Fairfax County Schools Superintendent Karen Garza is asking local parents and supporters of public schools to aid in the request for more money from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

For the $2.6 billion Fiscal Year 2016 budget, the school board has asked the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for an additional $70.6 million, or 3.99 percent, over the amount from FY 2015. 

The transfer request amount from the county is $14 million, or 0.79 percent, above the guidance provided by the Board of Supervisors, which included a 3 percent transfer increase plus the cost associated with full-day Mondays implemented this year.

The supervisors will hold public hearings on the budget on Tuesday, April 7, and Garza is inviting FCPS friends and family to speak up in support.

The superintendent sent this letter this week:

Dear FCPS friends and families,

Over the next few weeks, our local elected officials, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors (BOS), will be making decisions that will have a significant impact on our local public schools. These important decisions will directly impact the future of our most precious resource – our children. I invite you to join me and School Board Chairman Tamara Derenak Kaufax at the BOS public hearing regarding the FCPS budget on April 7 at 4 p.m. and show your support for our children.

The Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Fiscal Year 2016 request of the County is very reasonable and pragmatic; unfortunately the County Executive presented a budget to the BOS that is $14 million short of fully funding our budget which, if approved by the BOS as presented, would result in even more cuts to our already strained system.

Since 2008, we have experienced significant budget cuts resulting in the elimination of more than 2,175 positions and almost a half-billion dollars in reductions to our operating funds. We cannot cut our way to greatness and our reputation and success must not be taken for granted. FCPS’ greatness cannot be sustained after many consecutive and continued years of shrinking investment.

We recognize that the BOS is a critical partner and, as such, are individually and collectively vested in the continued success of our great schools. Because our schools are their priority, we are confident the Supervisors will do the right thing for our children and families and will fully fund this reasonable budget request.

We thank you and our County leaders for your continued support of our schools. We know that this community understands that the most important investment we can make is in our young people — it is an investment that pays dividends to everyone in Fairfax long into the future.

I look forward to seeing you on the 7th at the Board of Supervisors hearing and thank you for making your voice heard.

Karen Garza/file photo

Fairfax County Public Schools will begin 2015-16 school year on Sept. 8.

The FCPS School Board approved the 2015-16 school year calendar late last week. The calendar has a school start the second week of September because of a late Labor Day this year (Sept.7).

The school board had prepared an alternate calendar in mid-March, just in case the school system used an 11th snow day this year (it did not). FCPS officials said then if the system had one more day of school cancelled this year due to inclement weather or an emergency situation the district could apply to the state for a waiver, allowing FCPS to begin school the week prior to Labor Day.

In order to apply for a waiver in Virginia, a school district needs to average eight full days of school lost due to inclement weather, energy shortages, power failures, or other emergency situations in five of the previous 10 years.

FCPS students missed four days during the 2006-07 school year; 10 days during the 2009-10 school year; four days during the 2010-11 school year; 11 days during the 2013-14 school year; and 10 days during the current school year.

Since the 1980s, FCPS has been under Virginia’s “Kings Dominion” law, a 1986 Virginia statute that mandates school start in September. When the law was passed, it was helped along by the tourism industry, which said it needed students as staffers (and families to keep on vacationing) through Labor Day.

Other details for 2015-16:

Thursday, June 23, 2016, is the last day.

Student holidays are planned for the following: teacher workdays on Nov. 2; February 5, 2016; and April 22, 2016; a staff development day on Jan. 19, 2016; and school planning days on Oct. 9; Nov. 3; and March 28, 2016.

Students will be released two hours early on the following days: Oct. 30, Nov. 25; Dec. 18; Feb. 4, 2016; April 21, 2016; and June 23, 2016.

Winter break is Dec. 21 through Jan. 1, 2016, and spring break will be held March 21-25, 2016.

Makeup days may be used to ensure 990 hours of instruction during the 2015-16 school year, says FCPS. Missed days, delayed openings, and unscheduled early dismissals are considered in the calculation of these hours. FCPS has the equivalent of 13 days (78 hours) built into the 2015-16 calendar. If a 14th day is missed, no makeup is required by the state. If a 15th day is missed, April 22, 2016 will be considered a makeup day.

