A Conservative advocate and a Fairfax County Public Schools student are suing the school system in the wake of FCPS adding protections for transgender students in its nondiscrimination policy earlier this year.
The Washington Post reports that Andrea Lafferty, a leader of the Traditional Values Coalition, and an unnamed high school student, filed the suit in Fairfax County Circuit Court last week.
The suit argues that the FCPS school board overstepped its bounds when it changed the policy to bar discrimination of students and staff based on their gender identity or sexual orientation. The suit asks for an injunction to stop the board from implementing the policy, the Post reports.
In May, the school board voted 10-1 (with one abstention) to add gender discrimination to its policy. The vote came after impassioned testimony by community members on both sides of the issue.
The motion to add protections for transgender students, teachers and employees was introduced by At-Large board member Ryan McElveen. McElveen said at the time it is important for the largest school system in Virginia to make a statement “that we unequivocally protect, value and embrace all of our students and employees for who they are.”
Earlier in 2015, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring issued an opinion that granted local school boards the authority to include sexual orientation and gender identity in non-discrimination policies.
But the new lawsuit argues that the Virginia General Assembly has never given school boards the authority to bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
In the fall of 2104, the school board also voted to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Much of the discussion in the Reston Now comments section leading up to and in response to the May school board vote had to do with privacy issues if students identifying with another gender are using school bathrooms and locker rooms.
The Post reports that the student — called “Jack Doe” in the suit — described being “terrified of the thought of having to share intimate spaces with students who have the physical features of a girl, seeing such conduct as an invasion of privacy.” The suit said the student is also distressed because the school board has not defined “gender identity” or “gender expression,” and worries that he could be disciplined for “unknowingly violating the ambiguous code of conduct.”
After several years of rapid growth, Fairfax County Public Schools enrollment is now slowing, which changes the longterm plans for school capacity enhancements, according to the schools system’s five-year Capital Improvement Plan, says Superintendent Karen Garza.
Nonetheless, FCPS’ long-term plans included build several new schools between 2017 and 2021, according to the CIP.
FCPS says it will need $777 million for the 2017-21 CIP — or about $155 million per year — for new schools and additions, capacity enhancements, and renovations to address current and anticipated enrollment increases.
Money from the approved 2015 School Bond Referendum and previous referenda will fund approximately $429 million of the requirement, leaving a balance of $347 million unfunded.
Among the already funded projects in the Reston area are South Lakes High School’s 40,000-square-foot addition. When it is completed, the school will have capacity for 2,700 students.
Unfunded projects include a new elementary school in the northwest part of the county (planning is funded; construction is unfunded); an elementary school in the Fairfax-Oakton area; and a high school in the western part of the county that could draw from the Reston/Herndon area.
The school system said it is likely to get additional money from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors ($13.1 for infrastructure management), as well as a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense that will fund 80 percent of the cost of upgrades to the Fort Belvoir Elementary School and a construction of a new school on an adjacent site.
Garza says in the report that while FCPS grew by more than 2,400 students annually the last several years, the system saw contracted growth in 2015. She says growth is expected to slow considerably between now and 20121.
“[The contracted growth] was due to a decrease in the birth-to-kindergarten yield ratio, which compares the number of kindergarten students enrolled to the number of births in Fairfax County five years ago,” Garza says in the report. “It was also caused by a rapidly declining in-migration of new students. These indicators have led to a five-year forecast that continues to project overall enrollment growth at a moderated rate. The five-year CIP horizon forecasts approximately 189,000 students by school year 2020-21.”
That number is only about 3,000 more than the current FCPS enrollment. She says the county “may have seen peak enrollment” in elementary grades. A year ago, Garza predicted the system could have more than 198,000 students by 2020.
However, different parts of the county are growing — or slowing — at different rates, she said.
“These new trends of growth are inconsistent across the county and continue to present a facilities capacity challenge,” said Garza. “The school system struggles to provide sufficient capacity in our schools. Despite the planned additional capacity intended to address projected needs, uneven enrollment growth throughout the county will necessitate the continuation of small- and large-scale boundary adjustments to take advantage of available capacity whenever it is practicable to do so.”
