Shannon Macaulay paused as she searched for a way to articulate why her 21st year in the classroom has been so achingly hard, why she feels like she runs marathons daily, yet goes nowhere.

Enrollment stayed steady or shrank slightly in public school systems across the Washington region this academic year, suggesting schools have so far failed to rebound from pandemic-era drops - with possible repercussions for funding. The coronavirus pandemic led to a stark plunge in public school enrollment nationwide, as families with resources opted for in-person learning offered by private schools or undertook home schooling.

AMELIA COUNTY, Va. (WWBT) - Schools in Amelia County will be updating their COVID-19 requirements. Starting on Nov. 15, students and staff who are either unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated can return to school after seven days if they get a negative PCR test after day five.

"These five big areas, I believe nearly everyone is going to rally behind those," Bergin said in an interview with The News & Advance. Bergin said he hopes to see the community come together, find the common purpose and shared goals, and lean on them.

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) - Unvaccinated student athletes and coaches in Henrico County Public Schools are required to get weekly COVID-19 tests. The district said this will help keep winter sports athletes and their coaches safe during close-contact activities.

The Spotsylvania School Board's vote on Monday to initiate the removal of "sexually explicit" books from its libraries was unconstitutional, according to its attorney. "We received a legal brief from our School Board attorney that basically said what we did was unconstitutional," Battlefield District representative Baron Braswell said Friday.

The future governor of Virginia rallied with supporters Saturday night in front of the Loudoun County Public Schools building, telling them education was going to be the primary focus of his next four years in office. "I want all of you to know that I am going to be the education governor," Glenn Youngkin told supporters, many waving "Parents for Youngkin" signs.

Starting Monday, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) will reduce the duration of quarantine for unvaccinated students who are exposed to COVID-19 at school. Exposed students can return to school after 10 days at home if they remain symptom-free and provide a copy of a "pause" letter to the school.

HOPEWELL, Va. (WWBT) - School leaders in Hopewell will be discussing plans to increase security after a number of serious incidents on school campuses. In the last couple of weeks, two students brought guns to the middle and high school. There was also a social media threat made against Carter G.

Meteorologist Brian van de Graaff visited the 4th grade students at Union Mill Elementary School in Clifton, Va. Thursday for our Lunchbox Weather program. This was the only the second in-person visit since the pandemic and Brian loved being able to interact with the students in person.