Henrico Schools' decision about in-person learning return expected Feb. 4

A decision about when in-person learning will resume for the Henrico County Public Schools students who chose it should come Feb. 4.

On that day, the Henrico School Board will hold a special meeting to receive a recommendation from its health committee about the return to school and an update about the status of vaccination efforts for school employees.

At the board’s Thursday meeting, health committee member and HCPS Chief of Staff Beth Teigen told board members that the committee was weighing two options – returning students sometime after all HCPS employees who wanted to be vaccinated had received their first shots, or waiting until after they all had been fully vaccinated.

Assuming there are no changes to vaccine quantities, all 7,300 or so school system employees who asked to be vaccinated should have received their first shots by Feb. 5, Teigen said, meaning all would be in line to receive their second shots by March 5. But given recent shifts in vaccine allocation, she suggested the Feb. 4 meeting as a way to provide the most up-to-date analysis for the board to consider.

Either way, school officials intend for employees who haven’t received permission to work from home for the rest of the year to report to their buildings by Feb. 8 to begin preparations for in-person learning. They’ll also be expected to begin working virtually with students who will be returning in person to help acclimate them to the mitigation strategies that will be in effect, such as distancing and mask-wearing.

The health committee continues to believe that the most critical factor in determining the safety of returning to in-person learning is its set of mitigation efforts, Teigen told the board. Recent evidence – and new data this week from the Centers for Disease Control – have concluded that schools with strong mitigation efforts present a very low risk of virus transmission.

One element of Henrico’s mitigation strategy that still must be fully addressed, Teigen said, is its plan to hire a clinic aide for each school. So far it’s filled just 34 of 62 positions, and its back-up plan is for school principals, assistant principals or other building administrators to serve that role as needed. Clinic aides are needed to oversee each school’s designated COVID room, which will serve as an in-school quarantine spot for anyone who may exhibit symptoms of the virus.

Teigen told board members that she expected more of the aide positions could be filled after a return date is announced.

Henrico school nurses have been assisting with mass vaccination efforts at Richmond Raceway each of the past two weeks and will do so again next week, Teigen said, but after that will return to their individual schools during working hours. Some may continue to work vaccination events at the raceway or elsewhere outside of their normal school hours, she said.

Brookland District School Board member Kristi Kinsella told board members that she favors waiting until after employees have received both doses.

To help students who have suffered academically during virtual learning to date, the school system is weighing a number of options for remediation, Chief of School Leadership Ingrid Grant told the board.

Among them:

• the possible expansion of in-person learning for students who are not making grade-level progress, with transportation to and from school provided (school principals will reach out directly to elementary school families whose children may be eligible, Grant said);

• a summer academy for students in the lowest quartile of reading or math achievement in grades K-5;

• mandatory summer academy for middle school students who are not meeting expectations;

• summer academy opportunities for high school students, from remediation to accelerated options;

• an earlier start to the 2021-22 school year;

• longer school days during the 21-22 school year.

Separately, the school system is proceeding with plans to begin fall sports at the high school level – which were delayed from the fall – with tryouts for some sports beginning next week. Henrico schools only will play each other and the Maggie Walker Governor’s School, however, after Hanover County schools opted to do the same, Teigen said.

Henrico middle schools will not play fall sports in the spring but could play spring sports, according to HCPS Student Activities Specialist John Carroll, who said that those sports wouldn’t begin until after spring break (April 5-9) if they are approved.