Some details from the 2017-21 CIP, which is available on FCPS’ website:
Future Western HS: FCPS will monitor high school enrollments at schools such as Chantilly HS, Centreville HS, Herndon HS, Oakton HS, South Lakes HS, and Westfield HS. Based on potential site acquisition location, construct a new high school to alleviate capacity concerns. Reassign students from overcrowded high schools to high schools where surplus capacity is available. Read More
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) was in Fairfax County on Wednesday to announce a proposed $1 billion investment in education, both at the K-12 and college levels.
The governor, speaking at Mark Twain Middle School in Alexandria, says his two-year budget proposal aims to prepare all students to succeed in the “new Virginia economy” by providing them with needed resources.
“I have heard from parents, students and teachers all over the commonwealth that we have been asking our schools to do more and more with less and less,” McAuliffe said. “But with thoughtful, bold ideas like the ones I am proposing, we will get back on the right track and ensure that we are laying the foundations for the New Virginia Economy.”
“This historic proposal represents the largest new investment in public education in over a decade, and the largest total investment in the history of the Commonwealth. I believe that if we want to have a world-class economy, we need a world-class education system, and this is where it starts.”
Some of the public education priorities funded in the biennial budget include:
- New Teachers: Providing roughly 2,500 additional instructional positions – $139.1 million
- Rebenchmarking: Fully funds the cost of rebenchmarking the Standards of Quality and additional updates – $429.8 million
- At Risk Add-On: Provides flexible funding to divisions based on free lunch population to be used for drop-out prevention, parent engagement, English Language Learners, etc. – $50 million
- Cost to Compete: Supports a cost of competing adjustment for school support positions in areas with a high cost of living – $41 million
- Salary Increases: Provides a 2 pecernt salary increase for teachers, non-teacher instructional positions, and support positions consistent with state employee raises – $83.2 million
- Teacher Retirement: Increase general fund contribution to teacher retirement – $30 million
McAuliffe will present his full two-year budget to the Commonwealth Budget Committee on Thursday.
It is not yet known exactly how the commonwealth’s additional funds will directly impact Fairfax County Public Schools. However, FCPS has said it is facing about a $65 million budget gap for Fiscal Year 2017.
FCPS Superintendent Karen Garza will announce a proposed budget in January, which will be voted on by the board by May. A community Budget Task Force has looked at various changes, including larger class sizes and eliminating language immersion programs, as a means of narrowing the gap.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which gives about half its annual budget to FCPS, said part of the deficit starts at the state level. Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova said last week the state’s contributions have not kept pace with rising enrollment and other mounting budget needs in public schools.
“The state has reduced its share [of funding all Virginia schools] by $1 billion,”Bulova said at the Supervisors’ Dec. 8 meeting. “Counties have tried to make up the difference. In Fairfax, we have increased about $200 million for schools.”
Grassroots group #IamFCPS said it was encouraged by McAuliffe’s pledge.
“Solving the Fairfax Country Public Schools budget crisis will require collaboration, tough decision-making, and long-term financial planning by state and local elected officials,” Suzanne Zurn of Reston, founder of #IamFCPS, said in a statement. “We look forward to working with the Fairfax County delegation, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, and the governor to ensure Fairfax County Public Schools receive the necessary funding to continue the legacy of excellence that has benefited the entire region.”
Photo: Terry McAuliffe/File photo
Several parents representing the #I Am FCPS advocacy group spoke to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors at their last meeting of 2015 on Tuesday, asking the board to fully fund Fairfax County Public Schools for Fiscal Year 2017.
The group is comprised mainly of parents and was recently formed in response to the FCPS Budget Task Force report that looks at ways to slash $50 or $75 million from the budget for 2017.
FCPS Superintendent Karen Garza has said the school could be facing a shortfall in that range if the county supervisors give the schools the standard 3-percent increase in funding for next year.
I Am FCPS member Melanie Mehren, a Vienna resident, says the group has mobilized to write 12,000 letters and get 1,200 Facebook likes in the last month.
