Ryan McElveen
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On the Blog Post Richmond's Educational Extremism
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On the Blog Post Richmond's Educational Extremism
Ryan McElveen
8:25 pm on Monday, February 11, 2013
ReplyHi Michele and Mozart,
Apologies for the delayed response—the School Board had an all-day work-session today.
The Tebow bill (HB 1442) would allow local school boards to determine whether home-schooled students can try out for local teams.
The Fairfax County School Board voted to advocate against the legislation when it was introduced in 2012 because, in short, the bill would be unfair to current FCPS students who must comply with academic standards in order to participate. While the Tebow bill would require home-schooled students to meet academic benchmarks for two years before joining a team, those standards are not clear. As some have argued, public schools aren’t “a la carte”—students and their families have the choice to participate in the public school system and all of the activities it provides.
This year, the Virginia High School League, the Virginia Education Association, the Virginia PTA and the Virginia School Boards Association, among others, have all advocated against the bill.
The House of Delegates voted 56-43 in favor of the Tebow bill, and the Senate Education and Health Committee will be voting on it on Thursday, February 14 at 8:30 a.m. Last year, the bill died in this committee by a 7-8 vote. The Fairfax State Senators on this committee are Janet Howell, Dick Saslaw and George Barker. Last year, all three voted against the bill.
Feel free to let me know if you have further questions or comments at ryan.mcelveen@fcps.edu.
Ryan
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On the Blog Post Can’t Attend a School Board Meeting? Send a YouTube Testimony
Ryan McElveen
10:45 am on Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Hi Dina,
The testimonies will be shown at regular board meetings every two weeks, so yes, they will be viewed by all board members and the public in person or on Red Apple 21.
Ryan
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On the Blog Post The Eight School Board Initiatives to Watch in 2012-2013
Ryan McElveen
8:36 am on Friday, September 7, 2012
ReplyHi Fred,
Your question about class size is a good one, since that was clearly a defining issue in the 2011 election. In the 2012-2013 budget, we allocated 32 full-time teaching positions to be applied to schools with large class sizes. It should be noted that the Board added an additional six positions to the superintendent's recommended 26 positions, asking that the money for the extra positions be found from savings elsewhere in the budget.
Dr. Dale will be reporting to us in the coming weeks on the status of the allocation of these positions. Although we won't see a drastic reduction in class sizes throughout the county, hopefully we'll see some relief in areas where sizes are most problematic.
Ryan
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On the article Bye for Now, Vienna Patch
Ryan McElveen
10:57 am on Monday, August 6, 2012
ReplyCongratulations, Erica! Glad we'll continue to see you at SB meetings.
Ryan
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On the article Readers’ Choice: Best High School in Fairfax County
Ryan McElveen
10:07 pm on Monday, June 18, 2012
ReplyProbably not allowed to take sides, but my vote is for Marshall!
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On the article MVHS Honor Grad Q&A: Eugene Coleman III
Ryan McElveen
10:53 pm on Saturday, June 16, 2012
ReplyCongrats, E.J.! You have been a pleasure to work with on the School Board, and we look forward to hearing all the great things you do in the future. You will be missed!
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On the article Marshall High School Named No. 3 In State
Ryan McElveen
8:59 am on Thursday, May 10, 2012
ReplyAlthough all of our FCPS schools deserve this high ranking, I am glad that the work of Marshall's administration, teachers and families over the past decade is being recognized. Proud to be a Statesman!
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On the article SLHS Principal Butler to Retire in June
Ryan McElveen
10:41 am on Tuesday, April 24, 2012
ReplyBruce, it has been an absolute pleasure to work with you, if only for a short time. Thanks for all you've done for the SLHS community!
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On the article Town, Volunteers Set Sight On Community Garden
Ryan McElveen
10:41 am on Thursday, February 16, 2012
ReplyThanks to Laura and all those involved in this project. It's great to see Vienna emerging as the vortex of health for Fairfax County thanks to their work.
Ryan McElveen
6:11 am on Friday, February 15, 2013
Louise, It's very disappointing. The Board advocated in favor of repealing the calendar restriction, as it has done for many years.
Ryan