York County School Division - Back to School: What's New

What's New

Elementary Attendance Zones

The York County School Board approved the following adjustments for the Coventry, Grafton Bethel, Seaford and Yorktown elementary attendance zones, beginning with the 2018-19 school year:

Byrd Lane, Cain Terrace, York Manor, and Commonwealth Green neighborhoods would be rezoned from Grafton Bethel to Coventry Elementary School. Impact: approximately 50 students

Yorktown Arch, The Quarters of Yorktown, and Wood Towne Quarters neighborhoods would be rezoned from Yorktown Elementary to Seaford Elementary School. Impact: approximately 60 students

Attendance Zones:

School Hours

*Elementary school start and dismissal times have been adjusted by one minute though the change does not impact the length of the school day.

School Hours
	Regular Days	Early Dismissal Days
High Schools	7:20 a.m. - 2:05 p.m.	11:20 a.m.
YRA	8:25 a.m. - 3:10 p.m.	12:25 p.m.
QLMS & TMS	8:00 a.m. - 2:45 p.m.	12:00 pm.
GMS & YMS	8:05 a.m. - 2:50 p.m.	12:05 p.m.
Elementary Schools (BMES, MES, MVES, TES)	8:40 a.m. - 3:20 p.m.	12:45 p.m.
Elementary Schools (CES, DES, GBES, SES, WMES, YES)	8:55 a.m. - 3:35 p.m.	1:00 p.m.

Safety & Security

The school division has partnered with the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office to provide two additional School Resource Officers (SROs) for the upcoming school year. These officers will be dedicated to the middle school level.

Security vestibules have been added to entrances at four schools: Bruton High, Dare Elementary, Seaford Elementary and Tabb Elementary. The security vestibule provides an additional layer of security by directing visitor traffic to the front office and eliminates visitors entering the building without signing in with front office staff.

Student Discipline

Recent legislation passed by the Virginia General Assembly reduced the maximum length of long-term suspensions from 364 days to 45 days. The law allows longer suspensions if an offense involves weapons or drugs, or if the division believes there are safety risks, which are defined by the state.

Students placed on short-term suspension (10 days or less) will be allowed to complete and turn in all work assignments missed during the suspension for credit.

Recess as Instructional Time (under development)

State law now allows divisions to include unstructured recess time in the total instructional time calculations required by the Virginia Department of Education (990 hours annually) which will provide greater flexibility within the elementary school day. The school division has established a committee comprising parents, teachers and administrators to review the elementary schedules and make a recommendation regarding any changes to recess during the 2018-19 school year. Parents will be notified once approved changes are implemented.

High School Final Exam Exemption (under development)

The revised Standards of Accreditation state that once students earn the minimum verified credits required for the Standard or the Advanced Studies diploma, they may no longer take any additional SOL tests. As a result, beginning with the 2018-19 school year, when students do not need the SOL test to meet graduation requirements, they may not take the SOL test to be exempt from the final exam. To respond to these new requirements, the school division has established a committee to recommend updates to the final exam exemption policy. Parents will be notified once the approved changes are implemented.

Graduation Requirements

New diploma requirements take effect for students entering ninth grade for the first time in the 2018-19 school year. Students will now be required to earn 5 verified credits (2 in English, 1 in math, 1 in science, and 1 in social studies) for both the standard and advanced study diplomas. Previously students were required to earn 9 verified credits for the advanced study diploma and 6 verified credits for the standard diploma. Charts that displays a comparison of graduation requirements for freshmen prior to the 2018-19 school year and the new requirements for all students entering high school after this date are provided below.

Advanced Studies Diploma (26 Credits)

Content Area	Students Entering Ninth Grade in 2017-18 and Before		Students Entering Ninth Grade in 2018-19 or Later
Content Area	Standard Units of Credit Required	Verified Credits Required	Standard Units of Credit Required	Verified Credits Required
English	4	2	4	2
Mathematics ¹	4	2	4	1
Laboratory Science ²	4	2	4	1
History and Social Sciences ³	4	2	4	1
World Language ⁴	3		3
Health and Physical Education	2		2
Fine Arts or Career and Technical Education	1		1
Economics and Personal Finance	1		1
Electives	3		3
Student Selected Test		1
Virtual Course ⁷	✓		✓
First Aid/CPR/AED ⁸	✓		✓
Total	26	9	26	5

Standard Diploma (22 Credits)

Content Area	Students Entering Ninth Grade in 2017-18 and Before		Students Entering Ninth Grade in 2018-19 or Later
Content Area	Standard Units of Credit Required	Verified Credits Required	Standard Units of Credit Required	Verified Credits Required
English	4	2	4	2
Mathematics ¹	3	1	3	1
Laboratory Science ²	3	1	3	1
History and Social Sciences ³	4	1	4	1
Health and Physical Education	2		2
World Language, Fine Arts or Career and Technical Education	2		2
Economics and Personal Finance	1		1
Electives	3		3
Student Selected Test		1
Virtual Course ⁷	✓		✓
First Aid/CPR/AED ⁸	✓		✓
Career/Technical Education Credential	✓		✓
Total	22	6	22	5

*Per federal regulations, students in grades 9-12 must take and pass one mathematics SOL test to graduate with the Standard or Advanced Studies Diploma. Students who earn the required verified credit in mathematics by passing the Algebra I test in grade 8 would need to take either the Geometry or Algebra II SOL in high school.

New School Administrators

The 2018-19 school year will begin with several new school administrators in our schools, as well as some veteran administrators in new roles within the division. Please join us in welcoming the following staff members to their new positions: