A message about our education coverage

Dear Henrico Citizen reader,

We made education coverage a top priority two years ago because you told us how much it mattered to you. And since June 2021, we’ve had a full-time education reporter – a position that was made possible by our acceptance into the national Report for America program. We’re one of just two Virginia newsrooms in the RFA program (a third is on the way next year), and we’re proud of that distinction.

But we need your help to fund this position. RFA graciously matches every tax-deductible donation we receive dollar for dollar – that means the impact of your contribution is doubled!

We’re $5,000 away from our fundraising goal this year, and time is running out. We want to continue bringing you meaningful coverage of education in Henrico County, like these recent pieces (below) that our original reporting brought you first – but we need your help.

• Without a stable funding source, some Henrico school playgrounds sit in disrepair
• Data shows Henrico led Virginia counties in school bus crashes in 2020-21
• Special education teachers in Henrico stretched too thin by staffing shortage
• Henrico’s high school dropout rate higher than state average

Will you consider supporting this important work? We appreciate your consideration.

Yours in community,
Tom Lappas, publisher/editor