Richmond Free Press December 2-4, 2021 edition

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Holiday events in the city B2

Richmond Free Press

VOL. 30 NO. 49

© 2021 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

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Meet this week’s Personality B1

DECEMBER 2-4, 2021

City still mulling offers for city-owned Confederate statues removed last year from Monument Avenue and other Richmond locations. Meanwhile, Gen. A.P. Hill statue, a gravesite, remains, along with monument outside Marsh Courthouse in South Side.

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Richmond removed in 2020 almost all of the city-owned Confederate statues that marred the landscape with their white supremacist message. But getting rid of the statues is proving to be harder. Seventeen months after the statues began coming down, the city is still mulling over the future of the statues. “It’s a work in progress,” stated Joyce L. Davis, Richmond City Council’s interim chief of staff, who has been a key figure on a joint committee set up by the council and Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration to consider bids and offer recommendations for the statues’ disposal. The city has 23 offers on the table from individuals and Confederate groups to museums like The Valentine in Richmond to take the statues but has yet to accept any. A majority of the bidders who came forward in September 2020 are hoping that Richmond will donate one or more of them, according to information posted on the city’s website. Ms. Davis indicated in an email response to a Free Press query that the slow pace for disposal could change in 2022. Gen. A.P. Hill statue

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Council members threaten to delay design funds for new George Wythe By Ronald E. Carrington

chair of the council’s Finance Committee, “I guarantee you I Will Richmond City Council am willing to hold funding until stand in the way of transferring we get a plan, until we know $7.3 million to Richmond Pub- where we are going.” lic Schools so an architect can If Dr. Jones’ view is emdesign a replacement George braced by a council majority, Wythe High School? it would be a blow to the Based on discussions at a School Board’s plan to award joint virtual meetthe design contract ing on Monday of in mid-January. the City Council, During Monday’s the School Board meeting, RPS Suand Mayor Levar M. perintendent Jason Stoney, that question Kamras distributed is still up in the air proposals submitas a council vote ted by nine design looms on the mayor’s firms. The submisrequest to allow the sions also included Dr. Jones transfer. different prototypes The meeting ended without for a building that would acany resolution of the key issues commodate 1,600 students. of disagreement, most notably The board has promoted the number of students the that size as sufficient given a new building should accom- separate plan the city supports modate. to develop another 1,000-seat Ahead of an anticipated high school in South Side that council vote on Monday, Dec. would focus on career and 13, at least one council member technical education. That high indicated he could support de- school is to go into a former lay — and pushing back design tobacco factory that has been and construction — until there donated to RPS. is an agreement on whether Dr. Jones was one of several the new building should ac- council members expressing commodate 1,600 students as concern that a new George the School Board proposes or Wythe building would be 2,000 students as city officials overcrowded immediately if it say is needed. could only accommodate 1,600 Councilman Michael J. students. Jones, 9th District, said that as Councilwoman Stephanie

Lynch, 5th District, and Councilwoman Katherine Jordan, 2nd District, also forecast overcrowding. They also voiced frustration with the lack of community engagement in deciding what’s needed in a new high school. “Will our school have multiple purpose spaces for community connectivity? How much community input will there be when the design is a prototype?” Ms. Lynch asked. “We expected to see that in Please turn to A4

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

We are the champions Dyron Davis Jr. shows off the championship ring he won, along with his teammates on the RVA Justices 8U youth football team, at last Saturday’s Armstrong-Walker Classic Legacy. The game, held at Willie Lanier Field at Hovey Stadium on Virginia Union University’s campus, followed a morning parade to revitalize the community spirit of the original annual event held from 1938 to 1978. Please see story, more photos, A6.

Public school enrollment down 46,000 statewide since pandemic By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Richmond Public Schools has reported that 2,700 fewer students were enrolled Sept. 30 as the new school year began than in 2019 before the start of the pandemic. Though there is optimism that enrollment has started to climb, the initial report represents a sharp and unexpected 11 percent drop in student numbers and is apparently the most significant decline in enrollment in recent years. The drop in enrollment comes from the Virginia Department of Education’s annual fall membership report that relies on Sept.

30 student enrollment data that the state’s 132 public school districts are required to provide. Richmond is not alone. According to the Virginia Department Mr. Kamras of Education, student enrollment has declined by 46,113 students statewide. As of Sept. 30, statewide enrollment was at 1.25 million students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, down from the nearly 1.3 million students reported enrolled as of Sept. 30, 2019.

Richmond, Chesterfield libraries join program to distribute free at-home COVID-19 test kits By George Copeland Jr.

Users of the free COVID-19 rapid antigen at-home test kits are linked virtually by cellphone or computer with an eMed assistant who guides the user through the process.

Libraries across Virginia have joined the effort to make it easier for residents to test themselves for possible COVID-19 infection. In a new partnership with the Virginia Department of Health, 18 public libraries — including Richmond Public Library and the Chesterfield County Public Library — will receive COVID-19 rapid antigen at-home test kits to distribute free to the public. The pilot project began Nov. 16 and will continue through the end of December, officials said. Libraries not selected as part of the pilot program have been able to opt into the program. The goal is to expand COVID-19 testing in the state, particularly among rural, underserved and other vulnerable communities. “We are pleased to work with public li-

School divisions in Chesterfield and Henrico counties also reported declines from pre-pandemic enrollment levels in 2019, though far smaller than Richmond’s drop. Chesterfield, which currently enrolls more than 62,000 students, is down less than 1 percent from 2019 enrollment levels, while Henrico, which currently has more than 48,000 students, has reported a 3 percent decline from 2019. Some small school divisions have been hit harder. Charles City County, for example, reported current enrollment is Please turn to A4

Free COVID-19 testing, vaccines

braries to provide another testing option for our community and to increase accessibility,” stated Dr. Laurie Forlano, deputy director of the state Health Department’s Office of Epidemiology. “Testing continues to be important to stop the spread of COVID-19, particularly as we enter the holiday season when people gather.” Jennifer Shepley, community services manager for the Chesterfield County Public Library, said late last week that the public response has been enthusiastic. More than 800 tests had been given out as of last Saturday, with some of the branch libraries temporarily running out because of high demand. Another shipment of tests has been received, Ms. Shepley said, and is ready for people to pick up. “We really hope people take advantage,”

Free community testing for COVID-19 continues. The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations: • Tuesday, Dec. 7, 9 to 11 a.m., Second Baptist Church of South Richmond, 3300 Broad Rock Blvd. • Wednesday, Dec. 8, 9 to 11 a.m., Eastern Henrico Recreation Center Pavilion, 1440 N. Laburnum Ave. Appointments are not necessary, but can be made by calling the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or by registering online at https://bit.ly/RHHDCOVID. Testing will be offered while test supplies last. COVID-19 testing also is available at various drug stores, clinics and urgent care centers throughout the area for people with and without health insurance. Several offer tests with no out-of-pocket costs.

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