School to Open with Enrollment Crunch

Editor's note: this article was corrected at 1:46 p.m. on Aug. 12 from a previous version. An explanation follows.

With the first day of school less than three weeks away, the Loudoun County School Board faces several thorny issues.

There's a 4.8% percent spike in enrollment with 3,046 projected new students and 465 new employees Back to School (BTS) nights have been complicated by newly-defined election districts, and the board needs to sell the public on a $169.6 million bond referendum on Nov. 8 needed to fund construction of four new schools and renovate another. The bond includes funds for one new elementary, middle, and high school, all in Ashburn.

With all those issues on its Aug. 9 agenda, the board deferred a scheduled committee report on a new technology plan, prompting Tom Marshall (Leesburg) to ask: “Where is all this money coming from? There had better be a good PR plan.”

“Is it the time for new launching on these waters? Or are they too troubled?” Marshall asked, describing a “hostile environment” towards spending and quoting recent comments by Loudoun Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott York suggesting that government “reduce the tax burden and expand the tax base” in Loudoun.

Joseph M. Guzman (Sugarland Run) agreed that the School Board’s technology plan involves “serious amounts of money. “It is not something that once it leaves the curriculum committee, it is not going to be touched again,” he said.

Several board members emphasized the need to sell the public on the $169.6 million bond issue, but they argued about whether they could, or should, visit schools in newly carved legislative districts that have a different mix of schools than the ones they were elected to represent four years ago. 

And some schools have more than one representative on the School Board. Tuscarora High School has three, said Bob Ohneiser (Ashburn).

Board Chairman John Stevens (Potomac) set off a spirited debate by commenting, “The new districts are the districts in Loudoun County. The old districts are no more.”

But Robert Dupree (Dulles) argued “To avoid the appearance of favoritism, we should make sure we are speaking in the districts where we were elected.”

Several members said candidates for re-election – both for School Board seats and for the Board of Supervisors – might be tempted to use face time at BTS nights for political speeches. 

“We are speaking at the invitation of the principal,” Dupree said. “We need to not cross that line. If I was a supervisor candidate, I’d love to have that audience for two hours.”

Dupree said parents who come to BTS night because “they want to meet the teachers,” complain about “running a gauntlet” of candidates outside school buildings, and because School Board members talk too long.

Dupree proposed a “three-minute rule” for BTS nights. “If I can’t sell them on the bond issue in three minutes, I must be doing something wrong,” he said.

Guzman said, “A collegial arrangement is what we should seek. We’ve had this come up before. We are talking about our comments being limited to the bond questions. Are we self-muzzling here? We’re mature enough not to introduce political topics.”

He said members who speak to parents should observe “the bounds of good taste and stay out of politicization.”

With that, Stevens remarked that “It’s always the things I think are going to be routine…” that cause controversy at meetings.

Thomas E. Reed (At Large) had a simple solution, suggesting every member look at the web sites of schools in their districts. “If your name is on the web site, you should consider going,” he said. “If your name is not on the web site, don’t go.”

“Ultimately it is going to have to be self-policing,” said Stevens.

“We are there to talk about the bond,” Reed said.

Lansdowne resident Adam Strei asked the board to review its scheduling; he and his wife have children at both Tuscarora and Stone Bridge High Schools, with BTS nights are scheduled at both schools on the same night, he said.

Vice Chairman Priscilla Godfrey said she will meet with LCPS staff and other School Board colleagues  to work out the logistics of BTS nights.

The board heard a request from Dominion Power and the Greater Washington Sports Alliance for support for its “Trail Mix” event on Saturday, Sept. 3, to celebrate the Washington and Old Dominion Trail.

Family events centered at Farmwell Station Middle School in Ashburn will begin at 7: 30 a.m. with a “Hail the Trail” clean up followed by “The Great Skedaddle,” a bike, run, and walk event along the trail that will also observe the historic first Battle of Bull Run 150 years ago.

The day ends with Trailfest, a community festival with music, food, sports clinics, and other festivities. Visit www.dominiontrailmix.com to sign up. It benefits the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority's "Nature Nuts" program," which encourages children to engage in outdoor experiences. 

The School Board meets next on Sept. 13 at its headquarters in Ashburn. 

Correction: this article has been changed to reflect correctschool enrollment and teacher hire figures.