Education Issues in Fairfax County
FCPS By the Numbers:
- 10th largest school system
- 12 Board Members – nine by Magisterial District, three at-Large; registered
- 4 total number of Board Members each voter may cast a ballot for, including one by the voter’s Magisterial District and three at-Large. The full Board is up for election in November, 2019 for the next four-year term.
- $2,870,278,776 Billion operational budget – primarily funded by Fairfax County residents (70.1 percent). The balance of the funding is from the Commonwealth of Virginia (23.1 percent), other sources (6.8 percent) and the federal government (1.6 percent)
- ~53% of the entire Fairfax County budget is transferred by the Board of Supervisors to the School Board for the FCPS Budget
- $404,874,411 of the $2.9 Billion budget is for retirement
- $155 Million in additional funds is for the Capital Improvement Plan Budget
- ~75% of Fairfax County’s 1.1 million residents do not currently have children in FCPS
- 400 square miles – total size of Fairfax County
- 190,168 students – the upward trend for student population now means an increased projected estimate for fall 2018 enrollment
- $15,318 average cost per student
- 198 schools
- 800+ trailers
- 27.5 million square feet of covered infrastructure facilities, plus another 1+ million square feet in temporary facilities (trailers)
- 36,019 students (19%) ESOL
- 26,730 students (14.1%) Special Education
- 55,020 students (29.0%) Free and Reduced-Price Meals
- 200 countries represented in student population
- 160 languages spoken by student population
- 1,630 buses, the largest school bus fleet in the United States
- 18.5 million bus miles traveled annually transporting 130,000 students daily
- 15,287 teacher positions
- 24,121 total full-time positions (includes teacher positions)
- ~14,000 additional part-time positions
- 20,287 additional students from 2008-2017
- 2,028 average student increase every year
KEY LINKS:
- Budget Documents: https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/budget/budget-documents
- Budget Questions and Responses: https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/budget/budget-question-responses
- Capital Improvement Program: https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/facilities-planning-future/capital-improvement-program
- School Board: https://www.fcps.edu/school-board
- Cox Channel 21 – Televised School Board Meetings
- School Board Meetings: https://www.fcps.edu/school-board/school-board-meetings
- School Board Meeting agendas, minutes, videos and photos: https://www.fcps.edu/school-board/agenda_minutes_photos
- FCPS Livestream: https://www.fcps.edu/tv
- School Board Meetings on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSz76NCRDYQF3hPS2qS2SGEcoO4__Yd7Z
- Archived School Board Meeting Videos: https://www.fcps.edu/node/32692
- School Board Standing Committees: https://www.fcps.edu/school-board/school-board-committees
- About FCPS: https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps
- One Fairfax: https://www.fcps.edu/onefairfax
Videos of Sharon Bulova’s Community Review Committee 7/9 Meeting: School Resource Officer Memorandum of Understanding
These videos recorded the Community Review Committee Meeting on School Resource Officer Memorandum of Understanding. The meeting was conducted on July 9, 2018, at the Government Center, Room 232. No public notice was provided announcing the meeting.
Comments from Committee members had previously been submitted before the July 9 meeting. Chairman Bulova’s office had rewritten and merged those comments into a new document, which was presented to the Committee and public for the first time at the July 9 meeting (but not made available to the public). Relevant background documents include:
School Safety in the Commonwealth Community Forum, June 25 2018: Videos
The School Safety Forum
For interested Fairfax residents who were unable to attend, FCRC recorded the speakers and panels at the June 25, 2018 School Safety in the Commonwealth Community Forum, presented by the Fairfax County Communities of Trust Committee in partnership with the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Fairfax County Public Schools and the Fairfax County Police Department. The four videos are embedded below. Only a few questions were permitted at the end of the meeting, which you can view in Part 4 below, before the closing remarks by FCBS Chair Sharon Bulova.
