By Kofi Mframa, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. -- Some Virginia child care facilities face an uncertain future with the September expiration of pandemic-era relief funding. Additionally, a recent report found facilities are understaffed and child care is unaffordable for many Virginia families, especially those with young children. 

An estimated 88,265 kids in Virginia will lose their child care, according to The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank. An estimated 1,383 programs could close and 2,861 child care workers will lose their jobs.

Places like L & E Bright Future Child Day Center in Virginia Beach are in financial limbo.

Owner Elizabeth Oppong received past government funding, and said she's still struggling to keep the doors open. Her situation will be worse without federal funding, she said.

Oppong can't afford to hire more teachers, she said. That also means she cannot enroll new students, because there are state protocols for teacher to student ratios in day cares. She loses money every day, but there is a demand for her services.

"I get parents calling me every day," she said. "I do have spots, but I don't have a teacher yet."

Oppong, a single mother, opened her day care to help low income families access affordable child care, something she didn't have. 

"Half your paycheck is going to day care," Oppong said. "When we opened the day care we decided to open a day care that's affordable." 

Most of her clients use social services funding. Her rate can't increase unless the social services rate increases, she said. Oppong can't offset costs, which have seen "a big jump."

"My rent increases 3% every year," she said. "The bills continue to increase; I have gone from $9 an hour to $14 an hour to my staff."

Child care centers were stabilized during the pandemic with $24 billion from the 2021 American Rescue Plan. Day cares used funds to keep doors open despite lower enrollment rates and the increased cost of operations. There was an additional $15 billion injected to the Child Care and Development Fund.

It is estimated the program helped 220,000 child care providers nationwide, saved approximately 9.6 million child care slots and more than 1 million child care jobs.

Almost 5,000 child care programs in 96% of Virginia counties received a portion of funding, which impacted up to 317,500 children. Almost 3,000 centers used funds to pay for personnel costs and staffing, according to the Virginia ARP Child Care Stabilization Fact Sheet. 

More than 2,100 child facilities operated out of homes used stabilization payments to make rent and mortgage payments, typically their largest expense.

 Maria-Isabel Ballivian is the executive director of the Annandale Christian Community for Action Child Development Center. The center has the capacity to serve 290 children, but has only 187 enrolled. This is mainly due to staff retention. The center has lost potential staff to the school system because it can't compete with the wages schools provide, Ballivian said.

This directly impacts the quality of care the center is able to provide, she said. An increased number of enrolled children now have developmental delays, particularly speech delays, as a direct result of the pandemic and isolation during critical development, Ballivian said.

"Now early childhood programs like ACCA that are high quality, that provide an inclusive environment for children with special needs, are being forced to do a lot more with a lot less," she said. 

Congress called on Biden in August to invest $16 billion to keep the Child Care Stabilization Fund program going. The end of the program will only worsen the crisis, the letter stated.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who signed the letter, is cosponsor on a bill to extend the fund. Versions of the Child Care Stabilization Act have been introduced in the House and Senate. 

Kaine held a video call with the press in late September to discuss short-term solutions to the national budget. 

"I am hopeful that in that deal we will include the same kind of robust increases for child care funding that we were able to get in last year's budget," Kaine said. 

Federal lawmakers have until Nov. 17 to pass a budget. 

A Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission report on Oct. 16 found child care is unaffordable for many Virginia families, especially those with young children. Child care costs throughout Virginia surpass 10% of the median income. The federal government defines affordable child care costs at 7% or less of household income. 

The demand for child care in Virginia beats out the availability, with at least 140,000 more slots needed to fill the gap, according to the report. 

The JLARC report focused on the state's TANF, SNAP and Child Care Subsidy Programs. JLARC estimated 25,000 less children will have access to subsidized care when state program funding expires next year.

Virginia needs to keep expanded child care funding in place, the commission recommended. It outlined several other legislative and executive actions that could improve access to child care. 

