2 weeks Ago
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has ordered state officials to help school divisions ensure communication with parents during school emergencies is a top priority as the deadline to implement the state's new cellphone-free education policies is approaching in January. The Virginia Department of Education on Tuesday released the final version of its guidance for cellphone-free education in K-12 schools, which includes an added appendix that addresses safety concerns voiced by students and parents.
The guidance is largely similar to the draft guidance released by the department last month in keeping with the directive that any student with a cellphone should turn it off and store it away, “bell-to-bell” throughout the school day. People are also reading..
. A top concern noted during the public comment period was that students be able to communicate with their parents in the event of a school emergency. The finalized guidance lays out the existing laws that schools are required to follow regarding emergency procedures.
Schools must notify parents at the start of each school year about any updates to the annual crisis emergency plan and outline the communications plan for parent notification in the event of a school crisis. Youngkin has also ordered the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, the Virginia Department of Education, and the Department of Criminal Justice Services’ Virginia Center For School and Campus Safety to help school divisions develop their required emergency response plans to ensure that communication with parents during emergencies is a top priority. Youngkin will establish a task force to support school and division leaders with enhancing communications during school-based emergencies.
Gov. Youngkin speaks during a press conference about the Standards of Learning Pass rates in Virginia Schools, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024.
MIKE KROPF, TIMES-DISPATCH Youngkin ordered the education department's cellphone-free education guidance. He released an executive order in July calling for cellphone restrictions in schools, the first statewide effort in Virginia to restrict cellphone usage during instructional time. “This guidance from the Virginia Department of Education is an important step towards creating a healthier learning environment where students can receive a quality education free from harmful distractions,” Youngkin said in a statement Tuesday.
“I appreciate the substantive engagement from parents, teachers, administrators and our students and we will continue to engage in these discussions with parents and students on how Virginia can continue to improve these policies and keep the Commonwealth’s education system best-in-class. Together, we’re creating a healthier, safer and more focused learning environment for our children.” Hundreds of students wrote in to the department asking to use their phones during lunch hours.
The department did not concede that request. It noted research that indicates students receive more than 200 notifications a day on their smartphones and two-thirds of U.S.
students report being distracted by using digital devices. “It is essential that students have the opportunity to develop face-to-face conversations and critical in-person communication skills during unstructured school hours,” the Department of Education said in a Tuesday news release. Where refugees in Virginia are arriving from Where refugees in Virginia are arriving from During the past five decades, the U.
S. has resettled over 3 million refugees , making it one of the leading countries for finding new homes for people fleeing violence, persecution, and war. In 2021, then-President Donald Trump lowered the annual cap of refugees that could be admitted into the country to 15,000 .
Even as the Biden administration has raised the ceiling to 125,000, the annual number of refugees arriving in the U.S. didn't immediately bounce back to pre-Trump administration levels.
The numbers are increasing though, with over 25,000 refugees arriving in the U.S. in the 2022 fiscal year, twice the 2021 total.
Refugee arrivals during the 2023 fiscal year dramatically outpaced the prior two years, reaching over 60,000 from October 2022 to September 2023. In February 2024, the greatest number of refugees admitted by the U.S.
came from Congo, Syria, and Afghanistan. Each nation faces a unique set of circumstances that can make their citizens unsafe if they stay in their home country. For the last three decades, Congo , also called the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been struggling with a series of civil wars and internal battles that have left millions of people displaced, both internally and externally, with many people fleeing to neighboring countries.
Syria has seen more than 5 million refugees flee to neighboring nations since 2011 while a longstanding civil war rages, with an additional 6.8 million people forced from their homes and seeking refuge elsewhere in the country. Afghan refugees have been fleeing to neighboring countries for decades, especially to Pakistan and Iran, which combined host over 8 million Afghans.
Stacker referenced data from The Refugee Processing Center to compile statistics on the number of refugees and their countries of origin resettled in Virginia in February 2024. February refugee statistics Countries where refugees arrived from in February To Virginia: #1. Afghanistan: 125 #2.
Congo: 29 #3. Pakistan: 24 #4. Guatemala: 17 #5.
Venezuela: 15 #6. Syria: 11 #7. El Salvador: 10 #8.
Colombia: 7 #9. Iran: 4 #10. Eritrea: 2 #10.
Honduras: 2 #10. Iraq: 2 #13. Cameroon: 1 #13.
Central African Republic: 1 #13. Senegal: 1 To the U.S.
as a whole: #1. Congo: 2,426 #2. Afghanistan: 1,299 #3.
