Lake Braddock needs a principal NOW

[Anonymous]

This week our acting sent out an email about reports of a Friday shooting. Turns out that they said someone had a cap gun on a bus and that all is well, so no worries.

NO clarifications about how threats of a Friday shooting relates to a cap gun on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Then after sending out that vague email, many parents calling and emailing and she sends out an email in an annoyed tone basically saying "I already told you what's up"


We deserve after so many years pre and post covid to have a principal. Not an acting. We have only had one year I think since my 10th grader has been there with a true principal. So since 7th.

We are the largest public school in VA.

FCPS do better.

[Anonymous]

Dear Families,
I continue to receive phone calls of concerns regarding a potential threat to the school. Earlier this week, I shared that our administration and School Resource Officer (SRO) received a report that several students on a school bus thought they heard someone say they were bringing a gun to school on Friday. After a thorough investigation, it was determined that a student did bring a cap gun, or toy gun, onto a bus earlier this week. No one was threatened and there is no threat to the school community involving this situation.
We are proceeding under normal operations today and out of an abundance of caution will have an increased level of police and school security presence throughout the day.

If you have any additional specific information, please reach out to our office, the FCPS Office of Safety and Security through the safety tip line that you can access anonymously online, by text or by phone.
Please also remind your students that anytime they see or hear something that makes them feel unsafe at school, they should speak to a trusted adult first.
Thank you for your partnership.

[Anonymous]

It is my understanding that basically the middle schoolers hyped it up. I don’t personally blame the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is my understanding that basically the middle schoolers hyped it up. I don’t personally blame the school.

Are you serious?


Some kids bravely told a trusted adult about a gun, turns out someone had a cap gun. No one knows if they're related and you think a kid hyped it up?


This is why no one goes to adults.

We still need a principal who can handle the school

[Anonymous]

And the emails she sent were awful

[Anonymous]

It seems like the communication from the interim principal is about what one would get from a permanent principal.

To the rest of us, LBSS seems like a school that hums along with relatively few "big issues." Some schools in FCPS have high rates of absenteeism and struggle to get their graduation rates over 85%. Others don't have enough seats and get ignored. Enlighten us as to what you think is getting neglected on a day-to-day basis at LBSS and what you think a permanent principal would be doing that an interim principal can't or won't do.

Also, there's one SB member - Rachna Sizemore Heizer - who pays more attention to LBSS than to any other school. What does she have to say about the current status of the search to find a replacement for Smith?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is my understanding that basically the middle schoolers hyped it up. I don’t personally blame the school.

Are you serious?


Some kids bravely told a trusted adult about a gun, turns out someone had a cap gun. No one knows if they're related and you think a kid hyped it up?


This is why no one goes to adults.

We still need a principal who can handle the school

No, I mean it got handled, we got an email about it on Wednesday, and the kids continued to hype it up. I agree that the kids should have done this if they had concerns: Please also remind your students that anytime they see or hear something that makes them feel unsafe at school, they should speak to a trusted adult first.

[Anonymous]

OP - I was also upset about her email this morning. She just seemed annoyed that parents were calling with concerns. She didn’t say anything about the child who carried the toy gun. Did they have it for “fun”? Or to jokingly threaten someone with it? Police killed a child with a toy guy because they thought it was real so it could be dangerous for a variety of reasons.

I was not born / raised in the US - so perhaps I am missing something - but the principal seems blasé and casual about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And the emails she sent were awful

Agreed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is my understanding that basically the middle schoolers hyped it up. I don’t personally blame the school.

They “hyped” up a gun-related threat? OK…

[Anonymous]

I work at LBSS. Most of the staff I know like the current acting principal and many of us hope they keep her. She is actually very good at communication compared to what we've had previously and has been working hard to fix problems following a year of absolutely rediculous tik tok trends and disruption. I personally feel like she works hard to both support teachers and parents. The kids have been sharing the video from the incident at Annandale which is NOT helping. This type of social media content gets their attention. I am confident that the threats were investigated and followed up on, and any additional concerns are being addressed. What exactly were you looking for in an email from the school? The email sent was short and to the point. No fake promises and feel good words that don't mean anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at LBSS. Most of the staff I know like the current acting principal and many of us hope they keep her. She is actually very good at communication compared to what we've had previously and has been working hard to fix problems following a year of absolutely rediculous tik tok trends and disruption. I personally feel like she works hard to both support teachers and parents. The kids have been sharing the video from the incident at Annandale which is NOT helping. This type of social media content gets their attention. I am confident that the threats were investigated and followed up on, and any additional concerns are being addressed. What exactly were you looking for in an email from the school? The email sent was short and to the point. No fake promises and feel good words that don't mean anything.

This is what school staff deals with if they are honest and real you complain that we are rude. if they are kind and promise you all good things you say they are not transparent. What is it that you want to complain about everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear Families,
I continue to receive phone calls of concerns regarding a potential threat to the school. Earlier this week, I shared that our administration and School Resource Officer (SRO) received a report that several students on a school bus thought they heard someone say they were bringing a gun to school on Friday. After a thorough investigation, it was determined that a student did bring a cap gun, or toy gun, onto a bus earlier this week. No one was threatened and there is no threat to the school community involving this situation.
We are proceeding under normal operations today and out of an abundance of caution will have an increased level of police and school security presence throughout the day.

If you have any additional specific information, please reach out to our office, the FCPS Office of Safety and Security through the safety tip line that you can access anonymously online, by text or by phone.
Please also remind your students that anytime they see or hear something that makes them feel unsafe at school, they should speak to a trusted adult first.
Thank you for your partnership.

If this is the email the Acting Principal sent, it no way can be characterized as "she sends out an email in an annoyed tone basically saying "I already told you what's up"", as the OP states.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at LBSS. Most of the staff I know like the current acting principal and many of us hope they keep her. She is actually very good at communication compared to what we've had previously and has been working hard to fix problems following a year of absolutely rediculous tik tok trends and disruption. I personally feel like she works hard to both support teachers and parents. The kids have been sharing the video from the incident at Annandale which is NOT helping. This type of social media content gets their attention. I am confident that the threats were investigated and followed up on, and any additional concerns are being addressed. What exactly were you looking for in an email from the school? The email sent was short and to the point. No fake promises and feel good words that don't mean anything.

People without enough problems in their lives making up one for the drama and to fill the void.

[Anonymous]

As compared to surrounding counties, we now pay principals less, give them less vacation, worse benefits, and ask them to work more days per year than all of the surrounding jurisdictions. Anyone expecting a wave of applicants like in the past is fooling themselves. No help coming until the SB gets serious about recruitment and retention for admins. Let’s be real, HS principals should be making 200k+ in this county like they can in Prince William