A combined Baccalaureate Service and Commencement Exercise will be held at Brunswick Academy on Saturday, May 27, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. The guest speaker will be Reverend Lee Foster of Tabernacle Baptist Church in South Hill, Virginia. Twenty-six seniors will be graduating.

The valedictorian is Meredith Clair Greene, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Ray Greene of Baskerville. The salutatorian is Matthew James Gullivan, son of Mr. and Mrs. Timothy James Gullivan of Bracey. Meredith Greene will be attending Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Matthew Gullivan will be attending Southside Virginia Community College.

Fifteen seniors are children of Brunswick Academy alumni. Seven of those seniors are the grandchildren of Brunswick Academy alumni. The senior class has one fourth-generation student, Mariah Gabrielle Thomas.

By Darlene Johnson, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. — Approximately 280 Virginia teachers have lost their license over two decades for felony sex crimes with a minor or a student, or inappropriate misconduct involving a minor or student.

That is just over 41% of the teachers who had action taken against their license, according to Capital News Service analysis.

The Virginia Department of Education has tracked the data since at least 2000. A teacher can lose their license for any misdemeanor or felony that involves a student or minor, and also for misconduct considered to be detrimental to students, among other reasons. Not all conduct detrimental to students involves a crime or sexual misconduct.

Almost 700 educators had action taken against their license. The causes ranged from sex crimes such as sexual abuse of minors, production of child pornography using students without their knowledge and sexting with students, to felony convictions that involved drugs and murder.

Overall, it is a low number of licenses lost when compared to Virginia's approximately 92,000 teachers. But the sexual misconduct or abuse allegations made annually against teachers are much higher. Many child safety advocates think child sexual abuse prevention, overall, and in schools, could still be improved with better reporting mechanisms and more consistent discussion, training, and resources.

Legislation passed in 2008 required Virginia courts to report known teacher convictions for certain offenses. The law also called for local school boards to create policies to address complaints of sexual abuse of a student by a teacher or employee. A majority of actions against teacher licenses in the VDOE database were made after 2011, the year the state Board of Education passed guidelines to help prevent sexual misconduct and abuse in Virginia schools.

The guidelines called for clear procedures on how to report suspected misconduct and abuse, and for training of school personnel and volunteers. The guidelines also outlined types of inappropriate conduct with a student.

Tracking sexual misconduct in schools

Charol Shakeshaft is a professor in the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. She began researching school employee sexual misconduct in the 1980s. Teacher-initiated sexual misconduct occurs more than it is reported, according to Shakeshaft.

"I believe that we have left it to children to keep themselves safe," Shakeshaft said. "We need to stop expecting children to be responsible for their safety in schools and expect school employees to keep children safe."

Children may be less likely to report sexual abuse by school employees for reasons such as threats, feeling that no one will believe them or believing the behavior is acceptable, Shakeshaft said.

"I believe we care more about the comfort of adults than the safety of children," Shakeshaft said. "Tracking this information shines a light on adult sexual misconduct and misbehavior."

Students and school employees need training and education to better prevent abuse, and to encourage better reporting, Shakeshaft said.

'One case is too many'

Every Virginia teacher is required by state law to complete training in child abuse recognition and intervention as a condition of initial licensure. The training is not required for renewal of a license if it has already been done once. Every Virginia teacher is required to report suspected abuse, according to state law.

Protecting students from adult misconduct is a shared responsibility that must be a priority at all levels, stated Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons in a release to Capital News Service. 

"While the school employees who offend often represent a small fraction of the commonwealth's teachers and support staff, one case is one too many for our children," Coons stated. Coons will continue to expect "diligence in reporting and supporting state board processes to remove licensure for misconduct." 

Individual school districts maintain records of alleged sexual misconduct, according to the VDOE. School employees must report alleged or suspected abuse to school administrators, and to the Virginia State Child Abuse Hotline or the Department of Social Services. 

The DSS investigates and tracks the number of alleged reports made. The VDOE tracks when DSS makes a founded disposition against a teacher that leads to licensure action. That means the investigation met the required evidence standard, which is based primarily on direct evidence, not anonymous complaints. The actions must also be proven to be out of the scope of employment.