By Hollyann Purvis, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. – College-aged people are among the largest voting block, yet tend to have the lowest turnout in elections, according to Campus Vote Project Virginia coordinator Amber Wilt.

The group is a project of the Fair Elections Center and works to reduce barriers to student voting, according to its website.

Just over 20% of voters ages 18-29 cast a ballot in Virginia's midterm elections last year, according to Tufts University. The state with the highest voter turnout in that age group in 2022 was Michigan, with 36.5%. 

"Everyone has concerns, whether it's political or not, and they all are impacted by their ballot," Wilt said. "So I try to work with them a little bit to identify how their concerns can be shown on the ballot." 

There are two primary obstacles between college students and voting, according to Wilt.

"One is students not feeling like their vote matters and that it amounts to anything, and the other being that they just don't really feel like they know enough about what's up for election," Wilt said.

There are definitely "unfortunate hurdles" that can get in the way of voting, according to Maria Reynoso, founder and executive director of We Vote VA. The group presents election information through digital content.

"At the same time, there are a lot of things happening in Virginia and across the country that could be motivating factors for people to really have their voice heard," Reynoso said.

Representatives should be more transparent and present more information online to help boost turnout among young voters, according to Reynoso. 

"Young people are motivated. They're energized. They want to be involved," Reynoso said. "I think we just have to do a better job at giving access, making electoral information more accessible to people."

VCU Votes is a student coalition and a separate course, according to freshman Lucie Carberry, a student in the VCU Votes course. Students hosted an event Oct. 19 that mirrored a voting simulation to better prepare students for voting.

"A lot of college students have the problem of being embarrassed that they don't know how to vote and they end up not voting because of the anxiety related to the embarrassment of actually voting," Carberry said.

Most Virginia universities have campus organizations to increase voter education and engagement, such URGOV at the University of Richmond, HoosVote at University of Virginia, and Marlins Vote at Virginia Wesleyan University.

"There are groups on campus that are dedicated to this, and I would say search and find those groups, or go to your political science faculty members," said Carah Ong Whaley, academic program officer at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "They're going to be a really credible source of information if you don't have a voting coalition on campus." 

College students face hurdles such as motivational and technical barriers when voting, Ong Whaley said. 

"This isn't necessarily the case in Virginia, but in other states, there's just outright attempts to block young people from voting," Ong Whaley said.

Virginia has increased access to voting in recent years.

"Students can use their student ID to go vote, but they may not know that, and so helping inform them about how and demystifying the process of voting will help them get to the polls," Ong Whaley said.

Political parties can help make voting social, celebratory and communal. That is important, especially in a divisive environment, Ong Whaley said.

"Ask what you can do to improve your community the day after elections," Ong Whaley said. "Especially this year when we're talking about state and local elections, you know, these are really elections that impact our everyday lives as residents in Virginia, so it is really important to be a voter." 

Virginia college voter guide 2023

Students may be confused about how to vote when away from home, especially after redistricting in 2021, according to Reynoso.

Virginia's redistricting may have changed a voter's representatives or impacted the partisan lean of their district. Voters can check districts and potential changes on the Virginia General Assembly website.

"Whether you're in school, living in the district that you're in right now, or going back home, local representation is what impacts you the most," Reynoso said. 

All 140 seats in the state's General Assembly, which creates laws for all state residents, are open this election. There are 100 seats in the House of Delegates and 40 in the Senate. 

There are also over 2,300 candidates vying for election to local seats and positions such as mayor, school board, board of supervisors, treasurer, clerk of court, commonwealth attorney and sheriff.

Voting is important in all districts and races, according to Reynoso. Turnout can sway the outcome of races, some more than others. The Virginia Public Access Project ranks districts by leans Republican, strong Republican, leans Democratic, strong Democratic and competitive.

There are 11 districts rated competitive by VPAP, and a handful of others that pundits consider too close to call.

11 competitive districts: 

• House District 21: Prince William County (partial).

• HD 22: Prince William County (partial). 

• HD 57: Henrico and Goochland counties (partial). 

