Thursday, March 28

Harrisonburg school board talks future of masking, HHS2 naming and boundary recommendation


HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin signed a bill banning mask mandates in schools and submitted his amendments to have the law take effect immediately but it is not a done deal just yet. Those amendments need majority approval in both the House and Senate first.

If that happens, school mask mandates would end no later than March 1. Youngkin said he added the provision so school divisions could develop plans to comply with the law ahead of next month.

In Harrisonburg, Superintendent Michael Richards explained to the school board on Tuesday evening that if the amendments by the governor are approved, masks will have to become optional on March 1 in schools across the Friendly City.

“I think it goes without saying, we will follow that law. Masks will become optional on March 1. I want to make that clear to the public. We will still, in accordance with CDC guidance, we will still follow that guidance in terms of our recommendations and so we will strongly recommend masks,” Richards said.

The school board did make a big decision regarding Harrisonburg City Public Schools’ staff.

Effective immediately, there will be no longer weekly COVID-19 testing requirements for unvaccinated staff. Richards suggested this to the board due to declining cases and issues with the division’s testing supply.

The school board also discussed the process of naming Harrisonburg’s second high school, which is currently being built.

A committee will be formed of 14 people. Each of the six school board members will nominate one person and Superintendent Richards will nominate eight people. While he did not mention specific names, Richards told the board on Tuesday night that five of his nominees are adults and three are students, two in middle school and one in high school.

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Craig Mackail, the Chief Operating Officer at HCPS, explained to the board how the naming process and timeline has played out in years past when naming Bluestone Elementary School and Elon Rhodes Early Learning Center, but ultimately, the final decision will be made by board members .

At the board’s next meeting on March 1, there will be a more detailed timeline and the board members will name their nominations. Before the board chooses the name, there will be time in future meetings for public comment.

“The name has a lot to do with what goes into the building,” Mackail said. “Soon after you decide the name, we have to start thinking about the colors and the mascot because there are things we have to order that need to be accurate.”

Richards said he would like to get more students involved with choosing the school colors and mascot after the board decides on an official name.

As far as which students will attend the new high school, that is still to be determined, but Richards shared one staff recommendation tonight. That was that students who attend Thomas Harrison Middle School could attend Harrisonburg High School and students who attend Skyline Middle School could attend the new school under construction.

Richards explained the criteria staff considered including the number of economically disadvantaged students, students with special needs, English language learners, and the overall size of the middle schools.

“Distribution is very similar in the two schools so it really works well with the criteria and the schools are almost equal in size in terms of students,” Richards said. “It’s a nice, easy way to make a boundary decision, in our opinion, so this is a recommendation to discuss.”

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No decisions were made yet on boundaries for the high schools.

For more information on the Feb. 15 meeting, click here.

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