Stella Pekarsky's Newsletter
Dear Friends,
I am excited to have started serving my term as your Sully District representative on the Fairfax County School Board. I am a former FCPS teacher, as well as a parent of current students in the district. This past month, I have enjoyed visiting many schools and meeting students, teachers, and administrators. I look forward to more school visits in the coming months, as well as other opportunities to connect with families at extracurricular activities. Please follow my Facebook and Twitter pages to stay up to date with Sully District school happenings.
Please do not hesitate to reach out if I can be of assistance. In the coming months, I will be scheduling opportunities for residents to come share their thoughts. I am also happy to meet and discuss concerns at your convenience, or I can be reached by email or phone, 571-253-4522.
Stella
Stella's Roles on the Board
Stella Pekarsky serves as a member of the Audit and Governance Committees, as well as a Board Liaison to SCYPT (Fairfax County Successful Children and Youth Policy Team).
Seeking Committee Applicants
I am currently seeking applicants interested in serving on the Advanced Academic Programs Advisory Committee, Human Resources Advisory Committee, and Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee (MSAOC).
The School Board appoints members to numerous citizen advisory committees to increase community input on specific issues (qualifications for appointment to some committees are mandated by Virginia Code). These advisory committees meet once a month throughout the year, and submit an annual report to the Board. Advisory committees' requirements are detailed in Policy 1710.
If you are interested in serving for a term ending June 30, 2020, please send your resume to:
Lisa Madeja
emadeja@fcps.edu
Superintendent Scott S. Brabrand Presents FCPS Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2021
FCPS Superintendent Scott S. Brabrand presented a $3.2 billion school operating fund Proposed Budget for the 2020-21 school year (Fiscal Year 2021), with a focus on employee compensation, to the Fairfax County School Board at its business meeting on January 9. The FY 21 Proposed Budget represents an increase of $172.2 million, or 5.8 percent, over the FY 2020 Approved Budget.
“In Fiscal Year 2020, we completed a multi-year plan to bring teacher salary scales to the market average,” said Brabrand. “The proposed FY 21 budget continues to prioritize market competitive compensation for our teachers and staff. Our focus is achieving success for each of our more than 189,000 students and that can only be accomplished by ensuring that we have the ability to recruit and retain the very best teachers.”
Learn more about the FY 21 Proposed Budget.
Capital Improvement Program (CIP)
Proposed Capital Improvement Program for Fiscal Years
2021-25
Each year, Fairfax County Public Schools develops a five-year planning document known as the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to address future facility needs. The CIP assesses requirements for new construction, capacity enhancements, renovations, and site acquisition. Actual completion dates for CIP projects depend on cash flow and debt service limitations established by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Click on the links below for more detailed information.
Fairfax County Public Schools' Superintendent Scott S. Brabrand has released the school system's proposed Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for the Fiscal Years 2021-2025.
Click HERE to view the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for the Fiscal Years 2021-2025.
FCPS to Add Electric School Buses to Its Fleet
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has been selected to receive funding assistance to purchase eight electric school buses as part of Dominion Energy’s initial deployment of 50 buses across the Commonwealth. These buses will join FCPS’ current fleet of roughly 1,625 diesel-fueled buses.
FCPS was chosen in a competitive process after submitting an application with Dominion Energy during Fall 2019.
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Dominion Energy will cover the difference in cost so that school districts pay no more for electric buses than they would for diesel models. Dominion will also subsidize the cost of necessary charging infrastructure.
Electric school buses in FCPS will benefit not only the school division and its community but the entire national capital area as they will help reduce carbon emissions, serve as a resource for national emergency planning efforts, provide stability and capacity to the grid with meeting increasing energy demands, and provide charging facilities for other jurisdictions in the area to use when traveling through Fairfax County.
To learn more about electric school buses, click HERE.
FCPS Gap Year Fair
Look Beyond the Classroom
FCPS School Counseling Services and Go Overseas invite you to attend this year's Gap Year Fair to learn about the growing array of gap year opportunities. The fair will provide students with a broad exposure to gap year programs that emphasize experiential education and personal growth through travel, language immersion, directed study, outdoor adventure, community service, and internships.
The fair begins with a featured speaker who will present a variety of possibilities students might choose to pursue during their gap time. During the fair, attendees will be able to have face to face conversations with gap year program providers, trip leaders, advisors, and gap year alumni. Attendees will gain a better sense of which gap year programs might suit their own unique interests and aspirations.
The 9th annual FCPS Gap Year Fair is taking place on Tuesday, February 4, at Marshall HS, from 6-8:30 p.m. This event is for high school students and parents who are interested in learning more about the variety of experiences available and growing array of gap year opportunities. For more information, visit USA Gap Year Fairs.
Weather Cancellation Procedures
When bad weather or other emergency situations occur, it may be necessary for FCPS to cancel, delay, or close schools early. Parents and students should have a well-communicated plan in place in the event of these emergency situations. Children need to know where to go or what to do if a parent will not be home.
The safety of our students and staff is our number one priority any time a decision must be made regarding school closures and delays during a weather situation. We review information from emergency management and state highway administrators about road conditions, and school personnel also go out and inspect the conditions of roads, sidewalks, and FCPS parking lots and bus lanes.
Due to the speed of updating, the official @FCPSnews Twitter account (with blue checkmark) is generally the first and fastest mode of communication. Other communication channels will be updated as quickly as possible including email, text, website, other social media, and news stations. Please be aware, due to the large volume of emails sent there will likely be a lag between the FCPS Twitter alert and receipt of an email in your inbox.
In the case of emergency for a weather-related closing, delay, or early dismissal, the FCPS website will automatically include an alert at the top of each page with the appropriate information. This information will remain posted until normal operations have resumed, or you click "Close This Alert" to remove it. If you have closed the alert, a red exclamation mark will remain to indicate that the alert is still active. For more information, click HERE.
Important Dates to Remember
February 17 - President's Day - Student Holiday
March 3 - Student Holiday
April 3 - Third Grading Period Ends
April 6-10 - Spring Break - Student Holiday
April 13 - Student Holiday
May 25 - Memorial Day - Student Holiday
June 12 - Last Day of School
School Board Meeting
The next School Board Meeting will be held on February 6, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. at Jackson Middle School. Information about upcoming meetings and agendas can be found here.
The views contained within this newsletter reflect the views of the individual school board member who is the publisher of this newsletter and may not reflect the views of the Fairfax County School Board.
© 2020 Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax County, Virginia
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