Fairfax County Public Schools elementary-age children will go to school five full days a week beginning in September, the FCPS board voted on Thursday.

The board voted 10-1 in favor of Superintendent Karen Garza’s proposal to eliminate early-release Mondays. Kathy Smith was opposed, saying that the board should wait for more discussion and implement it in 2015-16. One board member was absent from the meeting.

Fairfax County Public Schools have for decades released elementary school students 2 1/2 hours early on Mondays in order for teachers to have planning time. The “mini-Mondays” were generally unpopular with FCPS parents, who often had to scramble child care plans one day a week.

The new calendar changes how FCPS counts yearly instructional time. Garza proposed the change because allows for more snow days without making them up and also allows for more self-directed planning time for teachers.

The Fairfax County Public Schools Board will vote on Thursday whether to eliminate the shortened Mondays for elementary school students.

FCPS students have been released early on Mondays for decades, allowing teachers time for planning, but Superintendent Karen Garza says the change is necessary because it will eliminate having to make up classes on account of snow days, as well as allow for more self-directed planning time for teachers.

Under the new plan, the state-required 180-day school year, currently used by FCPS, will meet Virginia requirements with a  990-hour school year. Both are options under Virginia rules. Loudoun County uses the 990-hour system and does not have to scramble when winter wreaks havoc on the schedule.

Fairfax has three days built in for weather cancellations, and FCPS says the system uses an average of four a year. By moving to an hourly system, the schools would be able to absorb 13 snow days in a school year because students would already be in school for the required number of hours.

In 2013-14, a particularly snowy winter, FCPS used 11 snow days, which has pushed the school year to June 25 in order to have the required makeup days.

The board proposal says there are other advantages to the change. Among them:

• A uniform elementary day would increase instructional time for all elementary students and would allow for the state required 20 minutes of daily recess for children.
• The uniform calendar would allow the school system to plan for two weeks of winter break.
• The changes would only be implemented with new regulations/rules that provided all elementary teachers with at least 60 minutes of self-directed time four times per week and at least 60 minutes one time per week for collaborative team planning equating to a total minimum planning time per week of 300 minutes.
• The changes are responsive to parents, who have consistently asked for the elimination of the early Mondays due to the inconvenience for many working families.
• There would be no changes to music, art and physical education.

School board documents say that the changes will cost up to $7.6 million.

“This is difficult in these tight economic times, but we believe that this is an important investment in our students and our teachers,” Garza said in the report. “As such, a growing number of County Supervisors have expressed that they will provide us financial support for this important change.  They have some monies available that were not budgeted due to unanticipated revenues from law enforcement activities.”

However, some teachers are skeptical that this would be a smooth transition in an era of cutbacks, stalled raises and mounting work requirements.

“I’d like to know where the ‘more’ planning time is coming from,” said one elementary school administrator who asked not to be named.

“When they went to Mondays, they extended the Tuesday-through-Friday day. If they shorten that, will we have less time? The Monday schedule in elementary is crucial to professional development for teachers and is one of the only places they can get training in areas they need support.”

There has also been criticism that teacher opinions were not taken into account when formulating the plan.

The new plan would go into effect as early as September. This is a separate issue from the plan to change high school start times, which may also affect elementary school students as they may start school earlier in the day. The details of that plan are still being worked out, and it will not go into effect until at least 2015-16.

See the proposed Master Calendar for 2014-15 on the FCPS website.

Photo: FCPS Superintendent Karen Garza/File photo

Fairfax County Public Schools officials are considering eliminating the early release Mondays for elementary school students in order to better accommodate snow days.

As it considers making changes to high school start times, Fairfax County Public Schools wants to know your opinion.

There will be a series of public meetings on the subject. South Lakes High School will host one from 7 to 9 p.m. on May 27.

If you cannot make a meeting, FCPS still wants to hear from you in an online survey. The survey (and a short presentation) are available here.

After working with sleep experts from Children’s National Medical Center for more than a year, the school board recently picked four scenarios recommended by the doctors that would adjust high school start times to begin after 8 a.m. Several of the plans would also adjust middle- and elementary-school start times as well.

