By Rosmary Goudyrev
Stafford, Va.

The Stafford County Public School’s current redistricting plans to move the Park Ridge community out of Park Ridge Elementary is a direct consequence of the poorly planned new development of Embrey Mill. A development that is not even done adding to the load of our districts.

Why should the longstanding, established community of Park Ridge (the obvious namesake of the school) be punished?

What appears to be an easy solution (grabbing the closest slice ‘Park Ridge’ and shoving it into another district) will end up causing a huge embarrassment to the county and the board members. This is because the proposed plan is a logistical nightmare, the effects of which will pale in comparison to the nightmare we experienced earlier this school year.

Lest we forget, the nightmares caused by the bus shortages and lack of planning. How can we believe that the need to shuttle kids who live across the street from Park Ridge Elementary all the way across town is going to yield no issues?

There will be more buses on the road, more driver shortages, more horrendous traffic that will affect the entire county. More stories of entire bus loads of children being unaccounted for as terrified parents wait for hours at the bus stops (this happened at the start of the year). We were patient. We believed SCPS would resolve the issues. But the current plan is going to make these scenarios likely yet again.

Can the board please acknowledge that moving children further from their neighborhood schools is a disastrous idea? Embrey Mill residents made it known years ago that they don’t even want to attend Park Ridge. They want to attend the school closest to them. As is logical!

I implore each School Board member to please imagine living across the street from a school but having to put your kids on a bus to attend a school that, with morning traffic, might take twenty minutes to get to. This is what your plan is proposing.

Our children having to wake up earlier and stay on buses longer. Why are you proposing to have our children suffer and pay for the lack of planning of poorly planned new developments?

By Michael Halstead, Hartwood 

During the 2021 Stafford County School Board election, a sitting board member released personal information regarding a minor child, violating the minor’s privacy and putting the minor’s safety at risk.

I can only conclude that Dr. Elizabeth Warner’s callous disregard for the safety of the minor and the staff and students at the minor’s school was to influence the outcome of the recent Stafford County School Board election.

She provided the information to Ms. Alyssa Halstead’s opponent, Mr. Mark Broklawski, who was also running for a seat to represent the Hartwood district taxpayers. I do not understand what necessary reason Broklawski would have to be included in the business of the School Board while not being a sitting member of it.

It is uncertain how that information was shared with others, but it eventually made its way into the possession of Dr. Robert L. Harris. Dr. Harris then proceeded to post the name of the minor child’s school, its address, and telephone to social media.

In releasing the information, Warner and Harris placed the minor child at risk and Stafford County students who attend school just up the street and county residents who utilize the public library in the area.

Under state law, FOIA requests can be made verbally over the phone or in-person, or in writing, via email, or fax.

“Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, all public records shall be open to inspection and copying by any citizens of the Commonwealth during the REGULAR OFFICE HOURS of the custodian of such records,” according to the state statute as posted on the county schools Strategic Communication and Community Engagement web page.

A FOIA request was submitted regarding Warner’s actions to determine how personal information related to the minor child was released. The request was submitted on November 5.

The related documents were received from the Stafford County Public Schools FOIA officer on November 19, 2021. After receiving an initial response from the appropriate authorities regarding his request, here is a timeline based on the documents obtained from the FOIA request.

Halstead sent the first email as a private citizen and school board candidate is dated shortly before 8:30 a.m. August 9, 2021. This email identified Ms. Halstead’s disagreement with the current mask policy but that the minor child would adhere to it. A follow-up email requesting all information related to the child be withheld if the email would be released sent to the school board two hours later.

Three days later, on August 12, a third email regarding the mask mandate was sent by Halstead to the school board. Six hours later, at 11:43 p.m., Warner forwarded that mask mandate follow-up email to Broklawski. On August 13., Warner forwarded the initial email regarding the mask mandate without redacting information related to the minor child. That email was sent to Broklawski at 10:13 a.m.

All correspondence and FOIA requests associated with Halstead’s communications with the school board were covered as part of the request. However, no associated documentation or FOIA request from Broklawski or Dr. Harris would legitimize their possession of the correspondence.

