Schools

Stafford School Board to talk masks at emergency 4:30 p.m. meeting

By Potomac Local News
The Stafford County School Board holds its first meeting of 2022 on January 15. [Photo: Uriah Kiser/PLN]

The meeting will take place at the school administration headquarters, 31 Stafford Avenue as one of his first acts after his inauguration on Saturday, January 15, Youngkin signed an executive order declaring parents had a right to choose whether or not their child wears a mask at school.

In August, Stafford County schools required facemasks for everyone inside school buildings, saying the division is abiding by a law signed by Gov. Ralph Northam that mandates schools must provide in-person instruction following nearly two years of virtual education.

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Student conducts Trump hat study at school, receives death threat

By Potomac Local News
As part of a one-week study, Palmer Denny, 17, a Colgan High School student in Prince William County, logged 27 nasty comments after wearing a pro-Donald Trump baseball cap to school. [Photo: Uriah Kiser/PLN]

A Prince William County high school student told the county School Board he would like students to be more tolerant of others, especially when it comes to political beliefs.

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Stafford School Board defers mask decision as newly-elected official calls for return to normal

By Uriah Kiser
Hartwood District School Board representative Alyssa Halstead

A New Year, the same debate at the Stafford County School Board meeting: whether or not to force children to wear face masks.

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Virginia awards area schools hundreds of thousands for security upgrades

By Potomac Local News
Kerrydale Elementary School in Dale City

The Virginia Department of Education announced $12 million in state School Security Equipment Grants to protect students, faculty and visitors in 583 schools in 93 school divisions.

The grants will pay for video monitoring systems, voice and video internal communications systems, school bus interior cameras, mass notification systems, visitor-identification systems, access control systems, two-way radios, security vestibules and other security upgrades.

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Principals, not cops, to handle minor criminal offenses in Prince William County schools, under a proposal

By Potomac Local News
Photo: Prince William County Public Schools

School administrators may soon add criminal behavior to the list of responsibilities under a proposed agreement between Prince William County’s public school system and its police department.

The proposal is meant to define the government school division’s relationship with law enforcement and govern the actions of school resource officers, SROs. “Therefore, it shall be agreed that all minor criminal behavior committed by a child in the school setting will be handled by [Prince William County Public Schools] administration,” states the proposed memorandum.

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Separate bathrooms, outdoor classrooms wanted for Stafford’s 6th high school

By Rick Horner
A reporter interviews Stafford County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor.

Residents weighed in on the coming sixth county high school for the first time.

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Hungarian artist paints mural at Potomac Science Center

By Rick Horner
George Mason University hired a Hungarian artist to paint a new mural on its Potomac Science Center in Woodbridge and paid all his expenses. [Photo: PLN]

A new mural adorns the side of the Potomac Science Center, next to the Occoquan River in Woodbridge.

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Mural depicts black students who prompted the integration of Stafford Public Schools

By Rick Horner

Local government school leaders unveiled a mural at Edward E. Drew Jr. Middle School in Stafford commemorating an attempt at integrating county schools in 1960.

Officials held an event to honor five students who tried to enroll in Stafford High School, where Drew Middle currently sits but was denied entry. Over 70 students, teachers, and onlookers watched a presentation made by some of those students, now seniors who attempted to integrate.

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School leaders want to talk before scrapping high school site

By Rick Horner

Before letting it go, the Stafford County School Board wants to discuss with the Board of Supervisors a piece of property that would be the site of a new high school.

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