STAFFORD -- Faced with redistricting all of Stafford County’s 17 elementary schools, the administration has decided to rely heavily on the contractor they hired to do the job.
The School Board met Tuesday evening to discuss possible solutions for the school system’s eight-month-long elementary school redistricting process which began with the School Board’s request to purchase the old Fredericksburg Christian School to house the county’s Northstar campus in June and will conclude in late February.
The School Board still hasn't narrowed down their wishlist and criteria from the original 17 bullet points from previous redistricting efforts. They also did not direct Arc Bridge, the redistricting consulting company to include different criteria while redistricting students. Instead, Arc Bridge outlined the criteria that they were going to follow.
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STAFFORD — County teachers on are on tap for a five percent raise in this year's budget instead of the two percent originally planned.
Superintendent Dr. Scott Kizner unveiled his planned budget for FY 2020 that would begin on July 1. The requested budget will be around $328.5 million which is a 13 percent increase from the FY 2018 budget.
All school staff will see a five-percent raise while office and building administrators will receive a three-percent raise if his budget is approved.
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STAFFORD -- The Stafford Education Association is pushing the county School Board to reschedule a teacher workday so instructors may go to Richmond to lobby lawmakers for higher wages.
The association wants the workday, which is used for teachers to finalize grades for the first semester moved to Monday, Jan. 28 from Tuesday, Jan. 29. The planned workday has been on the books since last year when the school division approved its annual calendar.
Monday marks the SEA’s Virginia Education Association’s annual Lobby Day, also known as “Red for Education.” If the workday is moved, teachers would be able to attend and would and not have to use a sick day, says SEA spokesman Al Watkins.
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STAFFORD -- The Stafford County School Board held its first town hall for the parents of elementary-aged students to hear about the county’s elementary school redistricting plans.
The redistricting meetings come after discussions the School Board had during Capital Improvement Plan negotiations in June 2018, when it and the county’s Board of Supervisors agreed to re-district schools if the Board of Supervisors purchased the old Fredericksburg Christian Schools campus, located in North Stafford to house the division’s head start program.
The school division bought the building for $7.2 million in December 2018.
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STAFFORD — Rock Hill Supervisor Wendy Maurer will not be seeking re-election for her seat come November.
Maurer, currently serving her first term on the Board of Supervisors announced her decision during the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 8 meeting.
Maurer who for 12 years has had Myelofibrosis, a chronic form of Leukemia, cited her health as a reason to take a “strategic pause from politics.”
“I have never hidden from the fact I have cancer,” Maurer said. “I take chemo pills every day.”
She was first elected to the Stafford Board in 2015. She’s been a staunch advocate for schools, transparency, and listened to constituents who urged her to push for the creation of a special tax district that would bring funds for the reconstruction of two new dams, preserving two lakes in the county’s Lake Arrowhead neighborhood.
Mauer recommended Rock Hill Planning Commission Member Crystal Vanuch, 35, to run for her seat this November. She described Vanuch as “a fighter” for the Rock Hill district. “She has shown from her time on the Planning Commission that she is just wicked smart,” Maurer said.
Maurer said if Vanuch were to run she would have her full support. Today, she accepted the call to run.
“I have decided to run for Supervisor to continue serving and fighting for the residents of Rock Hill. In my three years on the Planning Commission, I have fought for every single one of my residents’ issues, as my own, not overlooking even the most controversial. Now I want to expand that fight for my residents onto the Board of Supervisors where we see more than approving/denying land uses,” Vanuch penned in a press release. “There are a host of issues coming to the board that could forever change our county and I will not allow special interests to dictate my vote. I want to find solutions to ensure development pays for itself and that we find ways to work with state and federal officials to get real solutions to the constant traffic congestion this county sees daily. I sit in the same traffic and have the same frustrations in lack of infrastructure. I have seen Stafford go from a one-lane road on route 610 to the congestion it is today. The residents of Rock Hill are tired of the same old promises, lack of transparency, and backroom deals.”
Vanuch, a Stafford County native and Virginia Wesleyan College graduate, has served on the Planning Commission since 2016 when Maurer appointed her. Vanuch was re-elected as Chairwoman for the Planning Commission during their meeting on Jan. 9.
Vanuch leads a Stafford County-based Capitol Hill Solutions public affairs firm. She has also worked for Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Vivus Inc, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer. She’s married to her husband, David.
Maurer is not resigning but will finish her term on the Board once it ends Dec. 31.
“We have a lot of controversial topics such as the Capital Improvement Plan that I look forward to working on later this year,” Maurer said.
The other Board members offered thanks for Maurer’s service on the Board and support for her decision.
“Wendy, you’ve done a great job for three years,” Falmouth Supervisor Meg Bohmke said. “I’m proud of you for putting yourself first.”
“I’ve had the pleasure of knowing you and working with you for 20 years now, and it comes to the time when I sit down next to you and decide to not to run again,” George Washington Supervisor Tom Coen said. “You will be sorely missed on this Board.”
Bohme and Coen offered support for Vanuch during their portion of the Board’s comments.
“Crystal would do a great job in your [Maurer’s] seat,” Bohmke said.
“I can’t speak highly enough of Ms. Vanuch,” Coen said. “It’s always nice seeing my former students rise up.”
STAFFORD -- Ferry Farm Elementary School will be getting a $10 million renovation.
