Schools

Newly formed committee to seek fixes for schools transportation problems

By Rick Horner
Stafford County School Board Chairman Holly Hazard (Hartwood District) listens to parents speak on July 27, 2021. [Photo: Uriah Kiser]

The Stafford County School Board has voted to create an ad-hoc transportation advisory committee for one year.

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Stafford draws a line on CRT, puts schools on notice

By Rick Horner

The Stafford County Board of Supervisors has passed a resolution regarding their stance on the teaching or usage of Critical Race Theory, The 1619 Project, and teachers asking students for their preferred personal pronouns.

They're against all of it.

Furthermore, the Board resolved to review all funding requests from the School Board and deny anything remotely linked to teaching CRT. The motion harkens back to when the Board of Supervisors -- the taxing authority that provides most of the school divisions' budget -- categorically fund items like new classrooms, which it deems essential.

"There's nothing on this resolution that says we are going to defund schools," said Hartwood District Supervisor Gary Snellings. "This resolution does not eliminate anything." 

Snellings, who served four terms on the Board of Supervisors over the past 20 years and will retire on December 31, said he'd been called a racist over the resolution. "I resent it," Snellings said of the comments.

The motion passed unanimously, with Garrisonville District Supervisor Tinesha Allen absent from the meeting.

The resolution's got its start in May when Snellings reported receiving several e-mails from constituents complaining about their children being exposed to Critical Race Theory and being asked about their pronouns -- teachers asking children if they want to be referred to as girl or boy.

When Snellings emailed his School Board District's representative on the matter and received no response, he said. He said that George Washington District Supervisor Tom Coen did the same thing with the School Board rep and learned from her that she didn't know if CRT was being taught in the county school system.

Two weeks ago, the Board questioned Stafford County Schools Interim Supervisor Dr. Stanley B. Jones, asking him if CRT or the lesson plans from the 1619 Project -- a project to from the New York Times that teaches "America wasn't a democracy until black Americans made it one," and "American Capitalism is brutal.," and "You can trace that to the plantation" -- were being taught as part of the county's curriculum.

Jones denied CRT being taught in the county schools and told the Supervisors the division was focused on helping students who fell behind during virtual education during the pandemic.

Multiple residents spoke both for and against the resolution before the vote. Few could agree on a CRT definition -- a decades-old academic framework examining how race and racism influence politics, culture, and law.

Supervisor Coen, a Stafford County public school teacher, spoke about the theory's nuanced nature, saying that it could be confused with talking about aspects of American history that should be discussed.

"There are things that should be discussed in history class, slavery, Jim Crow Laws, stop and frisk, that have affected many minorities negatively. And there are some that would see some aspects of this as Critical Race Theory. I know a teacher who is versed in CRT, and he wouldn't teach a class on it because he feels he wouldn't be able to explain it properly," said Coen.

Before Tuesday's vote, members of the county School Board urged Supervisors not to pass the resolution. When it comes to the subject matter that is being taught, requiring school administrators to police teachers would create a toxic work environment, said Falmouth District representative Dr. Sarah Chase.

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Manassas City School Board Chairman to resign

By Rick Horner
Wiliams

After serving on the Manassas City School Board since July 2010, Chairman Sanford S. Williams will resign when his term ends December 31.

Williams made his announcement during board comment time at the city school board's regular meeting. Williams thanked the Manassas community for allowing him to serve and stated that his decision comes from wanting to spend more time with family.

In retirement, he'll spend more time with his daughters who live in California.

"I'd like to thank the community for allowing me to serve. It's a pleasure and an honor to serve. It's not easy, but it's a pleasure to serve, so thank you for that," said Williams.

Williams's departure from the board comes soon after Scott Albrecht, who stepped down a year earlier after serving on the school board for 20 years.

As chairman, Williams oversaw the implementation of new anti-racism and diversity, equity, and inclusion policy which calls for hiring more teachers based on race, to not just narrow, but to eliminate the achievement gap between high and low achieving students and to create a new curriculum that incorporates "the contributions of diverse cultural groups."

According to school officials, the school division would spend three years working to achieve these goals.

While white students make up less than 20 percent of the student body in Manassas City, they do outperform other historically underrepresented groups such as Hispanics, African-Americans, Native Americans, and others on state assessments.

Members of the public were also critical of the board's new policies, such as the only metric used to study performance was by race and left out other metrics like zip codes or class.

While Williams plans to stay until the end of his term, he announced he wouldn't be present for the next school board meeting, tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, October 11.

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Resolution would withhold school funding over CRT

By Rick Horner

Stafford County leaders intend to send a message to its public school division: CRT won't be tolerated. 

The Board of Supervisors will meet at 3 p.m. Tuesday to vote on a resolution that would allow it to withhold funding from the school division if it learns instructors are teaching Critical Race Theory -- a decades-old academic framework examining how race and racism influence politics, culture, and law.

