Public Hearings on Metro Budget Begin Today — The Metro Board of Directors is holding virtual public hearings this week on the transit agency’s proposed FY 2022 budget, which could significantly reduce rail service and close 22 stations, including the McLean station. The first meeting starts at 11 a.m. today, and the hearing scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday (March 10) will focus on changes in Virginia. [WMATA]
Police Report More Commercial Burglaries in Tysons Area — Between Feb. 27 and March 4, Fairfax County police responded to burglaries at Sunoco (8030 Lee Highway), Grand Mart (6326 Arlington Blvd.), Ba Le Bakery (2822 Graham Rd.), Exxon (2081 Chain Bridge Rd.), and Macy’s (8000 Tysons Corner Center). [Fairfax County Police Department]
Inova and UVA Open New Medical Campus in Fairfax — The University of Virginia School of Medicine welcomed its first class of 36 medical students to a new campus developed in partnership with Inova Health Systems. Students will primarily train on the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus in Falls Church, but they will have opportunities to work across the nonprofit healthcare system’s facilities. [Inside NoVA]
School Board Votes to Advance Solar Panel Program — The Fairfax County School Board voted unanimously to move forward with a program to install solar panels on school buildings in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and electricity costs. Discussions are currently underway for projects at three schools, but Fairfax County’s original request for proposals included 87 sites. [Fairfax County Public Schools]
Deadline Approaching for McLean Community Center Governing Board Candidates — Petitions to become a candidate for a seat on MCC’s governing board must be submitted by 5 p.m. this Friday (March 12). There are three open seats on the board for adults and two for youth. [McLean Community Center/Twitter]
Inundated with messages from staff and community members on proposed changes to the 2021-22 calendar, Fairfax County School Board members directed Superintendent Scott Brabrand to redraft it.
During a work session on Tuesday (Mar. 2), the board told staff to consider ways to add flexibility through floating holidays. They said the calendar should take into account legal considerations, instruction, student wellness and pay for support staff, as well as survey preferences, absenteeism data, transparency and equity.
The school board will vote on a final calendar on Mar. 18.
FCPS announced last June that the school board will consider two ways to add in four religious holidays: Rosh Hashanah (Sept. 7, 2021), Yom Kippur (Sept. 16, 2021), Diwali (Nov. 4, 2021), and Eid al Fitr (May 3, 2022).
FCPS drafted a third proposal without those holidays in February, as some board members expressed reservations about the potential disruptions they would create.
“Support staff have been very vocal in terms of what the impact on their work will be,” School Board Chair Ricardy Anderson, who represents the Mason District, said on Tuesday. “I’m very mindful of what this means for our families who rely on schools for breakfast and lunch. We also know that we’re coming out of the pandemic, and we have had a lot of impact in terms of continuity of learning.”
Anderson reported receiving 269 messages from support staff, estimating at least 100 more. Member-at-large Karen Keys-Gamarra also said she received more than 700 written responses on the calendar.
Meanwhile, 286 students have signed a petition, and 76 clergy and faith organizations have signed a letter initiated by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington (JCRC) urging the board to add the holidays.
Responding to the news that FCPS would be developing a new calendar, the Pozez Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia said in a statement that it was heartened to see the board reject the calendar that did not include the new holidays.
“We are optimistic that the next option proposed will be one that is forward-thinking — acknowledging and respecting the cultural and religious diversity of the staff and students of faith in the county, as well as the community at large,” Pozez JCC Executive Director Jeff Dannick and President Susan Kristol said.
Member organizations of a Religious Observances Task Force, which FCPS formed to advise the school system on supporting religious minorities, had “strenuously” objected to the third calendar draft, saying its proposal lacked transparency.
“Given where the community has been at, where the process is so far, what data has revealed, it goes without saying that we need to give this a deliberate look,” member-at-large Abrar Omeish said. Read More
On Tuesday (Mar. 2), about 25,000 middle and high school students in Fairfax County entered school buildings to learn for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic closed them last March.
The latest cluster of students to start in-person learning under Fairfax County Public School’s Return to School plan included children in eighth, ninth, and 12th grades. For most freshmen, it was their first time setting foot inside their new school.
FCPS first restarted in-person classes on Feb. 16 for some special education and career and technical education students before phasing in kindergarten, preschool, and more students with disabilities on Feb. 23. Except for special education students, everyone who opted for hybrid in-person learning is still getting two days of virtual instruction on top of two days of in-person instruction.