Warner’s reckless behavior has broad implications for all of Stafford County. It could even be construed as her directly trying to influence the outcome of the school board election by providing one opponent a perceived “upper hand” from her position as an Elected Constitutional Officer.

So how can Stafford County families and taxpayers be expected to trust Warner to do the right thing, protect our children and keep them safe? How are board members expected to trust Dr. Warner will not continue to advance her agenda while betraying the people she was elected to protect?

As a school board member, Warner reports to the taxpayers of Stafford County. She should also be held to the ethical standards defined by the Virginia Department of Education.

In this case, she has violated the 6th principle, which states, “maintain the confidentiality of information entrusted to us by preventing unauthorized disclosure.”

It is vital for the safety of all children that her actions be addressed at the highest level possible. At the minimum, she should be kept from any leadership positions on the board and be reprimanded for her actions and the irreparable damage that has resulted.

Warner has broken a bond that cannot be repaired by putting her political agenda ahead of Stafford County students. If there were a way to submit an ethics violation against her, it would have been done already, but there is no governing body for the board, only the people of Stafford County.

Michael Halstead is the husband of Hartwood District School Board member Alyssa Halstead.

Potomac Local News accepts letters of local interest and issues. Submit them here.

The mandate is not supported by science, not supported by the majority of parents, the kids absolutely hate it, and the teachers are put in a bad position. We can go in most any establishment without facing a mask mandate.

As soon as our kids get out of school the masks come off, they play sports and other games together, and the masks do not go back on until they walk through the school doors the next day. What’s wrong with this picture?

Every parent should have the right to determine whether they want their child to wear a mask or not. Thank you Supervisor Candland for try to insert some sanity into this otherwise insane decision by our school board.

James R. Hardin
Haymarket

By Peter Candland
Prince William Board of County Supervisors
Gainesville District Representative

If we have learned one thing over the last two years of a pandemic, it’s that what is classified as “science” is always changing as we learn more. And that’s okay. I would hope that as a society we would learn from our experiences and continuously balance all potential threats to our children and not just let one aspect of our lives rule over everything else.

But that seems to be exactly what has happened with the continued mask mandates being foisted upon our children in the Prince William County School system.

School mask mandates have become an unexpected battleground in an ideological war between those who cling to a once widely held belief that masks would protect everyone from catching COVID-19 and those who would now like to make their own decisions about the precautions their kids take.

And what’s even more bizarre – go to any restaurant, bar, non-school sporting event, church, and office building and the vast majority of adults there are not wearing masks. While many adults have let themselves off the hook for wearing masks throughout the day, we still expect our children to do it for 8-10 hours while at school.

The data is clear, school-aged children have the least amount of risk of almost any other group when it comes to becoming seriously ill or dying from the coronavirus. Vaccines and therapeutics have become more available with new ones being researched and developed every day. These treatments have helped to mitigate the impacts to more at-risk populations of teachers and school staff.

In fact, the World Health Organization advises several factors for determining if children aged 6-11 should use masks including: “the potential impact of wearing a mask on learning and psychological development in consultation with teachers, parents or medical providers” or “the ability of the child to safely and appropriately use a mask.” I have visited schools around the County, and you will continuously see kids wearing their masks under their noses or habitually readjusting their mask as it repeatedly falls down as they talk.

But mask mandates don’t just negatively impact our children – they have put our teachers and administrators in the impossible position of being enforcers of an increasingly unpopular policy. It is harmful for our school system to continue to have confrontations and arguments between parents and those who are entrusted with taking care of our children during the day – that will only lead to further derision when there should be strong partnerships.

Now let me be clear, I believe that if you or your child is at “high-risk” if you contract COVID-19, then you or your child should have the choice to wear a mask whenever you’re around other people. But your choice shouldn’t become a requirement for everyone else, especially when those choices have potentially negative outcomes on learning and mental health.

Let me be clear, with all that we know about mental health, the virus, and the effectiveness of masks, our government should no longer require a mask mandate for our children in schools.

I call on my colleagues on the Prince William School Board to stand up and oppose the outdated mask mandate and give each child and parent the option of making their own decision about their health and wellbeing.