CRT has become a hot-button issue at School Board meetings both locally and across the nation, where liberals and conservatives demand teachers across all subjects stop developing lesson plans focused on race. The practice divides children into ethnic groups, they say.

Leaders also threatened to withhold funding if it learns teachers are asking students to identify by their preferred pronouns. Earlier this year, the Virginia Supreme Court ordered Loudoun County Public Schools to reinstate P.E. teacher Tanner Cross after he was suspended for refusing to identify students by their preferred pronouns. 

"...the Board has received numerous communications from parents, students, and concerned constituents regarding students of Stafford County Public Schools being requested to identify their chosen pronouns," the resolution states. 

Two weeks ago, Stafford County Schools Interim Superintendent Dr. Stanley Jones was questioned by Supervisors over CRT, and Jones assured Supervisors CRT was not being taught in county schools. Moreover, the CRT discussion is taking away from the bigger issue at hand: help students catch up on their studies after a lackluster 18-months of virtual learning during the pandemic.

In light of the pressing resolution, Falmouth District School Board Member Dr. Sarah Chase expressed her dismay.

"In my opinion, it indicated a lack of trust in our interim superintendent and this board. It reminds me of a resolution that was passed less than three years ago threatening the school board with a loss of funding if we didn't put a trailer at Hartwood Elementary School," said Chase.

Chase invoked a past decision by the Board of Supervisors to categorically fund the school division when it tied funding to the placement of a trailer classroom at Hartwood Elementary School. Each year, Supervisors set the county tax rate and provide the majority of the school division's funding.

Additionally, policing teachers for CRT would create a toxic work environment that could hamper the county's efforts to retain teachers, added Chase. 

"The proposed resolution has the potential to make our work environment toxic, especially for teachers of color. Many of our teachers are anxious about COVID and they're having to juggle students in the classroom and students that are quarantined. Now we are having to add the stressor of having to monitor what they say in case it is misconstrued as Critical Race Theory," said Chase.

Recently, both the Board of Supervisors and and School Board worked collaboratilvey to fund the schools needs. In 2019, the two elected bodies worked purchase the buidlng now home to North Star Early Childhood Education Center in North Stafford (formerly the Fredericksburg Christian Academy), the replacing Anne E. Moncure Elementary School the same year.

The renovation of Ferry Farm Elementary School, the establishment of the fire and rescue program, helping with the purchase of tech at the start of the pandemic, more recently helping to fund more competitive salaries for bus drivers to help with the transportation issues, Chase also cite as other instance of collaboration between both elected bodies. 

Griffis-Widewater District School Board member Dr. Elizabeth Warner and echoed the words of Jones, who had stated at the Board of Supervisors meeting that CRT was a law school course that isn't taught in Stafford County Schools.

"Equity is not Critical Race Theory. Equity is about making sure all students have what they need so that they can reach their full potential. That is what I see as our job," said Dr. Warner. "I'm concerned when the [Board of Supervisors] threatens our funding over a ghost, something we don't teach, that they don't know how to explain or identify but they're certain is there."

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High school tennis courts patched, but still need work

By Rick Horner

The tennis courts at one area high school are looking better than they did six months ago.

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Vaccine mandate issued after School Board orders meeting room cleared

By Uriah Kiser
Residents kicked out of a Prince William County School Board meeting call elected members "tyrants" working to silence public opinion.

The school superintendent announced that the more than 11,000 teachers and employees of the Prince William County Public School division must get a coronavirus vaccination or submit to weekly testing. 

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Bags now subject to search at Prince William School Board meetings

By Uriah Kiser
Parents filled the seats at a Prince William County School Board meeting on September 1, 2021 to protest proposed changes to citizen public comments at meetings, and the school division's forced masking policy for children.

You won’t be hearing your favorite band take the stage at a major concert venue, nor will you be boarding a flight. 

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Grants to fund historic murals in 11 Stafford County school buildings

By Press Release
Colonial Forge High School

The Stafford Education Foundation (SEF) will partner with the Stafford Museum and Cultural Center organization to celebrate and build community awareness of local history in Stafford County Public Schools (SCPS).

The collaborative partnership, formed in March 2021, brought together board members of SEF, members of the Stafford Museum and Cultural Center, SCPS administrators, and leadership from SCPS’s Office of Equity and Accountability and learning and Organizational Development Departments. The competitive historic mural grant program has provided more than $40,000 to fund mural projects that highlight Stafford County’s history.

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Leaders praise opening of Gainesville High, Potomac Shores Middle schools

By Rick Horner

When a coronavirus state of emergency set by Governor Ralph Northam was lifted this summer, it allowed students to return to the classrooms.

Some Prince William County students started the new academic year in two new schools built during the pandemic.

Potomac Shores Middle School is located near Dumfries, in the Potomac Shores neighborhood.