The VDOE reports all actions against licenses to a national database, and checks the database monthly, Pyle stated.

There is a lot of variation between the number of abuse reports made to DSS, the number of founded victims, and the number of licenses that were lost.

In a seven-year period, DSS received almost 12,000 statewide allegations of abuse or misconduct by a school employee or teacher. The number of allegations against teachers is higher. The most recent data available through the DSS accountability reporting portal was from 2013-2020. However, action was only taken against 377 teaching licenses in that same time frame.

Proving sexual misconduct in schools can be 'difficult'

Sexual abuse was the third most frequent type of child abuse in Virginia last year. There were just over 3,000 investigations of alleged sexual abuse by Child Protective Services, which is a part of DSS.

There were 809 cases of sexual abuse that met the CPS "evidence standard," or 26% of investigated cases, according to the most recent DSS report. The burden of proof required by state code is just enough evidence to make it more likely than not that the asserted facts are true.

Schools are the No. 1 place outside of the family where abuse occurs. There were 48 founded abuse cases in Virginia public schools last year and four cases in private schools, according to DSS. There were over 400 reports made.

CPS investigates allegations of sexual abuse that occur within a school or home, along with law enforcement as the situation demands.

Both teacher advocates and CPS workers have previously expressed the need for improved guidance on sexual abuse complaints involving school employees, according to a 2019 report from the Virginia Commission on Youth.

The Commission noted that proving a case of sexual abuse by a school employee has additional reporting elements that can be difficult, and that the scope of employment standard should not apply. Several recommendations were made to improve training material and reporting processes.

Record requests of sexual misconduct or abuse 

CNS sent records requests to 10 of the state's largest school districts to get the total number of any sexual assaults or misconduct reports made against faculty, staff, or employees in a recent three-year period.

 Only four districts provided the records without charging a fee. Government organizations can charge the public a fee to fill a Freedom of Information Act request.

Chesapeake City responded that there were 11 reports alleging sexual misconduct with a student since 2019. Henrico County reported 23 instances. Stafford County had four. Richmond City had five reports in 2022. The reports represent allegations made, and should not be considered confirmation of guilt or misconduct.

Other districts either did not respond, stated they had no available records, or quoted costs to fill the records anywhere between $125 to $418.

Chesterfield County told CNS multiple times that there were no records "responsive to the request." CNS pressed the agency for clarification. The representative responded that they do not have an "existing" record and they would have to "pull individual records and create a report."

The agency stated that they are not required to create a record in response to a FOIA request, and they considered the request closed. This is technically accurate, and the better request would have been just for all records of allegations.

However, no other school district denied the request due to wording.

CNS also sent a records request to DSS. The department pointed to a dashboard that provides an overview of alleged abuse or neglect reports. 2020 is the most recent year data is available. 

The DSS dashboard shows higher numbers than what school districts provided, but it also includes other forms of abuse that could lead to action against a teacher's license. 

Combined allegations made against teachers and school employees:

• Chesapeake City: 118 total allegations in 2019 and 97 total allegations in 2020.

• Chesterfield County: 59 total allegations in 2019 and 50 total allegations in 2020. 

• Henrico County: 116 total allegations in 2019 and six total allegations in 2020.

• Richmond City: 102 total allegations in 2019 and 62 total allegations in 2020.

• Stafford County: 20 total allegations in 2019 and 22 total allegations in 2020.

Number of actions against teaching licenses in the above districts since 2000:

• Chesapeake City had 12 licensure actions.

• Chesterfield County had 25 licensure actions.

• Henrico County had 31 licensure actions.

• Richmond City had 18 licensure actions.

• Stafford County had 12 licensure actions.

Audit finds excessive CPS caseload

Almost 53,000 children were identified as possible victims of child abuse or neglect in Virginia last year, according to the DSS. That includes mental and sexual abuse.

Of the total identified, 4,911 victims met the evidence standard in investigations. Some children experienced more than one type of abuse.

However, almost 40,000 of those children received a "family assessment response." DSS uses that as an "alternative response" to an investigation. The assessment includes determining if there are immediate child safety concerns, services needs of the child and family that could deter abuse or neglect, and risk of future harm to the child.