Venezuela: 1,230 #4. Syria: 981 #5. Burma: 826 States that accepted the most refugees in February: #1.
Texas: 1,062 #2. California: 572 #3. Florida: 554 #4.
New York: 507 #5. Arizona: 450 Read on to see the countries that Virginia has accepted the most refugees from since the start of the fiscal year in October 2023. Robsonphoto // Shutterstock #1.
Afghanistan Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since October 2023 To Virginia: 655 To the U.S. as a whole: 5,925 Top states receiving refugees from Afghanistan #1.
California: 1,228 #2. Virginia: 655 #3. Texas: 542 #4.
Washington: 440 #5. Maryland: 272 Canva #2. Syria Refugees that arrived from Syria since October 2023 To Virginia: 150 To the U.
S. as a whole: 6,818 Top states receiving refugees from Syria #1. New York: 673 #2.
Michigan: 655 #3. Pennsylvania: 465 #4. Texas: 375 #5.
California: 361 hanohiki // Shutterstock #3. Congo Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2023 To Virginia: 128 To the U.S.
as a whole: 9,929 Top states receiving refugees from Congo #1. Kentucky: 893 #2. Texas: 804 #3.
Arizona: 747 #4. Ohio: 645 #5. New York: 600 Katja Tsvetkova // Shutterstock #4.
Guatemala Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October 2023 To Virginia: 63 To the U.S. as a whole: 1,920 Top states receiving refugees from Guatemala #1.
California: 270 #2. Texas: 172 #3. North Carolina: 148 #4.
Florida: 113 #5. New York: 87 Lauren Squire // Shutterstock #5. Pakistan Refugees that arrived from Pakistan since October 2023 To Virginia: 57 To the U.
S. as a whole: 481 Top states receiving refugees from Pakistan #1. Pennsylvania: 63 #2.
Virginia: 57 #3. Texas: 53 #4. North Carolina: 46 #5.
Maryland: 30 W_NAMKET // Shutterstock #6. El Salvador Refugees that arrived from El Salvador since October 2023 To Virginia: 55 To the U.S.
as a whole: 691 Top states receiving refugees from El Salvador #1. California: 84 #2. Texas: 80 #3.
Maryland: 76 #4. Virginia: 55 #5. North Carolina: 53 Canva #7.
Iraq Refugees that arrived from Iraq since October 2023 To Virginia: 28 To the U.S. as a whole: 762 Top states receiving refugees from Iraq #1.
California: 136 #2. Michigan: 95 #3. Nebraska: 45 #3.
Texas: 45 #5. Washington: 38 Focus and Blur // Shutterstock #8. Venezuela Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since October 2023 To Virginia: 27 To the U.
S. as a whole: 2,504 Top states receiving refugees from Venezuela #1. Florida: 501 #2.
Texas: 304 #3. Georgia: 146 #4. Illinois: 143 #5.
Tennessee: 110 Canva #9. Ukraine Refugees that arrived from Ukraine since October 2023 To Virginia: 25 To the U.S.
as a whole: 725 Top states receiving refugees from Ukraine #1. Washington: 249 #2. California: 110 #3.
Ohio: 40 #4. New York: 37 #5. Kentucky: 35 Ruslan Lytvyn // Shutterstock #10.
Nicaragua Refugees that arrived from Nicaragua since October 2023 To Virginia: 15 To the U.S. as a whole: 786 Top states receiving refugees from Nicaragua #1.
Florida: 151 #2. California: 60 #3. Texas: 48 #4.
Minnesota: 44 #5. North Carolina: 40 Milosz Maslanka // Shutterstock #11. Colombia Refugees that arrived from Colombia since October 2023 To Virginia: 14 To the U.
S. as a whole: 685 Top states receiving refugees from Colombia #1. Florida: 98 #2.
North Carolina: 59 #3. Texas: 54 #4. New York: 49 #5.
Washington: 46 Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock #11. Honduras Refugees that arrived from Honduras since October 2023 To Virginia: 14 To the U.S.
as a whole: 505 Top states receiving refugees from Honduras #1. Texas: 87 #2. Florida: 65 #3.
California: 33 #4. Georgia: 32 #4. New York: 32 amnat30 // Shutterstock #13.
Eritrea Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since October 2023 To Virginia: 12 To the U.S. as a whole: 735 Top states receiving refugees from Eritrea #1.
Texas: 73 #2. Washington: 68 #3. Maryland: 61 #4.
North Carolina: 45 #5. Ohio: 41 Dave Primov // Shutterstock #14. Mali Refugees that arrived from Mali since October 2023 To Virginia: 10 To the U.
