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City Council approves design funds for a new George Wythe
Full speed ahead for a new George Wythe High School.
End of an era
Hampton University President William R. ‘Bill’ Harvey is stepping down June 30 after 44 years at the helm
Hampton University, one of the nation’s first historically black institutions, was a small struggling four-year college on the banks of the Hampton River near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay when an ambitious, young Dr. William R. “Bill” Harvey Jr. from Tuskegee Institute in Alabama was chosen as president of the institution.
Personality: Bianca Stewart Williams
Spotlight on board president of Dress For Success Central Virginia
Whether it’s finding profes- sional attire for a job interview or receiving a guiding hand to stay employed, Bianca Stewart Williams is making sure area women are well-equipped and prepared for the world of work. Ms. Williams has been lead- ing Dress for Success Central Virginia as its board president since 2018, bringing to the community the not-for-profit organization’s mission of em- powering women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of sup- port, professional attire and development tools to help them thrive personally and professionally. “Thousands are disadvan- taged and need resources to gain employment and economic status,” Ms. Williams says. “Our purpose is to offer long- lasting solutions that enable women to break the cycle of poverty.” Ms. Williams joined Dress for Success in November 2015, three years after the Central Virginia affiliate was started. She says she was a client at first. After being displaced from her job, she volunteered helping women with suit fittings and started using the organiza- tion’s Career Services program, which provides help with career coaching, résumé reviews, job searches and interview practice. She landed a new job, and from that point, Ms. Williams says, Dress for Success has been “near and dear to my heart.” Currently, Dress for Success Central Virginia operates from 210 E. Clay St. in Downtown. But Ms. Williams wants to find a building the organization can
Church Hill Academy student selected for weeklong leadership academy in Greece
Scholar-athlete Javon A. Brooks will spend a summer week in Athens, Greece, building his leadership skills.
Charles ‘Baby Charles’ Jones Jr., promoter, manager and producer for entertainers, dies at 47
Charles “Baby Charles” Jones Jr. managed, promoted and produced recordings for new and up-and-coming singers and hip-hop artists during his 30 years in the entertainment field. But the Richmond native was proudest of his work guiding and mentoring the music career of his oldest son, Charles Jones III, better known as Young Prince Charles in the rap world.
‘We, too, are Americans’ by Dr. E. Faye Williams
Throughout my life, I have been blessed with family and friends who have admonished me to be a critical thinker. Not only was I challenged to think, but to think with clarity, appropriate urgency and logic. The old idea of being one who thought “while others were sleeping” was not lost on me. In fact, preemptive thinking has saved me from misfortune a time or two — both personally and professionally.
Exploitation of Africans, Africa
A recent Washington Post article, “Surge of international applicants at elite colleges,” reported that academic institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dartmouth, etc. have experienced a large increase in international applications to attend their institutions. Since 2020, international applications have increased 34 percent, according to the article. One factor is universities dropping SAT and ACT score requirements.
New lease on life
Wize Shahid, aka Robert Henry ‘Wize’ Green, still seeks to help other inmates following his release from the Virginia prison system after more than two decades
It was in early January that the man formerly known as Robert Henry “Wize” Green learned he would be released from prison after serving more than 20 years behind bars.
Personality: Sharon S. Jennings
Spotlight on Virginia State Coach of GirlTrek
For the last six years, Sharon Simmons Jennings has helped put pep in the step of women throughout Richmond.
William Hugo Van Jackson Jr., musician and music educator, dies at 86
William Hugo Van Jackson Jr., a jazz performer who spread his love of music to thousands of Richmond students through his music teaching and directing of high school bands, has died. Mr. Jackson, who was living in Ellicott City, Md., died on Sunday, April 3, 2022. He was 86.
VUU President Lucas receives five-year contract extension
Dr. Hakim J. Lucas, the president and chief executive officer of Virginia Union University, has more job security.
