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Faced with aging school buildings, a group of Danville residents have banded together to push for a 1% sales tax that would fund facility improvements through the system. The referendum will appear on the ballot in November for residents in Danville.

By Randy Arrington LURAY, Aug. 21 - As the 2021-22 school year gets set to kickoff on Monday for an estimated 3,160 students in the county, there are a number of divisive issues that seem to have some parents and administrators at odds.

As students went back to the classroom or online learning last fall, the Virginia High School League, school boards and division staffs spent months ironing out details for a safe return of athletics.

Tunstall Willis has awoken throughout the night in recent weeks, questioning her decision to send her children back to Chesterfield County Public Schools under the cloud of COVID-19. Her daughter, a fifth-grader at Bettie Weaver Elementary, and son, who is heading to Midlothian Middle, hadn't stepped foot in a school for nearly 18 months.

Lawyers for teachers who have filed a lawsuit against the Loudoun County, Virginia, school board over its new policies regarding transgender students want enforcement of the policy to be suspended while the suit moves forward.

The board heard from about 20 parents and students predominantly against mask-wearing and, despite Chairman Jim Kelly's threat that anyone not wearing a mask would be removed from the boardroom, several refused to wear a mask citing religious and medical exemptions.

The City Council approved that project but asked the board to pause the process to see if a better financing option was available. In the interim, the board revisited its original plans and now plans to close two schools - Highland View and Washington-Lee - but continue to operate Stonewall Jackson Elementary with some improvements.

Students with special needs who were slated to age out of Virginia's public school system last year are now entitled to another academic year with access to support that's in line with federal mandates.

Lillian Pettis is feeling nervous and anxious. Next week, her 17-year-old daughter and 9-year-old grandson will be heading back to school, in-person, at Chesterfield County Public Schools. Pettis, 48, has lupus and is immunocompromised. She is vaccinated, as is her daughter. But her grandson, who lives with them, is too young to get the vaccine.

School resource officers provide heartfelt anecdotes of their work, but some Prince William County officials contend their stories might be more the exception than the rule. SROs discussed their work and mission with the county's Racial and Social Justice Commission during its meeting on Thursday.

Gov. Ralph Northam's administration and Dominion Energy are moving forward with plans to begin replacing diesel buses with electric or propane alternatives. On Thursday, Northam announced that Virginia will spend more than $10.5 million in funds from the Volkswagen "Dieselgate" settlement to replace 83 diesel buses in 19 school divisions with electric or propane-fueled buses.

NEWPORT NEWS - The Newport News School Board will hold a special meeting Thursday to reconsider a policy change to protect transgender students that they turned down this week. In a 5-1 vote on Tuesday, with one member abstaining, the board rejected a change to the district's equity policy that would've more explicitly protected transgender students.