Update, 8:30 a.m. — Fairfax County Public Schools now says all elementary school buses in the Herndon and South Lakes pyramids are running on time and most middle school buses delivered their students on time.

Original story:

Despite temperatures in the single digits, school was ON for Fairfax County Public Schools Thursday.

But if your children are heading to a bus stop, bundle up. FCPS says that some buses in the South Lakes and Herndon pyramids are running 30- to 60-minutes late.

However, several Reston Now readers report their buses were right on time earlier this morning, so there really is no predicting who this affects.

It is the first day of school this week for FCPS students. Monday was a school holiday (Presidents Day), and Tuesday and Wednesday were snow days after about 3.5 inches of snow fell in Reston earlier in the week.

Many parents were puzzled by Wednesday’s closure as roads were clear and the sun was shining. Some were also surprised that school was on with no delay for Thursday as the entire region is under a wind chill advisory, making the already cold temperatures feel like -5 to -15. The wind chill advisory expires at 10 a.m. Thursday.

“I plan to drive the kids to school, and if you can’t, find them a ride because they’re running anywhere from on time to an hour late,” Reston Now reader Susan Sather, a mother of two FCPS students, wrote in the comments on our Facebook page. “My whole life in this county and I’ve never seen a year with such dreadful decision making about openings.”

Added reader Christy Allison: “They called to tell us 30-60 minutes late. I am not having my 5 year old stand out there for an hour, let alone an hour and a half. If the buses are then on time and we miss ours, I will be very upset indeed.”

Another parent pointed out that the announcement about the late buses came at 7:38 a.m. — after her high schooler had already boarded the (on-time) bus.

FCPS modified its school calendar for 2014-15 in order to build in extra classroom hours to be able to better absorb snow days without adding time to the end of the school year. Last month, FCPS Superintendent Karen Garza apologized to families after not closing schools despite an active snowstorm.

Some students took to Twitter to get #CLOSEFCPS as a trending topic on Thursday. The students did the same during the December snowstorm.

Did FCPS get it right today? Tell us in the comments.

No Real Estate Tax Increase — Fairfax County Executive Edward L. Long presented his proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Budget, including the Multi-Year FY 2016-2017 Budget Plan to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. He proposed a General Fund budget of $3.8 billion for FY 2016 (July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016), an increase of 2.61 percent over the FY 2015 Adopted Budget Plan. Long recommended no Real Estate Tax increase in his proposed  Budget. [Fairfax County]

Audition for Reston Players — Reston Community Players will hold auditions for Fox on the Fairway, a Ken Ludwig farce in the style of 1930s comedies, on Friday, Feb. 20 and Sunday, Feb. 22. [Reston Players]

Madison Student Elected To School Board — Ben Press, a junior at Madison High School in Vienna, has been elected by the countywide Student Advisory Council (SAC) to serve a one-year term as student representative to the Fairfax County School Board, beginning July 1. Press will participate in School Board meetings as a nonvoting member, filling the position currently held by Harris LaTeef, a senior at Langley High School.  [FCPS]

Uber, Lyft Now Totally Legal in VA — Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed SB1025 and HB1662, which established licensing procedures for transportation network companies (TNC’s) like Uber and Lyft to legally operate in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Earlier this year, Governor McAuliffe and Attorney General Herring’s offices worked with the Department of Motor Vehicles and TNC companies to find a compromise that allowed these entities to temporarily operate in Virginia until the General Assembly passed permanent legislation.

Sledding fun in Reston Tuesday/Credit: Charlotte Geary via Facebook

Fairfax County Public Schools students will have another day off Wednesday as schools will be closed again after Monday night’s snowfall.

From FCPS:

All Fairfax County public schools will be closed on Wednesday, Feb. 18. School offices and central offices will open at 10 a.m. with an unscheduled leave policy in effect for 12-month employees.

The following activities in schools and on school grounds are canceled:

•  extracurricular activities
• interscholastic contests
• team practices
• field trips
• middle school after-school programs
• professional learning and training courses
• adult and community education classes
• recreation programs and community use by outside groups not affiliated with FCPS

SACC centers are closed.