Richmond Virtual Academy may become its own school
The Richmond Virtual Academy is to become a new elementary school that could enroll between 400 and 500 students a year in online classes, the Richmond School Board decided Monday night. Instead of phasing out the program online learning program as Superintendent Jason Kamras proposed in February, the board, after hearing pleas from academy supporters, adopted a proposal by School Board member Kenya Gibson, 3rd District, to make RVA a school of record like other elementary schools, and eligible for annual state and local funding like other schools. While that decision must be approved by the state Department of Education, the vote to keep RVA as a functioning entity came as the board finalized its budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year. The board had a deadline on Wednesday to deliver a finished budget to City Council. Overall, the approved budget authorizes a record $548 million in total spending, or an expenditure of about $25,253 for each of the 21,700 students RPS estimated as enrolled in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Along with grants and one-time federal funds, the RPS budget provides $356.6 million in general fund spending, which mostly includes revenue from the city and state, or about $16,400 per student. The board, which cut $6 million from Mr. Kamras’ original general fund proposal, is relying on receiving a $15 million increase from the city in the fiscal year that begins July 1. That would boost total support from the city from $185.3 million this fiscal year to a new record of $200.3 million in 2022- 23. The increase from the city is largely designed to fund the local share of a 5 percent pay increase for teachers and other staff that the state plans to institute. Staff and teachers of the Richmond Virtual Academy, currently listed as a program and funded with federal CARES Act dollars, advocated for it to remain open and funded and rallied parents to lobby for the survival of the academy that adopted the owl as its mascot and bills itself as a space “where learning is a hoot.” The board’s vote was both a reaction to the lobbying and a rebuke to the adminis- tration, which had notified the academy’s entire staff that they would be laid off as of July 1 and would need to reapply for positions within RPS. Mr. Kamras initially proposed cutting the program from 70 to just 10 instructors, who would largely teach homebound students too sick or injured to come to school or students removed from in-person learning for discipline reasons. Cindi Robinson, the academy’s princi- pal, said the board’s action is good news for parents and students. “Virtual learning is not just a Band-Aid,” Ms. Robinson said, noting that numerous school divisions have found some students “actually thrive and do better” in an online program. Among them is Sheila Barlow’s 19-year- old son, Douglas. Ms. Barlow told the board that the virtual school has been a boon for her son and other students like him with serious disabilities who can now attend class from home in a safe environment. Her son has Down syndrome and can- not talk, she said. “He has a sign language interpreter for all of his classes,” Ms. Barlow told the Free Press. “If he goes back to in-person learning, my son would not have that service.” While the board’s action appears to have saved the virtual academy, the board’s funding will provide only for a reduced operation. Richmond’s virtual operation enrolls about 768 students, including 500 elementary school students, which is fewer students than Henrico and Chesterfield’s school systems. But that would shrink further. The board’s funding would allow for only 30 total staff, including a principal, counselors and other staff and about 23 instructional staff strictly for elementary programming. Currently, the school has at least 70 staff members, including a 43-member instructional staff. As part of the transition, the School Board agreed with the administration’s plan to end enrollment for middle and high school students who can move to the state’s online program, Virtual Virginia. The revamped Richmond Virtual Acad- emy also will oversee virtual educational programming for students who are home- bound for disciplinary or health reasons. According to board members, the ad- ministration is expected to drop the cur- rent homebound program that dispatches teachers to the homes of students to provide in-person instruction two hours a day. If it becomes a school of record as anticipated, RVA would not only have a budget, but would also report state Stan- dards of Learning test results. The board’s budget, meanwhile, cuts more deeply into the central office staff than Mr. Kamras proposed and largely eliminates contracts for consultants pro- viding curriculum training. Ms. Gibson also won approval for an audit of Mr. Kamras’ original budget plan after she turned up a significant discrepancy in total employee numbers compared with the current year. The board also provided funding for the first time to enable 400 students to take math, science and other required high school classes at the Richmond Technical Center along with their career and voca- tional training programs. Under the initiative advanced by Jona- than Young, 4th District, the students will no longer have to be shuttled back to their home schools for those courses. This change is seen as a harbinger of the proposed career and technical high school that RPS plans to create in a former tobacco plant in South Side. In addition, the board also provided funds to support an increase in the number of students during the next four years at two specialty high schools, Richmond Com- munity and Franklin Military Academy, and three regional high schools, Code RVA and the Maggie L. Walker and Appomattox regional governor’s schools.
Will Smith gets 10-year ban over Oscar slap
The motion picture academy has banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars or any other academy event for 10 years following his slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards.
Brother Biden, please keep another promise or two, by Julianne Malveaux
I do this thing in my head with President Biden. When he gets on my nerves, I often call him President. When I want something from him or want to thank him for something, I call him Brother Biden.
Lynching finally a hate crime, by Dr. E. Faye Williams
I can’t completely or accurately articulate my elation upon witnessing President Biden signing the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act into law late last month. With his signature, he affirmed what Congress had acknowledged — that lynching was, indeed, a federal hate crime.
Incoming U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson celebrated at White House ceremony
“In my family, it took just one generation to go from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States.” With those words, incoming Justice Ketanji Brown Jack- son acknowledged both the struggles and progress of Black Americans in her lifetime.
Finding the silver lining
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an unprecedented challenge to people and businesses during the last two years. But some Richmond area residents have been able to find a silver lining during the crisis.
Re-entry training program locked out of former school building
The shutdown has come for a Richmond-based program that linked people released from jails and prisons to training for construction jobs.