FCPS high schools currently begin at 7:20 a.m., which leaves some teens chronically sleep deprived.

CNMC doctors say teens need eight hours of sleep or more for optimum health. Sleep deprivation leads to shortened attention span, decreased higher level cognitive skills, reduced ability to learn and remember new information, decreased efficiency in completing tasks, lower standardized test scores and decreased school achievement, says CNMC’s Project Smart Sleep website.

Fairfax County Public Schools will host a series of community meetings in May and June to gather opinion from parents and students about adjusting school start times.

The Cluster 8 meeting will be Tuesday, May 27 at South Lakes High School. Residents can attend any of the other meetings as well. Visit the FCPS website to see the full list of dates and times.

The Fairfax County School Board adopted a resolution in April 2012 to investigate changing high school start times to after 8 a.m. In 2013, it contracted with Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC) to study the effects of chronic sleepiness and develop a proposal for later start times.

Fairfax County high schools begin at 7:20 a.m. — which means some students are on the bus as early as 5:45 a.m.

There has been a grassroots effort the last several years to change high school start times in Fairfax. The local advocacy group Start Later for Excellence in Education Proposal (SLEEP) has been very vocal, saying that 72 out of 95 Virginia counties now start at high school 8 a.m. or later. Montgomery County, Md., also is exploring later start times.

CNMC doctors say teens need eight hours of sleep or more for optimum health. Sleep deprivation leads to shortened attention span, decreased higher level cognitive skills, reduced ability to learn and remember new information, decreased efficiency in completing tasks, lower standardized test scores and decreased school achievement, says CNMC’s Project Smart Sleep website.

Last month, CNMC presented four scenarios to the FCPS Board. Implementing the changes would cost anywhere from $2.7 million to $7.6 million, mostly due to the purchasing of additional buses. The changes would also affect middle school and elementary school students as well.

High schools would begin from 7:50 a.m. to as late as 9:15 a.m. under the four proposals. To see additional details, visit FCPS’ website.

A grassroots movement is underway to try and get Fairfax County Public Schools to reconsider half-day Mondays.

For more than 40 years, FCPS elementary students have been dismissed about 2 1/2 hours early on Mondays so teachers could have a weekly planning time.

That is shortchanging the kids, advocates for a uniform school day throughout the week say.

“The members of the Fairfax County School Board need to face the reality that they have an obligation to set a schedule that meets the requirements in the Standards of Accreditation,” Virginia Fitz Shea, head of the Full Schooldays group, writes on her blog Fullschooldays.org.

“This is not a luxury or an extra that they can avoid implementing on the grounds that it is too expensive.  As previously mentioned, Fairfax could adopt the same elementary schedule seen in many other school districts at no additional cost whatsoever.”

Full Schooldays has also organized a petition to gather signatures of support to send to the FCPS school board.

“The elementary school schedule is too short,” says the petition. “Fairfax prides itself on being a leader in American public education, but it is stuck in the past in clinging to such a short schedule for elementary schools. Students are sent home 2 ½ or 2 hours early every Monday. The students should be allowed to stay in school for at least 6 hours and 40 minutes every single day of the week.”

The group also says half-days compromise children’s safety as some are home alone for longer. It also places an unfair burden on families with kids in day care who must pay for extra supervision.

The school board has been discussing the issue, but does not see how it can change as it is looking at a $130 million budget gap.

“If FCPS wishes to change Mondays to a six and a half hour day, there would be about a seven percent increase in teacher salary costs,” Dranesville school board rep Jane Strauss said last June.

“If the Tuesday through Friday schedule were shortened and the time added back to Monday, there might not be any cost,” she added. “However, elementary teachers would not get the block of planning time. Many teachers would likely have great concern about this. They already have an increased work load and struggle to complete the required planning and analysis within the current time structure.”

