The At-Large Race: Sheree Brown-Kaplan

Seven candidates will vie for three at-large seats on the Fairfax County School Board in the Nov. 8 elections.

As election day approaches, Patch has selected six questions and sent them in a survey to all at-large candidates.

Over the course of the next week, Patch will run the responses of the six candidates who returned the questionnaires. These responses are unedited, in the candidates' own words. Note: Candidate Lin-Dai Kendall did not return the survey.

Oct. 5: Sheree Brown-Kaplan

Oct. 6: Lolita Mancheno-Smoak

Oct 7: Ryan McElveen

Oct. 10: Ilryong Moon

Oct. 11: Steve Stuban

Oct. 12: Ted Velkoff

1. Is FCPS underfunded, overfunded, or properly funded at the current level? Explain.
It is difficult to assess the adequacy of the current funding because the School Board provides virtually no oversight of the FCPS bureaucracy and has abdicated much of its authority to the superintendent through Strategic Governance – its management model. As a result, we have no real accountability for the annual $2.2 billion public investment in FCPS. The next School Board must obtain an independent audit to ensure these funds are being used effectively in the education of our children and to gain improvements in areas such as class sizes and outcomes for all students. Program reviews are another critical component in this assessment to ensure funds are maximized for their intended outcomes. We need to be sure our education dollars flow primarily to the classroom where they can most benefit our teachers and students. Central administration costs increased more than 23% between 2004 and 2011 while our student population has only increased 7%. It appears there has been too much focus on Gatehouse and not enough on the schoolhouse.

2. When you compare high schools in Fairfax County, especially looking at free and reduced meals and band and athletic booster numbers, there is a large disparity between some high schools, resulting in “Have vs. Have-not” schools within Fairfax County. How do you intend to deal with this growing disparity? How do the School Board and Board of Supervisors plan to help the most needy schools, as its budget continues to shrink?

Schools with difficulty meeting AYP are typically those with disadvantaged students. It’s especially important that these schools employ early interventions for struggling students and find ways to maximize their parent involvement. The needs of the student population should be identified by the individual school’s leadership working hand-in-hand with their teachers and parents. The School Board and central office administrators must be prepared to address school needs based on that input. Real collaboration between the School Board and the Board of Supervisors is needed to ensure the funds to support such efforts. This is dependent on fostering a relationship between our supervisors and the School Board that promotes confidence that our public investment in education is properly managed.

3. The School Board is almost entirely dependent on school system staff for knowledge and understanding, and, there is no standing ombudsman function. Do you trust the central office staff of FCPS to provide the School Board with honest, well-reasoned, fact-based analysis of policy questions facing that body?

Unfortunately, a majority on the School Board relies excessively on staff recommendations over those of outside subject matter experts and resists community input. A recent article in Patch, “FCPS Says Schools Survey Lacks Credibility Because of Security Issue,” demonstrates how FCPS leadership views community input, even when staff has designed and implemented the instrument to collect opinions. The implication being that answers FCPS does not want to hear must be generated through inappropriate actions on the part of the community.

As the author of a June 2011 School Board advisory subcommittee report which recommended establishment of a parent ombudsman, I reviewed research which demonstrates our students benefit significantly when schools and parents work together to resolve problems and build relationships. An ombudsman function could help foster more mutual understanding and trust, but isn’t the only option. When parents are recognized and valued as partners throughout the system, an ombudsman supports parents differently than is suggested by this question by providing guidance and support rather than serving as a voice for them.

There is no question that staff expertise must factor into decision-making and policy-setting, but it cannot be the only resource. Research, data and subject matter experts do not exist solely within FCPS. We must be mindful of any and all opportunities to provide the best for students and the community regardless of where the expertise or data may originate.

4. What role do you think parents should play in setting policy and effecting change in our school system? If you had to draw a pie chart showing all those whom you think should be involved in overseeing FCPS policies, what would it look like?
Parent and the community involvement in policy development and affecting change shouldn’t be seen as a pie chart but rather as a patchwork with its input intertwined in the decision-making process. The School Board by its very definition as an elected body must be responsive to its constituency and offer the citizens of Fairfax County an active role in setting policy and making improvements to the system. This requires open communication and collaboration with parents and community members and be obtained through the following: (1) ensuring a serious review, consideration and response to the annual recommendations of the various citizen advisory committee; (2) establishing a schoolwide family-school partnership policy (as recommended by an advisory subcommittee I chaired last year) that values parents as equal collaborators in the education of their children; and (3) providing a written public comment period (similar to that for state and federal regulations) when major regulations are proposed or revised, along with staff responses that address the community’s input. However, these measures are unlikely unless we elect a responsive and accountable School Board on November 8th.

5. School start time is an issue that has not been addressed in some time. Will you seriously consider pushing the starting time of our high schools back? Why or why not?

In these days of tight budgets, our primary consideration must be to maximize student learning and ensure the effective use of the public's investment in education. Research demonstrates that later start times for teens mean better performance in the classroom. The new School Board should review past studies and surveys to inform its decision and determine the most appropriate measures to take in implementing the clear evidence and best practice of later high school start times, including the full utilization of technology to maximize transportation effectiveness.

6. Do you support video surveillance in the county’s high schools? To what extent?

No, I do not support video surveillance inside the county’s high schools. The rationale provided is not based on sound principles and no data supports video surveillance as an adequate prevention or deterrent technique. Prior to any consideration of video surveillance, the School Board should first fully employ at all high schools the Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) program. There is no evidence that video cameras will make our schools safer, but there is evidence of that the best practice of PBIS, when implemented consistently and with fidelity, improves student behavior. In addition, the full cost is unknown and the School Board should not be allocating funds to install video cameras when it has had to cut important instructional programs like summer school. The School Board should examine the research conducted by Dewey Cornell from the Curry School at UVA which outlines techniques that reduce bullying and suspensions. Implementing proven deterrent and prevention practices such as these would be the more efficient and effective use of our limited resources. We can and must do better to provide more positive and proactive approaches to modify student behavior than merely resorting to video surveillance.