Richmond, VA?

[clwcain]

What's life like there? What do property and everyday items cost? What are the homeschool laws like? How onerous is taxation?

 

We're in Texas, but a company in Richmond has contacted me. Nothing definite, yet. But they're making noises about moving fast, so I'm gathering information.

 

Thanks in advance.

[readwithem]

:auto: You'd have to pay state income tax - I believe it's 5.25%. Great history there though :) and I'd love to have instate tuition but you're a LONG way from all that! :)

[laylamcb]

Hey, Chris--

 

My MIL lives in Richmond. It's never been one of my faves, but a lot depends on where you are. For example, the area around the University of Richmond is really great, with older homes with lots of character and real neighborhoods. Some of the suburbs aren't bad. As the previous poster mentioned, the history is great. My heart may be in the Pacific Northwest, but I've always been proud to be a Virginian! I don't think that VA homeschooling laws are onerous at all, but I haven't compared them to any others. And seriously: We have GREAT state schools, if you plan on staying for a while. I went to William & Mary in Williamsburg (only an hour from Richmond), but there's also UVA, Tech, and so many others.

 

Keep in mind that Phillip Morris made Richmond. So you can imagine that over the past 20 years, it's been a city in flux. ;)

 

Here's the mag that my MIL writes a column for. She's become something of a celebrity in town (particularly since the publication of this book) and knows seemingly everyone. If you'd like to pump her for info about the city, let me know and I'll pass along her email. :001_smile:

[LisaKinVA]

It depends where in Richmond you are... state sales tax is 5.25% in VA, income tax was closer to 7%, last time I checked. Property taxes, from what I recall Richmond City property taxes and Henrico were higher than Hanover or Chesterfield. Chesterfield county (south of Richmond) was the least expensive area to live. But overall, for a "city" area, nothing there is anywhere close to being as expensive as what we see in the suburbs or exurbs of Washington, DC.

 

VA laws are pretty simple, not onerous -- they do require yearly either testing/portfolio/evaluation each year. But, nothing I've found difficult to comply with. Not as easy as Texas -- but not horrible, either.

 

Gas in Fredericksburg (1hr. north of Richmond) is about $3.50 right now. I buy milk at Costco for around $3, a loaf of bread at Giant (name brand) is about $2.75.

 

The homeschool groups around Richmond are really pretty good. Lots of activities in which kids of all ages may partcipate. Richmond also has the Children's Museum and the Science Museum -- hosts one of the largest homeschool convetions in the nation, and is surrounded within an easy drive of a lot of great history (from early settlement to civil war, and beyond).

[laylamcb]

 

VA laws are pretty simple, not onerous -- they do require yearly either testing/portfolio/evaluation each year.

 

Oh! And this was just recently modified: If you have a master's degree in ANY field, you can oversee the testing/evaluation yourself.

[Brigitte]

Sales tax is actually 5%. Virginia is unique, I think, in the way it handles income tax. A married couple can file like single people on the same form, splitting income deductions, etc. in whatever way results in the lowest tax being due.

 

The cost of living in Richmond is pretty low, as compared to Northern Va., Charlottesville, and the Tidewater/Eastern Shore areas. Not as cheap as SW Va. The different sections of Richmonds have differnt feels to them - some areas are yuppy, some old money, some trendy, some unsafe, etc. You will definitely want to spend a lot of time exploring and getting to know the area before plunking down money on a house.

 

Good Luck!

[LisaKinVA]

Sales tax is actually 5%. Virginia is unique, I think, in the way it handles income tax. A married couple can file like single people on the same form, splitting income deductions, etc. in whatever way results in the lowest tax being due.

 

 

I guess I thought sales tax went up state wide in 2007 -- we had to change the tax settings on the registers at the stores because of some tax hike... but it is 5%, so the change must have been a local one. The highest tax rate for Virginia is also 5.75% (overall, top 20% of states with the LOWEST tax burden).

 

Sorry for the confusion!

[lovemyboys]

Oh! And this was just recently modified: If you have a master's degree in ANY field, you can oversee the testing/evaluation yourself.

 

When was this changed? I thought it was just a college degree?:confused:

[clwcain]

bump.

 

Anyone else?

[clwcain]

one more bump...anyone esle? Bueller? Bueller?

[G5052]

Oh! And this was just recently modified: If you have a master's degree in ANY field, you can oversee the testing/evaluation yourself.

 

You only need a H.S. diploma (either parent actually) to file under the basic homeschool law (i.e. not religious exemption).

 

Anyone can oversee testing in Virginia if you go that way for your annual evaluation at the end of the year. You can test your own, have a friend test them, test through a group, or hire someone to test them.

