Henrico School Board to vote on design for rebuild of Quioccasin Middle School

At a work session Oct. 10, Henrico School Board members will vote on the schematic design for the rebuild of Quioccasin Middle School, which is scheduled to be completed in the winter of 2027.

The design for the $89 million project, funded by the county's 2022 bond referendum, proposes a new three-story building just north of the existing track field. The current building would be demolished to allow for the construction of a new baseball field and softball field – both with stadium lights – four tennis courts with stadium lights, and additional parking.

Construction on the new building is set to begin in the summer of 2025 and will take about two years to complete.

School board members also will review school accreditation ratings for the 2024-2025 year and a report on college and career readiness statistics, including Henrico Schools’ dropout rate and on-time graduation rate.

Fourteen Henrico schools, about 21% of schools in the district, were labeled as “accredited with conditions” this year instead of fully accredited, according to data released by the Virginia Department of Education Sept. 30. Virginia’s school accreditation system is based on a number of factors including academic performance, achievement gaps among students, and chronic absenteeism rates.

The school board will also review changes to the current accreditation system, approved by the state last month, that will go into effect next year. Under the new system, schools will be rated on an “accreditation” scale and an “accountability” scale.

School board members also will discuss how HCPS compares to the state average on college and career readiness. Henrico’s dropout rate of 6.6% is higher than the state average of 4.5%, and is higher among certain student groups in HCPS, such as English Learners and Hispanic students. Henrico’s on-time graduation rate is 90.7%, slightly lower than the state average of 92.8%.

The school board also is slated to vote on the first cycle of the Henrico Education Foundation’s “Innovative Grants” for 2024-2025. A total of $57,711 is proposed to be allocated to 13 different schools, as well as Henrico’s Career & Technical Education program and Gifted Education program.

Members of the public will also have the opportunity to submit written comments for the meeting’s online 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.