Oh Corey! Leave it alone!

MoonHowler

 

buses
Prince William schools closed for the rest of the week  
This announcement apparently didn’t suit the political ambitions of the chairman.

wmal.com:

Stewart told NewsChannel 8 Thursday that it was “ridiculous” that children still had not returned to class after a week-long closure.

VDOT did a good job of clearing roads, Stewart said, and that every road in the district had been hit by a plow at least once by Monday.

He blames “helicopter parents” and risk-adverse school systems for the lengthy closures, adding that schools systems tend to copy one another with school closures because they don’t want to be culpable if something bad happens.

“It’s gotten to the point where we’re pushing our kids through an entire week of school, and that’s going to, at some point, cut into their summer time recess,” said Stewart.

“So I’m a bit concerned about the school system.”

Stewart also noted the inconvenience that the extended closing had on parents in the area.

“Most parents got Monday off, and a lot of us got Tuesday off as well,” said Stewart. “Most people were back to work Wednesday, Thursday, and then tomorrow, and their kids are going to be off of school. So this presents a major inconvenience for many people.”

Steven L. Watts, the Superintendent of Prince Williams County Schools, could not be reached for comment, as the offices were closed for the day.

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Where are the math texts in Prince William County?

MoonHowler

From Prince William County School policy:

Purchasing Textbooks: It is the policy of the Prince William County School Board that in each core curriculum area there is at least one currently adopted textbook on the appropriate level available to every student.

Textbooks and related materials shall be approved by the School Board or the Associate Superintendent for Student Learning and Accountability before being purchased. The following purchasing procedures have been established to assist in procuring textbooks and instructional materials.
A. The following is a suggested purchase allocation for purchasing textbooks after the adoption approval:
1. First year – As many copies as budgeted funds will allow, but at least   50% of student enrollment.
2. Second year – complete total purchasing requirement according to the policy of one copy per student.
3. Third through sixth years – maintain ample copies of adopted textbooks to meet policy requirements, one copy per student.

That sounds to me like there shall be 1 copy of a textbook in core academic areas for every student.  This isn’t the state, this is Prince William County’s own policy.

PWC Schools are not following their own policy in math and haven’t been for several years.  I believe this is a cheating way for the individual schools to save money.  One classroom set of books is bought and that is the name of that tune.  No homework is given in the math book and to the best of my knowledge, most of the math texts do nothing but sit there and gather dust.

Students need to learn to read across the curriculum, including math instruction.  Students also need to have a math book if they need outside help.  Try tutoring a kid without a math book.  It’s fairly difficult to do unless you have a really good grasp of SOL curriculum.   Then you can pull problems out of thin air or rely on old textbooks if you have your own private stash.

Regardless, if you ask  around you will be hard pressed to find a kid who has been assigned his or her own math textbook to take back and forth to school.  Prince William County’s half-assed approach to providing every student with a math book violates their own policy and certainly does not conform to best practice in the field of education.

It’s time for the school system to stop cheating the kids and the tax payers and to assign each student a math textbook.   Yes, it’s getting personal now.  Come on Stonewall High School–get with the program.  Come on Reagan Middle and Stonewall Middle, get with the program.

You are not acting in the best interests of children.  You are handicapping students and creating innumeracy.

Those running for positions on the school board need to address this issue.

 

What’s happened to the middle school text books in PWC?

MoonHowler

texts

During the  last joint session of the Prince William County School Board and the Board of Supervisors, Supervisors Lawson and Candland chose to pick a fight with the School Board over a budget flyer sent home.  I wish they had discussed the needs of the school board, especially as it relates to textbooks.

Disclosure:  up until 3 years ago I was a certified secondary math teacher so this is important to me and I think I know what I am talking about.  I also have grandchildren in PWC Schools.

Kids aren’t being issued textbooks.  I checked with my middle school grandson.  No math book.  I couldn’t get an answer about the other books.  I checked with friends who have kids in the school system.  Their kids don’t have text books in any of the subjects.  WTF?  There are classroom sets.