Prince Willliam County Gainesville District Supervisor submitted this letter to the editor. Potomac Local News accepts letters of local interest and issues. Submit them here.

In her May 27 Data Center-Market Viability Review forwarded to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, Christina Winn, Executive Director, Economic Development, asserted, “Of the approximately 8,700 acres of land within the Data Center Opportunity Zone, there is approximately 600-1,100 acres Economic Development would consider market viable,” and “Of those parcels, there are only two sites that would meet the 100-acres scenario of a data center requirement.”

While the report notes that the most common requests are for 30-40 acres, it appears the 100 acres used as the basis is built on only the most recent requests from data-center operators.

A July 15, 2021 follow-up letter to the County Planning Director, Winn scaled down the analysis. She wrote that there were now “90 to 830 developable greenfield acres,” remaining with the date center opportunity zone.

As a result of this analysis, in a 5-3 party-line vote with Democrats voting in favor, the Board of County Supervisors initiated the PW Digital Gateway Comprehensive Plan Amendment on July 20, 2021.

Multiple Supervisors who represent constituents who live in eastern Prince William County asked that the public cease “attacking staff” with questions about the amendment, as they are only complying with the instructions from the Board of County Supervisors. I feel it is the role and responsibility of county residents to question staff presentations when the data they report is clearly in error.

A conservative analysis of the County records indicates the following:

25 Existing Data Centers

32 Properties (16 projects) with approved sq. footage, under grading, under construction, etc.

34 Parcels inside the Overlay District zoned for Data Center Development (not all inclusive)

*These parcels have use codes 971 and 972 , vacant land and do not include those requiring redevelopment.

Takeaways:

• Claim: There are only 90 to 830 developable greenfield acres remaining with the data center opportunity zone.
• Truth: There are at minimum 1,645 developable greenfield acres in the data center opportunity zone, not counting the 1,216 acres already approved for Data Center Development.
• Claim: Data Centers require 100-acre parcels.
• Truth: Existing data centers in Prince William County average 21 acres, with the most significant project covering about 83 acres. Overall, data center projects currently in development average 76 acres per parcel.
• Claim: Parcels requiring assemblage were not considered to be ready for construction.
• Truth: At least 11 existing and under development Data Center projects are comprised of assemblages. Prince William has 6.2 million square feet of existing data center usage per county records.

Prince William County has approved 27 million square feet of additional data center usage, bringing the total existing and approved data center square footage to at least 33 million square feet.

Undeveloped parcels within the Data Center Opportunity Zone allow from 19 million to 37 million additional square feet of Data Center development, bringing the potential to between 52 million to 79 million square feet.

One project within the Data Center Opportunity Zone, the KH Data proffer amendment, would add 1.3 million more, and a project outside the zone, the Compton Project, would add 1 million, totaling 2.3 million square feet .and increasing the potential to as much as 75.5 million square feet.

By themselves, approval of the Prince William Digital Gateway, House Family Data Center CPA, and Independent Hill Data Centers — all under consideration — would add as much as 57 million square feet of potent data center usage, increasing the total potential to as much as 29 million square feet for these projects.

Does anybody believe that the demand exists for more than 33 million square feet of existing and under-development data centers space in the county? That’s more than the existing square footage in Prince William and Loudoun Counties combined?

Does anybody (other than staff and a majority of the Board of County Supervisors) believe that the demand exists for a total of 84 million and 129 million square feet that would result from the approval of additional proposals such as the PW Digital Gateway or House Family CPA?

If there are any true believers in the latter, don’t hesitate to contact me as I have several ocean-front parcels in Nevada to sell you.

Robert Weir lives in Haymarket and is elected to serve on the  Town Council. 

Please consider the following comments to the 95 Express Lanes/Opitz Boulevard Ramp Project

1. The new ramp should be constructed wide enough to support future bi-directional access at this location.

The I-95 corridor currently experiences significant congestion 7 days a week.  The future population growth along the I-95 corridor will require the implementation of bi-directional express lanes at some point in the future.  The express lanes are currently closed between 2-4pm on Saturdays which is a peak shopping period for Potomac Mills.  The Optiz Boulevard Ramp should be constructed with a similar footprint to I-495 Express Lanes/Route 29 Ramp (See Below). It is shortsighted to build the ramp as currently proposed.

