Coraggio Consulting
Henrico County School Board Town Hall, Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Date: Tuesday, October 7, 2025
Place: Henrico County School Board, Virginia
Length: 14m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJvtFV5k6dc
Official meeting portal (Henrico County Public Schools, Diligent Community): https://henricoschools.community.diligentoneplatform.com/Portal/MeetingTypeList.aspx

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-25. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:06] Good evening, everyone, and thank you so much for being here tonight with us. I'm Christy Kinsella, Brooklyn District Representative, serving on the Henrico School Board. I'm joined this evening by my school board colleagues, Mrs. Marcy Shea, Chair of the Board, and Tuckahoe District Representative.

[00:00:25] Mr. Madison Irving, sorry, Three Child District Representative. Mr. Ryan Young, Representative of the Fairfield District, and of course, Ms. Alicia Adkins, representing the Verona District. So this is our third and final town hall meeting to gather feedback on the potential boundary adjustments at this time. We recognize that these conversations touch on what matters most, our children and their future. Your willingness to come together,

[00:01:03] listen and share your feedback, strengthens our community and ensures that thoughts are considered and perspectives are valued. Your input combined with new data on student enrollment and projected capacities will be essential as the school board considers these options. Here's where we are in the process. In August the school board requested information on possible boundary adjustments. A few weeks ago we received response responsive scenarios from the division. On September 18th we held our first town hall and launched a community survey. Last week the board

[00:01:43] removed two scenarios from consideration I'm sorry not last week at the last work session we removed two scenarios from consideration which were Jackson Davis and Ridge as well as Hungry Creek and Holman we also altered one of the scenarios which removed one part of the QMS option which was based on community feedback please know this process is ongoing and your continued input it will help guide the decisions ahead. The school board is listening, learning, and working together.

[00:02:18] Let's see. Tonight we're going to start with a brief overview of the scenarios under consideration for those of you who had not attended a prior town hall or have not yet had a chance to look at scenarios out on the website. You'll then have a chance to join small group breakout sessions to explore maps, share your ideas, and provide feedback. Each session in the breakout rooms will have a facilitator and a note taker to guide the discussion and capture your input which will be shared directly with the school board during the session you'll also receive a note card

[00:02:53] please use it to ask questions or share additional thoughts if you would like to go home and compose thoughts please email them to the redistricting at henrico.k12.va.us email your insights will help guide our discussions. I mean I know I can say based on reading feedback, for those of you who think that the board board is not reading your email and is not considering your feedback and that decisions already made, I can tell you

[00:03:27] that is absolutely not true. So here we go. Each year the school division thoroughly evaluates all of our school buildings and the way in which our spaces are used. HCPS follows the recommendations of the Virginia Department of Education and the functional capacity of each building, which is determined through an analysis of each room and how it's used for educational purposes.

[00:03:55] In addition, we report student membership counts at each school using September 30th as the point in time date. As you know, students move into and out of our schools throughout the year. That's why the state designates this date on which all school divisions report enrollment.

[00:04:15] The 25-26 school year enrollment numbers are not yet finalized. The current enrollment will be released to the school board in a presentation at our public meeting this Thursday, October 9th. On this slide, you'll see each of the boundary adjustment scenarios being considered reflect the 24-25 enrollment numbers and what's projected in the years ahead.

[00:04:38] This will be updated once we have this year's data, again, this Thursday, October 9th at board's work session that begins at 2 30 pm they also take into account current and new academic programs hdps is home to 17 specialty centers international baccalaureate programs and dual immersion programs with more exciting offering offerings on the horizon which include the new center for cyber security at henrico high school which will open in the fall 2026 the division's

[00:05:13] The second middle school center for innovation set to open at Cuyacuson Middle School next year. A new dual language immersion program at Moody for students who are currently enrolled in a similar program in K-5 at Holliday Elementary.

[00:05:30] And of course our expanded ACE offerings which will grow from 1,120 seats to 2,350 seats by the fall of 2027. We also have to consider the phased rebalancing of the IB Middle Years Program as seats shift into Tuckahoe Middle School from Moody Middle School.

[00:05:54] I share this with you because I want to reassure you we're giving a lot of thought to each scenario using a significant amount of data. The maps and scenarios you'll see tonight have different impacts on neighborhoods and feeder patterns.

[00:06:10] The neighborhoods on the slides are not comprehensive. A complete list of all impacted subdivisions can be found, and all current and proposed feeder pattern changes are linked in the HCPS Boundary Adjustment webpage.

[00:06:25] Additionally, families may now enter into a locator map their address to determine if or how they are impacted by any of the proposed scenarios, which is also linked to the HCPS Boundary Adjustment website.

[00:06:42] On this slide, you'll see the Carver Elementary scenario, which involves a small adjustment to move one neighborhood, Patterson West, from Mayberry to Carver. Carver Elementary is actually closer to this neighborhood geographically. The result is approximately nine students changing schools with no significant impact on functional capacity at the school. On this slide, Cuyacuson Middle School. When the new building opens in 2027, some neighborhoods would shift between Cuyacuson, Takahoe, and Pocahontas to improve feeder patterns. This

[00:07:19] This is one of the more complicated scenarios, so let's walk through it piece by piece. Students in the Brandon, Deer Lodge, Moreland West, and Sleepy Hollow neighborhoods who are currently zoned for Tuckahoe Middle School would move into Cuyahacin Middle School.

[00:07:36] Students living in Andover Hills, Mayland Towns, Pemberton Oaks, and Westbriar would move out of Cuyahacin Middle School to Tuckahoe Middle School. living in the crossings of Shorepump would move from Cuyacuson to Pocahontas Middle. At last work session the board eliminated the part of Cuyacuson scenario that would have moved 200 students from Pocahontas Middle School to Cuyacuson Middle School. So here is what the potential boundary adjustment looks

[00:08:12] like now. Cuyacuson Middle School was projected to have a net loss of nine students and a functional capacity of 71.2 percent. Tuckahoe would gain approximately 227 students through boundary changes and continued balancing of IB seats, bringing the functional capacity of the school to 99%. And enrollment at Pocahontas would increase by 37 students, creating a functional capacity of 95.3%. The elementary feeder patterns are adjusted within this scenario with Skipwith and Colonial Trail Elementary Schools no longer

[00:08:52] feeding into Cuyacuson Middle School and then with Mayberry would now feed Cuyacuson Middle School at the high school level in this scenario Cuyacuson Middle School would no longer feed into Tucker High School which eliminates one of the feeder middle schools which has been one of the board goals for Tucker High School and now on to the high school scenarios Douglas Freeman in this scenario the neighborhoods that you see on the screen would shift from Freeman to Godwin High School to address overcrowding at Freeman where the school has been operating

[00:09:30] at 104.5% capacity. As a reminder, these are primary neighborhoods that could be impacted but not a comprehensive list. A complete list of all the subdivisions impacted by each scenario once again can be found on our HGPS Boundary Adjustment website.

[00:09:51] In total, Freeman is estimated to have a net reduction of 129 students which would lower the school's functional capacity to 97%. Godwin would have an adjusted net gain of 129 students, putting the school's functional capacity around 93%. These percentages are lowered daily when students leave the school to participate in ACE Center programs. And next, Henrico High School.

[00:10:19] Just as some schools are experiencing overcrowding, other schools have space and resources to accommodate more students that are currently being served through zoning and specialty center programming henrico high school is an example in the henrico high school scenario students exist in existing neighborhoods and one future development would shift from highland springs or hermitage high schools to henrico high school to make better use of space you can see some of the neighborhoods listed on the screen and students living in chamberlain farms and lakeside terrace

[00:10:55] would move from Hermitage high school to Henrico high school students in central gardens and woodville would shift from holland springs high school to henrico high school and the numbers with those changes between boundary adjustments and participating in the new cyber security center that's coming at henrico would be a net gain of 405 students for the 26 27 school year holland Brown Springs would lose 67 students, and Hermitage would be reduced by 171 students,

[00:11:31] which would help balance each school's capacity. Moving on to J.R. Tucker High School. This scenario is designed to bring much needed capacity relief to Tucker High School, which has a functional capacity this past school year of 104.5%.

[00:11:51] Several neighborhoods that would shift here include neighborhoods to Hermitage and Godwin, would balance enrollment and relieve overcrowding at tucker the primary neighborhoods that are listed on the screen but again not a comprehensive list please see our website for specific neighborhoods impacted and again if you are unsure if you are impacted please input your address on the boundary adjustment locator out on our https website the impacts of the tucker high school scenario you'll see on the screen tucker high school would lose 299 students

[00:12:29] which would reduce the functional capacity to 89.4 percent. Hermitage High School would gain 280 students and Godwin would gain 19 students. And now for something I mentioned earlier, which is our breakout sessions. We will be seeking answers to the following questions: which scenarios make sense to keep exploring, which ones raise concerns, how should we think about the timing of these changes and key transitions and key transition years for example

[00:13:06] 5th 8th 11th and 12th and what supports are needed for students as we proceed and not just students but our staff as well historically there when there have been boundary adjustments students in 5th 8th and 11th 12th have the option to remain at their current school should that continue or are there factors we need to consider we are especially eager to get your opinions on these topics when you arrived you received a colored slip of paper with a room number in just a minute we're going to dismiss into breakout sessions staff

[00:13:41] will be available outside of outside of this area to help direct you once in the rooms you'll have a chance to look at posters of the maps and indicate which ones you support oppose or neutral on you can also share written comments or verbal comments and of course your written comments would go on your cards but please submit any questions you may have because I know the school board and the leadership team are receiving them and researching answers to them and I believe as we noted at the very beginning of this process that an FAQ

[00:14:19] would be available online and would continually update and then finally I'm just gonna go through one more time our anticipated timeline for action the board will continue to review community feedback and refine options as necessary with the goal of making final decisions in December.

[00:14:41] Thank you so much for coming out and for being a part of this important conversation. I'd like to thank you on behalf of the board for coming out and joining us this evening. And now you can break out into your breakout sessions. Thank you.

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