“We are asking for your leadership to determine how to fully fund the schools for the longterm,” she told the supervisors. “Funding has not kept pace with our growing and changing community. FCPS has grown at the rate of one classroom per day. We are now spending $1,000 less per child when compared with 2009.”
The Virginia General Assembly will determine in its January session how much money to give local school systems. After that, counties can work on what their contributions.
Garza has said a large portion of the school system’s rising costs are due to increases in compensation, rising health care costs and retirement fund contributions. The school system — now with 188,545 students — has a growing enrollment with an increased need for special services.
Garza will present her proposed budget in January. The final budget will be adopted by the school board in May — and it may contain changes such as increased class size, cutbacks in sports and activities and a reduction in staff positions, among others.
Board of Supervisor Chair Sharon Bulova said fully funding schools is the board’s No. 1 priority on their legislative agenda for the 2016 General Assembly. She pointed out that the problem begins at the state level.
“The state has reduced its share [of funding all Virginia schools] by $1 billion,” she said. “Counties have tried to make up the difference. In Fairfax, we have increased about $200 million for schools.”
Springfield Supervisor Pat Herrity pointed out that the board did fund 99 percent of school board requests last year. He also wanted to know how much FCPS is spending on its #SAVEFCPS campaign, which is not affiliated with #IAMFCPS.
FCPS gets about two-thirds of its funding from the county. More than half the county’s $2 billion in spending goes to education.
Rachel Stot, Kilmer Middle School PTA president, said a standard 3 percent transfer from the county “will leave a devastating shortage that will affect the whole community.”
“There are no acceptable cuts left,” she said. “Please fully fund the ask.”
Photo: Supervisor Chair Sharon Bulova
A teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools can expect to make nearly $300,000 less than a one employed in nearby Arlington County during the course of the teacher’s career.
That is a finding by a study from Segal Waters Consulting presented to the FCPS School Board at a work session on Monday.
FCPS is in the process of determining its budget needs for Fiscal Year 2017, and it has repeatedly pointed out that 1) salaries are not keeping pace with neighboring school systems; and 2) the rising cost of employee benefits is one of the drivers of an expected budget gap of more than $50 million.
FCPS has withheld step increases for teachers for three of the last six years. Salary scale adjustments were also frozen for two of the past six years. FCPS said in a budget presentation two weeks ago that 2017 spending will be up more than $113 million from 2016. Some of the biggest spending will be on step increases and benefits for employees; growing enrollment; and infrastructure.
The study showed that FCPS teacher salaries start to lag behind at around Year 5 of a teacher’s career. Over a 30-year career, an FCPS teacher earns $142,000 less than the survey average and $293,000 less than a teacher at Arlington Public Schools.
The study showed Year 5 of a career for a teacher with a master’s degree, using current pay lanes as a comparison, a teacher earns $2,804 less than teachers in the average of neighboring districts. By year 10, that figure grows to $6,820; by year 15, the annual gap is $8,569.
“Our superior teachers are the heart of FCPS and I find the salary comparisons to be sobering and very concerning. As I have said many times, we cannot cut our way to excellence,” FCPS Superintendent Karen Garza said in a statement. “As a community we can, and we must, do better. If we expect to maintain and grow the outstanding achievement of our school system, we must make significant investments in our teachers.”
Garza said that teacher turnover has risen from 5 to 7 percent in the last few years. Many of the teachers head to Loudoun or Arlington. FCPS said more than half of teachers who left said that pay rates influenced their decision to leave. Thirty percent said it influenced their decision a great deal.
“This third-party study is proof that multiple years of pay freezes and the inability to provide step increases have put our teachers at a great disadvantage during their prime earning years,” said Garza. “Teacher turnover has risen 2 percentage points, from 5 to 7 percent, as we lose teachers to nearby districts that pay more throughout a teacher’s career.”
Other jurisdictions in the Segal Waters study: Alexandria, Arlington County, the District of Columbia, Loudoun County, Montgomery County (Md.), Prince George’s County (Md.), and Prince William County. The survey looked at base pay and promotional increases, pay supplements and stipends, health benefits, and retirement benefits.
