Henrico County’s School Board voted last night to designate $2.5 million in state stabilization funds to begin planning a new high school in the Varina district.

School administrators straddle a fine line between conducting student searches for drugs and weapons and violating students’ Fourth Amendment right to privacy. Virginia guidelines for student searches in schools require a “reasonable suspicion” that a student is in possession of an item prohibited by school rule, regulation, policy or law before a search can be conducted.

According to the opening sentence in yesterday’s news story regarding school districts: “Nothing matters more to some Henrico County parents than where their children attend school.“ Reporter Lisa Crutchfield has it exactly right. The observation applies not only to Henrico but to every jurisdiction with multiple schools. For families with children, attendance zones may be the determining factor in choosing where to live. Parents typically ask real-estate agents, “Which schools will our children attend?“ Prospective home-buyers consult assessments—and neighborhood test scores and college-acceptance rates. Some years ago one of the region’s superintendents (who since has retired) explained that although almost all citizens will profess support for education, for households with students the schools often rate as the No. 1 concern. Nothing else comes close.

Nothing matters more to some Henrico County parents than where their children attend school. In the past six months, neighborhoods have organized and rallied to try to influence a 70-member redistricting committee to send their children to specific schools. They’ve sent thousands of e-mails, printed T-shirts, set up Web sites and organized community meetings to make their wishes known.

Cumberland County school district has adopted a $16.4 million budget, Superintendent James Thornton said. The school budget, adopted Thursday night, calls for $10.6 million from the state, $1.9 million in federal funds and $3.9 million from the county. Cumberland supervisors had hoped to provide $4.1 million—the same amount as last year—but recently ended up having to reduce the county’s allocation by $150,000, Thornton said.

Chesterfield students won awards at the Metro Richmond Science Fair on March 21, coordinated by the MathScience Innovation Center. First-place winners in the senior division will advance to statewide competition April 3-4 at George Mason University. These are senior division winners from Chesterfield:

• medicine and health, first—Jessica Harrington, Math and Science High School at Clover Hill;

Four area students attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards conference Feb. 14-16 at the 4-H Airfield Center in Wakefield. The all-expenses-paid leadership-training program is designed to recognize, encourage, and further develop the leadership skills of selected high school juniors and seniors who have shown a potential for service to their schools and communities.

Chesterfield County school leaders are welcoming the news that they’ll get to keep most teachers and support staff after weeks of agonizing about the potential loss of hundreds of job because of budget cuts. “The current mood is happier, of course,“ said Brent Thomas, principal at Chester Middle School. “I think everyone is relieved.“

The Powhatan County School Board approved a $41.1 million budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year during a special meeting Friday. The budget does not call for salary reductions or layoffs, a statement from the School Board said. The board had to reduce the current year’s budget by almost $2 million to make up for the anticipated shortfall in revenue, primarily from the state, while also bracing for cost increases.

Five schools in Chesterfield County went on partial lockdown for about an hour this morning when a man sought by the sheriff’s office fled. Just before 8 a.m., all exterior doors were locked at Salem Church Elementary School, Salem Church Middle School, O.B. Gates Elementary School, L.C. Bird High School and Chesterfield Technical Center because of their proximity to the area where the man fled, schools spokesman Shawn Smith said.

The Steve Kolidakis Chapter No. 155, Order of AHEPA (American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association) of Hopewell has donated $500 to The Hopewell Public School Foundation. Robert Stepp, AHEPA President, made the presentation to Dr. Winston O. Odom, superintendent of Hopewell Public Schools and secretary-treasurer of the Hopewell Public School Foundation. The foundation’s goal is to make Hopewell Public Schools the best school system it can possibly be for all students.

On Feb. 20, published author Tayashimaya Morris visited Walnut Hill Elementary School in Petersburg to talk to the fifth-grade students. Students are preparing for the state Standards of Learning writing test. Morris is a Petersburg native and a 1990 graduate of Petersburg High School. Morris spoke to students about her success and how they can become successful as well. She read her book, “Whew, It Was Only a Dream.“ She also told the students how she writes, why she writes and when she writes. She told the students, “You can be anything you want if you set your mind to it.“

Henrico County schools will see more teachers, administrators and technology in the classroom during the next school year. The School Board voted last night to approve the schools’ $518.4 million budget, a 1.9 percent increase from this year. The district will hire 15 new teachers, including an additional English as a Second Language instructor. In addition, two administrators for schools opening in 2010 and an assistant principal at the middle school level will be hired.

A week before finalizing a budget to submit to the City Council, the Petersburg school system still needs to trim $298,570 to balance it. The district is facing a shortfall of $3.7 million for its $54.2 million budget. The proposed budget calls for reducing staff positions, cutting transportation for after-school athletic practices and stipends for coaches and advisers at Petersburg High School, Peabody Middle School and Vernon Johns Junior High.

At its Feb.18 public meeting, the Petersburg School Board recognized three “little brothers” and three “big brothers,“ in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, who made a special contribution on Martin Luther King Day in January. DeMarkus Boyd and Jalon Jones of Robert.E. Lee Elementary School, and T’Quan Mason of J.E.B.Stuart Elementary, accompanied their Big Brothers Romell Floyd, Amos Pierre and Ashmore Hyndman to Virginia State University. There, the “littles” read speeches in honor of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., which they had worked on with their “bigs.“