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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.