So I asked about homework.  It seems that kids have binders and worksheets.  Sorry.  That doesn’t cut it.  How on earth are our kids learning to read in the content areas?  Apparently they are not.  Reading in the content areas is a critical skill that people who move beyond high school must have to be successful.  If our SAT scores are coming up short, that is one place to immediately look.

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Where were the thundering hordes?

MoonHowler

As I watched speaker after speaker go to the podium in the Supervisors chambers last night, requesting that the BOCS advertise a tax rate high enough to support the 5 year plan, I questioned my own sanity.  Where were the thundering hordes of people I had heard about?  You know, those people who wanted the tax rate frozen at some ridiculously low figure that would pretty much halt most progress in Prince William County.

Our house-mate suggested that I must have been listening to talking hand  sock puppets–that old propaganda trick of making people think that there were a lot more people out there than really exist.  Sometime after 9 pm, a lone man got up and asked for a 1.3% rise in taxes.  Actually, I think he thought that was even too much.  He was also plenty irate about the budget sheet that got sent home with each school kid.  I wonder if he got irate last year and the year before that?

Sending materials home with students is the main way the school system communicates between school and home.  It always has been.  Just because we live in an age of technology doesn’t mean that all parents have computers.  Even in households with computers, often the computers were bought for the kids to help them with their studies (forget enhancing their social life).  I don’t think some of our middle and upper middle class residents understand that everyone isn’t just like them.

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Lawson and Candland: F in diplomacy

MoonHowler

Insidenova.com:

A weekend meeting between the Prince William Board of Supervisors and school board to discuss budget challenges devolved into bickering over a flier about the school division’s “current budget challenge,” sent home with students last week.

The meeting, held Saturday at the Buckhall Volunteer Fire Station in Manassas, was called ahead of Tuesday’s supervisors’ meeting, when the board will vote to advertise a tax rate for fiscal year 2016, which begins July 1.

By law, once supervisors approve an advertised tax rate, they can vote to reduce the rate but cannot raise it.

The vote is important for Prince William County’s 95 public schools, which receive about 45 percent of their funding from local real-estate taxes.

Under controversial “budget guidance,” approved by supervisors in December, local tax bills would rise 1.3 percent next year – or the inflation rate as defined by the Consumer Price Index. The move would mean an $11 million reduction in expected revenue to the school division for the 2015-16 school year.

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More sleep…more sleep…more sleep for those in high school

MoonHowler

From Channel 4 News:

Washingtonpost.com:

Students clad in pajamas and draped in sleeping bags demonstrated outside school board headquarters in Montgomery County on Monday, urging support for later high school start times that would allow them to get more rest.

The “sleep-in” — replete with bathrobes, teddy bears and fuzzy slippers — came on the eve of a school board vote, expected Tuesday, on whether to shift school schedules at Montgomery’s 25 high schools, where classes now begin at 7:25 a.m.
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School Board needs to hold BOCS’ feet to the fire

MoonHowler

feet

Bristowbeat.com:

The Prince William County School Board gave the Superintendent guidance on preparing a budget that would explore cuts to discretionary programs, Wednesday, but would fund teacher salary increases and class size reductions across one grade level in the district.

In discussion, the proposal to eliminate full-day kindergarten proved to be unpopular amongst board members. School Board members were also unhappy about eliminating specialty programs, but nonetheless agreed to review them along with other discretionary programs. 

Back in December, the Board of County Supervisor’s provided its own budget guidance to the County Executive. They asked her to create the county’s Fiscal Year 16 [FY16] budget based on a tax increase of 1.3 percent, rather than the 4 percent tax increase prescribed by the board’s five-year plan.

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Cheap-ass BOCS antics threaten all-day kindergarten

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

Prince William County’s schools enrollment boom has outpaced the growth of the district’s budget for years, a quandary exacerbated by the recession. Class sizes have ballooned. Bus service has been cut. Per-pupil spending has flattened.

Faced with the prospect of the county’s enacting a smaller than planned increase in the property tax rate, the school board has again begun weighing drastic cuts, this time to the district’s treasured universal full-day kindergarten program, which Superintendent Steven L. Walts once touted as his “greatest accomplishment.” After years of cutbacks, board members said there are few places left to look to save money.

