BACK TO SCHOOL: Henrico Schools rolls out new phone policies, elementary school weapons scanners; no double-bus runs needed

Henrico students will see several new initiatives on their first day of the 2024-2025 school year this Monday, including new student ID cards, cell phone containers, and weapons scanners at elementary schools.

Henrico Schools leaders have been hard at work readying staff for new policies and procedures this summer, HCPS Superintendent Amy Cashwell said at an Aug. 8 Henrico School Board meeting.

HCPS officials also have worked to hire more staff during the past few months, filling much needed bus driver positions and adding more mental health care professionals.

Cell phone-free classrooms

Beginning this school year, HCPS is updating its policies to prevent students from using their cell phones in the classroom, following an executive order from Gov. Glenn Youngkin in July that called on Virginia schools to implement a “cell phone-free education.”

While phones will not be banned outright from school campuses, new measures will be implemented to keep devices put away during class. The division will provide each teacher with storage containers for cell phones, which depending on the school will be either phone pouch pockets or lockboxes with individual slots for phones.

Devices will be stored in the containers “when they are not in student backpacks,” according to an Aug. 9 HCPS press release. School principals will have the autonomy to determine whether teachers will be required to use the storage containers or if students can still store phones in their backpacks.

Like past years, middle and high school students must have their phones stored and silenced during class and after-school instructional activities but can still use their devices between classes and during lunch. However, students temporarily leaving the classroom to go to the bathroom, clinic, or school counseling office must leave their phones stowed in the classroom.

New this year, elementary school students will need to put away their phones for the entire school day instead of just class time. Updates made in June to the Code of Student Conduct will also enforce stricter consequences for students who violate cell phone policies.

Exceptions can be made for students who require a device during class for medical reasons or “other individual circumstances,” according to the press release.

As of now, HCPS has not adopted the Virginia Department of Education’s “bell-to-bell” model in the draft guidelines released Aug. 15, which encourages school systems to have students turn off and store their phones away starting from the first bell until the dismissal bell rings, including during lunch and in between classes.

No more late buses

After hiring more bus drivers, HCPS has effectively eliminated scheduled double runs and bus routes that drop off students after instruction begins in the morning.

In the past few years, bus driver shortages have caused some drivers to have to do double runs – taking one load of students to or from school, then circling back to pick up another load – making some students late to class everyday. In March, the division calculated that it would need to hire at least 60 new drivers to eliminate double runs.

School board members credited the “tremendous” win to a salary increase HCPS instated for all bus drivers in March, which pushed drivers’ minimum hourly rate to $22.98 – almost $4 higher than the previous hourly rate.

“When you pay people a great wage, I don’t think we should be surprised that suddenly the vacancies go away,” Three Chopt District school board member Madison Irving said.

After advocacy from bus drivers, HCPS will also ensure each driver has multilingual flashcards or signs to help with communicating with students.

New student ID cards

Starting this school year, all HCPS students will be required to wear student ID cards on lanyards for the entire school day.

The IDs will act as a safety measure and will allow students to use one card to ride the bus, check out library books, buy lunch, use school vending machines, and access technology services. The cards, which will have the students’ name and a code but not the student’s picture, are encrypted and only accessible by the school system.

Students will receive their cards and lanyards on the first day of school at no cost, however, there is a $5 replacement fee if students lose their card. While students will be expected to wear their ID on their lanyard all day, there are not any consequences associated with the IDs, Cashwell said.

“Because it’s not at this point a punitive in nature kind of thing, there wouldn’t really be consequences associated with it, but we’re hoping to put it into daily practice,” she said. “Both for security purposes and for ease of accessing day-to-day school operations.”

Later this school year, ID cards will also be required for entry into after-school activities like sporting events and concerts, starting this fall with high school junior varsity and varsity football games.

Weapons scanners at elementary schools

On the first day of school, all elementary schoolers will now go through weapons scanners when entering their buildings

Weapons scanners were already implemented at high schools at the beginning of last school year and at middle schools over the fall of 2023. With scanners placed at elementary schools, HCPS will now have all school campuses secured by scanners at the main building entry points.

While the scanners detected items such as pepper spray and tasers last school year, no firearms were found on any school campuses.

“This means the security measures in place are working and it’s keeping our community safe,” Fairfield District school board member Ryan Young said.

HCPS will also add 46 new school security officers (SSOs) to elementary schools as an “added layer of security” and to help “assist with weapon scanning during student arrival,” according to HCPS Chief of Operations Lenny Pritchard.

Last year, implementing the new weapons scanners caused significant delays during the first week of school at high schools, and some delays when implemented at middle schools. This time around will likely be smoother now that the division is more used to the process, school board vice-chair and Tuckahoe District member Marcie Shea said, but families should still expect some trial and error.

“The adjustment at middle school was smoother than at high school, and so we’re hoping the adjustment at elementary school will be even smoother,” she said. “But, you know, pack your patience the first couple of weeks as things get adjusted.”

StudentSquare app coming soon

After rolling out the new ParentSquare app last school year, HCPS is now looking to release a student version called “StudentSquare” for middle and high school students at the end of September.

While ParentSquare is used by teachers and parents to communicate with each other, StudentSquare will be used for communication between teachers and students. Like ParentSquare, StudentSquare will allow direct messaging without revealing private cell phone numbers.

Parents will have the choice to opt out of having their student download the new platform, HCPS Communications Director Eileen Cox said.

The app will also provide students with news updates from the division, their school, and their teachers. Like ParentSquare, direct messages and news updates on StudentSquare can be automatically translated into different languages.

Through ParentSquare, HCPS now has contactability with 99.6% of the divisions’ families – either through the mobile app, text messaging, or email, according to Cox.

More literacy and mental health support

The 2024-2025 school year will be the first year HCPS will need to implement the Virginia Literacy Act, which establishes a new literacy curriculum for elementary schoolers and an additional reading support class for middle schoolers struggling with literacy.

The VLA also requires additional reading specialists for both elementary and middle schools. This school year, HCPS will have a reading specialist at every elementary and middle school, officials said.

HCPS will also be adding more staff for its new mental health program Henrico CARES. In March, HCPS and county leaders announced the new partnership and plans to invest $17.8 million into the new program over the next five years, which will help staff more school-based mental health professionals and provide families with access to out-of-school providers.

Beginning this school year, all high school students will have access to free in-home teletherapy through Hazel Health, an outside mental health care provider. All staff, students, and families will also have access to Care Solace, a free service that helps people find and connect with mental health care providers.

HCPS will also staff five new intervention school counselors to help address substance abuse and violence prevention, as well as 11 instructors from Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Interface.

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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.