S. as a whole: 138 Top states receiving refugees from Mali #1. New York: 24 #1.
Pennsylvania: 24 #3. South Carolina: 22 #4. Michigan: 12 #5.
Missouri: 11 Canva #15. Congo Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2023 To Virginia: 9 To the U.S.
as a whole: 9,929 Top states receiving refugees from Congo #1. Kentucky: 893 #2. Texas: 804 #3.
Arizona: 747 #4. Ohio: 645 #5. New York: 600 Katja Tsvetkova // Shutterstock #16.
Sudan Refugees that arrived from Sudan since October 2023 To Virginia: 7 To the U.S. as a whole: 870 Top states receiving refugees from Sudan #1.
Missouri: 57 #2. Nebraska: 56 #3. Texas: 55 #3.
New York: 55 #5. Pennsylvania: 54 Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock #17. Iran Refugees that arrived from Iran since October 2023 To Virginia: 5 To the U.
S. as a whole: 205 Top states receiving refugees from Iran #1. California: 110 #2.
Texas: 18 #3. North Carolina: 10 #4. Washington: 9 #4.
Illinois: 9 Andrew V Marcus // Shutterstock #17. Burma Refugees that arrived from Burma since October 2023 To Virginia: 5 To the U.S.
as a whole: 2,899 Top states receiving refugees from Burma #1. Texas: 327 #2. Illinois: 297 #3.
New York: 266 #4. Georgia: 192 #5. Arizona: 189 Chantal de Bruijne // Shutterstock #19.
Ethiopia Refugees that arrived from Ethiopia since October 2023 To Virginia: 4 To the U.S. as a whole: 232 Top states receiving refugees from Ethiopia #1.
Minnesota: 67 #2. Ohio: 25 #3. Washington: 24 #4.
Georgia: 21 #5. lowa: 11 Artush // Shutterstock #20. Burundi Refugees that arrived from Burundi since October 2023 To Virginia: 3 To the U.
S. as a whole: 217 Top states receiving refugees from Burundi #1. Texas: 32 #2.
New York: 29 #3. Arizona: 28 #4. Pennsylvania: 14 #5.
Maryland: 13 Rostasedlacek // Shutterstock #21. Republic of South Sudan Refugees that arrived from Republic of South Sudan since October 2023 To Virginia: 2 To the U.S.
as a whole: 610 Top states receiving refugees from Republic of South Sudan #1. Nebraska: 59 #2. Texas: 56 #3.
Connecticut: 53 #4. Colorado: 46 #5. Minnesota: 44 punghi // Shutterstock #21.
Somalia Refugees that arrived from Somalia since October 2023 To Virginia: 2 To the U.S. as a whole: 1,283 Top states receiving refugees from Somalia #1.
Minnesota: 419 #2. Ohio: 110 #3. Georgia: 63 #4.
New York: 62 #5. Arizona: 61 Dave Primov // Shutterstock #23. Jamaica Refugees that arrived from Jamaica since October 2023 To Virginia: 1 To the U.
S. as a whole: 13 Top states receiving refugees from Jamaica #1. California: 2 #1.
Colorado: 2 #1. Michigan: 2 #1. North Carolina: 2 #1.
Ohio: 2 Canva #23. Senegal Refugees that arrived from Senegal since October 2023 To Virginia: 1 To the U.S.
as a whole: 45 Top states receiving refugees from Senegal #1. Massachusetts: 13 #2. Texas: 6 #3.
Ohio: 4 #4. Illinois: 3 #4. Pennsylvania: 3 Salvador Aznar // Shutterstock #23.
Central African Republic Refugees that arrived from Central African Republic since October 2023 To Virginia: 1 To the U.S. as a whole: 395 Top states receiving refugees from Central African Republic #1.
Texas: 45 #2. Missouri: 38 #3. Georgia: 31 #4.
Michigan: 24 #4. Massachusetts: 24 sandis sveicers // Shutterstock #23. Cameroon Refugees that arrived from Cameroon since October 2023 To Virginia: 1 To the U.
S. as a whole: 88 Top states receiving refugees from Cameroon #1. Texas: 11 #2.
Pennsylvania: 10 #3. South Carolina: 6 #3. Massachusetts: 6 #3.
California: 6 Canva #23. Yemen Refugees that arrived from Yemen since October 2023 To Virginia: 1 To the U.S.
as a whole: 87 Top states receiving refugees from Yemen #1. Michigan: 16 #2. Georgia: 13 #2.
New York: 13 #4. Arizona: 8 #4. Montana: 8 This story features data reporting and writing by Emma Rubin and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 46 states.
Canva Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox!.