2.  The new ramp should be constructed to not inhibit a future bi-direction I-95 Express Lanes Configuration

Route 1 is being held hostage as an existing or planned six lane car centric bailout corridor due to the unreliability of the adjacent I-95.  A 24/7 reliable bi-directional I-95 Express Lanes configuration is the only solution that will allow Route 1 to be transformed and repurposed into a dense vibrant transit rich corridor.  The Bi-directional I-95 Express Lane configuration also creates a long term asset that Virginia can leverage to support future transit expansion opportunities similar to how the Dulles Toll Road enabled the WMATA Silver Line’s construction.   A study to construct and convert the corridor to a bi-directional configuration should begin immediately.  This was recommended in the I-95 Improvement Plan.

3.  The new ramp should be constructed in a manner to permit vehicles with greater than 2 axles/heavy trucks (ex. Class 8) to access the express lanes in the future.

I-95, I-495, I-395 Express Lane corridors should be upgraded to permit heavy trucks to use the lanes.  I-66 and Maryland’s future I-495/I-270 express lanes will permit heavy trucks to use the lanes. This policy should be consistent across the region.  Enabling heavy trucks to use the express lanes create more revenue opportunities for the concessarie and creates more opportunities for future transportation improvements in the corridor.

Mark Scheufler, Prince William County resident

School Board Chairman Babur Lateef publicly says Prince William County Schools are not teaching Critical Race Theory.

But, in private texts that were made public only through a Freedom of Information Act request, Lateef says “Well I have always said that and I have maintained CRT is what we are doing here.”

School Board Member Loree Williams says Critical Race Theory is not being taught in the schools in Prince William County, and anybody who claims otherwise is wrong.

Williams conveniently ignores that former Prince William County Schools Supervisor of Global Learning and Culturally Responsive Instruction, Maria Burgos, conducted a teacher training webinar based on Critical Race Theory ideology telling teachers to implement those principles in their classrooms.

Worse, state law now assesses all teachers for new and renewed licenses based on their “cultural competency” in the classroom. That’s the unabashed code word for Critical Race Theory.

But these politicians don’t want to admit that Critical Race Theory is being taught because it is an inconvenient truth they know will hurt their favored candidates in this election cycle. After all, if parents knew the truth, they would demand the accountability of those politicians.

Public opinion surveys show that most parents of every color oppose Critical Race Theory being taught in the schools because it divides their children based on the color of their skin, not their learning abilities.

Here in Prince William County, the Racial and Social Justice Commission, which is supposed to be examining any issue that adversely impacts the quality of education for children of color, has slapped a gag order on any discussion on Critical Race Theory. I serve on that Commission and have been publicly reprimanded by the Commission Chairman for participating in a Town Hall Meeting where citizens dared to discuss this banned topic.

It is the offensive suppression of free speech about an issue that is negatively impacting the quality of education in our classrooms. And the advocates for “cultural inclusion in the classroom” don’t want parents meddling in what they are teaching their children.

While inconvenient for the advocates of Critical Race Theory, the truth is they just call it by another name and then embed that ideology in every subject in every classroom in Prince William County.

They call it Culturally Responsible Teaching, but it’s actually Critical Race Theory.

That’s the truth, however inconvenient it may be politically.

Mac Haddow
Coles District Appointee to the Prince William County Racial and Social Justice Commission

To the citizens and parents of Prince William County:

I am writing in regards to the Town Hall meeting that was held Tuesday night at Patriot High School. Congratulations to Mac Haddow, Erica Tredinnick, and London Steverson of the Prince William County Racial and Social Justice Commission for giving parents the opportunity to discuss current issues affecting education and our county.

School Board members and the rest of the Racial and Social Justice Commission, as well as the Board of County Supervisors should take a lesson in how a successful conversation with parents and constituents should be handled.

This was a meeting that allowed attendees to share the concerns of taxpayers and parents without hatred, division, intimidation and armed guards. When you give respect to your constituents, you receive respect in return.

