Virginia
Legislation calls for free school meals for all Virginia students – Virginia Mercury
A bill that would provide free meals for all public school students in Virginia passed the Senate Education and Health Committee Thursday.
“This is about making sure that every kid who goes to school gets fed — no questions asked,” said Sen. Danica Roem, D-Manassas, the patron for Senate Bill 283, earlier this month.
The proposal would cost an estimated $346 million over the next two years.
Some Republicans including Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg, balked at the cost.
“I just obviously do not want any child to go hungry and do not want any child who cannot afford a meal to go hungry, either breakfast or lunch, but I just think at this point, I’m not quite ready to say that the commonwealth is going to pay for breakfast and lunch for every child in the commonwealth when you got [wealthy] counties,” Peake said. “I just don’t see that we should take general fund dollars to pay for breakfast and lunch in some of the wealthiest counties in the commonwealth.”
Roem noted even Virginia’s wealthiest counties, such as Loudoun, have schools that qualify for federal school lunch programs and have significant school meal debt. Furthermore, she said, many families fall just outside the eligibility limit for free and reduced meals.
Catherine Ford, a lobbyist representing the School Nutrition Association of Virginia, contended the state should be putting funds toward universal meals.
“We believe that just like textbooks, just like school buses, just like desks, that meals should be provided to children at school,” Ford said.
Proposal
If passed, all public school divisions in Virginia would be required to make meals available for free to any student unless their parent had notified the school board to not do so.
The state would reimburse schools for each meal.
Currently, only schools that qualify for the federal Community Eligibility Provision can offer all students free meals. Schools qualify for the CEP if a certain percentage of their students are classified as low-income.
Previously the federal government set that threshold at 40%, but this September the U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered it to 25%, a change it said would “give states and schools greater flexibility to offer meals to all enrolled students at no cost when financially viable.”
Roem’s measure would expand free meals to even those schools that don’t qualify for the CEP.
The legislation would also require school boards to adopt policies to maximize their use of federal funds for free breakfast and lunch and create a workgroup to study the potential impact of offering guaranteed school meals.
A step beyond earlier legislation
Roem said this year’s proposal is an extension of a 2020 bill she successfully carried that required divisions to apply to enroll any schools in CEP that qualified for it.
Generally, Roem said school breakfasts in Virginia cost $34 million per year, while lunches cost $138 million.
During a Jan. 11 hearing on her newest proposal, Roem said that because of the 2020 legislation, 44 schools in Prince William County, which lies in her district, have zero school meal debt compared to more than 50 schools that just enrolled in the CEP this year and had together collected $291,256 of school meal debt in the first semester of the prior year.
“Not every single student who attends a CEP school can’t afford their own breakfast and lunch,” Roem said. “A lot of them come from families that can, but most of the students … have enough insecurity at home financially that they need help, and collectively, we’ve decided it’s in our interest, it’s in the student’s interest and it’s the parent’s interest to make sure that we are taking care of everyone at the school.”
Adelle Settle, founder of nonprofit Settle the Debt, which raised roughly $250,000 last year to pay down the lunch debt for students in Prince William County, said she often hears from parents “who earn just over the threshold to receive free or reduced meals for their students, but they’re still struggling and they need help to pay for those school meals.”
Meal debt, Roem also said, is “money that could’ve gone into other areas such as a classroom or computer lab.”
“And frankly, if the federal government isn’t going to do its job, as far as I’m concerned, of fully funding universal free school meals for all, then we’ve got to step in and take care of our student constituents,” she said.
The bill now goes to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee for consideration.
Addressing food insecurity in higher education
Roem is also carrying Senate Bill 318, which would create a grant program to address food insecurity among students at public colleges or universities in Virginia.
The bill is also heading to Senate Finance and Appropriations.
“With college enrollment still lower than it was pre-pandemic, addressing food insecurity can help students afford tuition and housing so they can stay in school and graduate on time,” she said.
Under the program, public institutions could apply for grants to address food insecurity.
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Virginia
How to watch Louisville volleyball vs. Virginia (11/22/24) online without cable | FREE LIVE STREAM for ACC game
The No. 3 Louisville Cardinals volleyball team face the Virginia Tech Hokies on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024 (11/22/24) in ACC play at in Charlottesville, Va.