• HD 65: Fredericksburg City. Stafford and Spotsylvania counties (partial). 

• HD 82: Petersburg City. Surry County. Dinwiddie and Prince George counties (partial). 

• HD 89: Chesapeake and Suffolk cities (partial). 

• HD 97: Virginia Beach City (partial). 

• Senate District 17: Suffolk, Franklin and Emporia cities. Isle of Wight, Southampton, Brunswick, Greensville counties. Portsmouth and Chesapeake cities (partial). Dinwiddie County (partial). 

• SD 24: Williamsburg and Poquoson cities. York County. Newport News City (partial). James City County (partial). 

• SD 27: Fredericksburg City. Stafford and Spotsylvania counties (partial).

• SD 31 Loudoun and Fauquier counties (partial). 

Things to consider before voting: 

• Are you registered? Check voter registration status on the Virginia Department of Elections website. 

• If you are not registered, that's OK. Same-day registration is allowed in Virginia. You won't be turned away, but you will receive a provisional ballot to vote and sign a quick form agreeing you are eligible to vote.

• Provisional ballots are placed in separate envelopes, and reviewed the day after the election. 

• Will you vote at your permanent residence or where you reside when away at school? You can vote in either place, but have to choose one.

What to bring to the poll: 

• One form of ID is required, including a Virginia driver's license or school-issued ID with photo. A utility bill, paycheck or bank statement that shows your name and address is also acceptable. 

• For a full list of acceptable ID, click to the state elections website.

• Don't have any of that? You just have to sign a statement and vote with a provisional ballot.

Key Dates:

• Friday, Oct. 27: Last day to request an absentee ballot.

• Saturday, Nov. 4: Last day of in-person early voting.

• Tuesday, Nov. 7: Election Day.

• Friday, Nov. 10: Mail-in ballots must be received by noon, postmarked no later than Nov. 7.

By Gen York,Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. – The commercial harvest of blue crabs has been extended in Virginia as the crab population trends upward. 

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted last week to approve the extension recommended by the Crab Management Advisory Committee. The harvest of crabs by hard crab pot is now Dec. 16, pushed back from Nov. 30. Lower bushel limits will begin Nov. 1 instead of Oct. 1.

The purpose of these changes is to promote efficient utilization of blue crabs and economic stability for the fishing industry, according to the Marine Resources Commission.

"Female crabs are not overfished and overfishing is not occurring on them," said Alexa Galván, a fisheries manager with the commission during a VRMC meeting. "But, the 2021 and 2022 exploitation rates were slightly above the target, not of the threshold which would be overfishing."

Blue Crab Vulnerability

The blue crab is an iconic part of the Chesapeake Bay, commercially and culturally. Their harvest brings in tens of millions of pounds of crab annually. 

The Chesapeake Bay is home to hundreds of millions of blue crabs, according to a yearly survey by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the Fisheries Service of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The first 1990 survey reported 791 million crabs. There were 323 million reported this year. 

The Bay's blue crab population had been on a four-year decline before this year. The crabs were at their lowest population in 33 years in 2022, according to the survey.

The recent 42% increase prompted state agencies to expand commercial fishing timelines. 

Blue crabs haven't been overfished since 2008, when a framework was put in place to protect female crabs, according to Mandy Bromilow. Bromilow is a fisheries specialist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"Blue crabs are a short-lived species and high natural variability in the population is not uncommon," Bromilow stated. 

The population continues to show some signs of stress, according to Chris Moore, senior regional ecosystem specialist for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The target level for adult female crabs is about 200 million and currently sits at about 150 million. The crab population has started to get healthier but concern from marine specialists remains. 

Crabs have a sensitivity to various factors. 

Areas of water with low oxygen, known as dead zones, could take away habitats and food sources from the blue crabs, according to Moore. The dead zones have gotten smaller, but environmentalists are also focused on improving other factors such as water quality and the underwater grass areas where crabs hide and feed.

Crabs are affected by "everything," including weather. It can be hard to pinpoint why the population is up or down in any given year, according to Moore. 