The company will now continue the compensation study by completing a market study analysis; conducting employee surveys and focus groups; developing a new compensation philosophy; recommending compensation models and approaches to help the district recruit, retain, and reward high-quality employees, including a new salary scale approach; and estimate the costs of implementing the recommendations, FCPS said.
Fairfax County expects a budget shortfall of $85 million for Fiscal Year 2017. Fairfax County Public Schools now predict the school system’s deficit will be $60 million.
That’s a lot of gap to narrow, and that was the focus of a joint budget forecast by county executive Ed Long and FCPS Superintendent Karen Garza last week to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors last week.
More than half the county’s spending (more than $2 billion) goes to education. But with continually shrinking state contributions and rising school system costs, the gap continues to grow, the supervisors said.
“State K-12 funding in 2016 remains below FY 2009 level,” said Mason Supervisor Penny Gross. “Virginia localities have spent $3.55 billion more per year to match state K-12 funding. The state funding cuts have come at a time when localities are increasingly serving children with special needs, including special education, those learning English as a Second Language and those living in economically disadvantaged households.”
“A state that is in top 10 in income should not be in bottom 10 in state educational funding, but that is where Virginia finds itself.”
State contributions aside, the county says several factors are contributing to its shortfall. Among them:
- Slow local economic growth and net job losses in federal government and professional services
- Decreased federal spending in county
- Slight slowdown in housing market
- Disbursement growth that is scheduled to outpace revenue growth, including an assumed 3 percent transfer to FCPS. The county said it plans an increase of $80 million in its transfer to schools (including debt service and capital funding) for 2017.
- Increased county employee pay (an additional $39.66 million in 2017, plus an additional $7.58 million in benefits)
See a Power Point with more details on the county budget on the Fairfax County website.
Meanwhile, the school system, which has for months been engaging the community and a Budget Task Force in a conversation on how to narrow the deficit, told the county board of supervisors at last week’s joint work session that expenditures are expected to increase by more than $113 million in 2017.
The school system is now facing a projected $60.6 million budget shortfall. The number keeps changing (it was as high as $100 million last spring) because of uncertainties in enrollment and state contributions, says Garza.
Garza said FCPS is using a standard 3 percent transfer increase from the county in forecasting its FY 2017 budget.
According to the superintendent’s presentation, FCPS has made half a billion in cuts since 2008. During that same time frame, the increase in the county transfer totals $239.2 million. The increases in the county transfer have not historically covered the cost of four major budget drivers: enrollment, salary increases, retirement, and health, says Garza.
The Budget Task Force completed its report last month with suggestions for how to save the system money. Suggestions range from charging for athletic participation to eliminating language immersion programs to increasing class size.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe will release his proposed budget to the General Assembly on Dec. 17. Garza will release her proposed FCPS budget Jan. 8. The Fairfax County General Assembly delegation will hold a public hearing on Jan. 9. After many more discussions, public hearings and markup sessions, the school board will adopt its final FY 2017 budget in late May.
The supervisors also said last week that ensuring K-12 funding should be a top priority for local General Assembly members at the 2016 session. The board and the state reps will have a work session on Dec. 8.
Fairfax County Public Schools’ Budget Task Force has completed its analysis, and on Monday presented Superintendent Karen Garza with its recommendations.
Among the suggested changes: fees for AP tests, increase in student parking fees, increase in class sizes and elimination of language immersion programs.
The task force has been working since last summer on finding ways to narrow a projected $50 million or $75 million budget gap for FCPS for 2016-17. The group, which also considered input from the community, is working with two numbers because it is still unknown how much funding it will get from the commonwealth and Fairfax County.
Budget cutting is still a work in progress. Rather than present a list of definite services and programs to be changed in order to save money, the group ranked ideas that emerged as the most popular among the group and community suggestions.
“It’s important for parents and all of our stakeholders to understand that the Task Force has made a recommendation and no decisions have been made,” Garza said. “It is still up to me and the School Board to determine how to develop a budget for next school year that will support all of our operational needs. However, reductions will be unavoidable unless we receive sufficient revenue to meet our expenditure requirements. As is clear in the Task Force report, it is difficult to reach a clear community consensus on these difficult and unpleasant reductions. As I’ve said all along, we cannot cut our way to excellence.”