How to watch: Fans can watch the game on ACCNX, or ACC Network Extra, a streaming-only service which is available through ACC Network authenticated subscribers, such as DirecTV Stream (watch with free trial) or fuboTV (watch with free trial).
If your TV provider includes the ACC Network, you already have access to ACCNX. You can view the ACCNX broadcast via the ESPN app or espn.com/watch using your TV provider credentials.
Here’s what you need to know:
What: ACC volleyball
Who: Louisville vs. Virginia
When: Friday, Nov. 22 (11/22/24)
Where:
Time: 7 p.m. ET
TV: N/A
Live stream: fuboTV (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial)
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Top 25 NCAA Volleyball Rankings
Games through Nov. 18, 2024
1, Pitt; 2, Nebraska; 3, Louisville; 4, Penn State; 5, Creighton; 6, Wisconsin; 7, Stanford; 8, Purdue; 9, Arizona State; 10, SMU; 11, Kansas; 12, Kentucky; 13, Oregon; 14, Texas; 15, Georgia Tech; 16, Minnesota; 17, Baylor; 18, Dayton; 19, Utah; 20, Florida; 21, Southern California; 22, TCU; 23, Florida State; 24, BYU; 25, Missouri.
***
Here are the best streaming options for college sports this season:
Fubo TV (free trial): fuboTV carries ESPN, FOX, ABC, NBC and CBS.
DirecTV Stream (free trial): DirecTV Stream carries ESPN, FOX, NBC and CBS.
Sling TV – Sling TV carries ESPN, FOX, ABC and NBC.
ESPN+ ($9.99 a month): ESPN+ carries college football games each weekend for only $9.99 a month. These games are exclusive to the platform.
Peacock TV ($5.99 a month): Peacock will simulstream all of NBC Sports’ college football games airing on the NBC broadcast network this season, including Big Ten Saturday Night. Peacock will also stream Notre Dame home games. Certain games will be streamed exclusively on Peacock this year as well.
Paramount+ (free trial): Paramount Plus will live stream college football games airing on CBS this year.
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RICHMOND, Va. — Friday will be windy and cold with highs in the 40s and wind chills in the 20s and 30s. A few scattered showers will be around, especially later in the day. Rain chances will be higher north of I-64, where some wet flakes could mix in. Wind gusts over 30 mph are possible.
For those traveling, the mountains of West Virginia will see significant snowfall over the next 48 hours, with one to two feet possible in the highest elevations. The Virginia panhandle will pick up a few inches of snow.
Saturday will be breezy with highs in the upper 50s to 60. Sunday will be mostly sunny with highs in the lower 60s.
Monday will be mostly sunny with highs in the low to mid-60s.
A cold front will move through Tuesday morning with the slight chance of a shower.
Wednesday will be cooler with increasing clouds. Highs will be in the lower 50s.
As of now, it looks like a storm system will bring some rain into the area Wednesday night into Thursday.
Stay With CBS 6, The Weather Authority.
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WTVR
Virginia and SMU will meet for the first time ever on Saturday at Scott Stadium, finally clashing on the gridiron nearly three years after the two programs were supposed to face each other in the Fenway Bowl at the end of the 2021 season. There is plenty at stake in this one, as the13th-ranked Mustangs look to keep their unblemished ACC record intact and clinch a spot in the ACC Championship Game, while the Cavaliers are hoping to clinch bowl eligibility and send their seniors out with a win in their final game at Scott Stadium.
Read on for a full preview of Virginia vs. SMU with everything you need to know, including game details and notes, an opponent scouting report, what to watch for, and a score prediction.