At James Madison High School in Vienna, students arrived to the sight of an inflatable air dancer, while McLean High School students were greeted by clapping, cheering, and mask-wearing administrators who handed out gift bags to seniors.
TODAY IS THE DAY! We are safe, ready and steady as we welcome students back into the building today. A huge thank you to our admin and staff for all the work they put in towards making today possible. ❤️🖤 WE BELIEVE ❤️🖤 pic.twitter.com/J5WSA8rNzh
— MadisonHS (@JamesMadisonHS) March 2, 2021
Returning students at McLean High encountered some jarring changes, from teachers’ desks outfitted with plexiglas shields to a cafeteria transformed into a giant, socially distanced classroom. Other parts of the building seemed to have “frozen in time,” as McLean High School Principal Ellen Reilly put it.
For instance, a board listing upcoming events had not been changed since Mar. 12, 2020 — the day before schools closed.
“We know it’s not going to be perfect,” Reilly said of resuming in-person classes. “We know that we’re going to have some problems this week as we learn another new way of teaching. We’re doing concurrent [instruction] now, but we’ve prepared as best we can, and we’re going to get it right.”
Reilly isn’t sure how many faculty members have received the COVID-19 vaccine. FCPS worked with the Fairfax County Health Department and Inova Health Systems to get staff vaccinated as they prepared to restart in-person classes.
“That’s their personal business. They can opt to have it or not to have it, and it’s not for me to know if they have or not,” she told Tysons Reporter.
As of Mar. 2, FCPS has reported 1,027 COVID-19 cases, including 617 among staff and 276 among students.
McLean High School senior Nathan Legg says he “hung out with friends” throughout the year, but he still missed the experience of being in school from a social perspective as well as an academic one.
While the past 12 months have been far from how he pictured concluding his high school tenure, he is determined to make the best out of his remaining time as a Highlander.
“It’s really exciting,” Legg said. “I’m glad to finally get in and try and make something of my senior year.”
Jay Westcott contributed to this report.
Approving a new calendar for the coming school year is typically one of the more routine duties administered by the Fairfax County School Board, but this time, it has become another decision complicated by competing priorities and added stakes.
The board will hold a work session at 11 a.m. today (Tuesday) to discuss proposals for the 2021-2022 school year calendar that would add four religious observance holidays not included in the current school calendar: Rosh Hashanah (Sept. 7, 2021), Yom Kippur (Sept. 16, 2021), Diwali (Nov. 4, 2021), and Eid al Fitr (May 3, 2022).
Faith organizations representing Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, and Sikh communities in the D.C. area have been advocating for Fairfax County Public Schools to recognize those holidays for years, an effort that began gaining traction in 2019 when the school board first convened a Religious Observance Task Force to advise the district on how it could better serve students of different faiths.
With input from the task force, a committee charged with developing the school year calendar released two drafts last June that both incorporated the proposed new holidays.
However, when the school board met on Feb. 2 to discuss the issue, FCPS presented a third draft that did not include the holidays, as some school board members expressed reservations about having more school closures after a year of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting learning or making it more difficult for many students, among other concerns.
The religious groups involved in the task force — including the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), the Durga Temple of Virginia, Hindu American Foundation, McLean Islamic Center, Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation, Sikh Foundation of Virginia, and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington (JCRC) — expressed “deep disappointment” in the new turn of events in a letter sent to the school board on Feb. 9.
Disputing the idea that closing schools on four extra days would significantly affect FCPS’ ability to address learning losses, the task force criticized the board for not notifying them or the public about the new proposed draft calendar. They also noted that other jurisidictions in Northern Virginia, including Arlington, Prince William, and Loudoun counties, already recognize some or all of the holidays in question.
“We are troubled that FCPS’ natural progression to a more inclusive understanding of equity and diversity now stands to be thwarted,” the groups said. “We urge you not to obstruct or delay progress, but rather to move forward with confidence and conviction.”
As of Mar. 1, 269 current FCPS students had signed a petition from JCRC calling for the school board to add the religious holidays.
The school board will vote to officially adopt a calendar for the next school year on Mar. 16.
Photo via Sandeep Kr Yadav on Unsplash
On Tuesday morning (Feb. 23), 12 kindergarteners stepped into their classroom at Graham Road Elementary School in Falls Church for the first time.
