After five years of parental lobbying, middle schools in Richmond appear to be on track with offering an array of elective courses that meet state requirements.

According to Superintendent Jason Kamras’ administration, Richmond Public Schools is providing all middle school students this school year with an opportunity to take four elective courses in addition to courses in the four core academic areas.

In addition, RPS is enabling each middle school student to have 150 minutes a week of physical activity, a requirement that was not met last year when the requirement went into effect.

Dr. Tracy Epp, the school system’s chief academic officer, promised the Richmond School Board on Aug. 19 that those changes would happen amid preparations for the start of the 2019-20 school year. And RPS Chief of Staff Michelle Hudacsko stated last week that the promise is being kept.

At the August meeting, Dr. Epp told the School Board that the middle school program would “be in compliance with all requirements.” She did not offer any specifics on the electives or the curricula that would guide the courses, including offerings in Algebra I, geometry, Earth science, Spanish I and Art I that she said would be available at each middle school.

Betsy Milburn, an activist parent who has worked with others since 2014 to lobby RPS for upgraded electives, said information she has received suggests that “the promise is not being kept,” although she provided no specifics.

Another parent, who asked not to be named, said the “electives are a bit messed up.” She noted that an elective Spanish class has been extended through a study hall to provide enough time to qualify for high school credit.

RPS and individual schools do not post class schedules, making it virtually impossible to independently verify whether electives are being offered.

Electives involve courses in foreign languages art, music, dance, career and other programs. They are in addition to the 560 hours a year that each student must complete in the four core subjects — English, math, science and history and/or social studies.

School Board member Kenya Gibson, 3rd District, remains disappointed that Dr. Epp and her staff failed to accompany the promise with concrete information on what “each (elective) course would cover and which classes would fulfill requirements for high school credit.”

Ms. Gibson said such information should be easily available to every student in middle school “during the course selection process” before the school year begins. She also is disappointed with the lack of course guides, as were made available for high school classes this year.

Dr. Epp said the middle school guides would be ready for the next school year.

RPS failed to provide at least four elective courses during the 2018-19 school year to stu- dents in grades six through eight as required by the state, according to the Virginia Department of Education.

RPS also failed to offer the minimum level of physical activity — 150 minutes a week — that the General Assembly has mandated, VDOE indicated.

The Free Press learned that a schedule change recommended by Mr. Kamras and approved by the School Board ahead of the 2018-19 school year essentially ensured that middle school students were reduced to taking only two elective courses during the school year, while the physical activity requirement was largely ignored.

Ms. Milburn and others were surprised by the reduction as was VDOE, which essentially is required to be consulted and to authorize any changes in RPS schedules and courses under a memorandum of understanding with RPS.

Charles Pyle, VDOE spokesman, said Mr. Kamras and his staff did not consult with or seek VDOE approval for the schedule changes. He stated that VDOE learned about them in Sep- tember 2018 after the school year had begun.

“VDOE communicated its concerns to the division,” Mr. Pyle stated. No immediate action was taken until Ms. Milburn filed a complaint with the state in January 2019.

Without mentioning the complaint, Mr. Pyle stated that the department conducted “a master schedule review of Albert Hill Middle School.” The findings appeared to support Ms. Milburn’s claims.

School Board members, including Ms. Gibson, began raising questions and urging RPS officials to meet the requirements for middle school electives and for providing the minimum level of physical activity that the General Assembly had mandated.

Dr. Epp’s promise to the School Board ap- peared to be a victory for school advocates like Ms. Milburn, who also in 2018 was among the first to raise concerns about RPS transcript errors after finding that her son failed to get proper credit for dual-enrollment college courses he took in high school.

Ms. Milburn’s complaint helped trigger further investigation by RPS and VDOE that turned up a huge array of transcript errors that affected hundreds of students. During the past school year, Mr. Kamras, Dr. Epp and other staff spent hours reviewing high school transcripts up to eight times to remove errors and ensure that transcripts contained proper information for seniors and other students in regards to meeting graduation requirements.

Despite possible shortcomings, Ms. Milburn is “ heartened” that RPS is focusing on upgrading middle school electives.

She said, “My only concern is that another year not pass without opportunities for students to have a robust class schedule.”