RPS Facility Needs, Cell-phone Policy Discipline, and a Whimsical Musical
Cheers RVA!
Today will be mostly sunny with a high of 46 and a low of 39, with winds expected to increase throughout the day.
the juice:
A comprehensive Facility Condition Assessment has been conducted for all Richmond Public School properties, stating the school system needs more than $43 million in immediate needs for 2024 and 2025.
Nearly half of the associated costs for 2025 are for roofing, with electrical, HVAC systems, and doors/windows comprising most of the other needs.
The study was conducted during the Spring and Summer of this year and was completed by Bureau Veritas at a price of $495k.
This is the first time an analysis of all RPS properties has been conducted and illustrates some of the challenges the school division faces budgetarily.
the pulp:
A stage production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory begins Thursday evening at the Rep Theatre, from Style Weekly. The “whimsical musical is family friendly” and runs through January 12.
An audit by the City of Richmond of the streetlight maintenance contract found at least $1.2 million in discrepancies including unallowable charges and overbilling, via WRIC. The streetlight division manages about 37k streetlights, five electric distribution systems, and over 350 miles of overhead and underground wiring.
the dive:
RPS has laid out it’s disciplinary process on how to enforce the cell phone policy in January, from WWBT.
Initial violations of the policy will result in the phone being confiscated and returned to the student at the end of the day. A repeat offense would require a parent or guardian to retrieve the phone at the end of the day, and subsequent violations could result in suspension.
Lauren Methena, a parent with four children at RPS schools and president of the PTA at Dogwood Middle School notes some of the positives of removing phones from schools:
Kids are using the phones to coordinate where they’re going to fight later. Fights in the hallways went down after the cell phones were taken away because the kids couldn’t communicate and bully each other over the phones anymore.
While Virginia has already formalized its phone-free policy set to go in effect January 1, the Department of Education has recently urged all schools and districts nationwide to adopt a policy, and notes there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
the vibe:
Have an attentive day RVA!
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