A state senator says state Superintendent Lisa Coons "misled" a Senate committee when she testified that the Virginia Department of Education did not hear from any school divisions that they considered a tutoring program, which the state ended mid- school year, being a priority for them.
Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons
A letter from an official with Prince William County Schools — the second largest school division in Virginia — shows the division reached out to an official at the state education department and Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera, and said the tutoring program was “significantly helpful and beneficial for our entire division.”
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Education Department spokesman Todd Reid said that Coons was not aware of the Prince William schools email, which was directed to other state education officials.
The state Department of Education in February 2023 launched an academic recovery and coaching program, called Engage Virginia, to help students recover from the pandemic’s impact on learning and attendance. The Youngkin administration decided to scrap the program, and ended it Dec. 31 — halfway through the academic year, a move first reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
More than 7,200 students lost the academic recovery services they were receiving, and an additional 2,000 students on the waitlist did not get the support their families sought.
The Youngkin administration said in December that the one-time federal funding for the program had been exhausted and the program was wrapping up, but that school divisions could individually engage with the program by using their allocations from the governor’s ALL In VA plan.
Reid, the spokesman for the education department, said Coons was not aware of the Prince William schools email, which was directed to Quentin Ballard, the point person for Engage Virginia at the VDOE, and Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera.
“We receive thousands of emails a day,” Reid said. “Certainly this was not an email that was directed to the superintendent herself. Certainly if it had been, or if it had come from the superintendent of Prince William County, I imagine that it would not have been overlooked.”
Youngkin spokesman Christian Martinez deferred questions to Reid.
A December email from the Prince William County schools' dropout prevention and truancy intervention coordinator, obtained through a public records request, said that as of Dec. 6, the division referred 3,685 students, and Engage Virginia was able to make contact with and support 1,934 students and families.
The program provided “support, resources, and the ability to build and maintain a strong connection with our families and communities,” the letter said.
“Engage Virginia has supported us by assisting with vulnerable populations of students and families regarding chronic absenteeism, dropout prevention, and dropout re-engagement.”
Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, who sits on the Senate Education and Health Committee said, “Well, I challenged (Coons) on this in committee and am disappointed that she misled me and the entire committee in her response, especially given the significant interest in what has occurred with this program.”
Aird
Reid said that the VDOE learned of the email after the Richmond Times-Dispatch inquired about it. He also said that Coons spoke with the Prince William County Superintendent LaTanya McDade last week about the program, and that McDade said the school division was not interested in continuing the program.
McDade was not immediately available for comment.
Aird is carrying a budget amendment that would allocate $4 million for fiscal year 2025, which starts July 1, and $4 million for fiscal year 2026 from the state's general fund to continue the program.
“I have been speaking with our budget leaders to ensure they understand what’s at stake and that it continues to be considered as part of the budget process,” Aird said.
The chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee, Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, said school divisions — especially those with a large number of at risk-students — need the support of Engage Virginia.
“The abrupt cessation of this vital program, especially in the midst of an academic year, is harmful to our students,” Hashmi said Thursday.
The education department informed school divisions Dec. 5 that the Engage Virginia program would end on Dec. 31.
The VDOE maintains that if school divisions would like to continue the Engage Virginia program, they could use their allocation from Youngkin’s ALL In VA plan to work with the program.
The funding for the governor’s ALL in VA plan is from a one-time $418 million pot of discretionary money in the state budget designated “to provide flexible funding for the implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act, learning loss recovery, and additional operating and infrastructure support.”
More than half of Virginia’s school divisions had turned in their spending plan to the state for review by Nov. 1, and the state did not notify school divisions until December that the Engage Virginia program was ending.
When Coons testified in front of the Senate Education and Health Committee last month, she fielded questions from senators who wanted to know why the state abruptly ended the program.
The program “could have easily been reenacted by the administration,” Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, said at the Jan. 18 meeting.
Aird pushed back against Coons' statement that, “We did not hear from any school divisions that this was something that was a priority of theirs.”
She said that the Petersburg school division was "confused and wanted to continue that partnership."