The Stafford County School Board chose this option instead of rebuilding the school from the ground up. The School Board voted to start phase one of the renovation during a special called meeting on Dec. 4, 2018.
The 61-year-old elementary school will receive a multi-step renovation after the Board of Supervisors in May refused to give the School Board funds in May to pay for a full-scale rebuild.
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STAFFORD — The turnover rate at the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office has long been a problem.
In the county’s 2040 strategic plan, leaders plan to reduce public safety turnover by developing policies to discourage staff from searching for new jobs.
“The turnover of personnel is a significant issue because deputy sheriffs receive basic, continuing and specialty training at a significant effort and cost to the county and the sheriff’s office,” Sheriff David Decatur wrote in an email to Potomac Local.
What’s the main reason why public safety employees leave Stafford?
“Deputies from the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office leave to take jobs in many places,” Decatur said. “They have left to serve in Prince William, Manassas, Manassas Park, Alexandria, The City of Fairfax, Pentagon Force Protection, the federal government, and private workforces, as well as other organizations. The common characteristic of these organizations is higher pay and/or benefits.”
According to Decatur, the starting pay is lower than 13 regional departments and lower than three of Stafford’s comparison jurisdictions, which are King George, Spotsylvania, and Fredericksburg and offers no incentives.
Decatur recommends a number of short and long-term actions to attempt to compete with surrounding jurisdictions during recruitment of new deputies and to retain trained and experienced deputies.
The short-term goals include:
- Include Sheriff’s positions, deputy through second lieutenant, in current authorized county market study
- Restoring vacancy savings and authorizing over-hirings.
- Increase starting pay by 10% (about$46,000) then to Low on Certification Release (about $49,000). All deputies across the board will receive a raise adjustment of 7.5 percent.
- Institute Evening and Night Differential
- Add a full-time recruitment position at the rank of sergeant, with pay- $158,000 per year. The sergeant would have full-time duties as an officer and recruiter.
The long-term goals will last over several years in hopes of keeping deputies in Stafford instead of leaving to go to different jobs for various reasons.
The long-term goals include:
- Initiate an independent study to address the pay structure and rules with consideration of a market target system, retention adjustment system, or step system as a substitute for the current public safety pay scale.
- Explore recruitment and retention bonuses .
From 2014 to 2017 the turnover rate increased every year from 7.7 percent to 12.2 percent but appears to have made a downturn in 2018 as the current turnover rate has reached to 9.7 percent as of Nov. 30.
STAFFORD — The purchase of a shuttered Fredericksburg Christian Schools campus triggered a new round elementary school redistricting.
Schools officials earlier this month held an information session with parents about elementary redistricting at Rodney Thompson Middle School. The session was held to inform parents who have children in overcrowded elementary schools that their students may soon be moved to another school.
The Board of Supervisors and the School Board agreed to re-district schools if the Board of Supervisors purchased the old Fredericksburg Christian Schools campus, located in North Stafford to house the division’s headstart program. The school division this month bought the building for $7.2 million.
The School Board must now re-district some elementary schools around the county. The move would alleviate crowded classrooms, for example, at Hampton Oaks Elementary School, while moving students to schools like Rock Hill Elementary School which is under capacity.
Stafford County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Kizner addressed the crowd and took questions from parents. The redistricting effort will focus only on elementary schools.
“We don’t see at this point to do a middle school and high school redistricting,” Kizner said when addressing a question about the potential for a countywide redistricting effort.
Many parents, worried about where their child would end up, attended and asked questions that showed where the school system is during their redistricting process.
Currently, in the elementary schools, there are 3,000 vacant seats throughout the county.
Elementary schools over capacity include:
- Margret Brent
- Anthony Burns
- Hartwood
- Stafford
- Widewater
Garrisonville and Rock Hill elementary schools are the only schools under 70% capacity.
According to Kizner, the school system will look to redistrict with three different criteria:
- Size of the school
- Proximity to residents homes
- The balance of students, taking into account different socio-economic backgrounds and ethnicities
The School Board hired the consulting company Arc Bridge to assist them in the redistricting proposals. The firm has worked across the U.S. helping to redistrict schools in San Diego.
According to Kizner, when projecting the school’s enrollment, they have worked with the Board of Supervisors and looked at the comprehensive plan when discussing future subdivision projections.
“The School Board and Board of Supervisors have been in great communication with each other during the proposals,” Kizner said.
Rising fifth graders will be grandfathered in and allowed to continue going to the original school they were at during fourth grade.
“Parents must provide transportation for the fifth graders,” Kizner said. “We aren’t going to send a bus to another district to pick up a child.”
The School Board will also appropriate $2.5 million for renovation costs. The School Board will hold public hearings at Drew Middle School on Jan. 15 and Jan. 23 at H.H. Poole Middle school. The meetings will start at 7 p.m.
The School Board plans to make the final decision on the redistricting plans in late February or early March.
STAFFORD -- Teachers and school faculty could see a five percent increase in their yearly salaries if a new proposal is included in the School Board’s budget.
The Stafford Education Association proposed an across-the-board increase for all employees during a budget committee meeting with the School Board held in early November.
“We have to focus on the priorities when it comes to the budget,” said Jeff Trigger, teacher and SEA member. “If we desire to retain our best educators, then it’s time to pay them as if we want them to stay.”