The Budget Task Force said it prioritized its recommendations by considering the percentage of agreement among Task Force members on individual suggestions. It also note the percentage agreement among members of the community, as reflected through the budget proposal tool and comments submitted at community outreach meetings, and online via an interactive budget tool.
There will be many more school board work sessions and community meetings on the budget as the process continues. Garza will present her budget in January, and after more discussion, the final budget will be adopted in May.
Garza asked the Budget Task Force to keep in mind six criteria when evaluating potential cuts:
1. Number of students impacted
2. Effect on employees and students
3. Disruption to the system
4. Permanent cuts instead of “one time” cuts
5. Magnitude of the cut
6. Student outcomes especially on the core instruction
The school system will not reduce the the seven-period day or full-day kindergarten or the contract length for teachers. The task force hopes to protect the employee’s step- and cost-of-living increase in order to remain competitive with nearby districts, FCPS said. Read More
What would you do if you were in charge of closing a projected $80 million deficit for Fairfax County Public Schools?
FCPS is inviting citizens to log into a its new budget proposal tool, which went live on Wednesday. Citizens can slash and protect programs and positions in a scenario that looks at a $50 million deficit for FCPS or a $75 million deficit. FCPS Superintendent Karen Garza says all suggestions will go to the Budget Task Force.
The budget software was used by Arlington Public Schools and given to FCPS for free, school board At-Large member Ryan McElveen said.
What seems like a number-focused video game is quite real, however. Garza came to South Lakes High School Wednesday night for a community meeting about the projected shortfall for the 2017 Fiscal Year, how the budget gap happened — though it is down from a projected $100 million — and why citizens need to take it seriously.
“We have cut almost a half-billion since 2008,” said Garza. “2017 is likely to be one of our most challenging budget years yet. There are going to be very, very difficult decisions to make.”
The FCPS Budget Task Force spent the summer looking at all possibilities — from increasing class size (which has already happened three times in recent years) to charging for AP/IB tests and sports participation to reducing athletic and arts programs to going to a six-period (instead of seven) high school day.
Even all-day kindergarten, which was a gradually implemented and hard-fought addition for FCPS in recent years, is on the task force menu. Going back to half days would save $39 million.
There was no discussion about specific program cuts on Wednesday. There will be a series of town hall-type meetings later this fall, said Garza.
The Superintendent says most of the gap is “out of our control.” Increasing enrollment, increasing need for special programs such as English as a Second Language, increased health care costs, raises for staff and contributions to the state retirement fund are among the top cost drivers, she said.
FCPS gets about 70 percent of its $2.6 billion (2016) budget from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, who has said to expect about a 3 percent increase for 2017, said Garza. Without knowing the state contributions or other exact funding numbers, the county deficit alone will be about $55 million, she said.
For 2017, FCPS would like to give incremental step raises and a 1.5 percent cost-of-living raise to teachers. The school system will likely increase by 2,300 students, said Garza.
FCPS reps also showed a video (attached to this post) putting the deficit in simple terms.
Hunter Mill School Board Member Pat Hynes, who serves as school board chair, says everyone should take the shortfall seriously.
“We are now looking at a projected $80 million gap,” she said. “But I cannot support another budget that freezes pay or increases class size. It is early in the process, but we need to know what the shortfall will be and how to make it up. We are taking a lot guesses on the state and Board of Supervisors contributions.”
South Lakes PTSA President Andy Sigle said he thinks the revenue side of FCPS should get together with the spending side much earlier in the process. Read More
The 2015-16 school year gets underway Tuesday morning in Reston and the rest of Fairfax County.
More than 188,000 students will return to Fairfax County Public Schools classrooms.
It’s the first day of the new bell schedules for high schoolers. After studying and discussing the topic for several years, the Fairfax County School board voted to make the switch beginning in 2015-16.
The School Board made the switch citing research from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The research showed school schedules should be aligned with the biological sleep rhythms of adolescents in order to improve their mental and physical health and academic performance.
