Education Issues in Fairfax County
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Fairfax County Public Schools By the Numbers:
FCPS School System
- 10th largest school system
- ~75% of Fairfax County’s 1.1 million residents do not currently have children in FCPS
- 198 schools and centers
- 800+ trailers
- 27.5 million square feet of covered infrastructure facilities, plus another 1+ million square feet in temporary facilities (trailers)
- 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
FCPS School Board
- 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.
FCPS Budget
- $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
- $15,318 average cost per student
FCPS Students
- 190,168 students – the upward trend for student population now means an increased projected estimate for fall 2018 enrollment
- 36,019 students (19%) ESOL
- 26,730 students (14.1%) Special Education
- 55,020 students (29.0%) Free and Reduced-Price Meals
- ~200 countries and territories represented in student population
- 160 languages spoken by student population
- 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
Educational Choice for Teachers
More and more parents are exercising choice in their selection of education for their children. In North Carolina, removal of charter school caps, creation of vouchers, and expansion of programs for special needs children have resulted in almost 20% of school children enrolled in a school other than public schools. Public school enrollment has dropped over 5% since 2010 as an increasing number of parents are seeking alternatives to public education.
However, what about the teachers? Teachers are limited in…
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 …