Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Community plea{d}s with Loudoun School Board to keep sex ed teachers
Community pleas with Loudoun School Board to keep sex ed teachers
Thursday, Apr. 14, 2016 by Hannah Dellinger, Times-Mirror Staff Writer
Over 50 teachers, school staff and community members turned out to Wednesday night’s public hearing to urge the School Board not to cut full-time family life education teachers from the budget.
In lieu of the $17 million budget gap created by the Board of Supervisors, Superintendent Eric Williams suggested cutting 19 full-time family life education (FLE) teachers to save $1,771,000. If the board were to cut the FLE teacher positions, physical education teachers would teach sex education to students.
Williams said the principals he met with agreed that physical education teachers are trained and capable of teaching the topics covered in FLE classes. ... The large group of people who came to speak at the public hearing adamantly disagreed.
....
The board is expected to adopt its final fiscal 2017 operating budget today {April 14} at 6:30 p.m. at the School Administration Building in Ashburn.
Thursday, Apr. 14, 2016 by Hannah Dellinger, Times-Mirror Staff Writer
Over 50 teachers, school staff and community members turned out to Wednesday night’s public hearing to urge the School Board not to cut full-time family life education teachers from the budget.
In lieu of the $17 million budget gap created by the Board of Supervisors, Superintendent Eric Williams suggested cutting 19 full-time family life education (FLE) teachers to save $1,771,000. If the board were to cut the FLE teacher positions, physical education teachers would teach sex education to students.
Williams said the principals he met with agreed that physical education teachers are trained and capable of teaching the topics covered in FLE classes. ... The large group of people who came to speak at the public hearing adamantly disagreed.
....
The board is expected to adopt its final fiscal 2017 operating budget today {April 14} at 6:30 p.m. at the School Administration Building in Ashburn.
Eric Williams
School Board Makes ‘Painful’ $17M Budget Cut
2016-04-15 Danielle Nadler
dnadler@loudounnow.com
@danielle_nadler
Unfortunate, sad and painful were among words uttered from the dais late Thursday by members of the Loudoun County School Board as they worked to scale back their initial spending plan by almost $17 million. ... “We are not in the position to have everything that we want to offer to students in this county. That is the sad truth,” board Vice Chairwoman Brenda Sheridan (Sterling) said ahead of the final vote to adopt the budget for fiscal year 2017.
County supervisors voted to give the school system $694.8 million, a 5.5 percent increase over the current fiscal year, but not enough to cover everything the School Board had planned in a $1.07 billion budget. The school system is expected to add 2,000 additional students this fall.
The first vote cast by the School Board on Thursday night was quick and unanimous, and that was to maintain current classroom sizes throughout the school division. Slightly increasing the number of students in classrooms on average was one of the options Superintendent Eric Williams recommended the board consider to save $10.2 million. ... But several of the biggest ticket items—including the full-day kindergarten expansion and whether to have physical education instructors teach sex education instead of Family Life Education teachers—came down to split votes, as board members clashed over what should take priority.
After more than an hour of debate over the merits of leaving the Family Life Education program as is, the board settled on a compromise, to keep 10 out of 19 FLE instructor positions. ... Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Cynthia Ambrose said her department could make do with as few as four FLE instructors. They could help train physical education instructors on the curriculum and step in to teach the most sensitive lessons.
2016-04-15 Danielle Nadler
dnadler@loudounnow.com
@danielle_nadler
Unfortunate, sad and painful were among words uttered from the dais late Thursday by members of the Loudoun County School Board as they worked to scale back their initial spending plan by almost $17 million. ... “We are not in the position to have everything that we want to offer to students in this county. That is the sad truth,” board Vice Chairwoman Brenda Sheridan (Sterling) said ahead of the final vote to adopt the budget for fiscal year 2017.
County supervisors voted to give the school system $694.8 million, a 5.5 percent increase over the current fiscal year, but not enough to cover everything the School Board had planned in a $1.07 billion budget. The school system is expected to add 2,000 additional students this fall.
The first vote cast by the School Board on Thursday night was quick and unanimous, and that was to maintain current classroom sizes throughout the school division. Slightly increasing the number of students in classrooms on average was one of the options Superintendent Eric Williams recommended the board consider to save $10.2 million. ... But several of the biggest ticket items—including the full-day kindergarten expansion and whether to have physical education instructors teach sex education instead of Family Life Education teachers—came down to split votes, as board members clashed over what should take priority.
After more than an hour of debate over the merits of leaving the Family Life Education program as is, the board settled on a compromise, to keep 10 out of 19 FLE instructor positions. ... Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Cynthia Ambrose said her department could make do with as few as four FLE instructors. They could help train physical education instructors on the curriculum and step in to teach the most sensitive lessons.