"The changes in the calendar are to facilitate the necessary professional learning that we're going to have to have moving into this school year. We backed the school calendar start date up one week which would provide our teachers one week of additional professional learning," said Thomas Nichlos, chief officer of high schools and school safety.

"I've gotten so many complaints from staff, bus drivers, and parents [about early release days]. It just seems like the early outs cause challenges for parents and for staff," said Patricia Healy, Rock Hill District Supervisor.

While adjustments to the school calendar have been made, the school board has not released any concrete plans for how schools will function next year in regards to the coronavirus.

The school board has said it will prioritize the development of strategies to get students back into the classroom as much as possible, particularly for the younger students and other students with special and unique learning needs.

Three schedule options across all grade levels have been drafted and would result in a school year that is entirely virtual or both virtual and in-person. If it is both virtual and in-person, there would be two-different groups of students who would alternate on a daily or bidaily basis between virtual and in-person learning.

"[Both virtual and in-person learning] creates consistency for students and families," stated school board documentation.

The school division anticipates being in phase three of Gov. Ralph Northam's reopening plan by the time the school year starts. This would entail more in-person instruction for all students, remote instruction to supplement in-person learning, strict social distancing measures, and childcare offered before and after school. According to a survey conducted by the school division, 65% of parents want as much in-person instruction as possible, and 27% would like the option of a virtual-only model. To meet the social distancing requirements for in-person education, Stafford County Schools would have to maintain "six feet separation to the greatest extent possible," according to the Virginia Department of Education guidelines. This could result in staggering schedules, ridding classrooms of excess furniture, repurposing spaces in the school buildings, increasing the number of daily bus routes from 462 to 571, and only allowing less than one-third of normal capacity on school buses.

"The lowest risk would be six-feet of social distancing on the bus," said Superintendant Scott Kizner.

Students may also have to consume lunch within their classrooms, wear face coverings, and practice routine hand hygiene and health screenings. Staff may additionally be equipped with in-classroom sanitation and coronavirus training, as well as have to attend mandated annual training remotely. If it is suspected that a student or staff member has the coronavirus during the school day, there will be a protocol established that creates clinical isolation rooms to separate sick students/staff, a control clinic traffic to prevent potential exposures, and a separate protocol for recovered students to return to school.

"We want to be very good partners with parents in helping them understand the importance of keeping children at home who should not be at school," said Kizner.

It is estimated that establishing all the aforementioned procedures will cost the school division $4.75 million. This factors in $1.25 million enhanced cleaning costs, $2.1 million additional transportation costs, $1.14 million supply costs (masks, thermometers), $160,000 in meal distribution costs, and $100,000 in additional counselor hours. This being said, not all parents are keen about them returning to school. According to a survey taken by the school division, 61.5% plan to have their students return to school, 35.3%  will decide based on the adopted learning model, and 3.3% (306) will not return at all.

"Once we really land on our plan, we really go back to parents and say 'please let us know you're coming,' because that's going to be critical for us to get our routes right and to get our classrooms right," said Superintendant Kizner.

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School may be out of session, but Stafford County teachers have been given new rules to follow.

During their June 23 school board meeting, the Stafford County School Board unanimously approved revisions to the school division's Standard of Professional Conduct for All Employees, which 'sets forth expectations for employee behavior both in and outside the workplace, as well as with students in-person and remote,' according to school board documentation.

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The new names of  Stonewall Jackson Middle and High Senior schools are not yet known. But the Prince William County community has plenty of suggestions.

On June 22 and 25, the Prince William County School Board held community input sessions, allowing residents to suggest new names for both schools, located near Manassas, to the schools’ naming committees.

The naming committee for Stonewall Jackson Senior High School consists of school board Chairman Babur Lateef, Brentsville District Member Adele Jackson, Gainesville District Member Jennifer T. Wall, and Coles District Representative Lisa Zargarpur, while the committee for Stonewall Middle School consists of Chairman Lateef,  Brentsville District Member Jackson, and Gainesville District Member Wall.

The naming committees have no limitations as to what name suggestions they can accept, but they do have selection preference for ‘those individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of education, especially within Prince William County,’ according to school board documentation.

