Students and parents urge stronger safety measures and quicker cell-phone policy compliance after campus incident

During the public forum on Jan. 23, a Henrico High School student described lingering safety concerns following a Dec. 4 campus incident and called on the board to strengthen school security and long-term mental-health supports. A parent from the Fairfield District also urged the board to move more quickly to implement a state-directed cell-phone ban.

"I was in attendance at Henrico High School on 12/04/2024, and experienced one of the most frightening moments of my life," said Jack George, a tenth grader attending the Center for the Arts at Henrico High. George said immediate supports such as therapy dogs, child psychiatrists and increased police presence were available the day after the incident but were not sustained. "By the next day, I didn't see the same improvement," he said, adding that teachers were being asked to staff metal detectors and perform security roles without classroom planning time or training.

George described the school's open-campus layout and said it left "clear access to about 90% of our classrooms," with only a single security officer on a golf cart and scattered resource officers to deter intruders. He asked the board to consider "long term mental health resources for students, enhancing our school security and to allow our teachers to teach without adding additional burdens on them."

Marlene Sherlock, a Fairfield District parent, raised concerns about the division's cellphone policy in light of what she described as a new "bell to bell" prohibition referenced in state guidance and a governor's executive order she cited as Executive Order 33. Sherlock said she understood the division planned to review the code of conduct this spring but urged faster action and said Richmond Public Schools changed its policy midyear to comply with state guidance.

Sherlock said some specialty-center families face transportation and scheduling burdens tied to center programming and urged the board to preserve eight-block schedules where appropriate and to explore transportation alternatives to reduce long commutes for non-zone students.

The board did not take action on security measures or the cellphone policy during the meeting; both items were raised during public comment and were not listed as action items on the agenda. Staff follow-up to public-forum comments was offered by the superintendent's office.