Megan Pauly
Staff Reporter, VPM NewsMegan Pauly reports on early childhood and higher education news in Virginia. She was a 2020-21 reporting fellow with ProPublica's Local Reporting Network and a 2019-20 reporting fellow with the Education Writers Association.
Megan previously worked for NPR affiliate WDDE in Wilmington, Delaware, and freelanced for NPR affiliate WAMU in Washington, D.C. She's also reported for NPR, Marketplace, The Atlantic, The Hechinger Report and more.
Email Megan: [email protected]
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Richmond’s school board plans to vote on changes to its open enrollment policy Monday night. This comes just days ahead of when the district’s open enrollment period begins, when families can enter a lottery to enroll their students in schools of their choice, outside their zoned school, for the next academic year. -
Earlier this year, VPM News ran a series on Richmond’s evictions crisis. One story focused on a local family that’d been living in a motel for over a year, struggling to find housing after an eviction.
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Richmond’s school board voted Monday night 6-3 not to merge Barack Obama, Ginter Park and Linwood Holton Elementary schools through what’s called school pairing and instead leave the district’s current school zones on the Northside in place.
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Following the broadcast and publication of a series about the use of seclusion and restraint in private day schools serving students with disabilities, VPM News has learned some changes are being made at a Richmond-based private school to address staff concerns.
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For the past decade, Virginia’s Department of Education has been working on regulations for the practices. However, there isn’t an effort to standardize training for teachers and staff who use these methods.
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Regulations for the use of seclusion and restraint of students in Virginia public schools have been in the works for years. They’re now awaiting approval from Governor Ralph Northam. That was the update that Samantha Hollins, assistant superintendent for Virginia’s department of special education and student services, provided to state lawmakers Wednesday during a Virginia Commission on Youth meeting.
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State officials including Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney launched the Foster Friendly Business program Tuesday morning.
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Seclusion is confinement of a student alone in a room, and restraint is holding a student to restrict movement. In Virginia, the practices are legal. Some parents and educators say the procedures are necessary to protect students and staff.
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That’s following years of advocacy work trying to convince school leaders to change the names of two schools, Lee-Davis High School and Stonewall Jackson Middle School.
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Tiawana Giles has been principal at Carver since July 2018. She’s looking forward to some new initiatives this year: like a math curriculum pilot, and classroom libraries. “We're really excited about where we're headed,” Giles said.