Who: Virginia Cavaliers (5-5, 3-3 ACC) vs. SMU Mustangs (9-1, 6-0 ACC)
When: Saturday, November 23rd at 12pm ET
Where: Scott Stadium (61,500) in Charlottesville, VA
How to watch: ESPN2
How to listen: SiriusXM 381, SXM App 971 | Virginia Sports Radio Network
All-time series: first meeting
Read Virginia’s injury report for the SMU game here: UVA Football Week 13 Injury Report: Kam Robinson, James Jackson, Corey Thomas
See below for UVA’s week 13 depth chart for the SMU game: Virginia Football Depth Chart vs. SMU | Takeaways, Analysis
2023: 11-3, 8-0 AAC
2024: 9-1, 6-0 ACC
For Rhett Lashlee and the Mustangs, their first foray into the Atlantic Coast Conference couldn’t be going much better, save an 18-15 loss in week 3 to BYU, a team that is still alive for the Big 12 Championship. SMU comes to Charlottesville riding a seven-game winning streak, which includes a 66-42 victory over TCU, an impressive 34-27 win on the road at then-No. 22 Louisville, an overtime victory over Duke that was a bit fortunate as the Blue Devils squandered multiple chances to win the game late, but the Mustangs followed that up with their most impressive win of the season, a 48-25 victory over Pitt. Last week, SMU was tested by Boston College, but ultimately pulled away for a 38-28 win.
SMU has the second-ranked scoring offense in the ACC, averaging just under 40 points per game. Powering that offense is a very strong run game, the second-best rushing offense in the ACC (190.9 rushing yards per game and 24 rushing touchdowns), which is headlined by one of the top running backs in the country in Brashard Smith, who has racked up 1,026 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns and is averaging more than 100 yards per game.
Though SMU leans heavily on its ground game, the Mustangs are more than capable of throwing the ball as well. Quarterback Kevin Jennings ranks fourth in the ACC in completion percentage at 65.4% and is careful with the football, throwing 15 touchdowns to just six interceptions. He has a plethora of targets in the passing game, as SMU boasts three receivers with at least four touchdowns, four who have at least 20 catches, and five who have hauled in multiple touchdown passes this season.
SMU’s run defense is even better than its rushing offense, leading the ACC in run defense and allowing less than 100 yards per game on the ground. The Mustangs are a quite a bit weaker in pass defense, surrendering almost 250 passing yards per game, which is 13th in the ACC. SMU makes up for it by forcing turnovers, recording 14 interceptions (2nd-most in the ACC) and six fumble recoveries.
SMU has 23 sacks as a team this season, 9.5 of which have come from dynamic defensive ends Isaiah Smith and Jahfari Harvey, who will put a ton of pressure on UVA’s offensive tackles. Keep an eye on safeties Isaiah Nwokobia and Ahmaad Moses, who have each posted three interceptions this season.
UVA’s quarterback situation
With Anthony Colandrea’s quarterback play regressing recently (seven interceptions and one touchdown pass in his last three games) and Tony Muskett playing decently in his garbage time backup opportunities, Muskett and Colandrea have been splitting first-team reps in practice this week. Tony Elliott said on Tuesday that he was still leaning towards Colandrea retaining his starting job, but even if that’s the case, it’ll be interesting to see if Elliott has Colandrea on a short leash. Muskett has yet to enter a game that wasn’t already completely out of reach. Virginia is desperate to pick up that sixth win, so it should be all hands on deck.
Turnover margin and red zone efficiency
Virginia is -4 in the turnover margin department this season and ball security has been a particular issue recently. SMU, meanwhile, has forced 20 turnovers this season. The Mustangs are also ranked third in the ACC in both red zone offense and red zone defense, while the Cavaliers have struggled with red zone efficiency all season. An upset win for UVA will likely require the Hoos to win the turnover battle and execute at a high level in the red zone on both sides of the ball.
Defend home field
Virginia is 2-3 at home this season, with those wins coming against Richmond and Boston College. The Cavaliers must have some pride about protecting their home field and sending their seniors out on top in their last games at home. Much has been made about UVA’s home attendance this season. In their final opportunity to see Virginia football play at home this season, we’re looking for the UVA faithful to show out at Scott Stadium and provide the Hoos with a real home field advantage.
Virginia is capable of hanging around with and even beating SMU if the Cavaliers bring their A game. But UVA hasn’t been able to bring that A game consistently this season or even throughout all four quarters of a game and that’s what it’ll likely take in order to slow down SMU. I see the Pony Express continuing to roll as the Mustangs pick up their eighth straight win, remain unbeaten in conference play, and secure their spot in the ACC Championship Game.
Score prediction: SMU 31, Virginia 23
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