“It’s more of an economic calculation than an educational calculation,” said school board Chairman Milton C. Johns (At Large), who has championed the expansion of the program. “We’re out of options.”

So this is what it comes down to?  The BOCS needs to stop trying to “out-Republican” each other and do the right and responsible thing.  Cutting new funding back to a $12 million increase is not the right and responsible thing to do when PWC gets approximately 2000 new students per year.

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Cheapo actions by BOCS cause serious cuts to school system

MoonHowler

insidenova.com:

Prince William County could have “a fundamentally different school system” if a proposal to hold real-estate tax bills at the rate of inflation is approved, a move that could trigger up to $20 million in cuts next school year, School Board Chairman Milt Johns says.

The school board won’t discuss particulars until Feb. 4, but to brace for what Johns calls an “unplanned and dramatic revenue cut,” he’s asking board members to consider discretionary spending cuts to absorb a loss of about $11 million in expected revenue. At the same time, he wants to maintain a planned pay scale “step increase” for teachers, costing about $8 million, and a $1 million plan to reduce class sizes in one grade level.

Johns is asking the board to find savings in three areas: full-day kindergarten programs at non-Title I schools; bus service to middle and high school specialty programs and construction and renovation projects planned to begin in fiscal year 2016.

None are cuts Johns would advise, but they are the few large-ticket items that can be reduced to find significant savings in the division’s budget.

I have a plan. PWC needs to stop going on the cheap. They attempt it again and again. That’s how we get in these pickles to start with.   There cannot be a supervisors meeting without Pete Candland piping up and trying to “reform” us.  In December, he proposed to disregard the 5 year plan and hold revenue increases to 1.3%.  As it stands, the budget guidance is once again going on the cheap.

Pete and his sidekick are only 2 people.  Why did three other irresponsible people chose to support cheap again?   I don’t like paying taxes either.  In a perfect world. I would get really good services for nothing.  As it turns out, that isn’t how things work.  If I want decent services commensurate with Northern Virginia standards, I am going to have to cough up some money.

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PWCS: Better school closing decision-making in the future, please!

MoonHowler

eli bus

Tuesday morning was a disaster in terms of the weather related traffic mishaps.  Despite snow and freeze warnings issued on all major news programs, the  major Northern Virginia jurisdictions chose to open school on time.  This decision did not bode well for Prince William County Schools and its students and faculty.  At least 12 accidents reported  across the county involved school buses.  Students waited in sub-freezing weather at bus stops for buses that never arrived.  Where were the thought processes of those making these decisions?

Apparently the NoVA schools  followed a  monkey-see, monkey-do  approach to decision -making in a sea of rather unwise monkeys rather than smartly assess the current weather situation of  rapidly falling snow and sub-freezing temperatures.

Students who even got to school  spent the day in cafeterias across the county watching movies.  Many of their teachers couldn’t get to school on time.   Classrooms doubled up.  In general, things were a mess and Prince William County wasn’t alone in what has to be one of the biggest blunders in a long time.  According to the Washington Post:

The first snowfall of the new year was heavier than expected, prompting apologies from several of the region’s school systems and wreaking havoc with the morning commute Tuesday as icy roads and hundreds of collisions snarled traffic.

With forecasts calling for one to two inches of snow, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties opened schools on time and later came to regret it. Students were left waiting for buses that never came. Schools reported that buses were stuck in traffic or unable to navigate icy hills. The decision to open infuriated parents, who accused school officials of being reckless and putting students in unnecessary danger.

 

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When good people won’t run….

MoonHowler

This morning when I check  in to Facebook.com, I saw some very sad news from Prince William County School Board Chairman Milt Johns.  Let me first off say that Mr. Johns is a Republican.  He and I have very different political views.  In fact, on some of them, we would probably stand toe to toe and scream at each other.  Mr. Johns, however, was the school board chair.  Those issues that we vehemently disagree on would have rarely come up.  I also don’t know Mr. Johns personally.  We have met professionally, before I retired.   Milt Johns’ press release:

 

For Immediate Release

After months of prayer, reflection, and discussions with my family, I have decided that I will not seek re-election as Chairman at Large of the Prince William County School Board in 2015. When my term ends at midnight on December 31, 2015, I will have spent nearly a quarter of my life serving on the Prince William County School Board. It is time for me to focus on other matters, including my family and my law practice. I do expect to continue to have …a role supporting Prince William County Schools and in local political activities.

