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Dear Lee District Families,
For those students choosing to return in-person to our classrooms this week, we welcomed back our Pre-K students, our Kindergarteners and an additional cohort of Special Education students. Next week for those choosing in-person learning, students from grades 8, 9, and 12 will return. Here in Lee District about 1/3 to 1/2 of our families are choosing to remain in our virtual classrooms. We have worked hard to provide our families with options they feel are safest for their children during this COVID pandemic. It is important that local School Boards maintain their constitutional authority to supervise our local schools without legislative mandates.
Last week we adopted our advertised budget. Here’s a bit of history to understand our objectives. Prior to Fiscal Years 2019 and 2020–when FCPS received full funding from the county—FCPS had not received full funding of its budget request since 1995. Since 2008, we have cut our budget over $700 million including nearly 2,700 positions. We were losing qualified candidates to surrounding school districts and beginning school years with positions unfilled.
As a Board, we must be committed to making certain we do not repeat this history. Our families deserve a promise that we are hiring and retaining the best and brightest employees to teach our children, to counsel our children, to transport our children, to feed our children and to ensure their social and emotional needs are met — and in order to do that — we must be competitive with our surrounding jurisdictions.
Previous School Boards beginning in Fiscal Year 2017, and our Board last year, made a commitment that FCPS employees, including our teachers, would reach 95-105% of surrounding market salaries. It took four years of investments adding 175 million dollars to our teachers scales to reach our goal. Several of our neighboring jurisdictions have proposed salary increases this year. We have invested too much to lose ground now. We will continue to work with our local, state, and national funding bodies to ensure that FCPS families are surrounded with the best personnel to provide our children with the highest quality public education they expect and deserve.
Please reach out if you have questions or concerns.
Stay well,
Tammy
Upcoming School Board Meetings
- March 2, 2021 at 10 a.m. Forum
- March 2, 2021 at 11 a.m. All-Day Work Session
- March 4, 2021 at 7 p.m. Hybrid* Regular School Board Meeting
- March 9, 2021 at 3:30 p.m. Governance Committee Meeting
- March 16, 2021 at 11 a.m. All-Day Work Session
- March 18, 2021 at 7 p.m. Hybrid* Regular School Board Meeting
Visit the citizen participation webpage to sign up to speak at a regular meeting. Visit BoardDocs for more meeting logistics, agendas and handouts.
*Effective November 5, 2020 the School Board will return to in-person Regular Meetings at Luther Jackson Middle School. For more information, click here.
The meetings will be broadcast live on Channel 99 (Verizon channel 11) and on the FCPS website. The meeting will be recorded for future viewing and posted to the FCPS School Board YouTube page
Family Guide for Return to School
Fairfax County Public Schools is partnering with families to ensure we keep students and staff safe and healthy as we return to school buildings for learning. Working together, we will follow recommended health guidance that focuses on student and staff health, safety, and emotional well-being.
The FCPS Family Guide for Return to School provides information on topics such as concurrent instruction, lunch and recess, the mandatory mask policy, laptops, and health protocols.
Return to School: Your Questions Answered
Do you have questions about bus transportation, school cleaning, health measures, lockers, meals, mental health, recess, special education, or technology? Get your answers here.
School Board Adopts Advertised Budget Focused on COVID Recovery
The Fairfax County School Board has unanimously adopted its FY 2022 (2021-22 school year) Advertised Budget that places student health, well-being, and learning at its core, while remaining fiscally responsible during this uncertain economic climate.
The FY 22 Advertised Budget prioritizes and funds resources that support our students’ academic and social-emotional needs. The $3.2 billion budget also recognizes the sacrifices and commitment of Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) teachers and staff with a proposed 3 percent compensation rate for all employees.
Learn more about the FY 22 Advertised Budget.
Region 3 Outstanding Lee District Employees
Congratulations to the following employees who were recently named
2021 Region 3 Outstanding Employees:
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Outstanding New Principal – Alfonso Smith – John R. Lewis High School
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Outstanding Principal – Darwin Barker – Carl Sandburg Middle School
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Outstanding Elementary Teacher – David Worst – Rose Hill Elementary School
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Outstanding Secondary Teacher – Stephen Fox – Thomas A. Edison High School
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Outstanding School-Based Professional – Mike Henrich– West Potomac High School
New Podcast: En Pocas Palabras FCPS
A new podcast, En Pocas Palabras FCPS, in Spanish and English, has been launched to provide timely and important information to busy FCPS families in their primary language. The goal of every podcast is to help families access key resources and understand how to best support their children’s education. New episodes are available online.
EduTutorVA’s Quick Ascent Lifts Students
EduTutorVA, created in May 2020, has progressed quickly as a resource for students who have been adversely affected by the pandemic. This homegrown not-for-profit’s twofold mission of providing tutors for K-12 students and encouraging careers in education is made up of trained college undergrad and graduate students and alumni. Read here to learn more about EduTutorVA.
FCPS staff members are encouraging the community to provide comments to the Virginia Department of Education for its review and revision of the History and Social Science Standards of Learning. To read the full news release, click here.
Photos of the Week
Custodians at Key MS are working hard to follow specific cleaning protocols as part of COVID-19 mitigation strategies. A special thank you to all Lee District custodians who are helping to keep all our schools safe.
A Key Center student is escorted by an educational staff member.
Draft Calendars for 2021-22 School Year
Draft calendars for the 2021-22 school year were developed with a focus on instruction and learning time for students. The School Board will vote on the calendars at their Regular Meeting on Thursday, March 18. View the draft calendars.
Important Special Education Parent Survey Coming Soon
On March 1, parents of FCPS students with disabilities will receive an invitation via email from the FCPS Office of Auditor General to complete an independent, third-party survey on FCPS’s special education services provided through the Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 plan. All responses are confidential and will be used to generate recommendations for the Fairfax County School Board.
Your voice counts, so please share your thoughts once you receive the survey.
FCPS Newsletter Poll
On March 17, this newsletter, Return to School News, will be changing its distribution day from Mondays to Wednesdays. In anticipation of the move, please help us better meet your needs by answering four short questions.
Take the FCPS Newsletter poll.
Need Tech Help?
For any questions regarding technology, contact the Parent Technology Help Desk at 1-833-921-3277 (833-921-FCPS). It will be answered by staff members 7 a.m.to 11 p.m., seven days a week.
If the help desk is unable to solve the issue on the phone with the parent or guardian, a staff member will enter a ticket on the parent’s behalf and the request for help will be transferred to the appropriate FCPS team. Parents or guardians who need help in a language other than English should let help desk staff know, and an interpreter will join them on the line.
In addition, FCPS has set up an online portal to allow older students and parents and guardians to request technology help directly.
FCPS also has parent information phone lines, available in eight different languages, that can assist with general questions about FCPS. If you have any questions about your student's return to in-person learning, please contact their school or visit the school's website.
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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