"Our weather affects how many blue crabs actually come into the mouth of the Bay each year and then obviously migrate throughout the rest of the Bay," Moore said.

Crabs perish in really cold temperatures, but milder temperatures prevented a "winter kill" in recent years.

"In some ways, blue crabs may be one of the winners from climate change," Moore said. 

Loved in Virginia, not yet embraced in Italy

Blue crabs have made recent headlines in Italy, where they have no natural predators. The new abundance in Italy is considered an invasion, a crisis and a threat to the economy. The Italian government allocated over $3 million to help fight against the overwhelming blue crabs.

Blue crabs have been in Italy for a while, likely because the larvae were transferred on ship ballast water, according to Moore. However, the population has expanded without natural predators or awareness of what to do with the crabs.

The warmer Mediterranean Sea allows blue crabs to dodge winter kill, according to Moore.

"The ones that are over in Italy right now, they're probably there to stay and hopefully they develop some good fisheries techniques for them and they're able to add them to the menus," Moore said. 

Virginia would not relocate Italian blue crabs to bolster the Chesapeake Bay population, for concerns of disease. A possible method to increase the population would focus more on controlled cultivation and release of the adults -- but the aquaculture method is hard because crabs cannot be packed in, according to Moore. 

"We're continuing to do a lot of work to try to ensure a healthier population," Moore said. "Everything from making sure we have a well-managed fishery to improving water quality and habitat."

Seafood Industry

Lower blue crab populations have an economic impact, but so does Virginia's waning infrastructure to process crab meat. People process crabs by removing the shells and picking out the meat, which is often sold by the pound. The decrease in crab picking infrastructure has probably had more effect on the market of crabs than the actual number of crabs out there, according to Moore. 

"Historically, people from the community worked in the picking houses," Moore said. "We're very good at picking crab meat." 

A lot of the picking workforce shifted to nonimmigrant workers, through the H-2B program, according to Moore. The H-2B program allows U.S. employers to temporarily hire migrant workers for a limited time to perform nonagricultural labor or services. 

It's been getting harder for people to participate in the program, and also just to find people who know how to pick crabs can "be tough as well," Moore said.

By Kaitlyn McMahon, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. -- Terms like volley llamas, flabjacks and dillballs sound like a bad joke, but are actually terms used in pickleball, a sport that's a smash hit in Virginia.

In fact, there are three upcoming pickleball tournaments in October alone and new facilities opening.

Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport across the nation as of 2022, according to the national governing authority, USA Pickleball. The sport has taken hold in the South Atlantic region, which includes Virginia.

Virginia ranks No. 10 in the nation for pickleball courts, as determined by the Pickleheads website. The site reports 428 pickleball courts in Virginia. The website is a 101-level sport resource and a hub for finding players, courts and groups.

The sport is a hybrid of badminton, tennis and Ping-Pong that can be played on an indoor or outdoor court.

Bangers and Dinks recreational pickleball facility opened in Chesterfield County in July. Nicole Thompson and husband Jack are co-owners. The spot, named after two of the sport's terms, is central Virginia's first indoor pickleball facility, according to Nicole Thompson.

The facility offers floors with Pro-Cushion surfacing, specialized lighting, changing rooms and drink and snack options.

"I think pickleball is popular because it's easy to learn but hard to master," Thompson said.

Competitive camaraderie is a part of the game, according to Thompson. The pickleball culture encourages laughter and fun when playing.

Bangers and Dinks host college athletic teams, corporate team building events, holiday and birthday parties. There are single, dual and family memberships available, or drop-in play for a daily fee of $12.

Performance Pickleball RVA will open in Henrico County on Dec. 1. The facility plans to be the largest indoor pickleball space in the region, according to chief operating officer Jon Laaser. There are 18 total courts; 12 indoor courts and six outdoor courts.

Laaser wound up falling in love with pickleball, despite his initial indifference. He and his wife joined the Western Henrico Pickleball group shortly after. His background in tennis and Ping-Pong helped him learn the game quickly.