Everyone, on both sides of the argument, was heard. We all listened to each other and discussed our differences and concerns regarding the public education system.

Although there were differing opinions, the majority of the group realized we have more in common than not. We believe that schools should teach real history, math and English and stay away from political agendas, racial divide, culturally responsive teaching and get back to the basics of educating our kids to succeed. While school systems around the nation are busy arguing about pronouns, bathroom usage and racial labeling, China has taken over the world in STEM.

Isn’t it time to start putting education first and stop America’s downward free fall in education and the world?

There were multiple articles by the press criticizing this meeting and the brave individuals hosting it. Shame on the press for trying to intimidate those who only have our children’s best interest at heart. Shame on the press for furthering the divide instead of working to pull us together. We have seen them misrepresent the truth on so many occasions, and therefore, their slanted reporting is of no surprise to most in Prince William County.

We saw a blaring example of this when Jared Fortek of InsideNova and ABC anchor Carl Willis edited out portions of their reports and video, showing Tonya James, DNC chairwoman and chief of staff to Andrea Bailey, disrupting a school board meeting. She blatantly yelled F—K You and Go to Hell, to parents and vets in the room. Security and armed guards, purposefully hired to control the room, did nothing to remove her for this incitement of violence, but blamed parents.

Teachers of Prince William County were witnessed outside heckling a fifteen year old boy, respectfully speaking to the crowd. Is this really the type of behavior we condone and allow to move forward? Video proof has now come to light and yet not one apology or correction from the press, security or police.

The misrepresentation of the truth and purposeful denial of citizens to have their God given right to speak to their elected officials is appalling. Even more surprising is the lack of concern from the majority of the Prince William County School Board, Racial and Social Justice Commission, and Board of County Supervisors regarding the offensive behavior, perpetrated by the very people they employ.

I believe the majority of citizens left the town hall meeting last night feeling heard instead of disappointed, intimidated, hated and shut down. This is how the government should work. We all need to listen to each other and work together to make the state of Virginia and Prince William County a better place for our children and all its citizens.

We are, after all, a hugely diverse, yet cohesive county.

One political party has dominated education and the media for decades. That same political party is now decrying the state of our education system, that true history has not been taught, and pushing a divisive education framework as the solution. The same political party decrying town halls and public speaking. We can agree there are problems within education, but the solution is not further division and a lack of communication.

I hope the School Board, the Racial and Social Justice Commission and the Board of County Supervisors will take a lesson and hold more town hall meetings in order to work with the citizens of Prince William County. We need communication instead of the demonization we have witnessed this past year. We should all be allowed life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Respectfully,

Leigh Bravo
Gainesville

By Jeff Eastland
Stafford

The Vulcan Quarry in Stafford is seeking to rezone three parcels from A-1 agricultural to M-2 heavy industrial for expansion of mining operations adjacent to Eastern View and other subdivisions and residential areas in North Stafford.

They’re also seeking a conditional use permit to build a concrete plant on existing wetlands in a flood plain in another section of the property.

The environmental effects of these proposals (cutting down mature trees, disturbing wetlands and wildlife corridors and the like) are enormous, and the effects on the residents even more so (increased noise and damaging vibration from blasting and mining, toxic dust from the concrete plant, increased truck traffic onto an already busy and dangerous Route 610, reduction in property values).

One of the parcels intended for mining expansion is the Pollard Tract, which in its original purchase proffer in 1988 was stipulated never to be used for mineral extraction but rather serve as a storage area and buffer.

Vulcan Quarry was established in 1976 when relatively few people lived in the area. The population of the county has more than quadrupled in that time.

It is time for the government of Stafford County to place the physical health and mental well-being of its citizens above the corporate bottom line.

After an exhaustive assessment, the County Planning Commission has voted to recommend denying the rezoning and conditional use permit applications. The Commission cited the Quarry ”Moving the Goalposts” i.e. bringing their operations closer to residents as opposed to the other way around, as well as the importance of taking into account the needs of the citizens who pay the taxes.

The Stafford Board of Supervisors needs to listen to its constituents and deny both requests as well.