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East End parents ask school leaders to improve education at their schools

Posted at 10:30 PM, Dec 05, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-05 23:14:26-05

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Parents from Henrico’s East End told county leaders Monday they need to do more to improve learning in their neighborhoods.

“These kids need more intense help,” one parent said.

School leaders explained what they’re doing to improve SOL scores at seven elementary and middle schools that were denied state accreditation this year during a town hall meeting Monday night.

“These kids need more intense help,” one parent said.

“These kids need more intense help,” one parent said.

That is the most schools that has ever been denied accreditation in a given school year in Henrico.

“It’s an all hands on deck approach. This is important,” John Montgomery, who represents the Varina district on the School Board, said.

But some parents said, while they’re pleased Henrico’s trying to address the problem, they’re not so sure it’s enough.

The state partially accredited or denied accreditation to 18 middle and elementary school this year, and 14 of them are in the county’s East End.

“What is the immediate action plan to sustain the high school’s accreditation status with the influx of unprepared MS students,” one parent asked.

accreditation

All of the county’s high schools received full accreditation, yet SOL pass rates at several elementary and middle schools did not even come close to state requirements.

While school leaders highlighted that school suspension numbers dramatically decreased over the past five years, some parents questioned what type of impact that has in the classroom.

“Kids are quite frankly off the chain,” one woman said.

“My kids still have some of these kids in their classrooms that are major distractions,” another parent said.

To that point, a teacher spoke up about how frustrated teachers are in those East End schools about discipline issues.

He said what is expected of teachers in East End schools is more challenging than what’s expected in the West End.

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