"I think there's kind of a misconceptions because of the name, that it's, you know, a goofy sport," Laaser said.

Pickleball is a sport for all ages, cultures and backgrounds, Laaser said. The sport offers people the chance to connect with strangers.

"The game has really skewed younger, and the older players that loved it in the beginning are still playing, but you really see it run the gamut age wise," Laaser said.

Laaser's soon-to-open facility was inspired from feedback after he hosted a few pickleball tournaments with his wife. This year they hosted two pickleball tournaments; Ladybug Classic and Body Armor 804. Ladybug Classic had 300 participants and Body Armor 804 offered approximately $10,000 in prize money.

Performance Pickleball RVA will host a grand opening celebration, The Pickle Ball, on Dec. 20. Riley and Lindsey Newman, ranked No. 2 and No. 9 respectively in mixed doubles in the Professional Pickleball Association tour, will attend.

Jonathan Medina Alvarez, a Richmond-area pickleball player, will be the club's resident professional, according to Laaser. Alvarez is the No. 3 ranked singles player in the Association of Pickleball Players. The association is officially sanctioned by USA Pickleball, which formed in 2005. Alvarez will lead instruction, clinics and crossfit training.

Other pickleball courts throughout Virginia, private and public, can be tracked on the pickleheads website.

It feels like pickleball just arrived, but this year marks the 58th anniversary of the sport, according to USA Pickleball. Three men created the game in 1965, on Bainbridge Island in Washington state. The oft-repeated origin story is that they wanted to play badminton but had to use Ping-Pong paddles instead.

The number of pickleball players increased 159% in the last three years, according to USA Pickleball. There are approximately 70,000 official members and an estimated 4.8 million players in the U.S. The largest total demographic for pickleball players is ages 18-34.

There are over 44,000 courts. The governing association estimated that 130 new locations open per month.

Upcoming pickleball tournaments in Virginia include the Legends Championships in Wintergreen on Oct. 6; Upshot Pickleballs' Hustle and BUSTle Open in Fredericksburg on Oct. 13; and Pickleboo in Henrico County on Oct. 27.

Tournaments all over the world can be found on the Pickleball Brackets website.

Terms to know:

    Fault: Any rules violation that stops play. If fault is a result of the receiving team, the serving team gets a point.

    Line-call: When a ball in a play does not land in the required court space. The preferred word to indicate a line call is "out."

    Two-Bounce Rule: Each side must make one groundstroke after the serve, prior to volleying the ball.

    Non-volley zone: The area within 7 feet on both sides of the net. No volleying or smashing in this zone. Commonly called "the kitchen."

    Volley: During a rally, a strike of the ball out of the air before the ball has bounced.

Overview of how to play doubles pickleball, per the official USA Pickleball Rulebook:

    To begin the game the score must be called aloud. The server calls the serving team's score first, then the receiving team's score, lastly the server's number. The first call will always be "zero-zero-two," as the original server is referred to as the second server.

    A serve is underhanded, and cannot be above the waist. A serve is made diagonally crosscourt. At the start of the game the server is awarded only one serve.For the remainder of the game, if the serving side faults then their partner has one more opportunity to serve.

    Volleys are initiated outside of the non-volley zone. A player can be in the non-volley zone as long as their opponent is not volleying the ball. A player can stay inside the non-volley zone before or after returning a bounced ball.

    The receiving team must let the ball bounce once after a serve. After the initial serve, the receiving side can hit the ball out of the air or choose to allow it to bounce.

    The ball cannot bounce twice. If it does it is considered a "fault," any faults in the game means the opponents gain possession of the serve. Until another fault occurs and then the possession of the serve is switched again.

    If the serving side holds serve (serving players continue gaining points), after each point the server will alternate serving from the left to right side.

    When the servers advantage is even numbers they will serve on the right side, when the servers advantage is odd numbers they will serve on the left side. The receiving team returns the ball in the diagonal court of the server.

