Friday, May 18, 2012
Fairfax County Public Schools staff is looking into possibility of deferring budget approval
The Fairfax County School Board continued to debate how to implement changes to the Virginia Retirement System into the fiscal 2013 budget during a work session Thursday, with most of the members leaning toward phasing in the required shift to 5 percent employee contributions. Susan Quinn, chief financial officer for Fairfax County Public Schools, presented six of the hundreds of options for how to adjust VRS and Educational Employees' Supplementary Retirement System of Fairfax County (ERFC) contributions, market-scale adjustments and STEP increases. [See the options in a PDF included with this article.] Option A showed Superintendent Jack Dale's proposal, which would have FCPS complete the 5 percent shift in fiscal year 2013 and eliminate…
Thursday, May 17, 2012
FCPS wants to hear from you by Friday, May 18.
Have a vision for the kind of leader Fairfax County Public Schools should hire to replace South Lakes High School principal Bruce Butler? Friday is your last day to tell the school system your thoughts. FCPS Cluster 8 Superintendent Fabio Zuluaga and administrative employment specialist Beth Boivin spoke to South Lakes parents Wednesday to outline the hiring process and remind parents how to speak up before Friday's deadline. "We have a great process in place," Zuluaga said, "We want you to think about what kind of a school do you want to have in five to 10 years. This school is the pillar of the community. Make sure you think about what you want. Our goal is to take the most talented and experienced leader who is the best match for the …
"West Side Story" female vocalist, supporting actor and marketing team get nods.
South Lakes High School's recent production of West Side Story has earned three Cappie nominations. The Cappies are the Capital Area theater critics and awards program that covers the Washington, DC, metro area. Students review performances at other schools and vote for award winners. The winners will be announced at a gala at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on June 10. Senior Ariana Kruszewski, who played Maria in West Side Story, was nominated for Female Vocalist. Junior Sean McCoy, who played Riff, has been nominated for Supporting Actor. The marketing and publicity team of Kyle Norfleet, Michelle Slivinski, Jenny Rubin and Caitlyn Herron also earned a nomination for their work. The team organized unique ideas such as…
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Plan would schedule teacher work sessions, with classes beginning at 8:05 a.m.
South Lakes High School is considering a later start time on Wednesdays in order to give teachers collaborative planning time. Assistant principal Chad Lehman outlined the proposal to parents at the school's PTSA meeting on Tuesday. He says a survey of of South Lakes teachers said they were satisfied with the amount of time they had to work with fellow teachers - however, that number is below the FCPS average. Lehman said that finding more time for professional learning community groups to share best instructional practices has been a challenge and that the administration has been looking for more time for groups to work together on a regular basis throughout the year. Principal Bruce Butler, who is retiring in June, says SLHS' …
School board will hold a work session on the budget Thursday
A week before the Fairfax County School Board is scheduled to approve a fiscal year 2013 budget, community members advocated Tuesday for closing achievement gaps, increasing funding for employee compensation and providing benefits to parent liaisons at a public hearing for next year's spending plan. Superintendant Jack Dale presented his adjustments to the $2.4 billion budget during a markup session Monday, which removes step increases for eligible employees and calls for a 2 percent compensation market rate adjustment (MRA). The payment changes come in light of this year's General Assembly legislation requiring public school employees who participate in the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) to pay a 5 percent employee contribution, which …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Superintendent Jack Dale proposes eliminating compensation adjustments in favor of meeting five-year state requirement within the next year
Though Superintendent Jack Dale presented his recommendation for adjustments to Fairfax County Public Schools' $2.4 billion advertised budget at a work session Monday, some school board members said they weren't satisfied his proposed changes fully met their priorities or produced a budget that best met the needs of the system. Dale returned to the board after the system's $1.68 billion transfer from the county Board of Supervisors, an amount 4.5 percent higher than what schools received last year but still short of the 8.4 percent increase board members asked for when they moved forward the approved advertised budget. Despite the school board's approval of the advertised budget in February, Dale and School Board Chairwoman Janie Strauss…
Friday, May 11, 2012
South Lakes' soccer star makes most of opportunity at high school, professional development level.
In 1999, Sierra Leone entered its eighth year of civil war. The West African country and its citizens were embattled and their hopes for peace quickly dissipated as the Abidjan Peace Accord of 1996 prematurely ended. Freetown, the country’s capital city, was about to become besieged by rebel Revolutionary United Front forces who had already mercilessly slaughtered scores of innocent civilians. Cognizant of the horrors caused by the brutal eight-year conflict, Isatu Dainkeh realized the harsh consequences that would follow. In perhaps the biggest testament of a mother’s love, she decided to send her 3-year-old son, Suliaman, to live with his father Alferd in the United States. “My mother stayed," said Suliaman, now a South Lakes High …
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Students, including two soccer players suspended from games, say they should be able to say what they want on their own time.
Can a school administration regulate what students say on social media during non-school hours? That is what several South Lakes High School students are asking after they were reprimanded for their tweets recently, the South Lakes Sentinel reports. The tweets were sent when they were not in school. The Sentinel reports the school's position that it is legally entrusted with the safety of all students in and out of school. However, some students believe that they have their right to freedom of speech, particularly during the weekend. Seniors Mitch Dempster, Brian Kraus and Sam Campbell, along with junior Rachel Berman, were recently called into the school office for their tweets or their inclusion in other student’s controversial tweets…
2008 grad and Division II player agrees to three-year deal with Oakland Raiders.
Longtime resident and author Terry Jennings publishes an educational children's book on what may happened at Mount St. Helens.
When you’re asked to write a book about volcanoes, it helps to be from Reston – home of the U.S. Geological Survey. So Terry Jennings took full advantage of her location when preparing to write a children's book. “I went to USGS and checked out everything they had on volcanoes,” says Jennings, an author who specializes in educational material for children. “They had a lot on Mount St. Helens.” Even better. The editor she was working with was interested in a picture book on how animals reacted to the May, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, so she used the information from USGS and followed up with a Mount St. Helens scientist. The result: Gopher to the Rescue, an educational picture book just published by Sylvan Dell. The scientist “was …
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Bob
6:46 am on Friday, May 18, 2012
What's this? Moon is actually doing some work on the School Board for a change? He's actually consulting with colleagues? Wow - that's IS a change! more ›