 

Or, you can send in a written evaluation. The law says, "an evaluation letter from a person licensed to teach in any state, or a person with a master's degree or higher in an academic discipline, having knowledge of the child's academic progress, stating that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress." It's up to the individual school system to approve whether they are OK with the parent doing the evaluation -- frankly most systems look down on that though from what I've been told. They want an independent evaluator, and they are indeed within the law to deny an evaluation from a parent. I wouldn't do it unless I had a written OK ahead of time (which I could do, but we test anyway).

 

That said, Virginia isn't bad at all. My notification paperwork takes me about 30 minutes each year because I just update a letter that I use year-to-year (change grades, list math/language arts). You don't need to do anything if you change your mind about the curriculum you list, and they can't approve/disapprove your curriculum, just the completeness of what you send in. We test in April, and I send in the results with my notification paperwork in July.

 

We're in expensive Northern Virginia, so I can't help you with the Richmond area. I rarely go more than an hour from home!

Edited October 8, 2008 by GVA

[annabanana1992]

I grew up in Richmond and loved it very much. Location matters a great deal, and I don't just mean for "good schools" and "low crime." What type of community environment do you like?

 

Virginia has beaches and mountains and lots of history. You also have easy driving access to everything along the east coast. I have traveled in Texas a lot on business and always said if I couldn't live in VA, I would love TX, but of course God has me in Delaware! Oh well.

 

I would be happy to answer any other questions you have - feel free to PM.

[clwcain]

What type of community environment do you like?

 

I'm not sure...what are my options?

 

I would be happy to answer any other questions you have - feel free to PM.

 

I'll be certain to. I'll know more by the end of this week.

 

A follow-up question about the homeschooling: does enrolling through an organization like Seton or Kolbe satisfy the independent evaluator requirements?

 

Thank you to everyone who has replied.

[lovemyboys]

A follow-up question about the homeschooling: does enrolling through an organization like Seton or Kolbe satisfy the independent evaluator requirements?

 

Thank you to everyone who has replied.

 

Sorry I can't answer the specifics, but homeschooling is relatively easy and abundant in Va. There are several options available. Notification like Gail said is a straightforward letter with basic info on dc and a curriculum list. The annual testing we do in spring takes a couple days, we do Iowa which I administer, and send in over the summer.

 

Lots of groups and support groups here. The regional museums and parks have caught on to homeschooling and offer many programs at little or no cost, or special events for homeschoolers.

 

http://www.heav.org is the largest homeschool org. in the state, annual convention in Richmond.

 

Richmond (aka the Holy City by some who live there;)) is a great area, very close to all kinds of history and activities, within a couple hours of beaches, eastern shore, Charlottesville, DC, outerbanks, the Shenandoah, Williamsburg, you name it. I haven't been there in years but I remember it as a charming smallish city very proud of its Southern charm and history.

 

Good luck with your research.

[laylamcb]

The law says, "an evaluation letter from a person licensed to teach in any state, or a person with a master's degree or higher in an academic discipline, having knowledge of the child's academic progress, stating that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress." It's up to the individual school system to approve whether they are OK with the parent doing the evaluation -- frankly most systems look down on that though from what I've been told. They want an independent evaluator, and they are indeed within the law to deny an evaluation from a parent. I wouldn't do it unless I had a written OK ahead of time (which I could do, but we test anyway).

 

 

I should have been clearer on this; I agree completely. I have a master's degree AND a VA teaching license, but I still wouldn't do the testing/eval. myself until after I'd gotten the all-clear from my county. An LCC friend of mine in neighboring Culpeper County did her kids' evaluations herself this past school year when the change in the law was quite new; I think the county viewed her as a bit of a test case because they asked for a great deal more info than she had originally presented. In the end they approved her evaluations, but I think she was somewhat shaken. Better to be safe than sorry and get that approval ahead of time. :001_smile: Actually I only mentioned this to indicate that VA's homeschool laws seem to be in flux, but in a good way: Parents seem to be getting more options rather than fewer. (Wasn't it just a couple of years ago that a parent had to have a college degree?)

[laylamcb]

A follow-up question about the homeschooling: does enrolling through an organization like Seton or Kolbe satisfy the independent evaluator requirements?

 

Hey--isn't Seton based in Front Royal??

[clwcain]

Seton is based in Front Royal.

 

My preference runs to Kolbe, because of their willingness to accommodate alterations to the program. And they also avoid the Catholic "ghetto" feel that I get from some of Seton's materials, but that might just be an aesthetic complaint. :D

 

But it sounds like I won't have to do that sort of thing unless we want to. We'll look into what option fits our needs best. Good to know we have them.

 

Oh well. Fingers crossed, prayers said, etc. I should know more by Friday or Monday. It's going to be a nerve-wracking weekend.