The Office of the Inspector General released a statewide audit of CPS departments last year that recommended several ways the department could improve.

One finding from the report was that case screening was not always handled in accordance with CPS requirements. The audit found instances where referrals made to CPS should have been assigned an investigation track instead of a family assessment track, and vice versa.

Another finding from the survey of local DSS offices throughout Virginia was that some workers feel they have an excessive caseload. There is no limit to the number of cases each CPS case worker may have at one time, according to the audit. Some offices were also reportedly understaffed.

The Inspector General's office concluded that important details regarding a referral could be overlooked if an office was understaffed. A recommendation was to determine the appropriate workload standards for CPS staff.

 There are over 40 open DSS jobs currently listed for family services positions that would work on such reports of child abuse.

Sex abuse awareness takes center stage

Forty years ago, conversations about good, bad and secret touches were not common in Virginia schools.

The play "Hugs and Kisses" launched in Richmond in 1983 to teach children how to identify, report and protect themselves from sexual abuse.

The theater company estimated the play has served as an early intervention for the approximately 20,000 students who disclosed that abuse was taking place after seeing the play, according to Amber Martinez, the Virginia Repertory Theatre play coordinator.

There are about 150 performances of the play each year, and an estimated 45,000 to 55,000 students view it annually, according to Martinez.

Sexual abuse awareness education, based on state code and source interviews, is not consistently reinforced throughout Virginia schools. The "Hugs and Kisses" play is not mandatory, and schools choose how often they host the play, according to Martinez.

There has been pushback, especially in recent years, from school administrators and parents who are uncomfortable with discussion of "child sexual abuse," according to Martinez. However, those schools will usually schedule a performance after they review the script and see testimonials, she stated over email.

"I will say that with the new governor we've had, it's been trickier, and that's where politics and local voting is so important — it trickles down to what we teach and learn in schools," Martinez stated.

Teaching children and adults

Each school locality can decide if it will offer family life education. Some have called FLE Virginia's version of "sex education."

The FLE curriculum must include age-appropriate and evidence-based programs on topics that include, among others, awareness and recognition of child sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment and assault, and the meaning of consent, according to state code.

The importance of personal privacy and how to honor boundaries are also taught. The curriculum is reviewed every seven years and was last updated in 2020.

Nineteen of the state's 132 school divisions did not offer FLE, according to a 2021 Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction survey. The greatest concentration of school divisions that did not provide FLE are in Southwest Virginia.

Republican lawmakers in 2022, as part of the governor's efforts to promote parental rights in schools, introduced a bill to require parental consent before a child takes the FLE courses, and to allow review of any of the material in advance. The bill passed the House on a party-line vote, but failed to pass in the Senate.

FLE does not replace the responsibility of adults to keep children safe, Shakeshaft said. But the training could lead to an increase in reporting abuse, she said.

"We need to teach students about boundaries," Shakeshaft said. "More importantly, we need to teach the adults better about boundaries."

Families Forward created the Darkness to Light program curriculum, which teaches adults to identify when a child may be experiencing sexual assault, said Jamia Crockett, CEO of the organization. Families Forward works with educators and mandated abuse reporters through the school system, law enforcement and mental health professionals.

They also provide parent-peer support groups through their Circle of Parents program. This allows parents to have a peer network to connect with the proper authorities to report issues if they find out their child is a victim of sexual abuse, Crockett said.

'Adults normalize harm'

 Laurie Tasharski is the director of institutional abuse prevention for Stop Child Abuse Now in Northern Virginia. A comprehensive training approach is needed to better understand and report sexual abuse, she said. Training should focus on the ways children often disclose they are victims, even in ways they often "hint" at how a person makes them feel.

Instagram has become a place where young adults disclose abuse, Tasharski said.

"Kids are far, far more likely to disclose to friends or to disclose on social media than to tell an adult," she said. "I think part of that is that adults normalize harm between kids, and adults don't react well."

The burden of support for a survivor or a victim falls more heavily on younger people, through the ways they disclose abuse, she said.