Some of the most popularly suggested names for the schools are as follows:

• Arthur Reed High/Middle School: Arthur Reed worked as a security assistant at Stonewall Jackson High School for a number of years, and has been nicknamed the ‘godfather’ of the school. There is currently a petition being spread on social media in support of renaming the school after Reed, which has gained over 1,000 signatures. Student Representative to the school board and current Stonewall Jackson High School senior, Ben Kim, has also stated his support for naming the school after Reed.

“If we are to name our school after a person, it ought to be Mr. Arthur E. Reed,” stated Student Representative Kim in a tweet.

“It [naming Stonewall Jackson High School after Reed] will serve as a statement to every teacher and faculty member in Prince William County that we recognize their hardwork,” said Spogmai Anwar, a former student sentaor representing Charles J. Colgan High School.

Many current and former Stonewall Jackson High School students, however, do not support naming the school after Reed due to his work in the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the military.

“Naming the high school after Mr. Reed, someone who was in the DEA, a department responsible for the mass incarceration of Black and Latinx people, and someone who was in the military, is counter to the movement against policing right now,” said Lubna Azmi, a former Stonewall Jackson High School student and current Johns Hopkins University student.

• Ibram X. Kendi High/Middle School: Ibram X. Kendi is a Stonewall Jackson High School alumnus, the New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist, and the founding director of the Boston Univerity Center for Antiracist Research. There is currently a petition being spread on social media in support of renaming the school after Kendi, which has gained over 30,000 signatures.

“In changing the name of Stonewall Jackson High School to honor a graduate of the school who is actively fighting this country’s legacy of systemic racism and inequity [Kendi], PWCS would demonstrate how far our county has come and how willing we are to continue that growth,” said Langston Carter, a decendant of enslaved people owned by Stonewall Jackson.

“In 2000, I graduated from a VA high school named after a Confederate General. Now, there’s talk of changing the name. There’s campaign for Ibram X. Kendi High School, and I’m in shock. But I’m happy old Stonewall Jackson is probably raging in his grave,” tweeted Kendi.

• Lucinda Griffin High/Middle School: Griffin was a young enslaved girl who, at the First Battle of Manassas during the Civil War, ‘risked her life to assist an elderly woman,’ according to the petition to rename the high school after her, which has garnered over 1,000 signatures.

“It [renaming the school after Griffin] also would say to each and every student who attends that school that they matter, that their contributions matter and that the hope that history might remember them and their honorable deeds is within their destiny,” stated the petition to rename the school after her.

“Lucinda was a forgotten hero while Stonewall Jackson was a remembered traitor, her story should be in this country’s history book,” said Karen Griffin during the June 25 community input meeting.

• Celestine and Carol Braxton High/Middle School: Celestine Braxton was one of the teachers hired to integrate Prince William County Schools and a former educator of 33 years. Carol Braxton was one of the first African-Americans to become a marine at a segregated camp.

“Carol Braxton meets the historical consideration requirements and is one of the first blacks to become a marine at a segregated camp and served in the Marine Corps. Celestine Braxton meets the historical consideration requirement and is one of the teachers hired to integrate Prince William County,” said Richard Jesse during the June 25 community input meeting.

• Unity High School: The name is meant to represent unity within the school, something that is a ‘big part’ of Stonewall Jackson High School according to Student Representative Kim.

“I would like to propose the name Unity High School as it represents what the school stands for,” said Melanie Pineda-Flores, a Stonewall Jackson High School alumni and incoming freshman at the College of William & Mary.

Sonya Sotomayor, Canon Branch, and Bull Run High/Middle School were also suggested.

No members of the school board or naming committees have announced a preference, but school board Vice Chairman Loree Williams told Potomac Local News that ‘preference should be to the Board Member’s district to where the school resides, the constituents of that district and students of the school.’

The renaming of the schools comes in light of the recent killings of African-American men by police and nation-wide protests. Prince William County Schools Superintendant, Steven L. Walts, called for the renaming of the schools in his Action Plan to Combat Racism.

“We can no longer represent the Confederacy in our schools. To this end, the renaming of Stonewall Jackson High School and Stonewall Middle School should begin immediately, pursuant to the policy of the School Board. It is an insult and an affront to our students, especially in schools where the majority of the students are students of color,” Walts’ plan states.

The board is set to vote on the renaming during their meeting on Monday, June 29.

“Regardless of what we end up with, I think it will be certainly – in my personal belief – better than where we are now. I will encourage members to look at other ways to honor and reflect and restate the story of our great community,” said Chairman Lateef.

