Cultural competency is one of the buzzwords that teachers, principals and school superintendents will become familiar with in Virginia, if they aren’t already.
The General Assembly recently passed and Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed legislation that requires educational staff to complete instruction in cultural competency for initial licensure or renewal. HB 1904 and SB 1196 passed the Legislature with mostly Democratic votes. Among eastern Chesterfield legislators, Dels. Delores McQuinn (D-Richmond) and Carrie Coyner (R-Chesterfield) and Sen. Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond) voted yes, while Del. Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) and Sen. Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield) voted no.
The bills were among 117 tracked by Chesterfield Schools’ representative Shawn Smith, who reported on some of the bills to the school board on April 13.
Social studies teachers will be required to complete instruction in African American history as part of the new law. The law allows the state education department to define cultural competency.
Del. Glenn Davis (R-Virginia Beach) — who is running for lieutenant governor — said earlier this year that he was concerned about the department of education pushing an agenda, according to richmond.com.
During public comment at the meeting, Chester dentist Dr. Joe Hillier asked about the school district recognizing National Brothers and Sisters Day, which is May 2 this year.
Hillier described himself as “an 83-year-old concerned about how some things are going.”
Midlothian board Kathryn Haines said that celebrating that day was “part of breeding that culture of inclusion.” She related that, as a 21-year-old white Christian Peace Corps volunteer, she found herself in a precarious situation at a train station in Mali, West Africa, “with daylight disappearing and no one to meet me.” Haines said that some village residents “opened their hearts to me when I was vulnerable. It changed my life.” She said the villagers were black and predominantly Muslim.
“I’m proud that CCPS is working hard to build a culture of inclusion,” Haines said. “My dad is 84, and he has walked this journey with me. It’s pretty exciting to me.”
In response, Hillier said he was told by school staff that the holiday is a celebration of the Muslim religion. Hillier also referred to comments attributed to U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who was elected in November 2018 and is the nation’s first Palestinian-American woman in Congress. She and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) are the first Muslim women elected to Congress.
National Siblings Day was April 10. Its roots stem from the Hindu celebration, “Raksha Bandhan,” according to nationaltoday.com. However, Siblings Day and Brothers and Sisters Day are different. In an online search, The Village News could find no connection between the Muslim religion to either day.
Remote learning
Smith said the district is allowed 10 unscheduled remote learning days per school year going forward.
He noted that legislation that legalized up to 1 ounce of marijuana also removes automatic expulsion for students for possessing the drug.
In addition, the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission, or JLARC, will be studying the effect of COVID-19 on schools and assessing the true cost of education, along with the costs to implement standards of quality. These studies will take 18 months to two years, Smith said.
WeatherSTEM
Representatives of Thomas Dale High School briefed the school board on a weather station at the school, which took two years to get up and running.
Principal Chris Jones called it “a pretty big deal.”
The school got a $10,000 grant from Dominion Energy to implement the station, which provides weather alerts to school staff.
Mike Puglia, the school’s athletic trainer, said the idea stemmed from a need for more weather information in the summer months, specifically related to lightning and heat.
He noted that all schools in Chesterfield can use data from the station, and that the public can follow the station on Facebook, Twitter and on its website, chesterfield.weatherstem.com/tdhs.
Collective bargaining
Also during public comment, Sonia Smith, president of the Chesterfield Education Association, said that, as of May 1, teachers could collectively bargain, based on HB 582, which was passed last year.
New hire
As part of the consent agenda, the board hired Ashley Coonradt as a teacher at the new Chester Early Childhood Center, effective Aug. 1.
Also as part of the consent agenda, the board reduced several student fees for next year to zero, including fees for the practical nursing program, taking a mobile device home and taking one additional online course.