Their teacher, Claire Kelley, and Principal Lauren Badini had distributed individually bagged breakfasts on the distanced desks. The classroom looked like the quintessential kindergarten classroom, decorated with bright colors and posters.
However, some of the posters bore messages instructing students to keep their distance from each other, wash their hands, and wear masks, a reminder that this was anything but a typical school day in a typical school year.
“It’s a pandemic classroom,” Badini said. “[Kelley’s] done an amazing job making it fun and exciting.”
Kelley will welcome another 12 kindergarteners to her classroom today (Wednesday).
“I’m really excited,” she said. “I’m super hopeful things are getting better.”
Nearly one year since schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fairfax County Public Schools is reopening its doors for families who opt for in-person instruction in stages over the next month.
After delaying plans to resume in-person classes in January, the Fairfax County School Board approved a new Return to School timeline earlier this month that started bringing students back on Feb. 16. Its schedule lines up with Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s mandate that all school divisions provide an option for in-person instruction by Mar. 15.
This week, 7,000 kindergarteners across the division returned, along with preschoolers, Early Head Start students, and other students receiving specialized instruction. Kids who are not receiving special education services are following a hybrid model that provides two days of in-person classes per week, with groups coming in on alternating days.
Graham Road will add 60 first and second graders on Mar. 9 and 80 students in grades 3-6 on Mar. 16. The phasing was designed so kindergarteners would have time to adjust to mitigation behaviors before being overwhelmed by older students, according to Badini.
“We’ve been prepping since July,” Badini said. “We’ve had to rethink every aspect of school. Elementary school turns on collaboration, talking, being close, holding hands.”
Kelley started preparing her students over Zoom by having them greet each other with fist bumps and air hugs. They practiced wearing their masks and watched videos of handwashing. The teacher developed songs and verbal cues, like pantomiming a zombie, to make sure kids stay apart.
“These are the rules they have to follow to stay in school,” she said. “I’m taking a step back to make sure they understand what they need to do to stay safe.”
For Badini, Mar. 12, 2020 was the last day things felt normal. When schools closed, the principal sprang into action to make sure her students — most of whom qualify for free- or reduced-price lunches — have internet access, piloting a program with FCPS and internet provider Cox.
Badini says the school tries to “do everything we can” to make up for the sacrifices parents are making, by providing free meals and snacks because “there has had to be a give and take somewhere.”
While Graham Road has some distinct challenges, all school principals are grappling with engagement, connectivity, and attendance, she said.
“We have wanted this and have been waiting for this for a year,” Badini said. “We know parents are frustrated. We’re working parents, too.”
The Fairfax County School Board unanimously adopted an advertised Fiscal Year 2022 budget for the county public school system when it met last Thursday (Feb. 18).
The $3.2 billion budget includes a $60.3 million increase in Fairfax County Public Schools’ request for funding from the county board of supervisors to increase employee compensation rates by 3%, a significant change from what FCPS Superintendent Scott Brabrand proposed in January.
Anticipating a tough financial year due to the continued impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brabrand had originally proposed freezing staff salaries aside from $3 million to complete a three-year push to bring the salaries of instructional assistants and public health training assistants up to 50% of the salary scale for teachers who have bachelor’s degrees.
Improving employee compensation has been a priority of the school board in recent years, as the board seeks to restore over $70 million and nearly 2,700 positions that have been cut since 2008, according to Lee District Representative Tamara Derenak-Kaufax.
“As a board, we must be committed to making certain 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 that their social and emotional needs are being met,” Derenak-Kaufax said. “In order to do so, we must be competitive with our surrounding jurisdictions.”
On top of the requested county transfer funds, FCPS projects that it could receive an additional $13.4 million in state revenue to cover the compensation increases based on a proposed budget from the Virginia State Senate that would provide a 3% salary bump for public school educators.
When approving the advertised budget, the school board also amended Brabrand’s proposed budget to include an additional $1.4 million to hire instructional coaches at six Title I elementary schools and create pay parity for elementary school principals and assistant principals.
Overall, the FY 2022 advertised budget seeks to increase FCPS funding by 2.4%, or $75.5 million, compared to the school system’s approved FY 2021 budget.
In addition to employee compensation, the increase provides for expanded preschool special education classes, retirement rate increases and rising health care costs, and support for student needs related to the pandemic, according to FCPS.
