Fairfax County Public Schools FY 2010 Budget

[Anonymous]

Just saw this posted on another list.


School Board work session TONIGHT - need your help TODAY!

The School Board's FY 2010 Budget work session will be held tonight at 6 p.m. at Luther Jackson Middle School. The School Board set the time and location specifically so that (a) the work session could be televised on Channel 21 and (b) families/parents would have a better chance to view their deliberations at 6 p.m. vs. a work session held during the day.

I would call tonight's work session one where "rubber meets the road". That is, the real work will be done tonight. School Board members will consider all the public testimony, all the emails and phone calls, etc., and come up with their FY 2010 budget plan tonight.

Any amendments to the FY 2010 Budget plan have to be filed by Noon tomorrow.

What does this mean for us as parents? It means that if you have not yet spoken with or emailed your School Board members on budget issues (such as GT transportation ) you need to do so today. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Today.

I have spoken with and exchanged email with several School Board members over the past couple of weeks. I have heard from some School Board members that parents have been emailing and calling. But, believe it or not, some School Board members have told me (as recently as Tuesday) that they have not heard anything from parents of GT students.

If this is indeed true, this really shocks me.

Please know that if there are some GT center kids that can't get to your GT center because of the lack of a bus, it does affect your kid. Remember – the great thing about GT centers is the peer group.

I'll quote from the to-be-presented 2008-2009 Advanced Academic Programs Advisory Committee (AAPAC) report:

====
As has been highlighted by earlier Advanced Academic Programs Advisory Committee
(formerly GTAC) reports, traditional GT centers (Level IV) provide instructional
benefits to students by grouping a critical mass of students who are at the
same/similar academic level. High-achieving students grouped at a center create
a unique learning environment. Although the curriculum, instruction, and the
training of the teachers are comparable to Local Level IV, the peer groups are
different in a Level IV center. There are students whose academic and
social-emotional needs are best served by the grouping available only in a Level
IV center.

For students who choose to enroll in the Level IV Center, rigorous instruction
is provided with other Level IV center-eligible students. This may seem a minor
difference, but educators have agreed that the community of students in the
classroom influences the pace and rigor of instruction."
====

So, if some of the GT center eligible kids can't get to the GT center, it creates a potential "watering down effect".

And I have heard the "but all the kids will get to the GT Center even if we have to hire our own bus" response. But that is just at Your School. What about the other 23 (soon to be 24) elementary level GT centers?

So – I ask you – if you have not yet reached out to your School Board members – please, do so today.

Respectfully,
Karen Metivier-Carreiro
Braddock District Representative, AAPAC
parent of rising 3rd grader, Canterbury Woods GTC

[Anonymous]

I sent an email to the board member from my district, the chair, and the at-large members. Thank you for your efforts on this.

[Anonymous]

As the parent of a general education student at a GT center school - I'm a little insulted by the idea that the center is "watered down" if less GT students attend. The GT classrooms are overflowing with students - more teachers are added yearly to deal with the numbers. I understand how lack of buses could be a pain for those who have to drive their kids to a GT center, but everyone has to tighten their belts right now - including the teachers, who are taking a pay freeze, the students, who will expierence an increase in students in the classroom, and parents who will experience shifting school times for more efficient busing. For me, this just isn't high on the priority list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The GT classrooms are overflowing with students - more teachers are added yearly to deal with the numbers.

In actuality, the number of GT students attending traditional GT centers has decreased over the past several years, as more Local Level IV programs are opening up at base schools and GT Center-eligible students are attending their base schools instead.

Unfortunately the FCPS web site does not provide a breakout of numbers between traditional GT Center attendance and Local Level IV program attendance over the years. If you visit the FCPS web site at this page:

http://commweb.fcps.edu/programprofile/students.cfm?ProgramID=94

you will see the numbers for this year. But this does not translate into an increase in the number of students at traditional GT centers. Note that this year there are 27 schools offering Local Level IV services and next year there will be 33.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The GT classrooms are overflowing with students - more teachers are added yearly to deal with the numbers.

In actuality, the number of GT students attending traditional GT centers has decreased over the past several years, as more Local Level IV programs are opening up at base schools and GT Center-eligible students are attending their base schools instead.

You don't cite where you get this information. I don't know the actual numbers of overall students attending GT centers vs. their base school either. What I do know is that numerous classrooms and teachers have had to be added at our GT Center school over the past 3 years to accomodate the increased numbers of GT students being sent to the school -- that is a fact.

[Anonymous]

11:27/15:12: You must be fortunate enough to attend one of the GT centers in the wealthier parts of the county. My child's GT center is in one of the poorest parts of the county in a title I school. It typically has only one class per grade, and averages fewer than 30 kids per class. This proposal would severely damage my child's GT center by causing enrollment to drop. Many of the families whose kids attend would have no way to get their child to the center due to finances or personal circumstances and would withdraw to attend the local school program. That's fine for the local school, but not good at all for the kids who have this GT center as their ONLY option for an appropriate education. Currently there are so few kids that it is difficult to get good extracurriculars. While DC is receiving the more challenging curriculum that he needs at the Center, he does not have the extensive positive peer interaction that is present at many of the GT centers in the wealthier parts of the county. Not all residents of Fairfax County are wealthy and have the experience or the options that you and your child have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The GT classrooms are overflowing with students - more teachers are added yearly to deal with the numbers.

In actuality, the number of GT students attending traditional GT centers has decreased over the past several years, as more Local Level IV programs are opening up at base schools and GT Center-eligible students are attending their base schools instead.

You don't cite where you get this information.

I get this information from the Advanced Academic Programs Advisory Committee (AAPAC) which is staffed by Dr. Carol Horn.

http://www.fcps.edu/DIS/gt/aapac.html

[Anonymous]

Full day Kindergarten? Anyone? By tax base? Anyone?

[Anonymous]

I have to agree with anonymous at 16:46. One GT Center class per grade just wouldn't have been enough to adequately support many of the great programs that my children experienced during elementary and middle school, at their GT Centers. Without at least two GT Center classes per grade, for example, it's not possible to use flexible ability grouping to create a more and a less advanced math group within the GT Center population.