The Internal Security Review
For background on the Fairfax County plans for school safety, see the FCPS press release on the Internal Security Review conducted by the Office of Safety and Security and presented …
Fairfax County Votes to Tell Boys They Might be Girls
By Austin Ruse & Cathy Ruse Published on June 15, 2018
The final vote was a foregone conclusion. No one thought deeply ideological Fairfax County (VA) School Board would vote any other way than 10‑1 for what is among the most radical sex-ed curriculum in the country.
The ten board members, whose names are listed below and who should go down in infamy, voted for children to be taught that they aren’t really male or female, that biological sex is meaningless, that they can transition to a different sex than the sex “assigned” to them a birth. And they will be taught this without their parents’ permission.
The board voted 10‑1 to instruct children about the daily gay sex pill PrEP, recommended for the “very high risk” behavior of condom-less sex with multiple partners of unknown HIV status. PrEP has a 10% failure rate for preventing HIV infection and even AIDs Health organizations warn against it. But the Fairfax School Board just voted to teach it to every high school student, every year, without their parents’ permission.
Rejecting Science
The meeting last night was quite revealing. It pitted science against…
Four SHOCKING additions that the School Board is planning in Sex Ed
Four SHOCKING additions that the School Board is planning in Sex Ed
The Fairfax County School Board is approving several controversial additions to the Family Life Education (FLE, or sex education) curricula, a program already under heavy criticism from parent groups. Most Fairfax voters, including parents, don’t know that FLE teaches information that is not scientifically based and potentially dangerous to children’s physical and mental health.
The comment period ended June 8, but parents and community members can attend the June 14 School Board meeting at Luther Jackson Middle School when they will make their final decision.
Here are just four of the many SHOCKING changes in sex-ed proposed for this September:
The School Board recommends the use of a dangerous…
Public Feedback Needed for 4th Grade Virginia Studies Materials by June 25
Announcement from Fairfax County Public Schools:
Public Invited to Provide Feedback on Basal Resources for Fourth Grade Virginia Studies
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is soliciting community feedback through Monday, June 25, on proposed new basal resources for fourth grade social studies (Virginia Studies). Resources will be available in the lobby at Willow Oaks Administrative Center (8270 Willow Oaks Corporate Drive, Fairfax) from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each business day. Extended hours until 8 p.m. will be provided on Wednesday, June 13. Resources are also available online. Directions for reviewing the materials and submitting comments can be found on that webpage.
A review committee composed of community members, administrators, and teachers will meet in May and June to review the resources. Public review of the potential basal resources is part of the process for selecting new resources.
Community members are encouraged to review the proposed print and online materials and complete comment sheets or the online survey. All community feedback will be shared with School Board members before the vote at the School Board regular meeting
.
For more information, contact Colleen Eddy, FCPS Social Studies Coordinator, at 571-423-4795 or caeddy@fcps.edu.
Source: Fairfax County Public Schools News Page
Photo Attribution: Wikimedia
DOVE: Deterrence, Detection, Denial Are Three Best Keys To School Safety
Jeff Dove, Republican candidate for VA-11 just published an excellent OP-ED in The Republican Standard about school safety and issue that every Fairfax County family can related to:
Our nation is facing a disease that must be addressed swiftly and judiciously. As a father of a young daughter, it is heart-wrenching every time a new school shooting or a mass shooting occurs. Parents, children, and Americans should not have to worry about their safety or the safety of a loved one in their daily routine. Our leaders have failed us as Americans, and they have also failed their mission to protect their constituents.
This is not the time for partisan politics, political games, or electioneering. It is time for real …
GOP supports GMU Law School and Free Speech
George Mason University’s highly respected law school has recently come under attack. The Virginia House Republicans came to the law school’s defense with a petition for support:
“In case you missed it, the left has been launching attacks on the reputation of George Mason University for not falling in line with their ideological agenda. Now the latest smear campaign is going after …
Family Life Education: May 24 meeting, June 8 comment deadline
Updated with New Actions…
The Chairman At Bat
URGENT ACTION ALERT:
The Fairfax County School Board is about to declare that biological sex is meaningless!
That’s right. The majority of School Board members appear ready to approve and green-light radical recommendations received from its “Family Life Education Curriculum Advisory Committee” (FLECAC), including:
- Replace the term “biological sex” with “sex assigned at birth”? Check!