Fairfax County Schools Superintendent Karen Garza says the school system will need an increase of $59.4 million for Fiscal Year 2015, even if FCPS makes suggested cost-cutting measures that include eliminating more than 700 positions and adding in $42 million in fees for students taking Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests.

The new superintendent presented the $2.5 billion budget to the school board Thursday night.

“We have been presented with a daunting task dealing with a proposed budget deficit that is for the most part driven by cost increases,” Garza told reporters earlier Thursday. “We are facing a number of increased expenditures that are beyond our control.”

Garza said the biggest cost drivers are increased enrollment, an increase in employee health insurance rates and an increase in the mandatory contributions to the Virginia Retirement System.

Enrollment is projected to be 188,000 next year, up 4,000 from 2013-14, Garza said. That requires $25.8 million in school-based resources, she said. Retirement rate increases will cost the system $38.9 million. Increases in insurance rates will cost $23.9 million.

The school system also is beginning the fiscal year with a structural deficit and depleted reserves. Garza also wants to give $41 million in step increases to employees.

Salary increases are important if Fairfax wants to be competitive with other school districts, said Garza. FCPS lags behind Arlington and Alexandria in new teacher pay and lags behind six school systems for Masters Degree holders and maximum teacher pay.

The school system will ask for $98.1 million — an increase of 5.7 percent from FY2014 — from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to cover the mounting costs.

For its part, FCPS will slice $96.5 million from the budget.eliminating 731.2 positions. Garza said she hopes the reductions can come from attrition, but she is not ruling out layoffs.

Still, class size may rise with staffing cuts. Elementary school (currently 26.5 students per class) and middle schools (26.9) would see an increase of half a student, but high schools, already at 29.5, would ride to 30.5 students per class.

Other sources of money for the $2.5 billion budget will comes from state aid ($375 million), state sales tax ($171 million), federal aid ($42 million) and miscellaneous fees of $66.6 million. Additional state money may be available, but it was not included in the budget, said Garza.

The school board will discuss the budget and a number of public hearings will be held through the spring. See key dates on FCPS’ website.

School Board Vice Chair Illryong Moon (at-large) said tough decisions will have to be made in this economic climate.

“We are still not out of the great recession,” he said. “The system is faced with tremendous fiscal challenges. The superintendent is taking a very reasonable approach. The board is going to look at every line item and I am hopeful whatever we do will not negatively affect classroom instruction.”

Freezing rain and icy roads have caused Fairfax County Public Schools to delay school two hours on Friday.

The temperature is expected to warm up above freezing after sunrise, when the freezing rain will turn to just rain.

From FCPS:

All Fairfax County public schools will open two hours late, January 10. Offices open on time.

Morning preschool (special education) classes are canceled.

Afternoon preschool (special education) classes start on their regular schedule.

Full-day preschool (special education) and Family and Early Childhood Education Program/Head Start classes start two hours later than the regular schedule.

Morning field trips are canceled.

SACC centers will be open by 7:15 a.m.

Morning transportation for high school academy classes is canceled. Afternoon academy transportation will still be provided.

Adult and community education classes will start on time.

Fairfax County Public Schools have been canceled or delayed in the past for reasons as varied as hurricanes and, of course, snow.

But until this week, never for plain, old cold. Due to the effects of the polar vortex — which blew in record-breaking low temperatures from North Dakota to Atlanta — FCPS classes and activities were canceled Tuesday and there will be a two-hour delay on Wednesday, the school system said.

Then again, it hasn’t been this cold in Fairfax County for a long time. It was 1 degree F Tuesday morning at Dulles International Airport, setting a record.

Wednesday will start out nearly as cold, with morning temps in the single digits, but should warm up to a more-typical 32 in the afternoon.

FCPS At-Large School Board member Ryan McElveen, who has become somewhat of a social media icon among students for his quick tweets and Facebook posts after FCPS makes a closing announcement, says making the call is complicated and has to do with transportation and school equipment, even if roads are dry.

