Just six elementary school students have accounted for 128 referrals in the City of Fredericksburg this year.

Those chronic behavioral issues, FCPS Chief Academic Officer Lori Bridi told the school board Monday night, result in out-of-school suspensions that deprive those students of crucial instructional time — disproportionately affecting students who come from poverty.

But the impact doesn’t stop there, Bridi said.

“The [other] students are anticipating a disruption rather than being focused on their learning,” she said. “It creates a hostile learning environment where students and in some cases, staff, do not feel safe.”

The wide-ranging repercussions are why the division hopes to launch the Student Success Academy, a shared elementary school behavioral intervention classroom that’s included in this year’s budget discussion.

The Student Success Academy, which would be housed at Gladys West Elementary School, would provide students “with direct instruction for self-regulation, while continuing to attend school and receive grade-level instruction,” according to a presentation from Monday’s meeting.

Students who stand to miss significant instructional time due to behavioral issues could be referred to the Student Success Academy by a parent, teacher or administrator. Students would receive an individualized plan with goals created by family and school staff and receive specific supports based on their needs.

A return to school date would be set, “with possible next steps if the plan is successful.”

“The length of time in the program would be determined individually,” Bridi said. “However, it is intended to correct behaviors, not serve as a long-term placement for students.”

Ward 4 representative Malvina Rollins-Kay, who has voiced concerns about the program in recent meetings, renewed her apprehensions following Bridi’s presentation. In particular, she asked whether the division could consult Marsha Tate, an educational expert who has worked with FCPS in the past.

“These children end up in this prison pipeline that I don’t want to be responsible for when they become adults,” Rollins-Kay said. “They’re not socializing, or they don’t get to see examples of their friends behaving in a classroom setting.”

In that vein, board member Kathleen Pomeroy (Ward 2) mused whether students in the Student Success Academy could work on self-regulation skills in the morning, then have the opportunity to rejoin their classmates for lunch or recess.

“Absolutely,” Bridi replied. “I don’t think anything is off the table.”

School board chair Matt Rowe (Ward 1) noted that besides data and research, there’s an anecdotal basis for FCPS to consider additional behavioral supports.

“This is what we’ve been hearing in public comment from parents,” Rowe said. “We hear this from teachers. Being able to manage their classrooms and getting the support for that is right up there with compensation… I feel that we really do need to try something different.”

City schools ‘off track’ under new standards

If the Virginia Department of Education’s new performance and support framework were in place this year, all four Fredericksburg City Public Schools would be identified as “off track,” Bridi told the school board Monday night.

Based on academic performance in the 2024-25 school year, Hugh Mercer and Lafayette Elementary School and Walker-Grant Middle School would be identified for “targeted support,” meaning that FCPS would be required to enter into an MOU with the VDOE.

School Board Chair Matt Rowe (Ward 1) asked what such an MOU — triggered when more than 40% of a division’s schools are receiving “targeted support” — would look like.

“If I knew, I’d love to tell you,” Bridi said, noting that the representatives from VDOE referenced an MOU during a recent meeting with the division but that “it didn’t sound very different from the type of support that we currently get.”

Felicia Burkhalter, FCPS’s director of school quality, added that previous MOUs with the state included provisions requiring school divisions to ask permission for certain spending and providing for certain professional development opportunities.

Bridi also discussed start times for the upcoming school year, which include a 15-minute later arrival and dismissal for Gladys West Elementary School (8:45 a.m.–3:45 p.m.). She explained that staggering Gladys West’s schedule from adjacent Lafayette Elementary School would alleviate traffic on Learning Lane — a shared entrance/exit — and also allow activity buses to be freed up in the afternoon.

Rollins-Kay said that the difference between same grade levels gave her pause.

“If I have a friend who goes to Hugh Mercer, and I go to Gladys West, our play time after school is different because I get out later, but we’re in the same grade?” Rollins-Kay said. “When we started out, our premise was that all three elementary schools would be doing the same thing.”