Author: Charlotte Matherly

Page 3/6

A colorful book held in someone's hands

Bridgewater College student sets up ‘banned book fair’ Thursday to offer access to titles removed from county schools

Rockingham County students can’t access “The Invisible Boy,” “The Kite Runner,” “Heartstopper” or 54 other books in their school libraries now, but a local college student wants to make them available in a different way.

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Rockingham Co. school chair claims ‘there is no conflict’ with attorney, suggests he might not show up to April 1 emergency meeting

What had otherwise been a low-temperature Rockingham County school board meeting ended with a lengthy speech by board chair Matt Cross addressing questions about RCPS’s new legal counsel after The Citizen and the Daily News-Record reported on a potential conflict of interest. In his remarks, he suggested he and other county board members might not attend an April 1 emergency meeting about the issue. 

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A person holds the book "Drama"

Many Rockingham Co. parents and school staff have opinions and almost all have questions about book policies

“A joke,” one person called them. “Politically motivated disaster,” opined another. A “confusing, unnecessary overreach,” said one more — a sentiment that was repeated, just with different wording, in other responses. These were a few people’s opinions on the Rockingham County School Board’s proposed policies to determine selection and challenge criteria for library books, according to survey responses obtained by The Citizen through a Freedom of Information Act request.

A colorful book held in someone's hands

Rockingham County’s school board unveils proposals for selecting, reviewing and challenging books

The draft policies that the Rockingham County School Board presented Monday regarding the selection and review of books in schools would prohibit teachers and librarians from acquiring any books that contain sexually explicit content.

‘Don’t overlook the student journalists’: HHS students plan to bring award-winning approach to Rocktown H.S.

When Harrisonburg High School junior Jumana Alsaadoon found out her student newspaper was nationally recognized, she said she was “shocked.” But then it began to sink in: This national award from the Journalism Education Association was the result of several years of hard work.

A colorful book held in someone's hands

County school board inches closer to book policy, considers creating agricultural land lab

The Rockingham County School Board is preparing to release draft policies for library book selection and reviews. It also debated the creation of an agricultural land lab and is crafting its 2024-25 budget, despite uncertainty in the Virginia legislature.

Rockingham Co. school board revises policies to conform with Youngkin’s model, also creates school safety role

The Rockingham County School Board unanimously approved changes to five policies Monday night, officially revising its code to follow Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s model policies regarding students’ gender identities. This follows the board’s first vote last month to adopt those model policies in full.

A woman smiling

JMU alum and Entertainment Tonight journalist returns to Harrisonburg … with a story

Rachel McRady, an Emmy Award-winning journalist at Entertainment Tonight and 2011 JMU grad, will visit Parentheses Books downtown at 7 p.m. on Thursday for a conversation about “Sun Seekers” with Breeze TV reporter Alexa Bonilla.

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