Most Fairfax County high schools will now start at 8:10 a.m. (formerly 7:20 a.m.) and end the school day at 2:55 p.m. Middle schools will now begin at 7:30 a.m. Most elementary schools have been only slightly adjusted.
In Reston, students at Sunrise Valley and Terraset Elementary schools will return to vastly renovated classrooms. Both schools have been in the midst of major renovations for more than a year. The projects are expected to be finished later this school year.
Student at Forest Edge Elementary will have a new principal, Leona Smith-Vance.
Two new science-and-tech-based private schools, Ideaventions Academy and School for Tomorrow, are also opening in Reston for the 2015-16 school year.
And even though the 2015-16 school year is just beginning, FCPS is in the midst of gaining community feedback for the 2017 budget. FCPS Superintendent Karen Garza says the system may face a deficit of $100 million if cuts are not made. The board is considering everything from cutting certain sports and arts programs to eliminating staff positions to cut costs.
Beginning Wednesday, community members will be able to submit specific proposals for how to balance the budget using a “Budget Proposal Tool” available at www.fcps.edu/SaveFCPS. The proposals submitted via the Budget Proposal Tool will be shared with the Budget Task Force for their review prior to making a recommendation to the Superintendent in October. The information will also be shared with the Superintendent and School Board.
There will also be a community meeting on the budget Wednesday at South Lakes High School, 7 p.m.
South Lakes High School will be the site of the first of two countywide community meetings on Fairfax County Public School’s cost-savings options for the 2016-17 fiscal year.
The meeting is Wednesday, Sept. 9, 7 to 9 p.m. The other meeting is Sept. 12 at Mount Vernon High School. Register to attend on the FCPS website.
FCPS Superintendent Karen Garza says that the school system — which serves more than 180,000 students — may face a $100 million deficit if drastic action is not taken.
The school system often faces a deficit — this year’s was $7 million — and usually meets its budget without making major cuts and by compromising with the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on funding for the schools.
However, Garza said the upcoming fiscal year is different — with cost drivers that are out of FCPS’ control. Among them: a growing student population with diverse needs; increased state-required retirement contributions rates; increased health insurance costs; and increased compensation for teachers.
“We have an enormous challenge facing us as a school system,” Garza said in an FCPS interview.
A task force of community stakeholders — including school board members, citizen representatives, employee organizations, and FCPS employees, among others, has been meeting this summer to identify potential savings.
The Task Force will be asked to prioritize items for reduction in scenarios of a $50 million deficit, a $75 million deficit, and a $100 million deficit. Garza says she expects to get the task force’s report in October, and a preliminary budget should be formulated by December.
FCPS has also been asking for online suggestions from citizens on its “What Are Your Ideas” page. Particular hot topics are eliminating some sports and arts activities; cutting down on late buses and transportation to Advanced Academic Programs; and forgoing the recent raise (to $20,000 annually) for school board members.
“The school board recently voted to give itself an 85 percent salary raise in the midst of a major budget crisis,” wrote one commenter. “This is a terrible idea and only makes the problem worse, and makes the school board look out of touch with the needs of the community.”
Said another: “Please continue arts and music programs. While this seems like an easy cut, these programs stimulate the mind and help the students learn important skills such as good listening, patience, focus and diligence.”
Starting Sept. 9, community members will be able to submit specific proposals for how to balance the budget using a “Budget Proposal Tool” available at www.fcps.edu/SaveFCPS.
The proposals submitted via the Budget Proposal Tool will be shared with the Budget Task Force for their review prior to making a recommendation to the Superintendent in October. The information will also be shared with the Superintendent and School Board.
The task force has outlined potential cost savings for consideration. Among them:
- Raising class sizes by one student for K-12 ($26.2 million)
- Reducing late buses by one day per week ($1.3 million)
- Eliminating some sports (freshman, junior varsity and varsity sports) and cutting high school athletic trainers ($10.9 million).
- Eliminating school extracurriculars such as yearbook, It’s Academic, newspaper, debate and student council, as well as cutting supplemental funding for music and drama programs ($12.3 million).
- Reducing number of high school assistant principals ($1.2 million).