Fairfax County public schools and offices will be closed on Tuesday Feb. 17 due to the Winter Storm Warning in effect through noon. Snow began falling at 3 p.m. on Monday and is expected to fall through Monday and mid-day Tuesday.

The following activities in schools and on school grounds are canceled:

• extracurricular activities
• interscholastic contests
• team practices
• field trips
• middle school after-school programs
• professional learning and training courses
• all adult and community education classes
• recreation programs and community use by outside groups not affiliated with FCPS

School Age Child Care (SACC) centers are closed.

file photo

A full day of school when the snow is falling and the driving is terrible. A day off when a few flakes fall. In between, a whole bunch of two-hour delays.

That’s been the story for Fairfax County Public Schools since Jan. 6.

First, about four inches of snow fell and the buses got stuck and Superintendent Karen Garza admitted “we made the wrong call” about remaining open.

In the six schools days since, there has been one full day of school. Today, school was cancelled. In Reston and this portion of the county, no more than a dusting fell.

Meanwhile, the Capital Weather Gang says to cut the schools a break on today’s decision. It was a tricky forecast.

Why can’t the county seem to get it right? Are they playing it too safe after the #CloseFCPS publicity of last week?

Photo of Jan. 6 snow near Langston Hughes Middle School. 

Fairfax County Public Schools, which received loud criticism for holding school as scheduled as snow fell on Tuesday, says classes will begin two hours late on Wednesday.

From FCPS:

All Fairfax County public schools and school offices will open two hours late on Wednesday, January 7.. Central offices will open at 10 a.m.

Morning preschool (special education) classes are canceled.
Afternoon preschool 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 open at 7:00 a.m.
Morning transportation for high school academy classes is canceled. Transportation for afternoon academy classes will be provided.
Adult and community education classes will start on time.

FCPS told staffers they would be granted an extra day of leave time for working on Tuesday. If they did not make it to work, they would also be granted an additional day of administrative leave time for the day (and not have to use sick or personal time).

#CLOSEFCPS is trending locally and worldwide on Twitter.

Despite the forecast of snow, Fairfax County Public Schools did not close or have a delay on Tuesday morning. Snow fell all through rush hour — and was continuing to fall at 9 a.m. — as many frustrated parents and students complained about the decision.

Cars were spun out and stuck leading South Lakes Drive at Reston Parkway to be briefly closed. Motorists around Reston reported major delays.

Nearby, Montgomery County (Md.) Public Schools, a similarly sized system, was delayed and then closed. Loudoun County Public Schools were open.

Assistant Superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools Jeffrey Platenberg told WTOP that the school system was surprised by the amount of snow that fell Tuesday morning.

Administrators were expecting a dusting, but were surprised when the snow came down heavy and traffic became a major issue, Platenberg said.

He says things were already in motion and changing the plan late in the game would have been a bigger inconvenience for parents who had already left the house.

“We apologize for any inconvenience, but the timing of this was the worst possible situation we could have imagined,” Platenberg said.

The school district sent out an alert that some buses may be delayed. The county also sent an alert warning of multiple accidents, significant delays and advising “please use extreme caution while driving and expect a lengthy delay in your commute.”

An addition to South Lakes High School, renovations at Herndon High School and a redistricting of some of Reston’s elementary schools are among the plans for Fairfax County Public Schools Area 1 in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for the Fiscal Years 2016-2020.

FCPS plans out where improvement money will be spent in five-year cycles. FCPS Superintendent Karen Garza will discuss the next cycle with the school board at a meeting Thursday. There will be public hearing on Jan. 6, and the school board will vote on the five-year CIP on Jan. 22.

To see the entire report, visit the FCPS website.

Garza said the school system, which has grown by about 2,000 students annually the last several years, continues “to contend with growing enrollment and limited capital funding.”

“This version of the CIP includes potential capacity and capital solutions to schools which are currently or projected to be over capacity. The intent of the solutions was to provide relief through surplus capacity at adjacent facilities as well as taking advantage of projects which have already been identified in previous CIPs.”