“Surrounding districts have had serious issues with their buses starting up in the morning, so we are trying to avoid a similar situation,” McElveen told Reston Now. “Also, we are also concerned with temperatures and exposure. The issues that have been experienced in surrounding districts are dead batteries, frozen lines and cracked parts. Those districts have bus depots, unlike FCPS, which makes fixing the buses easier.”

Still, some parents — whose children have been out of school for winter break since Dec. 20 only to go back for a day — say they are frustrated by FCPS’ decision making. On Tuesday, Reston Now posed a question to its Facebook followers: “Should school have been canceled today?” There were 61 answers; opinions covered a wide range.

Some of the answers:

• “I have read everyone’s comment on here and as a bus driver I am thankful school is closed. Can anyone please tell me how many buses would not have started this morning? If you say more than 40 you might be right. There would have been to0 many children stranded this morning.”
• “I think there should have been school. If parents decided it was too cold for their children then they can keep their child home. I worked as a teacher’s assistant for handicapped children during the summer, and many children came to school starving and obviously don’t eat much at home. A lot of those same families don’t have the money or resources to properly heat or cool their own home. Coming to school was better than staying home.”
• “I think there should have been school today as well. There is too much winter left to be using this many snow days so early in the season.”
• “Absolutely not! Too many children will not be dressed for this extreme cold!”
• “A priority would be appropriate clothing for this weather. I can understand the bus argument however. Nowadays parents do allow their kids to be a little wimpy.”
• “For the sake of children who have to wait outside for the school bus, absolutely (it should have been canceled).”

Fairfax County says the majority of parents surveyed have confidence in Fairfax County Public Schools.

FCPS Superintendent Karen K. Garza recently released the results of the third annual trust and confidence survey of FCPS parents and taxpayers. The survey measured opinions from 10,700 parents and residents about a number of issues related to the school district.

Survey participants were asked whether they agreed with a number of statements about FCPS. Some key findings:

• 84 percent of parent respondents strongly agreed or agreed that FCPS is a trustworthy public institution.
• 65 percent of non-parents strongly agreed or agreed with that statement.

These numbers are up slightly from 2012 respondents, says FCPS. Approximately 25 percent of non-parents say they don’t have enough information to make that assessment, a two-point decrease from last year.

Every question had an increase in the agree-strongly agree responses, and some had significant increases of four or more points. Each question also saw an improvement in the “don’t have enough information to make an assessment” response, and some had significant decreases of five or more points, an indicator of improvement, showing that fewer people feel they don’t have enough information to respond.

A significant increase in the agree-strongly agree response: “School system leaders make decisions that reflect the community’s values,” (increase from 63 percent to 70 percent among parents, and from 41 to 47 percent among non-parents).

Positive responses for the following items increased over the 2012 survey:

• 90 percent of parents and 65 percent of non-parents agree that FCPS respects the cultural diversity of students and families.
• 83 percent of parents and 56 percent of non-parents agree that FCPS teachers are effective in preparing students for the future.
• 83 percent of parent respondents agreed FCPS is providing students with the right education for the 21st century, along with 56 percent of non-parent respondents.
• 89 percent of parents and 57 percent of non-parents indicated they receive the information they want or need about the school system (an increase of two and three percentage points, respectively).
• 79 percent of parents and 36 percent of non-parents feel they are informed in a timely manner of major decisions made by FCPS (an increase of 2 percentage points by each group).

Respondents indicated an increase in awareness in several areas. In the item stating, “The district has made progress in students’ gaining essential life skills,” one of the Fairfax County School Board’s student achievement goals, an 8 percentage point drop was posted by parents in the “don’t have enough information to make an assessment” response, along with a 7 percentage point drop for non-parents. For the same essential life skills item, an increase of 12 percentage points was seen among parents who agreed with the statement, and an increase of 6 percentage points was seen among non-parents who agreed.

Consistent with last year’s findings, parents trust these top three sources for factual information about FCPS: FCPS official communications, 78 percent; the local school, 73 percent; and FCPS employees, 16 percent. FCPS official communications include the school district’s website, news releases, and three FCPS newsletters.