- Reducing number of custodian positions ($2.4 million),
- Reducing Central Support positions (ie, Human Resources, Instructional Services, IT) ($1.7 million to $8.4 million).
Learn more about the 2017-budget on FCPS’ website. See the task force’s 12-page menu of budget-cutting ideas in the document below.
Cost-Savings Ideas from FCPS Task Force by Karen Goldberg Goff
A report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control backs up what some Fairfax County Public Schools parents and students have been saying for years: That high school and middle schools start too early.
The CDC looked at data from 40,000 schools in the 2011-12 school year. In a report issued last week, the CDC said it found that fewer than 1 in 5 middle and high schools in the U.S. began the school day at the recommended 8:30 AM start time.
Schools that have a start time of 8:30 AM or later allow adolescent students the opportunity to get the recommended amount of sleep on school nights: about 8.5 to 9.5 hours, says the CDC.
Insufficient sleep is common among high school students and is associated with several health risks such as being overweight, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and using drugs – as well as poor academic performance. The proportion of high school students who fail to get sufficient sleep (2 out of 3) has remained steady since 2007, according to the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Report.
“Getting enough sleep is important for students’ health, safety, and academic performance,” said Anne Wheaton, Ph.D., lead author and epidemiologist in CDC’s Division of Population Health. “Early school start times, however, are preventing many adolescents from getting the sleep they need.”
Those statements pretty much echo what experts from Children’s National Medical Center told FCPS in a study two years ago, as well as an American Academy of Pediatrics study from 2014.
After several years of discussion and community meetings, FCPS’ board voted in fall 2014 to go forward with bell schedule changes, which will go into effect for the 2015-16 school year.
High schools, which used to start at 7:20 a.m., will now begin between 8 and 8:10 a.m. Middle schools, which used to begin after 8 a.m., will not start at 7:30 a.m. Elementary schools remain mostly unchanged.
The new bell schedule has met with a mix of feedback. Some residents say it is not really solving the problem as young teens in middle school still have to get up very early to catch a bus. FCPS board members have said since middle school is only two years, it was a more tenable plan.
Others have criticized the expense of the program, which will cost about $5 million to put in place, even as programs such as sports, arts and busing to Advanced Academic Programs are in danger of being cut as the school system faces a projected massive shortfall.
To read more details of the CDC study, visit the CDC website.
Fairfax County Public Schools are continuing to take citizen feedback on how to slash up to $100 million from the 2016-17 budget.
FCPS Superintendent Karen Garza said in June that the school system — which serves more than 180,000 students — may face a deficit that large if drastic action is not taken.
“It is not possible to maintain the level of excellence for which Fairfax County Public Schools is known when we are annually faced with making impactful cuts to the system,” Garza said in a statement. “While we have tried hard to protect the classroom to the fullest extent possible, we now have no choice but to consider cutting student programs and services.”
The FCPS Board approved a $2.6 billion budget for 2015-16. The board still needed to cut $7 million from the budget in order to cover such items as later high school start times (going into effect in the fall), the expense of full-day Mondays for elementary schools, and staff pay increases.
The school system says many of the cost drivers for 2016-17 are “items outside of FCPS’ control,” like retirement and enrollment increases, and providing competitive compensation for our teachers. FCPS the cost drivers include:
- a growing student population with diverse needs.
- increased state-required retirement contributions rates.
- increased health insurance costs.
- increased compensation for teachers.
The school system has organized a task force comprised of community members, teacher and school employees, among others, to brainstorm savings ideas.
It has also been asking residents for suggestions and to vote on other citizen suggestions.
Here are some of the hot topics on the FCPS “What Are Your Ideas?” web page. (Vote totals as of Thursday, July 30):
Keep the seven-period day at the secondary level (280 votes)
“Many students end up majoring in college subjects that are considered electives.
It will not save FCPS any money to go to a six-period day. It will mean the county has to hire more teachers to teach the classes mandated by the state.”
Keep all performing arts in schools (158 votes) Read More
Fairfax County Public Schools are facing a potential $100 million shortfall for 2016-17, and Superintendent Karen Garza has organized a Budget Task Force to look at cost-cutting measures.
