Summer and Year-End
School Board Report
Dear Friends,
I hope everyone is enjoying summer and its change of pace. Congratulations to all the 2019 graduates, who I know are looking forward to great new adventures. The School Board had its last regular meeting of the school year last Thursday, and I wanted to give you a year-end, summer update. Below are some items that I hope will be of interest.
Free to all kids, with no registration or ID required. Adults pay $2. Please help get the word around, especially to those in need. Come on over to get a great BBQ lunch at the locations below:
 In addition, I’ve asked the superintendent to review our approach to Food Security. FCPS does a great job with summer programs, after-school meal programs and the like, but I would like to see if there are gaps that we can help fill. My community has raised concerns about how children are fed on breaks and snow days, for example, when not having access to school breakfast and lunch.
The Board last week approved the calendar for the 2020-21 school year, giving parents and staff a little more than a year to plan ahead. A calendar committee of various stakeholders helped create the proposed calendar, and the Board has discussed it at work sessions and received input through surveys. The approved ’20-21 calendar starts for students on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, and ends Friday, June 11, 2021. It includes a two-week winter break, spring break in late March/early April, and the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as a full day off for students and employees.
My colleague Dalia Palchik (Providence) and I gained approval for a follow-on motion to form a Task Force on Religious Observances to review our practices on handling religious holidays and obligations that fall on school days. The Board also agreed to our motion to task the superintendent with making time in the calendar for certain high-impact family engagement activities, such as home visits by teachers and school staff. Here’s a link to the agenda item.
(As a reminder, the upcoming 2019-20 School Year starts on Monday, Aug. 26, 2019.)
Justice Pyramid Resource Fair, August 8th
For the 5th year in a row, Justice High School (JHS) will host a resource fair for students and families in the JHS pyramid, from 1-4 pm on August 8 at JHS. The Resource Fair provides school supplies, medical assessments, haircuts, clothing, and an introduction to community resources available for FCPS students. You can find more information about activities, sponsors and volunteer opportunities here. The Justice pyramid includes Glasgow MS, Bailey’s Primary ES, Bailey’s Upper ES, Beech Tree ES, Belvedere ES, Glen Forest ES, Parklawn ES, and Sleepy Hollow ES.
The Resource Fair results from the work of many volunteers and community sponsors, led by the Rotary Club of Bailey’s Crossroads. There is more to do, and the JHS PTSA would welcome parents and community members willing to volunteer time and/or tax-deductible donations. Service opportunities for volunteers can be found here and monetary donations can be made here.
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The FY 2020 budget approved by the School Board in May includes the final investment in improved teacher salary scales to keep FCPS competitive, raises for employees, the first phase of a program to make sure all students have computers, and a pledge to provide more equity in extracurricular activities and after-school programs at all our schools.
For the second year in a row, our school budget was fully funded. I want to thank our partners on the Board of Supervisors, who approve the bulk of our funding, for their support, as well as our representatives in Richmond for increased resources. This enables us to bring teacher salary scales up to market levels and provide step and market scale increases as well.
The Board approved my motion to direct the superintendent to help fund extracurriculars and after-school programs at high-poverty schools struggling to offer these important programs. The staff will present a recommendation to the Board at a work session in the fall, and a plan is to be included in the superintendent’s FY2021 budget proposal.
In the meantime, the Board last week approved my amendment to the FY2019 year-end budget review to provide some modest added funding for after-school programs at our highest-poverty middle schools. The funding would be enough to add another day a week of late buses and after-school programs. This one-year funding gives a boost to these programs while we wait to see what longer-term approaches the superintendent and staff recommend.
We’ve waited a long time for this! FCPS has started planning and design on the full renovation of Falls Church High School, our last so-called “Legacy” high school (first built in the 1960s). Community members were invited to a meeting on June 4, 2019, to see initial plans for the renovation and weighed in with staff and the architects, Perkins-Eastman Architects, with reactions and questions.
