School divisions identified as being too heavy-handed when it comes to disciplining minority special-education students now must put money toward early efforts to keep children out of special education. Chesterfield and Henrico counties were cited by the Virginia Department of Education earlier this year for suspending or expelling a disproportionate number of minority special-education students during the 2007-08 school year.

Chesterfield County will register children for kindergarten and take applications for a limited number of pre-kindergarten positions Thursday at the county’s schools between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.

The Chesterfield County school system is considering having the state conduct an efficiency review of its noninstructional operations. Last night, the county’s School Board discussed whether to request participation in the Virginia School Efficiency Review Program run by the state’s Department of Budget and Planning. The department hires an independent consultant to look at possible efficiencies in areas such as human resources, finance, purchasing, special education, transportation, technology management and food services. The goal is for recommended savings to go into instruction.

Five schools went on partial lockdown this morning in Chesterfield County when sherriff’s deputies were attempting to serve an arrest warrent for nonviolent offenses and the suspect fled from police in the Salem neighborhood.

Jameria Thomas holds a copy of the letter she wrote to President Barack Obama. Behind her are three of her classmates and fellow finalists in the “Dear Mr. President” project, Stephen Adkins, Roshard Phipps and Jewel Porea (from left). The toughest task for President Barack Obama may not be fixing the economy but making some children’s dreams come true.

The Chesterfield County School Board is faced with a $52 million budget shortfall for the coming school year, and has responded by proposing the elimination of staffing and programs specifically targeted to help economically disadvantaged students pass state SOL tests. These targeted programs work and are essential in helping county Title I schools that serve this demographic meet the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) goals and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) benchmarks. Generally, a school may qualify as a Title I school if 40 percent or more of its students meet the United States Census definition for low income.

Peggy R. Moncure, director of bands at Manchester Middle School, thought the Holocaust was a topic for social studies. “I wondered how music was going to fit in the Holocaust,“ she said.