FCPS is also seeking citizen input. Citizen suggestions have ranged from cutting varsity sports to paying for Advanced Placement tests to doing away with center-based Advanced Academics.
Reston Now organized some suggestions based on general themes from citizen input (and not due to any scientific examination of FCPS’ financial statements).
Which areas do you think could be better financially managed? Cast a vote and tell us in the comments.
Eliminate Advanced Academic Centers, elementary band and strings programs and speech therapists; go back to mini-Mondays; charge tuition for language immersion programs; and cut back the number of custodians and make kids clean the school.
Those are just a few of the dozens of citizen ideas on how Fairfax County Public Schools can save money.
The school system, which serves more than 180,000 students, put out the call for cost-saving ideas to residents last week.
Superintendent Karen Garza says FCPS will have a deficit of more than $100 million by 2016-17 if drastic measures are not taken.
“Without additional funding, FCPS will need to have some difficult and emotional conversations with the community to determine which programs to eliminate,” FCPS says. “If revenues do not increase, to balance the budget FCPS may have to eliminate and/or redesign programs and services for the 2016-17 school year.”
“These reductions may affect all academic programming, including limiting elective choices, reducing career and technical programs, impacting advanced offerings, and raising class sizes at all levels.”
The FCPS Board approved a $2.6 billion budget for 2015-16. The board still needed to cut $7 million from the budget in order to cover such items as earlier high school start times (going into effect in the fall), the expense of full-day Mondays for elementary schools, and staff pay increases.
In 2014, the school system eliminated more than 700 staff positions as Garza said FCPS was facing a $130 million deficit for 2015.
In addition to resident suggestions, FCPS is establishing a Budget Task Force, comprised of community and employee stakeholders to advise Garza in developing the FY 2017 budget. Read More
The Fairfax County Public School board is preparing to vote on a new family life education curriculum that will add gender identity and sexual orientation to the lessons for students as young as middle school.
FCPS says revisions to lesson objectives include moving some objectives from Family Life Education to meet new Virginia Department of Education revised Standards of Learning for health education.
Part of the proposal includes adding discussion in eighth grade about “gender (biological gender, gender identity (includes transgender), gender role, and sexual orientation (includes heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual). The concept that sexuality is a broader spectrum will be introduced.”
Two weeks ago, the school board voted to add gender identity to its non-discrimination policy. That vote came at a raucous school board meeting where there was much opposition to the proposal.
Several parents speaking at Thursday’s school board meeting had issues with the proposed curriculum, as well as the proposal that some FLE lessons would now be considered general health lessons, which makes it more difficult to opt out.
Parents or guardians will still be able to opt their child out of any remaining objectives in Family Life Education, FCPS said.
“I ask that you keep it all ‘opt out’ ” said FCPS parent Patty Healy, representing Concerned Parents and Educators of Fairfax County. “School is not the place for social engineering.”
“This is the second time this month [that FCPS] is looking at something not based on facts and science but instead is ideologically driven.”
Another parent, Laura Hanford, said that teaching these lessons “usurps the rights of parents.”
“It is you rewriting the blueprint of your morality,” she told the school board, asking that they take a step back, take more time and truly engage families and faith communities in further discussion.
Student Sam Runner, president of West Springfield’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA), said access to earlier information could have saved him much anguish.
“Currently, FCPS does not provide resources on this topic, leaving LGBT students isolated and confused,” he told the board via video. “In seventh grade, I was suspicious I may be gay and that terrified me. I did not know anything about gay people. I had years of depression and self loathing.
Runner said adding the topics in middle school will help all students.
“It will teach LGBT kids that what they are feeling is normal,” he said. “And [teach] non-LGBT that LGBT kids are still normal. That will improve morale and academic performance. I hope you take a stand and say yes to less bullying and more acceptance.”
The school board is seeking feedback to the proposed FLE outline. Parents are invited to review the changes online and submit comments via email to [email protected].
FCPS says all comments will be shared with School Board members at the conclusion of the community review process, which ends June 19. The school board will vote on the changes on June 25.