The plan would add more than 169,000 square feet, create larger classrooms, upgrade science labs and provide more natural light and open spaces. It would enhance the Academy area and provide more direct access to classrooms designed for the special education students affectionately known as the Podsters.
The architects are still working on the design and have promised to review the initial plans based on community feedback, including making sure the entrance and front are welcoming and have impressive “curb appeal.”
I’m very excited that we are finally starting this critical project. As this was my top priority for capital projects in Mason District, I will be monitoring the plans carefully right up to the end of my term on Dec. 31, 2019.
Here is a link to a new web page showing the proposed phases, comments from the community meeting and other details. This will be updated as the project progresses.
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The new name, mascot and logo have been installed on Justice High School’s synthetic turf football field, and it looks great. Thanks for everyone’s patience as we worked through this last piece of completing the transition to Justice High School. |
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In addition, the Board last Thursday approved funding to upgrade the girls’ softball fields at both Annandale High School and Justice High School. Students and parents had raised concerns about the quality of the fields, particularly in comparison to the baseball fields. Approval of the funding, which the Superintendent included in his request for using FY2019 year-end funds (see page 7), will combine with county funding to enable the improvements to go in before the beginning of the next girls’ softball season.
Every year the Board reviews and revises the Students Rights and Responsibilities document, which defines and guides our student discipline policies. This year we have more substantive changes than in most years, with some of the most important revisions since the Board did a major overhaul in 2013. The revisions prioritize multi-tiers of support and intervention for behavior management.
Parent Notification: One of my major concerns regarding student discipline for many years has been making sure that parents are notified and brought into the conversation just as soon as possible when a student gets into serious trouble at school. While school administrators need to ensure a safe environment for all and deal immediately with any student misbehavior, the school system also has an obligation to let parents know right away when their child is suspected of doing something that could get them long-term suspended or removed from their base school. This year we strengthened parent notification requirements to make sure this happens, requiring attempts to notify parents before a student is questioned about serious infractions, unless there is an imminent danger.
Another area of concern for me is when a student with disabilities is reassigned to another school for discipline reasons, making sure parent preferences are given due consideration as to the new location. While this only affects a small number of students, it can have a major impact on that student’s future academic and social-emotional success. The Board approved my amendment requiring the IEP (Individual Educational Plan) teams, which determine reassignment locations, to give consideration to parent preferences as well as recommendations by staff.
The Board has worked to deal with the realities of drug use among some of our teen students, including a steep rise in vaping. The Board, using expert views, favors an approach that stresses education and treatment. At the same time, we need to work to keep drugs out of our schools. This year’s changes stress treatment and diversion for first-time offenders but continue to call for the reassignment of students who sell or share drugs at school.
To see all of the changes, including amendments, here is a link to the July 11 agenda item.
The Board has initiated a boundary study to relieve overcrowding at Glen Forest Elementary School. The school now has about 1,100 students, many of whom are taught in 29 classrooms in very old modulars or trailers. Buses have difficulty getting in and out in the morning and afternoon because of the high numbers and tight turnarounds.
The schools included in the boundary study, in addition to Glen Forest, are Bailey’s Primary ES, Bailey’s Upper ES, and Parklawn ES, all adjacent to Glen Forest and showing potential room for more students. The Board discussed the boundary study at a May 13 work session.
FCPS has held community meetings on Glen Forest’s capacity issues, the most recent on June 10, 2019, to get input on potential solutions, including boundary changes. Staff will come back in the fall with options for the community to review and assess. The Board will hold a public hearing on the options and staff recommendations before making any decision on a boundary adjustment.
In addition, the Board has been reviewing our current boundary study policy to see if it needs revision and discussed staff recommendations at a recent work session. These include outlining what factors trigger a boundary study, such as a school being overcrowded or the opening of a new school, and what factors will be taken into account in making any change.
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Have a great rest of the summer!
Sandy
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