Garza said FCPS has grown by about 22,000 students since 2006 and may have as many as 198,000 students by 2019-20. Growing Hispanic and Asian student populations have comprised a large part of the increasing enrollment within FCPS, she said.

However, FCPS may be past its growth peak for elementary schools, says Garza. Kindergarten enrollment for 2014-15 is actually down for the first time since 2007-08. Read More

Another Sports Letter of Intent — Herndon field hockey’s Sofia Palacios has committed to play at the University of Pennsylvania. Palacios has 24 goals and is top-ranked in the the area with with 30 assists.  She joins several other area athletes who have committed to play NCAA sports. [Reston Now]

Wine Event To Support Women  — Head to Kalypso’s at Lake Anne Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. for a wine event to benefit Artemis House, a local domestic abuse shelter. The event is being hosted by Mary Kay rep Leslie Kane, who will also have samples to try and items to order, with donations of cosmetics also going to the shelter.

Schools Shortfall — The Fairfax County School Board will meet with the Board of Supervisors next week to discuss the $117 million shortfall that will loom on next year’s budget. [Washington Post]

Line Works At GRACE — A new exhibit at Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) Lineworks: Drawing Redefeined explores lines in multimedia works by five artists. The show runs through early January. [GRACE]

The Fairfax County Department of Health is teaming with Fairfax County Public Schools and the Centers for Disease Control this week to combat teen suicide.

The organizations will be holding focus groups to examine risk factors associated with suicide among youth in Fairfax County, according to a memo from South Lakes High School Kim Retzer to the school community.

“The CDC will be facilitating parent focus groups to assist in the identification of risk factors, understand current suicide prevention strategies, and discuss next steps in the community,” the memo said.

Please contact [email protected] if you wish to participate.

The focus groups will take place: 

• Nov 17, 7:00 p.m., Virginia Hills Center, 6520 Diane Lane, Alexandria
• Nov 18, 7:00 p.m., Leis Center, 7423 Camp Alger Ave., Falls Church
• Nov 19, 7:00 p.m., Mountain View Alternative High School, 5775 Spindle Court, Centreville

The South Lakes community was shocked and saddened after the apparent suicide of senior Emma Clark earlier this school year.

Two students at nearby Langley High School committed suicide last school year and six W.T. Woodson High School students have ended their lives in the past several years.

Lauren Anderson, co-founder and executive director of the Josh Anderson Foundation, says the dialogue between FCPS, county mental health officials and the CDC is a good thing. Lauren Anderson and her parents founded the nonprofit in 2010, after the suicide of 17-year-old Josh Anderson, who was attending South Lakes High School at the time.

“This shows all these parties are taking [suicide] seriously,” she said. “It shows the importance of suicide — talking about it and getting feedback. … With my brother, it shows suicide can happen to anyone. He wasn’t someone you would necessarily think was depressed.”

The CDC says suicide is a serious public health problem. For youth between the ages of 10 and 24, suicide is the third leading cause of death, resulting in about 4,600 deaths annually.

The CDC also says deaths from youth suicide are only part of the problem as many more young people survive suicide attempts than actually die.

A nationwide survey of youth in grades 9-12 in public and private schools in the United States found that 16 percent of students reported seriously considering suicide, 13 percent reported creating a plan, and 8 percent reporting trying to take their own life in the 12 months preceding the survey. Each year, approximately 157,000 youth between the ages of 10 and 24 receive medical care for self-inflicted injuries at Emergency Departments across the U.S., says the CDC.

Some of the top risk factors of suicide, according to the CDC:

• History of previous suicide attempts
• Family history of suicide
• History of depression or other mental illness
• Alcohol or drug abuse
• Stressful life event or loss
• Easy access to lethal methods
• Exposure to the suicidal behavior of others
• Incarceration

It is International Walk to School Day on Oct. 8, and all Reston elementary schools are encouraging participation in the annual event.

This is the third straight year Reston schools, plus Langston Hughes Middle School, have engaged in the friendly competition to see who can get the most kids to school on two feet.