    Similar to tennis, the ball must stay inside of the lines. The opponent can call "out," if they believe the ball from their opponent is out of bounds.

    The most commonly used scoring option is best 2 of 3 games to 11 points. Players must win by 2 points.

    After each game, players switch sides.

By Emily Richardson, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. -- The recently finalized Virginia budget makes significant investments in mental health services across the state, according to mental health advocates.

Gov. Glenn Younkin signed the budget into law in early September. It allocates billions of dollars in surplus funds to be used for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends in July. Many components of the funding for mental health services reflect Youngkin's "Right Help, Right Now" behavioral health plan, which emphasizes community–centered mental health care.

The budget allocates $58 million from the general fund to "expand and modernize" Virginia's comprehensive crisis services system. This includes investment in crisis receiving centers and crisis stabilization units, as well as enhancements to existing sites. Crisis receiving centers are alternatives to hospital emergency rooms, and offer communities a "no-wrong-door access to mental health and substance use care," according to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.

Youth Mental Health Care

Lawmakers allocated over $10 million for the Virginia Mental Health Access Program. The program helps address the state's shortage of pediatric mental health specialists by training primary care providers in mental health care and offering a call line for weekly support, according to the program's assistant director of operations Rachel Reynolds. 

There are 264 child and adolescent psychiatrists in Virginia, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. That equates to 14 psychiatrists for every 100,000 children, the national average, and falls within the range of a "severe shortage." There are many counties without a child psychiatrist. 

This $4 million increase from last year will help the program broaden its service scope beyond pediatric care, Reynolds said.

"The biggest part of this additional $4 million allocation is going to be used to expand the program to perinatal health and maternal health," Reynolds said. "It's going to be able to include support for postpartum individuals, and they can be seen either through a pediatric office or an OB-GYN's office."

More than $12 million is allocated for child psychiatry and children's crisis response services and divided among health planning regions based on the current availability of services. The funds can be used to hire or contract child psychiatrists, train other health care providers or create new crisis response services with an ultimate goal to keep children out of inpatient care and encourage community-based services.

The budget included an additional $5 million for school-based mental health integration grants. These grants allow schools to partner with community mental health providers and bring care directly to students, according to Rachael Deane, CEO of Voices for Virginia's Children, a child policy and advocacy organization.

"It's really bringing that support system to the school, which we feel is a really commonsense way to go about it," Deane said. "We know that kids spend a lot of their time in school and in the school community, and these grants allow schools to help meet mental health needs by bringing folks into the school setting."

Voices for Virginia's Children continues to advocate for sustained funding for school-based mental health programs, Deane said. Overall, the organization is pleased with what funding has been allocated but "could always use more."

"We're immediately now looking forward to December, where the governor will unveil his proposal for the next biennial budget in Virginia, and we're hoping that even more investments for mental health will be in that budget," Deane said.

Community-Based Care

Other funding highlights include a one-time fund of $5 million for the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to contract with local law enforcement agencies to transport individuals in emergency mental health situations to treatment facilities or to assume custody of them.

An allocated $18 million will allow community services boards staff to see a salary increase, effective Jan. 1 next year. 

The budget allocates $3.1 million, a $1.5 million increase since last year, for the Behavioral Health Student Loan Repayment Program. The program promises to repay a portion of an eligible behavioral health professional's student loan debt in exchange for their commitment to practice in Virginia for a minimum of two years, according to the Virginia Department of Health. 

A student loan repayment program, and others like it, can help support the pipeline for mental health professionals, according to Bruce Cruser, executive director of the advocacy group Mental Health America of Virginia. 

This budget is a great first step, Cruser said, but the organization hopes to see more support and funding for the pipeline in the next biennial budget.

"We could have all the funded services out there in the world, but if we don't have people to provide the services, it doesn't get us anywhere," Cruser said. 

"We need to have incentives to encourage people to go into the mental health field at all levels, from psychiatric nursing to therapists to psychiatrists to peer supporters," Cruser said. "We really want to see a big effort there."

