Henrico parent urges board to allow student to finish four‑year specialty program after variance denial

At the board’s Aug. 28 meeting, parent Winifred Cooper described her son Rylan’s situation after the family moved and a variance request to remain in the Highland Springs engineering specialty center was denied. Cooper said Rylan is an A‑B student and that counselors and teachers supported his return; she told the board the variance was decided on a yes/no form without direct contact and that calls to the variance office and the principal went unanswered.

"This decision has disrupted his education at the worst possible moment his final year," Cooper said, and she urged the board to consider a policy that allows Henrico students who were accepted into four‑year specialty programs and remain in good standing to finish the program. She said the request is not only for her child but to ensure continuity for other students who have invested years in specialty programming.

Cooper said she contacted board members and community leaders, including Levar Stoney, and that most people she spoke to believed the denial was wrong. She asked the board to correct the decision for her son or at least adopt a policy to prevent similar outcomes for other students in the future. The board did not make a decision during the meeting; the public forum remarks were recorded and a staff member was scheduled to follow up with speakers.