School Board Recap - April 17, 2017

Highlights

Monday night’s School Board took place at J. Sergeant Reynolds Community College. The meeting comes in the wake of the Department of Education launching a civil rights probe into Richmond Public Schools on the grounds that the school system has allegedly been suspending students in a discriminatory manner. Due to the sudden change of venue, the entirety of this School Board meeting was not covered by RVAGOV staff.

Awards and Recognitions

Student Representatives

The School Board took the time to recognize their March and April student representatives, Paulette Hall and Geordan Colden.

Elijah Johnson

Elijah Johnson, a senior at Huguenot High School, who could not be at the previous School Board meeting in March, was also recognized by the Board. Elijah was recognized in March by Richmond’s City Council for acting heroically to save a loved one during an armed home invasion. He was shot multiple times during this altercation. The members of the School Board wanted to honor him by recognizing what he did and recognizing him as a student representative. He received a certificate in honor of his heroic, selfless act.

Public Information

Trauma Sensitive Schools

Robert Argabright came forward to speak about Trauma Sensitive Schools and the culture of Oak Grove Elementary School and Bellmeade Elementary School.

OCR Complaint Against RPS

Kandise Lucas spoke to the Board about the OCR complaint and the Needs Assistance report from the Virginia Department of Education and exceptional education.

Disciplinary Action

Roderyck Bullock expressed his concerns about teachers’ disciplinary actions toward students in the school system.