Prince William County’s largest concert venue will be having anything but a typical season.

All concerts at Jiffy Lube Live have been canceled, postponed, or rescheduled for the 2020 season due to concerns regarding the new coronavirus.

Popular performers, such as Rascal Flatts and Nickelback, have completely canceled their shows, while Earth, Wind & Fire has rescheduled to August 2021.

Those who purchased tickets for canceled shows will receive an automatic refund, and tickets for rescheduled shows will be automatically valid for the show’s new date(s), according to Live Nation, Jiffy Lube Live’s owner and operator.

The venue, which typically opens to concertgoers in May, will not be hosting an event until September 26. That event, as well as all others at the venue, cannot “exceed the lesser of 50% of the lowest occupancy load on the certificate of occupancy,” according to Gov. Ralph Northam’s phase two guidelines.

Additionally, ten feet of physical distance must be maintained between all performers, participants, and patrons who are not members of the same household, at the events until phase three is put into effect in Northern Virginia.

The venue’s updated season is as follows:

CANCELED:

• Zac Brown Band: Roar with the Lions Tour presented by Polaris
• Good Vibes Summer Tour 2020: Rebelution + Special Guests
• Breaking Benjamin
• Nickelback: All The Right Reasons Tour
• Sammy Hagar & The Circle w/special guest Night Ranger
• Journey with Pretenders
• Dead & Company
• Incubus With 311
• Impractical Jokes “The Scoopski Potatoes Tour”
• Foreigner: Juke Box Hero Tour 2020
• Korn & Faith No More
• Rascal Flatts Farewell: Life Is A Highway Tour 2020
• Sam Hunt: Southside Summer Tour 2020
• 2020 Jiffy Lube Live Country Megaticket

POSTPONED, DATE TBA:

• Kenny Chesney: Chillaxification Tour
• Megadeth and Lamb of God
• Disturbed: The Sickness 20th Anniversary Tour With Staind & Bad Wolves

RESCHEDULED:

• Backstreet Boys: DNA World Tour – Rescheduled to Jul. 20, 2021
• The Doobie Brothers-50th Anniversary Tour – Rescheduled to Jul. 30, 2021
• Jimmy Buffet – Rescheduled to Aug. 7, 2021
• Santana/ Earth, Wind & Fire: Miraculous Supernatural 2020 Tour – Rescheduled to Aug. 21, 2021
• Thomas Rett: The Center Point Road Tour 2021 – Rescheduled to Aug. 28, 2021
• WMZQ Fest starring Brooks & Dunn REBOOT 2020 Tour – Rescheduled to Sept. 26, 2020

Live Nation has declined to comment on the season’s changes.

Stafford County has enabled all of its students to have an electronic device for the next school year.

On June 16, the Stafford County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the purchase of 9,000 Chromebooks for students, a motion that has been in the works for months. Funding for the $1.1 million purchase will likely come from the CARES Act.

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Students in Stafford County middle and high schools may no longer be allowed to use cell phones in class for instructional purposes.

At the county's June 9 school board meeting, the board discussed exhibits one and two of Regulation 2401, which would "eliminate the use of cell phones in the classroom for instructional purposes," according to school board documentation.

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School may be out of session, but the fourth round of student representatives to the Prince William County School Board have been announced.

Rising seniors Ben Kim of Stonewall Jackson High School and Caroline Silvera of C.D. Hylton Senior High School have been chosen to serve as co-student representatives to the school board. Rising senior Ashley Menjivar of Woodbridge High School was additionally chosen as an alternate student representative. These three students were chosen out of a list of twenty-one finalists.

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After hundreds of suggestions and multiple school board meetings, a name has finally been chosen for Prince William County's 13th high school.

The school, which will be located at 13150 University Boulevard in Gainesville, has been named Gainesville High School. The naming was approved at the Prince William County School Board's June 10 meeting, where the board also named the school's library media center in honor of Officer Ashley Marie Guindon and its Student Services Center in honor of Lillian Orlich.

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Northern Virginia Community College classes are going to start on time, but for the most part, they will not in-person.

In a statement on June 8 made by the college's president, Anne M. Kress, it was announced that the college's classes would begin as scheduled on August 24 and be "offered in [NOVA's] approved distance-learning formats, with the majority being offered either through NOVA Online or through synchronous delivery via Zoom."

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