Sept. 15 Newsletter: RPS Hispanic enrollment plummets

Weather: Rain moves in late today, and will stick around for a couple days.

On this date in 1971, Central National Bank becomes the first bank in Richmond to offer "free checking." Others follow suit.

New enrollment drops among RPS multilingual students

The first RPS enrollment numbers are in, and they show huge drops in new enrollment among groups that primarily consist of Hispanic students.

The number of multilingual students from another country who recently arrived to Richmond schools, also known as "newcomers," stands at 10 so far this year.

One RPS official said teachers see the fear in the community. “You’ve always felt some type of fear, but now that fear is very real, it’s very intense,” she said. Read more here.

Also in education coverage:

Chesterfield School Board member resigns after uproar over social media post

Chesterfield School Board member Dot Heffron will resign as of Dec. 31, after criticism of a social media post she made about the killing of Charlie Kirk.

"As an elected official and as someone entrusted with the responsibility of supporting students, families, and educators, I should have shown better judgment," she wrote in an email. Read more here.

Housing authority chief says he is ‘disappointed’ by Avula’s Gilpin Court stance

The head of Richmond’s housing authority said Friday he was “disappointed” to see Mayor Danny Avula’s statement that he would not support the Gilpin Court redevelopment plan unless the authority met eight demands. 

A vote to transfer portions of Gilpin to a subsidiary company was supposed to take place Wednesday, but Nesmith says now that "we may or we may not." Read more here.

Richmond Times-Dispatch print subscriptions decline as cost rises to $1,430 annually

While print declines are a reality for virtually all publishers in the current climate, the Times-Dispatch also reported a decline in digital subscribers for a second consecutive year.

The news outlet reported 18,129 print subscribers and 22,291 digital subscribers as of June 8. Read more here.

In other news

• Broad Street Blues: Will the problem of blighted buildings be tackled amidst new Broad Street development? (Style Weekly)
• Virginia Tech fires football coach Brent Pry after program's 1st 0-3 start since 1987 (CBS 6)
• Henrico regains ownership of Best Plaza property (News release)

The editor's desk

One final climb up The Diamond's steps later, that's a wrap on the home of baseball in Richmond for the last 40 years. If anybody starts to get emotional, just start thinking about also saying goodbye to three-inning-long concession lines.

Michael Phillips, founding editor
mphillips@richmonder.org

Sent this by a friend? Sign up for our free thrice-weekly newsletter here.

Want to support The Richmonder? Become a donor for $9.99 a month and keep quality local journalism in the community.