(VCU Capital News Service) The Virginia General Assembly passed legislation that will allow school principals to report some misdemeanor offenses of students to law enforcement, reversing parts of a previous law.
Lawmakers, parents and advocates are concerned the legislation will prompt the overreporting of minor offenses to law enforcement versus leaving reporting to the discretion of school officials.
[Updated March 7] Prince William County taxpayers are now investors in a new firm that produces materials the size of materials, devices, and structures at dimensions less than 100 nanometers.
On Tuesday, March 1, the Board of County Supervisors gave $50,000 to the George Mason University Nanofabrication facility. The $3 million, 2,350 square foot facility at the Institute for Advanced Biomedical Research building on the university’s Sci-Tech Campus outside Manassas will produce materials for electronic devices, biological sensors, biomedical devices, and optoelectronics.
(The Center Square) – Head Start teachers in Louisiana, Ohio and Virginia are suing the Biden administration over a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination mandate for the federally funded program.
Class passing rates dropped from 86.3 percent to 84.8 percent in county middle schools in the second quarter. The number of middle school students that are failing two or more subjects increased from 5.2 percent in the first quarter to 6.5 percent in the second quarter.
According to Dr. Jennifer Cassata, a director and researcher of Accountability and Strategic planning for the county schools, the overall proportion of students failing two or more classes is similar to the rate during the 2019-2020 school year, which was 5.2 percent. However, the rate is significantly lower than the 2020-2021 school year, which was 17.9 percent.
Manassas Public Schools repealed the last traces of its mask mandate that had been in effect since students returned to classes last summer.
According to school division spokeswoman Al Radford, the division no longer requires teachers, staff, bus drivers, or children riding school buses to wear face masks.
On Friday, Schools Superintendent Dr. LaTanya McDade announced the changes in policy at the state’s second-largest school division, ending a forced masking policy that had been in place since August. McDade’s announcement comes after the CDC revised its rules on Friday, February 26, which now recommends no masks in jurisdictions where coronavirus transmission is considered low.
According to the CDC, Prince William County has a low virus transmission rate, while Stafford County is ranked “medium” on the new three-tiered scale.
Masks will be optional for nearly everyone in the Stafford County Public Schools system Thursday, February 24, even school bus drivers.
The county School Board on Tuesday, February 22, voted 5 to 3 to remove a masking requirement for teachers, school building staff, bus drivers, and children on buses. The move follows a vote earlier this month that gave parents the option to remove masks before Gov. Glenn Youngkin same new legislation giving parents mask choice.