Fairfax County Public Schools in general are encouraging students to participate “as an effort to promote physical activity and reduce traffic congestion and pollution near schools.”

The percentage of students walking and bicycling to school declined from 48 percent in1 969 to 13 percent in 2009, says the non-profit Safe Routes to School, which organizes the event. The increased number of Kiss & Ride users has clogged traffic conditions around many schools and has made it more difficult for student walkers and bicyclist to get to school, the group said.

Want to get involved at your school? Visit the Reston page on Walk to School Day’s website to see who is coordinating your neighborhood route.

Photo: Bike to School Day in Reston/file photo

Experts from Children’s National Medical Center told the Fairfax County School Board this week that Option 1 or Option 3, with modifications, would be the best of four options for changing high school start times.

Option 1 starts high school at 8:30 a.m. and middle school at 9:30 a.m. Option 3 essentially flips high school (7:20 a.m.)and middle school (8 a.m.) start times. Both leave elementary bells essentially the same.

The high school start time proposals came after the FCPS Board voted in 2012 to change the bell schedule because teens are not getting enough sleep. Superintendent Karen Garza, who joined FCPS in 2013, said she supports moving high school start times past 8 a.m.

The board hired sleep experts from Children’s National Medical Center, who prepared a report detailing how moving to later bell times would enable students to get needed rest.

CNMC doctors said 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.

Garza said at the work session she would like to modify Option 3 so that middle schools could start later than 7:20 a.m. and use Option 3 as a framework to develop an administrative recommendation to take to the Board in September, said FCPS spokesman John Torre.

Under Option 3, high schools, which currently begin at 7:20 a.m., would start at 8 or 8:10 a.m. and end at 2:40 or 2:50 p.m. Middle schools, which currently begin at 8 a.m., would go from 7:20 a.m. to 2 p.m. Elementary Schools would stay on their current schedules, which vary from opening bells from 8 to 9:20 a.m. and dismissal from 2:40 to 4 p.m.

Option 3 will cost an estimated $5,583,005, mostly for 45 new buses, the school system said.

In Option 1, high schools would run from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; middle schools from 9:30 a.m. to 4:20 p.m.; and elementary schools anywhere from 7:50 to 9:15 a.m. to 2:25 to 3:50 p.m. Option 1 would cost $7,645,208.

Other options included middle school starting at 9:30 a.m. and high school at 8:30 a.m.; a system where all three school levels change starting times (with high school at 8:10-8:20 a.m.); or high school starting at 9:15 and elementary schools starting at 7:20 a.m.

There was not an option for “no change.” At a series of community meetings this spring, school board members said the change is going to happen for the 2015-16 school year. Community members gave the board a wide variety of feedback on all the options. Some included “no change” as part of their feedback.

The school board will make its final vote on the matter in October.

Photo: FCPS Superintendent Karen Garza/Reston Now file photo

The Fairfax County School Board has elected Tamara Derenak Kaufax (Lee District) as chairman and Ted Velkoff (at-large) as vice chair for a one-year term, the school system announced.

Denerak Koufax replaces Ilryong Moon, who has served as chair the last two years.  The chair and vice chair were elected by School Board members and assumed office at the July 10 School Board meeting.

Derenak Kaufax has served on the School Board since January 2012; she served as vice chair in 2013-14 and has served as chair of the School Board’s Public Engagement Committee as well as chair of the Ad Hoc Streamline and Focus Committee in 2013.

Velkoff, who has served on the School Board since January 2012, was chair of the School Board Budget Committee for the FY 2015 budget and vice chair for the FY 2014 budget.  He is a former Chantilly High School PTSA president and treasurer; he also served as PTA treasurer at Rocky Run Middle School and Poplar Tree Elementary School.

Other school board members (who will serve through 2015): Sandy Evans (Mason District), Pat Hynes (Hunter Mill District), Ryan McElveen (at-large), Megan McLaughlin (Braddock District), Ilryong Moon (at-large), Patty Reed (Providence District), Elizabeth Schultz (Springfield District), Kathy Smith (Sully District), Dan Storck (Mount Vernon District), and Janie Strauss (Dranesville District).