- Teach children they aren’t born male or female? Check!
- Delete “Abstinence is the only 100% effective method for prevention of sexually transmitted infections”? Check!
- Remove the offensive word “clergy” as a trusted adult? Check!
- Embed “gender fluidity” as the new social construct? Check!
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1) Send your comments to the FLE (Sex Ed) Curriculum by Friday June 8, to FLEcomments@fcps.edu. The comment period begins at 8 a.m. on May 10, 2018 and continues through close of business on June 8, 2018. All comments received during the comment period will be shared with School Board members prior to the vote on the recommendations June 14, 2018. More info at https://www.fcps.edu/node/33908
2) You can also email the 12 school board members and/or meet with them in person to let them know how you feel about the changes in the FLE (Sex Ed) Curriculum (see https://www.fcps.edu/index.php/school-board/school-board-members for contact info).
3) Plan to attend the next 2 School Board meetings! 7pm Thursday May 24, and 7pm Thursday June 14 when they take the vote.
There’s a School Board election next year. We’re building a record to unseat them.
The full FLECAC recommendations and a summary presentation of them are available here and here.
The FCRC has posted here the dissenting opinion to the FLECAC recommendations, prepared by committee members who disagreed with the majority of FLECAC members.
The Fairfax County School Board is dragging us into their Brave New World—with your money. Billions of dollars of your money.
With over $3 billion taxpayer dollars at the School Board’s disposal, the residents of Fairfax County need to question just who is responsible for educating nearly 190,000 children in our schools. Do parents have the primary role in their child’s education or is it a governing School Board of 12 members detached and removed from all known objective truth and reality?
Of course, both parents and the school board have a role to play in educating children, as do teachers, coaches, ministers, mentors, brothers and sisters, friends, etc. (Well, not ‘ministers’—the Family Life Education (“Sex Ed”) committee’s recommendation to the School Board removes the word “clergy” from the list of trusted adults, because that word is simply too offensive for young people to hear.)
So, WHO is RESPONSIBLE for educating a child? The teacher? The coach? The minister? The brother or sister? The friend? The school administrator? The school board? Or the parents who brought the child into this world and live with and nurture the child 365 days a year until the child has developed the means to live independently?
As has been the case throughout the history of civilization, the answer to this question of responsibility for a child’s education is unquestionable: PARENTS (or, in some cases, designated guardians) are responsible for a child’s upbringing and education.
So why is the Fairfax County School Board excluding or minimizing parental involvement in the adoption of controversial policies and practices in the Fairfax County Public Schools that undermine the values of substantial numbers, and likely the majority, of parents?
Note School Board member Elizabeth Schultz’s (Springfield District) challenge to the Board to involve more parents at the School Board meeting on May 10 (3:08.30 in the video below):
Does the School Board really think most parents want their middle and high school children sharing bathroom and locker room facilities with members of the opposite sex?
Does the School Board really think most parents want their middle and high school girls competing with physically stronger boys in contact sports?
Does the School Board really think most parents want teachers to introduce their middle schoolers to concepts of “sexual fluidity”?
The 10 Democrats who control the 12-member School Board don’t seem to care a whit about what parents think about their unilateral intrusion into these areas of parental responsibility.
The Democrat School Board’s disregard for parents and residents isn’t limited to the ever-expanding Sex Ed curriculum. It has a long record of resolutely marginalizing or flat-out ignoring the community on such wide-ranging topics as school renamings, teacher pay, forced busing of children away from neighborhood schools, socially-engineered school boundary changes, minority and special education student achievement, and class size.
The Democrat School Board is forcing its will upon parents, the majority of whom are unaware and unsuspecting of how schools are undermining their influence with their children.
Please Note, Fellow Residents: Democrat Officials Are Wrecking Fairfax County!
We must take it upon ourselves to find out what’s going on in our schools and advocate for parents to receive their rightful and governing say in how their children are being educated.
(Photo caption: Tim Hannigan, Chairman of the Fairfax County Republican Committee [Cavalieri Photo])