Friday, June 10, 2011
Board shelves issue of parent notification
The Fairfax County School board passed a series of amendments Thursday night that will give school administrators more flexibility and students more support when they enter the school system’s disciplinary process. Among the most significant measures was the school board’s decision to rely less heavily on “involuntary transfer” as a form of punishment. Under the unanimously approved amendment, school officials will have to consider alternatives such as community service, loss of privileges or detention before opting to transfer the student to another school. “This amendment will hopefully end the practice of automatically transferring a student as the first option of discipline,” said at-large school board member Martina Hone. For …
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
The reform group plans to rally before the FCPS meeting on Thursday.
As Fairfax County School Board members prepare to vote on revisions to the school system's discipline policies at their meeting on Thursday, reform supporters are planning a rally before and during the meeting to show their dissatisfaction with the proposed changes. Fairfax Zero Tolerance Reform Rally for Student Rights will kick off at 6:30 p.m. in front of Luther Jackson Middle School. The school board meeting begins at 7 p.m., with a vote on the changes to the Student Responsibilities and Rights handbook scheduled for around 7:45 p.m. FCPS Superintendent Jack Dale presented his own 10 recommendations for changes to the discipline process and Student Responsibilities and Rights handbook last month, along with feedback collected from …
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Advocate, parent works for students with intellectual disabilities; will seek endorsement from Fairfax County Republican Committee
Herndon resident Lisa Fagan will seek an endorsement from the Fairfax County Republican Committee for an at-large seat on the Fairfax County School Board. Fagan currently works as an educational advocate for Special Education Connections, advising parents of children with intellectual disabilities on their educational rights and how to obtain the services they need. The mother of three said her children all had Individual Education Plans (IEP), and she travels to schools throughout the region on a daily basis to help other children get the services they need. “You see things that really work and see things that don’t work,” she said of her experiences. In addition to working in schools, Fagan has served as a member of the Fairfax County …
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Dale's presentation of recommendations drew plenty of feedback from school board members
Fairfax County School Board members and local advocacy groups say more work is needed on recommended changes to the system’s disciplinary process – specifically in the areas of parental notification and access to audio recordings of hearings. Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Jack Dale presented his own 10 recommendations for changes to the discipline process and Student Responsibilities and Rights handbook at Monday’s work session, along with feedback collected from parents by school principals and groups such as the Fairfax County Council of PTAs and Fairfax Zero Tolerance Reform. The board dedicated $500,000 for reform as part of its fiscal year 2012 budget. The school board will give their amendments to the proposed changes …
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Past PTA President wants to focus on honors courses, start times, fiscal responsibility
At-large school board candidate Greg Brandon has been a PTA president, treasurer and volunteer for the past five years. But in that time, he's found his groups and others like them aren't involved in Fairfax County Schools policy discussions early enough to make a difference. “Teachers and parent activists need to be involved in program and policy discussions from the get go; at the end it’s too late. We don’t have to be the critics of the school system that we are — we’re critics for good reason, but we’d have fewer critics if we were invited inside the tent sooner rather than later.” The issue was one of the motivations for the retired Navy officer to run for an at-large seat on the Fairfax County School Board. Brandon is one of six at-…
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Group sends report, recommendations to school board members and Superintendent Jack Dale in advance of Monday work session
As high school and middle school principals solicited feedback this week in advance of a May 16 school board work session on discipline reform, the Fairfax County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations submitted their own resolution to Superintendent Jack Dale and the board, urging them to discontinue automatic involuntary transfers of students who are expelled from their schools and involve parents earlier in the disciplinary process. The FCCPTA, which represents all of the PTA groups in Fairfax County, sent school board members and Dale three resolutions and a six-page report Tuesday detailing their months of conversations among their working group on discipline, at the Superintendent’s Parental Advisory Council (SPAC) meetings, and with…
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Letter from Fairfax County Council of PTAs.
- SCHOOLS
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Wednesday, May 11, 2011
This is a letter sent by Fairfax County Council of PTAs. It has not been edited. Dear School Board Members and Dr. Dale, Thank you for hearing parent concerns and reviewing the Fairfax County Public Schools disciplinary system, its policies, practices, and procedures. Members of the Fairfax County Council of PTAs (FCCPTA) have spent months drafting our position, including many hours of analysis and discussion by our Working Group on Discipline, Superintendent's Parental Advisory Council (SPAC) meetings, our own General Membership Meeting, parent group meetings at individual schools, dialogue with Fairfax Zero Tolerance Reform, conversations with concerned parents, meetings with staff, as well as attending your work sessions on this …
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
County schools asked to host meetings on Dale's recommendations for disciplinary process
Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Jack Dale said Tuesday night he has asked every middle and high school principal to convene a community meeting to discuss his 10 disciplinary recommendations pending before the School Board. Dale made the announcement to the 25 PTA representatives at the regularly scheduled Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Council meeting. "We want to get as much parent and community feedback as possible," Dale said. Barbara Hunter, assistant superintendent for community affairs, outlined the proposed meetings' objectives and timeline. The meeting format will be consistent across the county to gather feedback and suggestions on the discipline proposals, she said. Participation is voluntary and up to the …
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Vienna resident answers questions about his campaign for the Fairfax County School Board
Ryan McElveen is the sixth Democratic candidate to join the at-large race for the Fairfax County School Board -- but the only one to go through the system recently as a student. The 25-year-old graduate of the University of Virginia attended Westbriar Elementary School and Kilmer Middle School before graduating from Marshall High School in 2004. Now, McElveen wants to use his recent experience in Fairfax County classrooms to help fix what he calls a disconnect between the realities of school curriculum and environment and the policies that are often "out of sync" with them. McElveen currently works in educational programming at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and as a Mandarin Chinese tutor to local students. He will complete a …
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Involuntary transfers and zero tolerance concerns not addressed in recommendations.
Troubled students might see a shorter and friendlier disciplinary process in the next school year. Superintendent Jack Dale presented 10 recommendations meant to support students and parents throughout Fairfax County Public Schools' disciplinary process at a Wednesday afternoon press conference. Among them he included more school principal discretion in cases where students are caught with prescription medications. Yet the recommendations did not address reformists' biggest concerns: the abuse of involuntary transfers and reliance on zero tolerance rules. Dale's recommendations included: Though Dale said he 's certain that FCPS staff follows current notification guidelines, he recommended making sure "our principals do proper …
John Farrell
7:01 am on Sunday, May 15, 2011
Greg will be a great School Board member. I've served with him on the FCDC Education Committee for the last year and have been impressed with his passion for improving FCPS' service to Fairfax kids. I will be voting to endorse him on the 24th. more ›