Loudoun Schools Dais

School Bus Seat Belts to be Discussed at First Health, Safety, and Wellness Committee Meeting

On Monday, March 5th, at 6:30PM,  the Health, Safety and Wellness Committee will meet for the first time this year and one of the items on the agenda is to discuss whether LCPS should continue to install  student seat belts on regular full size buses. 

The decision to put student seat belts on our 'regular' full-size school buses was a School Board directed decision that was made during the last term.  It costs almost $10,000 per bus to add the seat belts and there isn't a consensus among experts  that they protect students in a crash any better than the high seat backs and padding.  Additionally, wearing seat belts isn't mandatory, so if students aren't using them, they're useless. 

If we stopped installing them on new buses, we could save nearly $600,000 on new buses next year alone. 

Here are links to several articles about School Bus seat belt safety:

http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/east/2012/02/21/201390.htm

http://www.edmunds.com/car-safety/should-school-buses-have-seatbelts.html

http://life.familyeducation.com/school/safety/36260.html

Operating Budget Meetings in Full Swing

I am working on my 13th Operating Budget for our School Sytem.  We've had two public sessions already and we'll continue on Tuesday, January 17th and Thursday, January 19th at 6:30PM at the School Board Admin building in Ashurn. The School Board is going through the budget by department and literally page by page. The Superintendent's Budget recommends a three percent Cost of Living Adjustment for employees and the phasing in of Full-Day Kindergarten.

Public input on the budget is encouraged, so please come out and speak in support of the budget or programs of interest (e.g. Special Education) or in asking for programs to be discontinued (e.g. extra-cirricular).  Please review the  LCPS Budget Information and provide comments at the meeting or send an e-mail to School Board E-mail.  

 

Governor Proposes Increases to K-12 State Spending

 Governor McDonnell announced on Thursday proposals for additional K-12 spending.  I don't know how much would 'trickle' down to Loudoun, but hope to find out next week. Unfortunately, the release below doesn't addresss the Virginia Retirement System adjustment which will add $10s of millions of cost to Loudoun next year.  Also, it will be up to State legislature to accept these additions.  Here is the Governor's  press release:

 

Commonwealth of
Virginia

Office of
Governor Bob McDonnell

 

FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January
13, 2012

 

Contact:
Jeff Caldwell

Phone:
(804) 225-4260

Email:
Jeff.Caldwell@Governor.Virginia.Gov 

 

Governor
McDonnell to Send Down Executive Budget Amendments

~$58 Million
More to K-12 Increases Additional Spending on Public Education in Governor’s
Budget to Nearly A Half Billion Dollars~

Governor’s
Amendments Support Smaller Elementary School Class Sizes and Early Reading
Efforts

 

RICHMOND
–
Governor Bob McDonnell is sending down a number of executive budget amendments
to his introduced biennial budget. The bulk of the amendments are directed at
increasing state funding to K-12 education. Combined with the governor’s $438
million increase in state funding for public education in his introduced
budget, the amendments bring additional state funding for Virginia’s public
schools to $497.2 million, or nearly half a billion dollars. Total state
spending on K-12 in the governor’s proposed budget is now $5.7 billion for FY
2013 and $5.8 billion for FY 2014.

 

The funding contained in the governor’s
executive amendments is derived from additional balances and savings
indentified following the introduction of the governor’s biennial budget.

 

Speaking about his amendments, the
governor remarked, “Our budget puts significant new funding into Virginia’s
public schools. We are continuing to invest in our young people, and that is a
crucial part of our efforts to position the Commonwealth for economic growth in
the years ahead. Now, with these budget amendments, we are able to direct even
more resources to public education. We will add $47 million to the current
class size reduction program for students in kindergarten through the third
grade, and we will continue our efforts to ensure that every student is reading
at a proficient level by third grade by directing an additional $8 million to
early reading intervention programs. To guarantee every young person in the
state the opportunity they deserve to succeed, we must provide them with the
world-class education they need. We are doing that by combining smart, targeted
increases in state funding with a focus on providing more accountability,
innovation and choice in our public schools.”

 

Highlights
of the Governor’s Executive Budget Amendments (Approximate Amounts over Two
Years)

•     Expand Youth Development Academies: $950,000
•     Increase Funding for the K-3 Primary Class Size Reduction Program: $47 million
•     Provide Funding for IT Academies: $3 million
•     Provide for In-State Tuition for VMI National Guard Members Currently Classified as Out
      of State: $600,000
•     Increase Funding for Teaching Hospitals: $8.7 million

 

The governor’s amendments are currently
being sent to the General Assembly. A full, comprehensive list will be
available following submission of all items.

 

Formal Announcement to Seek Re-election

I am formally announcing that I will seek re-election to the At-Large School Board seat on the Loudoun County School Board. My platform is based on improving the educational opportunities for Loudoun’s students and can be summarized as 4ETR = Tom Reed:

• Educate Loudoun’s Children – Improving the educational opportunities for our children is my number one goal. Our school’s core mission is to educate students and prepare them for a 21^st
  Century World. I want to increase Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics skills; expand on-line learning; implement virtual classrooms; revise the education calendar to allow earlier enrollment and earlier graduation; implement full-day kindergarten; and improve teacher retention by providing competitive salaries. We also need to construct additional schools, the Advanced Technology Academy, and relocate the Douglass Alternative School to a larger facility.
• Economic Development – Residential property taxes cannot sustain our growing school system’s needs. Over 7,000 new students are expected each year for at least the next five years. School Board members must be advocates for economic development in Loudoun County. A good school system is an incentive for companies to relocate here and for
  entrepreneurs to start-up here.
• Economic Development – We must double our efforts on economic development. School Board members must be active partners with the Board of Supervisors, our state representatives, the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development Council, and School Business Partnership Executive Council to promote economic development.
• Efficiency – Implement best practices throughout the school system to improve operations and the delivery of instruction. Increase energy conservation; reduce paper use; empower principals; make land acquisition for schools ‘by-right’; and get the state and federal
  government out of our schools.
• Transparency – I am on the record 100 percent of the time. Our school system must be fully accountable to the families and citizens of Loudoun County. I want to broadcast all public School Board committee meetings; publish on-line all expenditures in a searchable format; provide full disclosure of costs of unfunded mandates by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Federal government; full disclosure of road-blocks created by the state and federal government that impact our student’s education.
• Record – I stand on my record of service to the students, families and citizens of Loudoun County. I have attended as many School Board committee meetings as possible. My complete voting record and the record of the entire School Board through the end of June will be
  available on my web-site (http://TomReedAtLarge.org/ ) later this summer.
  
  Please visit my website (http://TomReedAtLarge.org/) later this month or contact me at TomReedAtLarge@AOL.com or phone me at 703-966-7656.

Superintendent Proposes Starting 2011-2012 School Year Before Labor Day

Due to the nine snow days we had during the last school year, Loudoun County Public Schools can start classes next year before labor day. Please let the School Board know whether you want school to start before or after Labor day by e-mailing them at lcsb@lcps.org. Additionally please take my unscientific survey.

 Here is the Proposed calendar for the 2011-2012 School Year:

August 29: First Day of School for Students

September 5: Holiday (Labor Day)

October 10: Holiday (Columbus Day)

November 4: End of the Grading Period

November 7-8: Student Holidays (Planning/Records/Conference Day)

November 23-25: Holiday (Thanksgiving)

December 22 –January 2: Winter Break (Classes Resume January 3)

January 16 Holiday: (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)

January 20: End of Grading Period

January 23: MOVEABLE STUDENT HOLIDAY * (Planning/Records/Conference Day)

February 20: Holiday (Presidents' Day)

March 30: End of Grading Period

April 2-6 Holiday: (Spring Break)

April 9 Student Holiday: (Planning/Records/Conference Day)

May 28 Holiday: (Memorial Day)

June 8: Last Day of School for Students/End of Grading Period

Former Field's Family Farm Fiasco Finally Finished!

Last Tuesday, Woodgrove High School offically opened its doors to the students of Western Loudoun for the first time. I've been counting down the opening date since December of 2008 on my blog and in my School Board comments because of the problems we've gone through to get a second high school opened in the West. 

With the opening of Woodgrove, Loudoun Valley's freshman class can return to their campus. Harmony and Blue Ridge Middle Schools will be less crowded Because we didn't move students in their senior year, Loudoun Valley will have its largest graduating class ever next June, but I hope its a record that will stand for a very long time. 

The bus traffic at the busy Maple and Main intersection in Purcellville was down more than 50 percent over last year. On the day I was there, all traffic was able to get through the intersection in a single light.

Again Congratulations to the Wolverines, Vikings, Hornets, and Bulldogs

Tax Holiday for School Supplies

Virginia is offering a tax holiday this weekend for purchasing school supplies and clothing. There are limits, but you can save over five percent by shopping in Virginia this weekend.   The limits are that the clothing items must cost less than $100 each and that school supplies cost less than $20 per item. 

Deja Vu ~ It's Finding Funds for High School Summer School Round II

On April 13th the School Board could not come up with an off-set to restore high school summer school. We spent nearly an hour trying to find an off-set totaling $205,000 to reinstate middle school summer school. Ultimately, Dr. Hatrick offered to find the money. This was the last item we considered before adopting our revised operating budget.  If you want to watch the original web cast of the budget  reconciliation go to: http://lcps.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=23&clip_id=1242 and then jump to “8.01 Business and Financial Services: Adoption of FY 2011 Operating Budget" .

Since high school summer school was eliminated for this year,  all ten high schools have implemented extraordinary efforts to ensure students 'in jeopardy' of not graduating are able to graduate on-time. Theses efforts have included after school and evening Saturday programs to help get as many seniors ready for graduation as possible. Additionally, efforts have been made to help students that want to take advanced program through alternatives like on-line courses.

Myself and most other School Board members thought the issue was settled, but the chairman announced at our last meeting that it would be an "Action Item" at our meeting next Tuesday (June 8th).  Board Docs for the meeting has not been posted yet, so I don't know what exactly what will be proposed or how it would be funded. 

In an effort to determine student, parent, and community support or for restoring high school summer school I created an informal and unscientific survey. If you'd like to participate, please go to:  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BFM2P5G

School Board Approves DuPree/Reed Modified Plan D for Dulles South Middle and High School Attendance Zones

The School Board approved  DuPree/Reed Modified Plan D  for the Dulles South High School and Middle Schools.  

I want to thank parents, staff, and School Board members that contributed to bringing this process to a satisfactory conclusion.  I have a backlog of nearly 100 e-mails concerning the attendance zone and I hope to send out replies this coming weekend. 

Additionally, I created an unscientific survey about the new process. I will be collecting inputs until Friday, May 21, 2010. 

Ouch! "Close To Home" cartoon is "Too Close to Our Reality"

 
John McPherson's comic strip "Close to Home", is a little too close to our reality. I laughed and then I realized it isn't that funny for the students.  

Link to "Close to Home"