For complete results, visit www.fcps.edu.

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)  biennial Family-School Connections survey shows that 89 percent of parents strongly agree or somewhat agree that their relationships with their children’s schools are consistently positive or stable, the schools system announced Wednesday.

The survey is designed to measure the quality of relationships between families and schools. It was was administered in May to approximately 2,200 randomly selected FCPS families in eight languages.

Key points from the survey include:

The top five item responses were:

• Of all respondents, 96.6 percent of parents “understand the rules and responsibilities for student dress, language, and behavior outlined in the FCPS Student Rights and Responsibilities handbook.”
• Of all respondents, 95 percent say their child’s school “communicates with families in multiple ways,” including newsletters, e-mail, phone, website, personal notes, backpack letters, and conversations.
• Of all respondents, 95 percent of parents say their child’s school “keeps all families informed about important issues and events.”
• Of all respondents, 95 percent of parents say their child’s school staff members “respect and value the diversity of families in the community.”
• Of all respondents, 94.5 percent of parents say they “are familiar with the school’s policies and programs.

Among the lower-rated responses:

• Of all respondents, 72 percent of parents say “my child’s teachers help me understand how to best work with my child at home to improve his or her academic progress.”
• Of all respondents, 82 percent of parents say that “if my school can’t help me, it will connect me to someone who can.”
• Of all respondents, 82 percent of parents say “my child’s teachers communicate with me on a regular basis.”
• Of all respondents, 82.6 percent of parents say my “school considers parent input before making important decisions.”
• Of all respondents, 83.5 percent of parents say my “school provides information on other learning opportunities outside the school.”

FCPS says that open-ended responses emphasized positively on the overall quality of their child’s school — including climate, safety, and cleanliness — and less positively on teachers’ understanding of their students’ needs, responsiveness, and willingness to listen.

Satisfaction with schools was similarly positive among all ethnic sub-groups and for all school levels (elementary, middle, and high), as well as for specific program participants, including advanced academic programs, career and technical education, free and reduced meals, English for speakers of other languages, special education, and general education.

Families received either an online survey or paper survey to complete. The overall survey had a 39 percent response rate, 2 percentage points higher than the last survey conducted in 2011.

Fairfax County Schools will be closed Tuesday — the second day in a row — as heavy snow is scheduled to fall in the morning.

School Age Child Care Centers (SACC) will also be closed. Fairfax County government will be open, but employees can take unscheduled leave.

To see other county closings and a list of numbers to call for information, visit Fairfax County’s Emergency Information blog.

All Reston Community Center programs are canceled Tuesday. The pool will open at 9 a.m. For current status, call 703-476-4500.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning through Tuesday afternoon, with snowfall of 3 to 5 inches for the Reston area.

The Virginia Department of Transportation is advising motorists to check road conditions ahead of their commute, and to limit travel or use caution.

More than 1,200 trucks and plows will be out beginning at 4 a.m. Tuesday, VDOT said.

Residents can see the status of plowing in northern Virginia neighborhoods at www.vdotplows.org. Once it snows more than two inches, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William residents can enter their address and a color-coded map shows whether plowing is underway, completed, or not yet started in their neighborhood.

Report road problems to 1-800-FOR-ROAD (367-7623) or [email protected].

More Delays for Silver Line? Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority announced Monday that there will be additional delays to completion of the first phase of the $5.6 billion Silver Line rail extension that will run from Tysons Corner to Reston’s Wiehle Avenue. Officials said additional tests related to the Automatic Train Control System need to be completed before the project can be turned over to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. This is the second delay in recent months. [Washington Post]

Kudos, FCPS —  Fairfax County Public Schools were given a Meritorious Budget Award for excellence in the preparation and issuance of the FY 2014 budget from the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) International. This is the 17th year in a row the school system has been honored by ASBO. FCPS is still looking at a $140 million budget shortfall next year. [FCPS]

GMU Students Aid Homeless  — A pair of students at George Mason University are starting a program to donate unused meal card space to homeless students on campus. [Washington Post]