Henrico School Board to vote on 2025 legislative priorities, new course offerings
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Henrico School Board members will vote on proposed legislative priorities for the 2025 Virginia General Assembly session as well as changes to course offerings for the 2025-2026 school year at a meeting Nov. 14.
The board’s proposed agenda for 2025 includes many of the same priorities its members pushed for last session, such as revisions to Virginia’s K-12 funding format and additional state funding to address critical teaching shortages, but also includes several new priorities:
• providing additional state funding for services aligned with Virginia’s new accreditation system;
• defining more clearly the role of exceptional education special advocates at individual meetings and hearings, including the implementation of an “ethics code;”
• establishing the extended 180-day limit for long-term substitute teachers as permanent so it does not expire at the end of this school year;
• establishing full licensure as a prerequisite to obtaining teacher continuing contract status;
• supporting legislation that promotes environmentally sustainable school construction practices.
During the 2024 session this past spring, Henrico delegates successfully passed Lucia’s Law – legislation named in memory of Henrico teen Lucia Bremer – which strengthened consequences against parents and guardians who fail to safely secure their firearms from vulnerable minors. The Henrico School Board also applauded the passage of bills that increased funding to English-learner services and created more alternative pathways to licensure for teachers.
At Thursday’s monthly meeting, the school board will also vote on an updated 2025-2026 Planning Guide for Henrico Schools’ students, which includes several new courses offered to high-schoolers and middle-schoolers.
The guide proposes new 0.5 credit health courses that JROTC students can take instead of the combined health/PE courses required for ninth and tenth graders, allowing students to use JROTC courses as substitutes for the PE requirement. Along with many new courses, the guide also removes several courses because of content being covered in another course or due to a lack of student enrollment during previous years.
New proposed middle school courses:
Exceptional Education:
• Multi-sensory Math
General Electives:
• Foundations of Thinking Like a Lawyer Course 1
• Foundations of Thinking Like a Lawyer Course 2
New proposed high school courses:
English:
• Composition Theory Honors
• Film Theory
Math:
• Probability and Statistics
• Trigonometry
Social Studies:
• History of Latin America
Health/PE:
• Health 9
• Health 10
• Health/Physical Education 10 with Driver’s Education
World Languages:
• American Sign Language III
• Spanish for Fluent Speakers I
• Spanish for Fluent Speakers II
General Electives:
• Foundations of Thinking Like a Lawyer Course 1
• Foundations of Thinking Like a Lawyer Course 2
New proposed middle school specialty center courses:
John Rolfe Middle’s Center for Innovation:
• Master Course List
New proposed high school specialty center courses:
Advanced Career Education Centers:
• Floriculture
• Introduction to Plant Systems
• Carpentry III
• Drafting Mechanical
• Electricity and Cabling III
• Heavy Construction Operation I
• Heavy Construction Operation II
• Masonry III
• Plumbing and Fire Protection Sprinkler Fitting I
• Plumbing and Fire Protection Sprinkler Fitting II
• Television and Media Production III
• Entrepreneurship & Digital Marketing I
• Heath Assisting Careers
• Home Health Aide
• Mental Health Assisting Careers
• Patient Care Technician
• Catering/Banquet Specialization
• Restaurant Operation Specialization
• Precision Machining III
• Auto Body Repair III,
• Automotive Technology III
• Small Engine Technology I
• Small Engine Technology II
• Unmanned Aircraft Systems Advanced
Henrico High’s Center for the Arts:
• Acting Studio/Production Design IV Honors
Glen Allen High’s Center for Education & Human Development:
• Communication Systems Honors
J.R. Tucker High’s Center for Spanish Language & Global Citizenship:
• Immersion History of Latin America Honors
International Baccalaureate Programs:
• IBDP Business Management
School board members also will vote on the acceptance of $13.7 million in federal grant funding for 2024-2025, about $11 million of which would go to the division’s 22 Title I schools.
Members of the public will have the opportunity to comment in-person or online at the monthly meeting’s public forum.
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.
