HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Henrico parents said they were relieved to see Superintendent Dr. Amy Cashwell address school safety and rising youth violence following another gun-related incident in the district, but their reactions were mixed on how Cashwell will address safety concerns moving forward.
Nitie Batra, the mother of an elementary school student in Henrico Public Schools, recalled feeling "shattered" on Friday when she learned a student at Holman Middle School in the county's West End brought a loaded gun to school.
“We ensure they should be safe in school in that environment, so after hearing such kind of news, it shatters us," Batra said. “When we hear something about other schools, we want the school [and] Henrico County to put more measures for kids' security.”
And more security measures are what Superintendent Cashwell is promising after police said four firearms have been confiscated from Henrico Schools in the past six months.
In a lengthy email to families, Cashwell declared "enough is enough" and listed many programs and initiatives the district is implementing to combat youth violence.
That includes testing metal detectors at multiple schools at all levels.
“I think that's a good thing to implement because right now, they don't have anything," Batra said. "So, they don't know what kids are bringing in.”
But other Henrico parents like Kate Garitz, a mother of two high school students, were a little more on the fence about the idea.
“I’m okay with metal detectors at the high school level. I think they have the maturity and the understanding of why it's there and why it's needed. I have concerns about metal detectors at the elementary level. I think that emotionally, having a six-year-old walk through a metal detector every day, treated as if they're being screened for being a criminal, is a bit extreme," Garitz said. "I also think that if somebody wanted to commit mass violence and had an automatic weapon with them, they would probably go straight through a metal detector."
Cashwell's letter detailed many other prevention efforts such as increased K-9 sweeps, security cameras, access control systems, buzz-in vestibule entryways, threat assessment and crisis response teams, school resources officers, HCPS safety officers, Anonymous Alert systems, and drills. Cashwell said she also partnered with local government leaders and law enforcement officials on programs to address youth crime.
However, there was one thing Garitz said Cashwell did not mention in her email: discipline.
“What I wish she had addressed is how the teachers’ hands might be tied when it comes to disciplinary actions in the schools. Student behavior is definitely an issue from what I hear from other students and parents and members of my community," Garitz said.
Henrico Police spokesperson Matthew Pecka said he cannot make any comments on whether the juvenile involved in Friday's incident at Holman had previous contact with law enforcement. Henrico Schools spokesperson Eileen Cox said she cannot release any information related to a student's discipline records.
However, Garitz said she generally believes that consequences for students who violate the rules, disrupt classrooms, or put students' safety at risk are too loose.
“And I think that serves as a detriment," she said. "The students who are behaving, perhaps the ones who are being bullied are seeing other students get away with behavior that is unacceptable."
CBS 6 asked if the district plans on reviewing policies surrounding discipline, and a spokesperson provided the following response:
"The expectation is that schools are following the Code of Student Conduct consistently, and division leadership is confident that is happening. We recognize that it may be frustrating for some families that the school division cannot publicly disclose disciplinary consequences given to individual student, but this is a matter of law related to private student records.
Also, for clarification, the HCPS Code of Student Conduct is evaluated/updated annually and presented to the school board for approval prior to distribution to families each school year."
During a presentation to the school board on safety and security back in October 2022, School Board member Alicia Atkins, who represents the Varina District, raised concerns and questions to the administration about discipline.
"When I think about safety and security in our schools, it takes me to discipline," Atkins said. "Discipline has to be part of our conversation on security and safety. When I think about our kids and what they have gone through, it's traumatic."
Atkins said trauma may "manifest itself or look like violence" and "disruptive behaviors in the classroom."
During that meeting, Atkins brought a copy of the student code of conduct, held it up, and said discipline should be implemented according to those standards.
"When we are in our buildings and we have an incident or an infraction, making sure that implementation of discipline is done according to the policies that the board has set, and it's clear on discipline, not punishment, but discipline across all of Henrico County, because I also think that will impact the safety and security of our students," Atkins said.
She then asked administration leaders to share how they implement discipline in the buildings.
Cashwell responded that school discipline is handled by school administrators.
"Of course, our school administrators implement our student code of conduct," Cashwell said. "It provides the framework for our administrators to use when they are working with students who have committed a discipline infraction."
Cashwell said individual circumstances will vary.
Moving forward, Garitz and Batra said ensuring safety is a team effort, and they called on other parents to do their part.
"I'm a firm believer in parental involvement and that schools are a community. It's a partnership. Decisions need to take place between the parents, the community members, the teachers and the administrators," Garitz said.
"Discipline comes from your home," Batra said. "It should be about what is right and wrong, and it starts from the home. What parents are doing, [children] watch them and they try to do it. So everything starts from home, and then it comes to school."
GOING IN DEPTH: Do other school districts implement metal detectors?
CBS 6 reached out to Richmond, Chesterfield, and Hanover Schools. Richmond is the only other school district that has metal detectors. RPS has them installed at five high schools and two specialty schools.
Chesterfield and Hanover Schools do not have metal detectors.
CBS 6 also took an in-depth look at police involvement in incidents that were reported at Henrico schools by studying data from the 2021-2022 police and schools report.
From September of 2021 to June of last year, 176 students in Henrico schools were referred to the justice system by school resource officers or were formally charged.
A total of 184 referrals were made and eight students had two separate entries each. Of those, 155 were referred to juvenile intake and were then released to parents.
28 were custodial arrests and one was released on summons.
Throughout the school year, officers cleared 241 incidents at Henrico schools for situations resolved by school leaders with no criminal charges. At Holman Middle School specifically, four students got referrals and four students were disciplined by the school.
While the number of instances reported at schools was actually down last year, the number of custodial arrests was the highest since the 2017-2018 school year.
