The Harrisonburg School Board is exploring ways to improve teacher morale across the school division. Last week the board reviewed the findings of a staff morale survey and a number of focus groups. The school division has since set out six possible solutions to improve teacher morale.

VIRGINIA BEACH - First Colonial High School senior Jacob Cruz was worried when he saw the state's proposed transgender policies - which requires parental consent for students to use their preferred names and pronouns in school - and how it would impact classmates who hadn't come out to their families yet.

A new proposal passed by a House of Delegates committee would add a new standardized test for Virginia high school students, drawing questions from the naturalization test given to immigrants seeking citizenship.

New Kent County Public School will partner with Virginia's Department of Education (VDOE) on a federal grant. The U.S. Department of Education awarded VDOE a five-year, $15 million grant for Virginia's Comprehensive Approach to Recruitment and Retention of School Mental Health Services.

Stafford County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor says he needs $417 million to run the public school division next year. Taylor presented a budget about 12% higher than the school board approved in 2022. Taylor says that using the money to pay teachers a higher salary will help retain more qualified educators and benefit students.

The Virginia Senate has passed a bill that would allow Charlottesville and Albemarle County to raise the area's sales tax to fund school renovation and construction. The bill passed on Monday in a 27-10 vote, winning bipartisan support. It will move to the House of Delegates.

As the Virginia House voted on Thursday to pass bills addressing what books should be available in school libraries, the Henrico School Board voted to keep on its shelves a book that a parent challenged. The young adult novel "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers, published in 1999, follows the story of a 16-year-old Black boy in Harlem who is on trial for murder.

Northampton County Public Schools has a new leader - its second in a year. The county school board announced Acting Superintendent Lisa L. Martin has accepted the position of superintendent.

Shauna Saunders, a STEM resource teacher at Bedford Elementary School, was awarded a $400 Classroom Grant from Alpha Delta Kappa International Teacher's Sorority. Shauna is a member of the Virginia Beta Pi chapter and serves as her chapter's recording secretary.

The Isle of Wight County School Board has again delayed action on a series of proposed bylaws that would replace 22 existing policies. The School Board declined to readopt its code of ethics or board protocols for 2023 at its Jan. 12 reorganizational meeting. Board Chairman John Collick made a motion to adopt the 14-page [...]