PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Happening behind the walls of Portsmouth schools are some big changes and they were all highlighted in this year’s Portsmouth State of the Schools Address.
One of the important takeaways was the increase in school security.
“We have security guards at all of our elementary schools,” said Superintendent Elie Bracy.
Elementary students won’t be the only ones noticing more security measures. On Thursday all Portsmouth schools will be protected with a new visitor check-in system called the Raptor.
“It will let us know if they are on any sex offender registry or something comes up where they shouldn’t be allowed at the school,” Bracy explained.
While Bracy says those are great achievements, he’s also worried new attendance rules could prove to be a hurdle.
He says if a student is frequently absent, it will reflect on the school division’s accreditation even if they’ve hit all the marks academically.
“The students shared with me recently at my student advisory council they said I’ve got a lot of friends who are taking care of sick parents and they can’t come to school and they’re working long hours to support the household and themselves financially, so we have to take those things into consideration but I don’t see how we can share that with the state to get a break,” he stated.
The status of a possible 4th middle school was brought up too.
District officials say adding a fourth middle school would allow them to move 6th grade students out of their congested elementary schools.
“The city has already allocated $3 million for this year for the design phase so now it’s just the bids for the architect has come in. We’re going to meet shortly to look through that and see which architect we wil select,” Bracy said.
