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Post by Admin on Jan 16, 2022 21:24:25 GMT
 Virginia’s newly sworn-in Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed 11 executive actions on his first day in office, including ending the use of Critical Race Theory in schools, investigating officials' alleged wrongdoing in Loudoun County, and allowing parents to decide if their children should wear masks in schools. Youngkin announced the list of executive actions in a news release after being sworn in as the commonwealth’s 74th governor, the first Republican elected since 2009, on Saturday in Richmond. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed nine Executive Orders and two Executive Directives just hours after being sworn into office outside the State Capitol Saturday. The governor signed nine executive orders that address the following issues: To restore excellence in education by ending the use of divisive concepts, including Critical Race Theory, in public education. To empower Virginia parents in their children’s education and upbringing by allowing parents to make decisions on whether their child wears a mask in school. To restore integrity and confidence in the Parole Board of the Commonwealth of Virginia. To investigate wrongdoing in Loudoun County. To make government work for Virginians by creating the Commonwealth Chief Transformation Officer. To declare Virginia open for business. To combat and prevent human trafficking and provide support to survivors. To establish a commission to combat antisemitism. To withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). |
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Post by Admin on Jan 17, 2022 3:55:28 GMT
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin defended his decision to outlaw critical race theory in public schools — slamming the controversial philosophy as “racially divisive.”
Youngkin made the remarks following a decision to issue an executive order banning school lessons that define racism as an institutional problem deeply embedded in American society.
“There’s not a course called critical race theory,” Youngkin said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“All of the principles of critical race theory, the fundamental building blocks of actually accusing one group of being oppressors and another of being oppressed, of actually burdening children today for sins of the past, for teaching our children to judge one another based on the color of their skin, yes, that does exist in Virginia schools today, and that’s why I signed the executive order yesterday to make sure that we get it out of our schools,” he said.
He said his executive order will target the “tenets of racially divisive concepts,” and slammed liberals for trying to confuse the issue surrounding the teaching of critical race theory.
”We absolutely have to recognize what the left liberals do here is try to obfuscate this issue by saying there’s no course called critical race theory. Well, of course there’s not in elementary school. But, in fact, there are absolutely the tenets of CRT present in the schools and that’s what our executive order went at yesterday,” he said.
Youngkin, who was sworn in Saturday as Virginia’s first Republican governor since 2014, immediately signed off on nine executive orders and two executive directives.
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Post by Admin on Jan 18, 2022 3:53:20 GMT
Officials from Prince William County Schools and Manassas City Public Schools announced Monday that their universal masking policies remain in place despite Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Saturday executive order.  Prince William schools said in a note to the school community that they are sticking with the previous mask policy requiring them for all students and staff inside school buildings and rejecting Youngkin’s new order promising parental choice in the matter. Manassas schools did the same. “PWCS COVID-19 mitigation measures remain unchanged at this time, including mask requirements for students, staff, and visitors,” Superintendent LaTanya McDade said in a message to families Monday. “We are aware that over the weekend Governor Glenn Youngkin announced a series of executive orders, including future modification to guidance on masks in schools. The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) will also be issuing revised guidance. PWCS is evaluating both the order and anticipated VDOE guidance, along with local, state, and national legal requirements.” On Saturday, shortly after taking office, Youngkin signed 11 executive actions, the second of which promised parents the choice to send their child to public school without a mask and without any reason. “The parents of any child enrolled in an elementary or secondary school or a school board early childcare and educational program may elect for their children not to be subject to any mask mandate in effect at the child’s school or educational program,” the order, which is set to take effect Jan. 24, reads. But over the weekend, a number of school divisions announced that they were rejecting the order. Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax school divisions have also rejected the governor’s order, citing state law on the matter. Loudoun County Public Schools announced Monday that, since the order takes effect on Jan. 24, masks will be required at LCPS when school opens on Tuesday, January 18, 2022 and for the remainder of the week. The announcement said the division will review the updated guidance from the Governor’s Office, the Virginia Department of Education, and the Virginia Department of Health and will provide new information to LCPS families and staff this Wednesday. |
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Post by Admin on Jan 24, 2022 19:15:40 GMT
Seven Virginia school districts have filed suit against Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order leaving masking decisions to parents.
The school boards of Alexandria, Arlington County, the City of Richmond, Fairfax County, Falls Church, Hampton and Prince William County filed the suit on Monday.
The lawsuit argues the state constitution gives local school boards the authority to run their districts. It also cites a state law that requires school systems to follow federal health guidelines, which include recommendations for universal masking.
And in a released statement, the Falls Church board said the suit “defends the right of school boards to enact policy at the local level, including policies that protect the health and well-being of all students and staff.”
The lawsuit states: “At issue is whether locally-elected school boards will maintain the exclusive authority and responsibility conferred upon them by Article VIII, Section 7 of the Constitution of Virginia to supervise the public schools in their respective school divisions or whether the Governor can unilaterally infringe upon that authority through an executive order.”
In a statement, Prince William County School Board Chairman Babur Lateef said it was the system’s “highest priority to have students learning in-person” as well as protecting students and staff amid the ongoing COVID pandemic.
“It is also important that school boards retain their local decisional authority to take actions deemed necessary for the safety of their school community,” Lateef said.
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