[G5052]

 

A follow-up question about the homeschooling: does enrolling through an organization like Seton or Kolbe satisfy the independent evaluator requirements?

 

Thank you to everyone who has replied.

 

Here's the entire evaluation paragraph:

 

The parent who elects to provide home instruction shall provide the division superintendent by August 1 following the school year in which the child has received home instruction with either (i) evidence that the child has attained a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on any nationally normed standardized achievement test or (ii) an evaluation or assessment which the division superintendent determines to indicate that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress, including but not limited to: (a) an evaluation letter from a person licensed to teach in any state, or a person with a master's degree or higher in an academic discipline, having knowledge of the child's academic progress, stating that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress; or (b) a report card or transcript from a community college or college, college distance learning program, or home-education correspondence school.

 

If you want to mix-and-match and have kids who test pretty well, that's the easiest route IMHO. You only need to test math and language arts, so I use Seton's CAT-E for grades 1-2 and then the PASS from Hewitt for grades 3-8. Then we'll do group testing from then on. Seton's CAT-E is $25, and some use that all the way through because it's cheap and gets the job done.

[clwcain]

Thank you to everyone for you insight and advice.

 

I spoke with the company today and they've elected to pursue other candidates.

 

However, Richmond is now on the very short list of US cities we'd consider moving to should we elect to leave Dallas/Fort Worth.

[Mom to Aly]

I have lived 12 miles south of the Richmond City border for 16 years, in the town of Midlothian. When I moved here I totally loved it--I now hate it with a passion, and cannot wait to move--that doesn't mean you will feel the same--you might not at all.

 

The cost of living is moderate--depending on where you are, it might be fine, you'd have to tell me where in TX, and that might help (my mom is from TX, I know it somewhat). The state income tax is high, very, it seems. There is sales tax, I think 5 & 1/4 %, and there is tax on some food. There is property tax on property, cars, houses, recreational vehicles, boats, etc. It is 3% of the assessed value per year, every year, not just the year you buy it. Their value, not the way you see it--meaning, if you have damage to your house (I have interior hurricane damage, my ex took the money, I can't have it repaired, more than $20,000 worth), but they won't come look at it, so they won't reassess, so I still pay taxes on what they consider it to be worth from the outside.

 

Homeschool laws are a joke. You have to have a high school diploma to be able to homeschool (that just changed this past year, became more lax), state that you are aware of the SOL's, test at the end of the year, that is it. If you go for religious exemption, you file once, they leave you alone forever--you never have to test or file again.

 

One of the reasons I hate it here is allergies--I'm from NY--never had a sinus headache before I moved here. I am now on 5 allergy meds and 4 asthma meds, and have a lung disease from my asthma getting so bad. They say a ton of people not from here get allergies and asthma from the environment here--there is foliage that grows no farther south and no farther north of here, so we get it all. My dd also has allergies and asthma, and we cannot go out when it is humid, during the summer, when there is a lot of pollen, etc. We spend at least half of our time indoors. It is horrible. I have had bronchial pneumonia every year for the past 5 years, and my dr. told me I have to leave here asap.

 

But, the main reason I hate it here is the people. We are not Christian, we are Hindu, and I am very open about this. This area is Christian, and has become more so over the last few years, and much more conservative. I belong to a secular homeschool group, and still, I have a ton of probs here because we are not Christian. My daughter, who is 9, has been told, repeatedly, that she is going to hell because she is not Christian--more than a dozen times in her short life, and more than 6 times by so-called "friends"! People here are very judgmental, in my opinion, very pushy with their beliefs. I don't know if you have read any of the probs we have had in the last few months, but they are not that unusual here. I am from NYC, so I grew up with very different experiences, but I have lived here long enough that I have become accustomed to the ways here, and, although I am very vocal about my background, and I am certainly not the type to hide anything, I am a friendly, open, easy going gal in person. I am very social, as is my daughter, and love people. I have gotten to the point where, in a new group of people, I am wary, and watchful, and I hate being that way--but I feel I must be, simply because of my experiences of late.

 

We are, slowly, fixing up our house, as we can, and, the moment we can, we plan to leave her, and, hopefully, never return. We don't dislike it anymore, we hate it here. My daughter has been hurt here by a family that befriended us, had us do a ton for them, only for us to find out they criticized us behind our backs as "****ed" but used us for what we could do for them. My best friend of 13 years called me a year and a half ago and told me Christ had lead her away from me, and she could no longer remain friends with me because I was not Christian. My daughter was refused by a Christian soccer league recently, not because we weren't Christian, which they already knew, but because we were Hindu, which was "too much" for them. To me, this is a place I wouldn't wish on anyone else. Although, to some, it might sound wonderful. To each his own.