By Alyssa Hutton, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia schools will be able to hire more support staff positions, something educators say is desperately needed amid a continued teacher shortage.

State lawmakers last month approved an amended budget that will direct $152 million toward these school support positions. The appropriations help boost the ratio of allotted support staff per teacher. The funding ratio increased from 21 support positions per 1,000 pupils to 24 per 1,000 pupils -- though the older standard was 26 support positions, according to a July report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

This funding has been capped for over a decade, following a $3.7 billion shortfall in the Great Recession-era budget that was never adjusted. The cap reduction resulted in a $331 million reduction in state education funding last year, according to JLARC. 

Some positions limited by the cap include administrative, clerical and operations staff, as well as technology and instructional professionals, according to the Virginia Association of School Superintendents website. Many education groups say the cap has resulted in the loss of thousands of support staff, even as enrollment grew. 

The state's Standards of Quality provide the foundation for public education, including minimum staffing needs. The standards typically under-calculate how much staff is actually needed, according to JLARC. Elimination of the support cap was a near-term recommendation on the report. 

Virginia school divisions receive less K–12 funding per student than the national average, according to JLARC. Other states receive just under $2,000 more per student. 

Chad Stewart, the Virginia Education Association's policy analyst, said this cap was supposed to be temporary.

"An entire generation of kids have gone through their K-12 experience in the state of Virginia with far less support staff for helping their schools function and making sure that teachers weren't overwhelmed with all these additional duties, and could focus on teaching," Stewart said.

When there is an inadequate amount of support staff in schools, teachers or other support staff have to fill multiple positions, according to Stewart. 

"It takes them [teachers] away from the duties they're trained to do, which is supporting students in different ways," Stewart said. 

Guidance counselors in particular have fulfilled multiple support positions, such as monitoring cafeterias or clerical work in the office, according to Stewart. A law took effect July 1 to ensure counselors spend at least 80% of their time doing direct counseling of students. 

Teacher Karl Knoche has worked at Virginia Beach City Public Schools since 2007. He has taught government and economics at First Colonial High School since 2014. 

"All the support staff at my school does a great job of helping teachers and students, and I feel that I can go to them with any problems," Knoche stated in an email. 

Knoche has extra duties such as monitoring students between classes, during lunch and before school, which can be "time consuming," he stated. 

Teachers seem to have more responsibilities outside of the classroom than when he first started teaching, according to Knoche.

"We have been fortunate at my school to be fairly well staffed," Knoche stated. "We have had issues with having enough custodians, but that isn't due to the lack of jobs, but the lack of interest in the jobs."

Virginia leaders have grappled with teaching vacancies in recent years. The General Assembly committed to increasing compensation with 5% pay increases over three consecutive fiscal years starting in 2022, according to JLARC. 

However, the pay increases may not address low or no compensation in previous years, coupled with inflation the past two years, the report stated. Additionally, not every school division could fund the full 5% increases because their locality does not provide enough matching funds "for employees not recognized through the SOQ formula."

Virginia ranks No. 22 for teacher pay, which is an average salary of about $61,000, according to the National Education Association. 

The state had over 3,500 unfilled teaching positions in the 2022-23 school year. Elementary school teachers accounted for the most vacancies, followed by special education, according to data from the Virginia Department of Education. Special education positions at 5.8% had the highest percentage of unfilled positions, followed by world language and then elementary school teachers. 

The VDOE announced a strategic plan in 2022 to improve teacher recruitment and retention. The goals are to make it easier for qualified teachers to be hired, consider more candidates eligible to fulfill open positions and reinforce strategies that maintain a thriving workplace, such as programs focused on teacher retention.

The use of appropriated funds will vary by district, but the intent is that local school divisions will use funds for support staff positions, according to a VDOE email response. 

By Nicole Staab, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. -- Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently issued an executive directive that emphasized the looming impact of artificial intelligence, though higher education is only beginning to grapple with how to utilize AI.

Youngkin's order is to ensure AI is used responsibly, ethically and transparently in state government, job creation and education.