With its mascot, the Cardinal, Gainesville High School sits just outside Gainesville Magisterial District, neighboring Brentsville Magisterial District, directly behind the Jiffy Lube Live concert venue.

Prince William County Potomac District School Board member Justin Wilk praised the success of the new middle school's openinand its staff andas mentioned some challenges the school is experiencing. 

"I'm very happy that things have gotten off to such a good start. The school is staffed with quality teachers, and Principle Joe Murgo has done a phenomenal job. There have been some challenges, we do need some crosswalks to ensure that the students can get to school safely. There's also the issue of so many parents driving their kids to school and getting everyone in on time."

Wilk's involvement in the naming of Potomac Shores involved taking meetings with residents whose children were drawn into the new school's boundaries. In a press release made by Prince William County Schools about the naming of Potomac Shores in Oct. 2020, Wilk stated that the name earned overwhelming support from residents who wanted the name to represent something based in the community.

Gainesville High School, the 13th high school to be opened in Prince William County, has also received praise from Brentsville District School Board member Adele Jackson, who sent a statement to Potomac Local News.

"I had the pleasure of visiting Gainesville High School a few times since school started and I am very impressed with the building, as well as the students and staff. I extend my gratitude to our supportive staff and Gainesville families. It's exciting to have the school year up and running at Gainesville High School."

Other names that were in the competition included naming the school after county police officer Ashley Guindon, who was shot and killed on her first day of duty in February 2016 while responding to a domestic dispute. Also in the running was Lillian Orlich, a 67-year career teacher, and counselor who spent the majority of her career at Osbourn Park High School.

Prince William County, the state's second-largest school division, welcomed back about 90,000 students at the start of the school year on August 23. It's the first time since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 that the majority of students have been back in a classroom for five days a week.

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Stafford schools dismiss CRT questions, focused on recovering after ’18 months without kids in school’

By Rick Horner
[caption id="attachment_170753" align="alignright" width="150"] Jones[/caption]

This week, the Stafford County Board of Supervisors put its public schools in the spotlight, pressing its top administrator on Critical Race Theory.

In July, Hartwood District Supervisor Gary Snellings had planned to question officials from the county school division about CRT -- a decades-old academic framework examining how race and racism influence politics, culture, and law -- wanting to know if children are being taught the concepts in schools.

After receiving multiple emails from concerned constituents, Snellings took the floor and questioned Interim County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Stanley B. Jones on Tuesday.

Jones said that the schools do not teach the theory in his opening statement, and they never have. Jones also stated that the Virginia Department of Education crafts the school's curriculum and that the theory is not part of that lesson plan.

Jones also expressed that the school board has better things to do than worry about Critical Race Theory. "Quite frankly, we're trying to recover from a pandemic. So most of our focus is on unfinished learning. We've had 18 months without kids in school. That's our focus," said Jones. 

Jones referenced a now-deleted video on the Virginia Department of Education's YouTube page. Teachers were encouraged to develop lesson plans on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that focused on racism, not terrorism or the masterminds who carried out the attacks.

Jones distanced the county school divisions from the state's August 18 webinar aimed at teachers across the state, testifying the teacher orientation video didn't contain any mentions of race or the concepts of white privilege.

Potomac Local News reported on the content of the video, where the keynote speaker Dr. Amaarah DeCuir, from the American University School of Education, focused on matters of social justice.

When the word "terrorist" is used, it's most often used to describe people from the Middle East, said DeCuir in the video.

On August 13, the Department of Homeland Security issued a heightened terrorism watch. Anyone who disagrees with the Federal Government's coronavirus mitigation efforts, those who question the results of the 2020 Presidential Election, and those who celebrate religious holidays are now considered a terror threat, NBC News reported.

Rock Hill District Supervisor Crystal Vanuch asked about the schools' equity policy, stating, "the school division will work collaboratively with educators and other key stakeholders to build awareness, solutions, and leadership for social justice."

The division cited the National Equity Project, a California-based education reform organization that works with "oppressive" and "dehumanizing" systems and aims to radically transform them into more liberated institutions, as a resource it used to formulate the statement. 

The link showed on the page August but has since been removed from the school division website. The link is one of many resources that could be found on the page, Jones told Vanuch.

Snellings cited a report from a parent of a Brooke Point High School student who claimed that a teacher asked their child to state their preferred pronouns. Over the summer, a teacher in Loudoun County was suspended after declining to adhere to a new policy that requires public schools teachers to refer to children using their preferred pronouns and the bathroom of their choice.

Pointing out the prevalence of identifying pronouns, Snellings reminded Jones that his personal email signature contains a list of personal pronouns he and him. Jones said he did not know Stafford County teachers asking students to identify their pronouns.

Jones warned that any further questions teachers about CRT being taught in the classroom would distract from the division's focus of making up for lost time after test scores fell statewide last year during virtual learning.

School systems in our area and across the country have been dealing with the potential of Critical Race Theory being taught in schools.

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