Virginia training is more technical and focused on reporting the crime ‒ such as names of children involved and ages ‒ than it is about helping kids disclose information, Tasharski said.

"What we want to do is have conversations that make it safe for kids to say, 'that person makes me feel uncomfortable,'" Tasharski added.

Students need more education based on preventing sexual abuse, Tasharski said. There is focus on school security in schools, such as metal detectors and active shooter drills. This is important, she said, but the number of children who have experienced abuse is also incredibly high. Approximately 3.5 million child abuse cases are reported annually, according to SCAN.

"Prevention work is always going to feel less important than anything that ends up with the police at your door or a criminal charge," Tasharki said. "Unfortunately, we have a system that is geared to reacting when a crime is committed instead of preventing escalation of harm."

By Zahra Ndirangu, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. – A 3% tuition increase. Fees increase. Shrinking enrollment. A projected $25 million budget deficit. Reduced faculty positions. State mandated 7% merit increases. Temporary elimination of three-year contracts. Faculty protests. An unresolved statewide budget.

Virginia Commonwealth University has a number of challenges to navigate as it works through its budget process for the upcoming year.

VCU has approximately a $1.5 billion annual budget, according to Karol Kain Gray, the university's senior vice president and CFO of finance and budget. But it does not have enough incoming money that can be spent on general education funds.

"There is a misconception unfortunately among our academic community that we have [500] million dollars of money sitting in the bank that we can use in support of these budget cuts and faculty salaries," Gray said. "And we don't."

VCU actually has a bigger reserve of almost $650 million, from gifts, federal money and investments. But "well over half" of the funds have specific designations and use limits, according to Gray.

"We don't have enough state support," Gray said. "We don't have enough income coming in from our investments and we don't have enough funds coming in from our philanthropic area."

The budget pressure has led to a proposed elimination of 10-12 faculty positions in the Department of Focused Inquiry that could start as soon as the fall, and would apply to future contracts that would not be renewed.

In addition, VCU will defer the issuance of any new three-year contracts for any university term faculty, until there is less budget uncertainty, according to William Nelson, senior vice provost for academic administration and operations. Term faculty do not have tenure, and longer contracts can provide a sense of more job security.

Current three-year contracts will be honored. Nelson also said that many focused inquiry faculty will have "at least a year's notice, some of them more" if their contract is not renewed.

"We will resume offering three-year contracts where it makes sense to do so," Nelson said. "We're not abandoning three-year contracts."

Gray has to present a budget to the VCU Board of Visitors in June.

"And the only way I can balance the budget is by putting cuts on every unit and holding them responsible for meeting their budget," Gray said. "Every unit at VCU has received about a 5% cut."

Some departments are able to hit the 5% cuts by keeping positions vacant, or because teachers are retiring.

The Department of Focused Inquiry currently has 64 faculty and staff, according to its website.

Focused inquiry classes are required for all students on campus and are typically taken in a student's freshman year. There are 1-3 sequential courses, with at least the first one required for most students. The fundamental premise behind the starter courses is to introduce and develop student reasoning, communication, literacy and communication skills.

The department will need to adapt to the upcoming budget cuts, Nelson said. There are options on the table such as shifting to a two-course model and dropping the third option, which could keep more classes open, he said.

"I think there's several options on the table that we can consider to make sure that we stay committed to focused inquiry and to our students," Nelson said.

 He noted that the department has made significant contributions to the university.

"But the contributions of the past don't make you immune to evolving and budget pressures of today," Nelson said.

Assistant professor Emily Williams has been at VCU over a decade and she currently teaches focused inquiry.

The courses have aided in retention rates among students of color and first-generation students, Williams said.

"The sequence has always been crafted in order to have a whole structure of support for students and we have made a difference in student retention rates, particularly with underrepresented minority students," Williams said.

The focused inquiry department completes much of the work and student support that VCU prides itself on, according to Williams.

"They hire people in those administrative categories, framing that as a form of support for students while trying to fire the people who are more directly connected to students and supporting them face to face," Williams said.

Class capacity for the focused inquiry courses is around 21 students, according to Williams. The number of students per course section will increase if the department loses faculty.