 

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School board considers scrapping 11th grade writing project

MoonHowler

Let’s see what Calvin has to say about writing:

calvin-writing2

Bristowbeat.com:

If the School Board approves, 11th grade students in Prince William County schools will no longer be required to submit and pass a formal research paper as a requirement for graduation.

School Board members heard arguments from teachers and administrators Wednesday night as to whether they should delete Regulation 600-1, which dictates the research paper requirement.

Supervisor of Language Arts Roberta Apostolakis said she believes deleting the graduation requirement and allowing for more writing within the curriculum would “absolutely strengthen” writing within language arts classes.

In her presentation, Roberta Apostolakis emphasized that the rigorous research-based writing, which is embedded throughout the K-12 curricula and the evidence collected throughout a student’s career, exceeds one “narrowly defined assignment.” She asked that the School Board approve making the English 11 research paper “an embedded part of the English curriculum rather than a separate graduation requirement.”

According to Apostolakis, the research paper took too much time out of the 11th grade curriculum, was weighted too heavily and did not vary the assignment to the level of the student.

No kidding.  From a parent point of view, this requirement is worse than a science fair project on steroids.  In fact, I would venture to say the graduation requirement is tantamount to child abuse.  Can we start with the notion that not everyone is going to college?

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Victory Lakes, PWCS: Tell the truth

MoonHowler

Bristow Beat:

The Prince William County Office of Planning and Boundaries has published two new attendance area recommendations that would move the Victory Lakes community into Brentsville District High School (BDHS).

The Victory Lakes Community in Bristow is currently zoned to attend Stonewall Jackson High School (SJHS) in Manassas, but the opening of the 12th high school makes room for students from that neighborhood to attend BDHS. As the proposed boundaries for the new high school moves students from the eastern portion of the BDHS attendance area out of BDHS, it makes room for Bristow students.

To alleviate some crowding at Patriot High School, the school division has already recommended that New Bristow Village along Route 28/Nokesville Road be rezoned to BDHS. The community of Victory Lakes along Sudley Manor Drive in Bristow has also expressed interest in having their students attend BDHS.

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Some supervisors have a hell of a nerve….

MoonHowler

lucy math

It appears that several of the BOCS took out after the Prince William County School Board with a vengeance. Jim Livingston, PWEA president, said it best when he  “suggested that supervisors are more concerned with political posturing than about the needs of the school system.”

From insidenova.com:

Yet those stark numbers didn’t keep some supervisors from grilling Johns and David Cline, associate superintendent for finance and support services, about why the school system isn’t doing more to lower class sizes – a topic both boards discussed during three joint board meetings held over the summer and fall.

During those meetings, supervisors asked Superintendent Steve Walts to come up with a plan to begin lowering class sizes. Walts presented a $3.5 million plan to lower class numbers in kindergarten, sixth and ninth grades, but said the school system would need extra money from the county to fund the changes.

But when supervisors failed to offer any extra funds, the school board scaled back their plans to only sixth-grade. Supervisors offered no sign Tuesday that any extra money would be coming from the county to lower class sizes next year – but that didn’t keep them from hammering school board members for not doing more.

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Jim Livingston addresses the BOCS: No more operating on the cheap

MoonHowler

Get Microsoft Silverlight

Listen to Jim Livingston, president of the Prince William Education Association.  Jim knows that Prince William County has been operating on the cheap for years. He knows that he and his colleagues have not received competitive compensation for years.   Jim also knows that class size counts.   These issues must be addressed this year.   Will the advertised tax rate suffice in fixing PWCS’s operating on the cheap problem?  No.  Not even close but it is a start.

Prince William Education Association has been sounding the alarm about salaries and class size for quite some time.  This is not a new phenomena and the local association has been vigilant about asking for these measures to be corrected.    Yet, if one glances about the blogosphere, one would think that a certain blog from Gainesville discovered the problem, all by their lonesome.  Teachers have been insulted and accused of being led around by the school board.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

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