The budget also includes $4.9 million and 50 staff positions for English as a Second Language programs at the elementary school level, along with $500,000 and three positions for a collective bargaining team after the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation in 2020 allowing localities to recognize collective bargaining rights for public employees starting on May 1.
Karen Corbett-Sanders, who represents Mount Vernon District on the Fairfax County School Board, noted that the advertised FY 2022 budget does not include money for possible summer school programming, which will instead come from federal COVID-19 relief funds that Congress approved in December.
“We recognize that the past year has been incredibly difficult for our community,” Brabrand said. “This budget is designed to bring hope to students, their families and our staff by providing the resources each of them needs to help recognize and support all their extraordinary contributions during this pandemic.”
While not included in the advertised budget, the school board also directed Brabrand to identify funds to create positions for a neuro-diversity specialist and a trauma-informed social emotional learning specialist, roles that are, respectively, intended to provide support for students with disabilities and address students’ mental health needs.
At-large member Rachna Sizemore Heizer, who was a disability rights advocate before being elected to the school board in 2019, says having a neuro-diversity specialist could be “transformative” in helping eliminate disparities in academic achievement and discipline for students with disabilities.
“A neurodiversity-oriented approach, with its focus on student strengths, positive teacher expectations, and inclusion of the lived norms of students with disabilities within the norms of classrooms, can improve outcomes for students with disabilities and set them up for success after they leave FCPS,” Sizemore Heizer said.
County Executive Bryan Hill is scheduled to present his proposed FY 2022 budget to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors tomorrow (Tuesday). The school board will present its advertised budget to the Board of Supervisors on Apr. 13 and adopt an approved FY 2022 budget on May 20.
After a lengthy process, the Fairfax County School Board has approved a new moniker for the Fairfax school formerly known as Mosby Woods Elementary School.
The board voted 10-2 in favor of renaming the building Mosaic Elementary School during a meeting yesterday (Thursday).
The new name was adopted more than half a year after Providence District School Board Representative Karl Frisch and at-large member Karen Keys-Gamarra made an initial appeal to rename the school on June 18.
“Mosaic is not perfect. Mosaics are not perfect,” Frisch said on Thursday. “But the irregular pieces of stone, glass and ceramic that make mosaics result in something special. That is my hope for Mosby Woods community.”
The decision to change the school’s name came with support from descendants of the school’s namesake, Colonel John S. Mosby. The descendants sent a letter to the school board to request Fairfax County rename the school in the interest of “maintaining an inclusive environment for all students.”
Mosby was a Confederate commander who led a guerrilla campaign against Union supply and communications lines throughout northern Virginia during the Civil War.
“Today was an opportunity to say we live in a community, we live in a county that speaks over 200 languages and has people from all walks of life,” member-at-large Abrar Omeish said. “Mosaic is a way to bring everyone together under that name.”
Inspired by the school’s relative proximity to the Mosaic District in Merrifield, the name “Mosaic” was one of five options that Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Brabrand recommended on Oct. 22 to replace Mosby Woods.
The two votes against renaming the school to Mosaic came from Keys-Gamarra and Mount Vernon District Representative Karen Corbett-Sanders. Corbett-Sanders did not give her support to the new name out of concern that it “is associated with a different geographic region than that where the current school is located.”
Keys-Gamarra expressed disappointment about comments from some community and staff members who she said dismissed the idea of renaming the school after notable women of color, such as Mae Jemison, Sylvia Mendez, Patsy Mink, and Rebecca Lee Crumpler.
“I heard it more than once: ‘These people don’t represent us.’ And I heard it from staff. That was hurtful to me because there is no denial that these are great Americans,” Keys-Gamarra said. “I’ve spoken to community members — at least one — that had that view until our conversation. They said, ‘We have Asians and Hispanics, and we have so many people. That’s why these people don’t represent us and Mosaic is so much better.'”
The school board voted on Oct. 8 to change the school’s name. The board had originally been scheduled to select a new name in December but postponed its decision to solicit more community engagement.
Image via FCPS
(Updated at 11 a.m.) In the past eight months, the students in Vanessa Edwards’s nursing class have become well-versed in adapting to change.
After starting the school year in a virtual setting in July, they were among the roughly 8,000 students that attended in-person classes in the fall, only to revert to online classes when Fairfax County Public Schools paused plans for in-person instruction after winter break.
So, no one was fazed when a fire alarm blared through the halls of Fairfax County Adult High School in Springfield half an hour into Edwards’s first in-person class of 2021 on Wednesday (Feb. 17).