A survey released earlier this year found that 60% of college students polled have not been taught how to use AI tools ethically or responsibly by higher education instructors. The same percentage of students also think AI tools will become the new normal, according to the BestColleges survey.

A U.S. Department of Education policy report published in May stated support for using AI to improve teaching and learning. The department stated the need to develop clear policy for AI use and that the anticipated risks and unintended consequences must be addressed.

ChatGPT was released to the public less than a year ago. The chatbot uses language models to mimic human writing and dialogue. It can respond to questions and generate various written content, including emails, prompts and articles. The chatbot is a form of generative AI, which can also create images, videos, songs and code. 

Educators at every level are now faced with how to appropriately address the new technology. 

Like many universities, Virginia Commonwealth University faculty and staff continue to discuss AI's role and how to guide professors moving forward, according to Mangala Subramaniam, the university's senior vice provost of faculty affairs.

VCU will solicit feedback from faculty on Sept. 26 to learn how AI has impacted their classrooms. The university will create an advisory council of faculty who are familiar with AI, and who can provide updated guidance for professors. 

 Faculty at VCU are either fearful of the technology, or they're willing to experiment with it, according to Subramaniam. 

The university held two forums earlier this year focused on the potential challenges and opportunities of AI, including ChatGPT. Professors have the freedom to decide if they want to use AI in their classroom and are advised to make expectations clear in the syllabus about its use, according to Subramaniam. 

Educators may face problems with AI, including plagiarism and how to detect if a student uses AI. Students may face uncertainty of acceptable and allowed use. VCU describes AI plagiarism and copyright as a "difficult topic" and advises that it should be made clear to students they will be punished if they submit AI-generated work as original content, according to VCU learning tool guide.

Educators and businesses need clear ways to detect AI-generated work, which has driven an industry response. 

The software Turnitin allows educators to detect originality and plagiarism. It can now detect 97% of ChatGPT and GPT3 writing, according to its website.

Verified Human is a relatively new company that seeks to differentiate human-made media versus AI-generated media, according to its founder Micah Voraritskul.

Verified Human is conducting a study where the company will collect a thousand writing samples from college and high school students across the globe to see what is written by a human, written by AI, or put through an AI scrubber, according to Voraritskul. A scrubber is intended to modify AI-generated text and make it appear more human.

"I think what we're trying to do is help institutions of higher learning have some kind of policy," Voraritskul said.

Teachers are nervous about AI because their job is to assess student learning, he said. 

"It's hard to assess student learning ... if 90% of assessment is done in writing and you can't determine whether or not the student wrote that, you don't know what the student has actually learned," Voraritskul said.

Student and faculty reaction to AI use depends on the assignment, the outcome and the standards of learning. Arielle Andrews is a VCU interdisciplinary studies student, with a focus on media studies, sociology and creative writing. She is a contributing writer for the independent student newspaper The Commonwealth Times. 

"I think the best thing to do for students is instead of teaching them to fear, or like have a disdain for AI, is to more teach them how to work alongside it and use it ethically," Andrews said.

AI can be a beneficial tool and better used for things that are not "super impactful to the learning process," Andrews said. 

"If an assignment can easily be completed by AI, then it's not testing those human traits of writing that it should," Andrews said. 

 Voraritskul is "pro AI." The tools can help students do better work in the future, he said. But he sees the potential danger of AI influence on critical thinking and understanding difficult concepts. 

"When teachers are asking students to figure hard things out they want them to use their brains," Voraritskul said. "They want them to exercise their brain muscle so they can figure out what's going on in this problem."

Although the BestColleges survey found students were concerned about AI's impact on their education, more students were concerned about the impact of AI on society at large.

Voraritskul recalled that math teachers all over the world were concerned students would not learn how to add or subtract when Texas Instruments mass produced the first affordable calculators.

"Well that wasn't true," Voraritskul said. "And what are you going to do? Stop the calculator? Stop the computer? Stop the internet? Stop AI? No, you can't. You have to adjust."