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One week after delaying a return to in-person learning for elementary school students by two weeks, to Jan. 25, Henrico Schools Superintendent Amy Cashwell Tuesday announced a delay for all students that could extend into late February.
The new delay is the third announced since Nov. 16 and comes as the county is mobilizing to vaccinate all education employees. It’s necessary, Cashwell wrote in separate emails to staff and families, because school nurses will be pulled away from their schools to assist with vaccinations.
“[H]aving schools with no nurses present would result in staffing levels that won’t meet our expectations for implementing the HCPS COVID-19 Health Plan for larger numbers of students,” Cashwell wrote. “This will be a time-consuming, but ultimately necessary and worthwhile effort that will require our nurses to be away from schools for a period of time. This is a critical detail that has newly emerged since we communicated our plans a week ago. I hope we can agree that none of us want to bring more students back into buildings without the expected level of student health support, as that is important to fully implementing our COVID-19 Health Plan. For that reason, I believe it is best for learning to continue in the predominantly virtual format for all grade levels until our school nurses can complete this important community need.”
Yesterday, Cashwell indicated that Henrico educators could begin receiving vaccinations as soon as next week, and the school system surveyed employees to ask if they would choose to be vaccinated, or (if not) why not. Since full vaccination requires two shots at least three or four weeks apart, depending upon the type of vaccine administered, the process could last until late February, she wrote in Tuesday’s emails.
As a result, she indicated that a return date would be determined as the process advances.
“I humbly ask for patience and forgiveness, particularly from our educators who are eager to return to in-person learning, as well as from our families who enthusiastically opted to return their students to our schools and showed tremendous confidence in our health-risk mitigation planning,” she wrote. I share your heartache and frustration over the continuous delays to our timelines, and I know how important it is for our students to have access to in-person learning.
“However, in light of this new phase in our battle against coronavirus, I know that we are choosing the right path forward for our employees, our students and our community.”
Limited in-person learning will continue for special education students, English learners Career and Technical Education students and others in grades pre-K through third, Cashwell wrote.
The school system also is planning what Cashwell termed "robust, optional in-person summer academic programming," details of which will be released in the coming weeks, she wrote.
