RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Richmond Public Schools has announced they will be releasing the findings from a third party investigation into the Huguenot graduation mass shooting to the public.
Five months after a deadly graduation mass shooting took the life of Huguenot High School graduate Shawn Jackson and his step father, Renzo Smith, the findings from a third party investigation have been discussed with the board at a recent school board meeting on Monday.
“I really cannot embellish how awful that report was. It’s as damning as a finding as possible,” said Richmond School Board member Jonathan Young.
Young told 8News that he and other school board members found the results to be disturbing as it highlighted where the district fell short in keeping students safe.
Richmond school leaders called on the external investigation to be conducted by Sands Anderson Law Firm after an internal investigation released in July found several areas of improvement and made six policy recommendations.
“To be clear, there is information relevant to the new findings that is inconsistent with what has previously been reported and some of the inconsistency is pertain to the most damning findings in this third-party investigation,” Young said.
On Monday, Nov. 6, school leaders also approved changes to the district’s homebound policy adding specifications to the approval process for students attending after school activities.
Young said he cannot speak to the specifics of the report at this time but shared there are inconsistencies between the two investigations.
“The findings are bad, they’re really bad. But it’s incumbent on any public organization paid for by taxpayer dollars, answerable to the people that we are transparent, that we are open, and to argue anything to the contrary, candidly, I think misses the mark. And the School Board of the City of Richmond needs to appreciate that our bosses are the citizens of the City of Richmond. They are who pay the bills,” said Young.
A spokesperson from Richmond Schools told 8News the findings will be released to the public “in the coming weeks.” As of Wednesday, Nov. 8, that date has not yet been released.