For faculty and students alike, the short-lived, familiar inconvenience of a fire drill paled in comparison to the relief of getting to interact with people face-to-face instead of through screens.
“Teaching nursing, there are certain skills and things you cannot teach virtual, so it makes it a lot more challenging to try and come up with ways to teach them,” Edwards said. “…We’re very excited to be back now in person, and hopefully, we’ll be able to stay in person through the remainder of the year.”
The School of Practical Nursing is among a handful of specialized career and technical education (CTE) programs that restarted in-person classes this past week, along with many young students with disabilities.
With local and regional COVID-19 transmission rates on the decline, FCPS is attempting to bring students back into buildings in phases, with in-person classes expanding to all grade levels by Mar. 16.
A licensed and registered nurse who worked at local hospitals and doctors’ offices for 21 years before being hired as a teacher by FCPS, Edwards says she feels “well-prepared” to resume in-person classes after seeing consistent compliance with mask requirements and other procedures in the fall.
It helps that her class only has 10 students this year and uses a spacious room that allows for plenty of distance between desks, luxuries that will not be available to all classes.
While the small class size means she hasn’t had to try it herself, Edwards thinks the hybrid, concurrent learning model that FCPS is implementing will help by reducing the number of students in a room at any given time.
“I think it is safe, coming back,” Edwards said. “I think having the less amount of people in one classroom is a good idea, and [it’s important] to just maintain the protocols.”
As of Feb. 18, FCPS has recorded 972 COVID-19 cases among staff, students, and visitors since Sept. 8, but there do not appear to be any in Fairfax County Adult High School, which houses the School of Practical Nursing and other CTE programs in the Plum Center for Lifelong Learning. Read More
Some Fairfax County Students Start In-Person Classes — Students in special education and career and technical education programs return to school buildings today for the first time since winter break. Under Fairfax County Public Schools’ Return to School plan, all grades will be phased into hybrid learning throughout the next month, concluding with third to sixth graders on Mar. 16. [WTOP]
FCPS Under Investigation for Possible Limiting Access for Students with Disabilities — “Emphasizing that the investigation in no way indicates a violation exists, a letter sent to Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Brabrand says that the district declined to provide in-person instruction to students with disabilities, while opening schools to in-person child care for general education students.” [WTOP]
Fairfax County Receives Federal Funds for Rental Assistance — “I’m happy to announce that we have secured $34 million from the Dept of Treasury to be used for rental assistance for our residents. As always, you will be able to access the support through our CSP line 703-222-0880.” [@JeffreyCMcKay/Twitter]
Vienna Extends Deadline for Residential Zoning Survey — “The deadline to take the residential standards survey for Code Create Vienna has been extended to Friday, March 5. Please take this brief survey to provide feedback on residential subjects, such as lot coverage, driveways, and porches.” [Town of Vienna/Twitter]
Pop-Up Florist Coming to Mosaic District — The clothing retailer Anthropologie (2910 District Ave., Suite 100) is hosting a Valentine’s Day pop-up with the florist Studio Fleuraison from 12-4 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 13). Purchases can be made in the store or as pre-orders. [Mosaic District/Twitter]
Fairfax County School Board Approves CIP — The Fiscal Year 2022-2026 Capital Improvement Program includes construction of a Dunn Loring Elementary School, partial funding for a Silver Line Elementary School, the James Madison High School addition, and renovations for four schools in the Tysons area. The school board approved the package when it met on Thursday (Feb. 4). [FCPS]
Sunrise Senior Living Names New CEO — “Sunrise Senior Living, the McLean company that operates more than 330 senior living facilities, has named Jack Callison Jr. its new CEO. Callison replaces Chris Winkle, who said in December he would step down after more than six years in the role.” [Washington Business Journal]
Fairfax Health District Hiring for Pandemic Response — The Fairfax County Health Department is looking to hire 100 individuals to support its COVID-19 vaccination and pandemic response efforts. Open positions include nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses, and licensed practical nurses that would join the vaccination team on a part-time, temporary basis. [Fairfax County Health Department]
Fairfax County Public School Trains Teachers for Concurrent Learning — Teachers at Holmes Middle School are learning how to use technology that will enable them to work with in-person and online students at the same time. The training is preparing them for about half of the school’s students to return for in-person instruction on Feb. 16. [ABC7-WJLA]
Photo via Beyond DC/Flickr
