‘You guys play such a big role in these kids’ lives’: Mother applauds new funding for school support staff in Virginia

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Henrico County mother Monica Hutchinson was moved to tears when asked about the day her son, DJ, graduated from Hermitage High School.

“There are no words. To see my baby walk across the state, ” Hutchinson told 8News.

However, she said her tears weren’t always happy ones.

“He was made to feel like he was different, or other, or less than,” Hutchinson said.

That’s because, she said, when DJ — who has autism — was growing up, he struggled to get the help he needed in school.

“If he is overwhelmed or frustrated because maybe he’s not catching on as quickly as he wants to catch on, then it would come out as, it would manifest as the frustration, or him being disrespectful, or him not listening, or wanting to put his head down,” Hutchinson explained. 

However, Hutchinson said that all changed when she moved her family from Southwest Virginia to Henrico County.

“He can absolutely do the work, he just needs somebody to believe in him,” Hutchinson told 8News.

Hutchinson said it was there, in Henrico County, where school support staff such as custodians and teachers’ aides invested in her son.

“To help him to better understand that, you may be frustrated, right, but this is why you are frustrated, let’s work through that,” she said.

It’s that experience that led Hutchinson to advocate for additional funding for school support staff.

That advocacy paid off this year when state lawmakers included nearly $223 million in this year’s budget to increase the funding ratio for Virginia’s school support staff. Before this school year, the state helped to fund 24 school support staff positions per 1,000 students. Starting this school year, that funding ratio has been raised to 27.89 positions per 1,000 students. 

“It does give a little bit of comfort to know that other schools who may not have had the experience that my child has had, or access to support staff like we have had, will now have the opportunity to have more access to that,” Hutchinson said.

According to Hutchinson, the additional investment means students like DJ are set up for future success. 

“Now he’s talking about his future in a way that, a few years ago, I wasn’t quite sure he would,” Hutchinson said through tears. “I’m just so proud of him.”

The Commonwealth Institute, which advocated for the additional funding, said the increased investment means some school divisions will be able to hire additional school support staff.

Several school divisions in Central Virginia told 8News that they already have enough support staff to meet the new funding ratio, but can use the local funds they were previously using to pay them on other key initiatives.