Tag: school board
Superintendent Garza outlines goals and challenges
Advisory council chair Romona Morrow (left), president of the Fairfax County Council of PTAs, and vice chair John Wittman, who is also vice chair of the FCPS Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee, present a Virginia flag to Superintendent Karen Garza (center). New schools superintendent Karen Garza told members of the Business and Community Advisory … Continued
Fairfax County school board explores office building as school site
The Fairfax County School Board is examining the viability of acquiring a five-story office building at 6245 Leesburg Pike in Seven Corners and converting to a school to provide relief for the severely overcrowded Bailey’s Elementary School. According to a Sept. 5 news release from Fairfax County Public Schools, Bailey’s is at 130 percent capacity … Continued
Fairfax County school board rejects strong language on parent notification
Steve Stuban speaks to the school board. Despite emotional pleas from parents to strengthen parent notification requirements in the student discipline policy handbook, the Fairfax County school board voted last night to reject the language recommended by an ad hoc committee to require principals to call parents when their child is accused of violating school … Continued
Falls Church HS parents express frustration over lack of renovation funds
A grungy sink in a science lab. There was a huge amount of frustration vented at a Falls Church High School PTSA meeting May 1 over the lack of progress in getting funds for a badly needed renovation. School board members Sandy Evans (Mason) and Patty Reed (Providence) listened patiently as parent after parent complained … Continued
Annandale stakeholders consider needs of local youths
Youths walk along Medford Drive in Annandale. After several meetings, the Annandale Youth Engagement Community Planning Group has come up with lots of good ideas, but which ones should they focus limited resources on? What do young people really need? What assets already exist in the community? And should they develop a long-term or short-term … Continued
Lubbock, Texas, Superintendent Karen Garza selected FCPS superintendent
Garza Karen Garza, the superintendent of the Lubbock, Texas, school system, is the “preferred candidate” to be the next superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools, “pending final negotiations for employment and a successful site visit,” the school board announced April 10. Garza would succeed Jack Dale, who is retiring, effective July 1. The school board … Continued
Fairfax County/school board exploring opportunities for shared facilities
A joint working group made up of Fairfax County supervisors and school board members is exploring the county’s capital needs and creative ways to fund new projects—including opportunities for shared facilities. The Capital Facilities and Debt Management Working Group was convened by Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova to respond to concerns raised by the … Continued
FCPS School Board approves scaled-back plan on AAP centers
Rather than totally restructure the Advanced Academic Program (AAP), the Fairfax County School Board voted Jan. 24 to adopt a scaled-back plan for just four new centers—none of them in Annandale or the Mason District. A FCPS staff report had recommended putting an AAP center in every middle school and adding centers to more elementary … Continued
Parents urge school board to build new school at Willston, not Glasgow
Parents at school board hearing oppose building a new elementary school on the Glasgow Middle School athletic fields. There seems to be widespread agreement that a new elementary school is needed in the Bailey’s Crossroads area to relieve severe overcrowding at Bailey’s Elementary School. The problem is there isn’t any available land. At a school … Continued
Mason/Annandale parents weigh FCPS proposal on AAP Centers
School board member Sandy Evans (Mason) is concerned that Fairfax County Public Schools’ plan to restructure the Advanced Academic Program (AAP) Centers might not meet the needs of Mason District students and parents. She called it a “cookie-cutter” solution to a problem that schools in our area might not necessarily have. The plan calls for … Continued
Major changes proposed by FCPS for Advanced Academic Program centers
Parents from Braddock Elementary School support the proposal. A proposal by Fairfax County Public Schools to restructure its Advanced Academic Program (AAP) centers is upsetting lots of parents, and a series of FCPS last week drew huge crowds. Many parents were concerned that adding lots of new centers would dilute the program and urged the … Continued
Most speakers at school board hearing support charter school
Current plans call for the FLA to be based at the Graham Road Elementary School building. Speaker after speaker at a Fairfax County School Board hearing last night on the proposed charter school spoke out in favor of the Fairfax Leadership Academy (FLA). The vast majority of the 47 people who spoke at the hearing … Continued
TJ admissions process is discriminatory, federal complaint charges
The entrance to Thomas Jefferson High School on Braddock Road, Annandale The Coalition of The Silence, an advocacy group formed by former Fairfax County school board member Tina Hone, has filed a federal civil rights complaint charging the admissions process for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) unfairly excludes black and Latino … Continued
FXCO School Board to consider later start times for high school
By Laurie Lindberg As you may have heard, the Fairfax County School Board passed a resolution in April that requires the superintendent to report back to the board about how other school systems have been able to provide high school start times after 8 a.m. The school board directed the superintendent to identify successful approaches … Continued
Falls Church HS in dire need of renovation, parents tell school board
A light fixture ready to fall A Fairfax County school board hearing on the school system’s capital improvement program (CIP) Monday night was dominated by parents and students who spoke about the urgent need to renovate Falls Church High School. A parent advocacy group, UPROAR (United Parents to Renovate our Academic Resource), was formed to … Continued