VCU promotes the "small, seminar style" classes as an important part of ensuring first-year success. Larger class sizes will limit important feedback and support for freshmen, Williams said.

"Those kinds of things can really shift and give students the sense that they are less individually supported," she said.

VCU has offered over 100 of the classes, listed under UNIV, each semester since at least 2013, according to a review of the VCU Bulletin — used by students to register for classes. Almost all of the classes were full in the most recent spring semester, and many had waitlists.

Psychology major and rising sophomore Kennedy Ogden was enrolled in focused inquiry courses both semesters of her first year and found them helpful.

"I got to be more of an individual than when it comes to other class assignments because previously everything else has a very strict rubric, but this one it's like you're graded based on your performance and how you're going to interpret the instructions," Ogden said.

The course helped Ogden find community and adjust socially as a first-generation college student, she said.

The Faculty Senate, a body of university-wide elected representatives, recently voted 95% in favor of a resolution that supports keeping focused inquiry faculty. The resolution asked VCU not to reduce the number of full-time faculty. It was sent to President Michael Rao, Provost Fotis Sotiropoulos and the Board of Visitors, according to a review of the resolution provided by Williams.

VCU Workers is the university chapter of the labor union United Campus Workers of Virginia. In reaction to the budget cuts, the group has held protests, social media information campaigns and a recent meeting.

The chapter hosted a town hall on May 3. They maintain that the university does not have a financial crisis. A UCW lead researcher pointed to at least $500 million in reserves. It is the money Gray said is designated for specific purposes and not general education.

The union said that VCU could have better anticipated the dip in funding. UCW called on the university to resolve the budget gap through reserve funds, credit use and cuts to planned construction.

The VCU UCW Instagram is a platform for faculty to voice their concerns, and to help to connect students and faculty, Williams said. The UCW Virginia union launched a petition to keep the focused inquiry positions. It has over 1,400 signatures.

"We believe in a unified vision of what VCU should be and that we're working towards that," Williams said.

 RICHMOND, VA - The Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) announced that Conservation Police Officer First Class Amanda Nevel has been named the 2023 Conservation Police Officer of the Year. 

Natural resources law enforcement is a specialized field that involves a unique form of community policing that requires an unwavering commitment to protecting our state's citizens and its natural resources. It is clear to those who know Officer Nevel that she is such a committed officer, and she continually demonstrates a work ethic of quality professional customer service. She thoroughly immerses herself into fulfilling DWR's mission of conserving, connecting and protecting our citizens and wildlife resources in the Commonwealth. Officer Nevel is one of a dozen female officers proudly serving as a Virginia Conservation Police Officer (CPO). For the past seven years, she has protected the citizens and wildlife resources in the Northern Neck area of the state while patrolling the woods and waterways. 

"The Officer of the Year award is considered the highest honor that can be bestowed on a Conservation Police Officer in their career. I am very proud of all of our capable and hard-working officers, but especially proud of Officer Nevel and her commitment and the work she has done to be selected for this prestigious award. She was part of an extraordinary group of nominees across the state that we are privileged to have working for all of us here in the Commonwealth. Each one of them is to be congratulated on being chosen to represent their assigned regions in this Officer of the Year selection process," said DWR Chief of Law Enforcement John J. Cobb. 

Throughout her career, Officer Nevel has demonstrated a professional and positive attitude toward all her duties and responsibilities. These duties include the enforcement of our state's hunting, trapping, fishing, and boating laws. She has become the district leader in her work area and serves as a mentor and training officer to new recruits who join our team. Her steadfast work ethic and amicable demeanor serves as a positive example for all her fellow officers. She is a proven leader who has completed the inaugural Law Enforcement Leadership Development Program and sets the mark for how a committed and professional officer should conduct themselves while performing their duties. 

Her unwavering commitment to ensuring safe boating, responsible hunting and fishing, and her propensity to the education of our constituents in ethics, safety and legal responsibilities is to be commended. 

DWR is proud to have Officer Nevel on our team and serving the citizens of this Commonwealth. We offer her our wholehearted congratulations on a job well done!