Friday, May 24, 2013
In budget approval, school board members divided on how best to keep teacher pay competitive moving forward.
After months of debate on how to fairly compensate Fairfax teachers and keep pace with salaries in other jurisdictions , the Fairfax County School board voted for a $2.5 billion budget Thursday that will give employees a 2 percent mid-year market-scale adjustment — making good on a commitment from school board members to provide some sort of compensation relief during this fiscal year. Much of the Fiscal Year 2014 spending plan, which passed on an 8-4 vote, is dedicated to changing demographics and unprecedented student growth — 3,089 students are expected to join the system next year, pushing total enrollment to 184,625. To view the full budget, click here. The pay raise was the biggest hurdle in this year's budget, school board …
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Teacher pay and foreign language cutbacks are also concerns as Fairfax County School Board looks for another $30 million in reductions for next year's budget.
If push came to shove, Jane Lipp would give her right kidney to keep an instructional coach at her school. The principal of South County High School, which has a 49 percent minority population, said that's the kind of sacrifice she'd make, drama aside, to keep a position that's been 'instrumental" in helping her teachers push the school's diverse student body to succeed. More than a dozen of the 40 speakers who addressed the school board Tuesday night in a public hearing about Fairfax County Public Schools' budget spoke about the role coaches play in the day to day lives of teachers and students, including their help toward narrowing student achievement gaps. The public hearing comes as the school board prepares to adopt a $2.5 billion …
Monday, May 13, 2013
Some school board members say "disconnect," mistrust still exists between principals, parents.
As the Fairfax County School Board prepares to vote on another round of changes in a years-long push for reform of its discipline policies, board members are struggling to find common ground on when parents should be notified if their child could be suspended or expelled. Fairfax County Public Schools staff returned to the school board Monday with a number of proposed changes to the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, some of them based on a list of 52 recommendations to overhaul discipline practices systemwide a community committee put forth earlier this spring. See all proposed changes here. But parental notification — an issue on which there has been little agreement since the push for reform began following the suicide of two…
Officials say no funding for consultant as school board members say there is a "facilities crisis and a capacity crisis."
The Fairfax County School Board decided Monday to postpone re-evaluating how to determine the order in which county schools are renovated. Heeding the recommendation of the county’s Facilities Planning Advisory Council, Board members agreed they needed more time to discuss the matter to implement any real changes. The board develops its Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) every five years, which includes new schools, renovations, capacity enhancements, additions and infrastructure management. Schools currently receive improvements in the order in which they're ranked on the system's renovation queue, driven by a list of weighted criteria ranging from how the buildings serve "Fundamental Educational Requirements (FER)," to their age and physical…
Thursday, May 2, 2013
With prom and graduation fast approaching, Fairfax County officials launch campaign to raise awareness of what legal consequences await parents who let kids drink on their watch.
With high school proms and graduations right around the corner, Fairfax County has a message for parents: if you host parties and give teenagers alcohol, you will be prosecuted. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, in partnership with the Fairfax County School Board, proclaimed May 2013 Parents Who Host, Lose the Most month this week. Parents Who Host, Lose the Most is a campaign to raise public awareness for parents and other adults about the legal consequences of providing alcohol to minors. For the seventh year in a row, Fairfax County officials are taking part. Supervisor Jeff McKay stressed the importance of the campaign and its message. Prom and graduation should be a joyous time, but underage drinking can too often lead to …
Friday, April 19, 2013
Vienna middle school sends 38 students to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology's Class of 2017.
Kilmer Middle School in Vienna will once again send the fourth largest number of students to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology this year, making it among the top feeder schools in Fairfax County. Thirty-eight of the 480 students accepted to TJHSST's Class of 2017 are from Kilmer, according to data from Fairax County Public Schools. The majority of students accepted to the incoming freshman class at TJ, though, come from middle schools in Herndon and Falls Church. Carson Middle School in Herndon had the most students accepted, a total of 64, for the class of 2017. Longfellow Middle School in Falls Church and Rocky Run Middle School in Chantilly each had 55 students accepted. Kilmer comes next with 38 — a drop from the …
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Superintendent from Lubbock, Texas will step in as leader of Fairfax County Public Schools on July 1.
Karen Garza was officially appointed Thursday as the next superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools. Garza, currently the superintendent of the Lubbock Independent School District in Texas, will start July 1. The school board approved Thursday a four-year contract for Garza, through June 30, 2017. Read: New Fairfax Superintendent: 'I Am A Constant Learner' In remarks after the unanimous vote, Garza said her primary focus will be on teaching and learning, "for that is our core work." "To our stakeholders, our employees, our parents and our business and community partners, I pledge to be responsive and accountable to all Fairfax County schools stakeholders," she said. Garza also said she planned to be "very visible," noting the best …
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Fairfax County School Board, community members, share hopes for Karen Garza, likely the system's next superintendent.
Hours after Fairfax County Public Schools announced Karen Garza would likely become its next superintendent, school board leaders and other stakeholders spoke to the number of "unique qualities" they looked forward to seeing at the head of the system — chief among them, her ability to work collaboratively to find solutions. In a county that's home to a "highly demanding community and high expectations and different groups with strong voices who are not shy about expressing their opinions," that's an incredibly coveted trait, school board chair Ilryong Moon told Patch. "It's good to have a superintendent who believes in collaborating with a wide number of groups and does it well," Moon said, noting the former elementary school teacher was …
Karen Garza, currently a superintendent in Texas, will likely become the next leader of Fairfax County Public Schools.
A "strategic planner, a systems thinker, a stellar manager, and a highly effective communicator" is how the Fairfax County School Board described Karen Garza, the Texas superintendent leaders announced as their preferred candidate for superintendent Wednesday. Garza, who for the past four years has led the 30,000-student district of Lubbock, Texas, will assume the role pending final negotiations and a board site visit to the Lubbock Independent School District (ISD). She will become the system's first female superintendent as she takes the place of current Superintendent Jack Dale, who retires June 30. Garza was selected from 47 applicants for the position, and came out ahead of the 18 other candidates who were interviewed largely because…
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Debate heats up as school board weighs community and staff recommendations before coming school year.
Two weeks after a community committee detailed 52 recommendations to overhaul discipline practices systemwide, Fairfax County Public Schools staff has presented its own proposal for policy changes. But the plan leaves out two programs some see as key to a years-long push for reform — sparking a debate Monday on what role both groups would play in how the system moves forward. Staff leaders backed many of the ideas put forward by the 40-member Ad Hoc Community Committee on Student Rights and Responsibilities, including initiatives to make the discipline handbook easier to understand, keep students in school as they appeal a suspension and give principals tiered, age-specific approaches to a range of offenses. But staff members said they …
Michael
1:22 pm on Saturday, May 25, 2013
It's not strictly true to say that the Board of Supervisors "could not provide a pay increase" to their employees. The truth is they could have, and CHOSE not to. Nobody prevented them from offering a raise. They adopted a tax rate lower than advertised and CHOSE to devalue their employees. It is simply dishonest to suggest otherwise. more ›