October 14, 2020
NewsDaily NewsOctober 14, 2020

October is VSBA Bullying Prevention Month
In an effort to promote awareness of school bullying, the VSBA Board of Directors has designated the month of October as VSBA Bullying Prevention Month. Childhood bullying is a significant problem nationwide. It can cause school absenteeism, mental and physical stress…

November 18-20, VSBA Virtual Annual Convention
The VSBA Annual Convention is the largest and most anticipated VSBA meeting of the year. While this year our Annual Convention may look a little different, and we won’t get to see your smiling faces in person, we hope you’ll find our event schedule to be just as enriching and…

Tazewell County puts middle school sports on hold
Will there be sports in Tazewell County Schools this year? At its Oct. 12 meeting the Tazewell County School Board was told the plans are in place but nothing can happen until the state is out of phase three.  Governor Ralph Northam moved the state into phase three of his…

Newport News schools reverse course; will delay return to classrooms
A plan that would have brought some Newport News students back to classrooms starting Monday has been delayed, Superintendent George Parker said Tuesday evening. Last week, the school board voted 5-2 to allow the district to start a phased return to classes, with the…

Spotsylvania schools return to classrooms under hybrid model
The first day of a hybrid schedule at Lee Hill Elementary School in Spotsylvania County went smoothly, Principal Carroll Ann Lewter said. “It was great. We got to see kids,” Lewter said. “It was raining and it was a new schedule, but our Lion Nation just rolled.” Assistant Principal…

Coleman ES students share kindness in video
In an effort to share kindness, Coleman Elementary School students are sharing a song. In a YouTube video, Coleman students in kindergarten through fifth grade can be seen singing the song “Nothing More” by The Alternate Roots. Music teacher Jamie Hall put the project…

County Schools To Transition To Hybrid Learning Next Month
Rockingham County students in grades second through eighth will return to the classroom two days a week starting next month. Superintendent Oskar Scheikl presented a plan at Monday’s School Board meeting for transitioning from mostly virtual learning to a hybrid model of…

Floyd County High School students head back to the classroom one extra day per week
Students at Floyd County High School are slowly getting back in the classroom more often. Starting Monday, high school students will attend school in person twice per week. Right now, they’re attending one day per week. Students who have been learning in person on Monday…

Hanover school board officially approves new names for Lee-Davis High, Stonewall Jackson Middle
Lee-Davis High School and Stonewall Jackson Middle School are officially no more. During a meeting Tuesday night, the Hanover County School Board approved the new names for the schools that previously memorialized Confederate leaders. Mechanicsville High School will…

Roanoke City public schools roll out new “Screen Smart” program for digital wellness
Roanoke City Public Schools is partnering with the Virginia Cooperative Extension to increase digital wellness among its students. Rachel Burks, the family & consumer sciences SNAP education agent for VCE in Roanoke, defines digital wellness as finding the balance between…

Project Engage, educational nonprofit started by Richmond high school students, looks to expand locally
When Virginia schools closed suddenly at the beginning of the pandemic in March, Richmond-area high-schoolers Ria Bakshi, Bella Grace Finck, Justin Goldman and Shreya Malani noticed that their younger siblings were more disconnected from their peers than they were. “They…

Page County school board discusses getting high school students back into the classroom
Page County Public Schools is moving forward to try and get more high school students back into the classroom. High school students in Page County have been working remotely since the beginning of the school year. The school division decided in Monday night’s school board…

Thousands Fail to Enroll in VA Public Schools
A recent survey of schools in Virginia yielded some surprising and worrisome news – enrollments are down, and that could mean a reduction in state funding. As classes got underway around the state, the Virginia Association of School Superintendents did a survey…

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine tells students at Westwood Middle School about his political journey
Sen. Tim Kaine met virtually with United States history students from Danville’s Westwood Middle School on Monday to offer insight about the inner workings of government. Chase Bridgen’s 19 sixth-grade students logged into a Google Meet video chat with Kaine, who…

Pandemic takes center stage in Virginia Beach school board races
Though school board elections don’t generally garner as much attention as higher-profile contests, pandemics that force children to attend school remotely tend to change that dynamic. Board members and superintendents are dealing with the herculean task of how to best…

Henry County Public Schools — minus 1 — make their hybrid return
One to a seat on school buses. Socially distanced desks. Breakfast and lunches eaten in the classroom instead of the cafeteria. And face masks for all. These were some of the new health and safety rules that greeted students Monday, when all but one of Henry County’s 14…

October 28, 2020, Title IX Best Practices in Training & Compliance, Level 2 Training
Registration is now open for the NEW VSBA Title IX Level 2 Workshop in conjunction with Sands Anderson PC. New Title IX Regulations went into effect in August and require training for staff people who fill several roles in the Title IX process, including Investigators and Decision…