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 Cord Sterling
Rock Hill District

A proposal to significantly expand and extend the operations of the Vulcan quarry despite its encroachment (with explosives and crushing operations) on the people of Stafford who live in those neighborhoods now goes to the Board of Supervisors.

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My daughter is a rising 5th grader going into Mayfield Intermediate School in Manassas.

I’ve spent some time reviewing the proposed policies to be added to Manassas City’s Foundations and Commitments. Code ACC [the city school division’s newly proposed anti-racism policy] and DAB [newly proposed diversity, equity, and inclusion policy].

I want to begin by saying I believe the majority of this Board to be committed to improving the lives of Manassas’ kids, and there is no doubt energy in America for rethinking certain systems.

ACC and DAB use a lot of empty corporate language which obscure a massive overhaul to the mission of Manassas Schools.

The central claim of DAB is that inequity exists in Manassas student outcomes on the basis of race. It should be noted that studying performance by race instead of other metrics like class or zip code is a choice. And a revealing one.

It’d be a lot harder to determine if the students struggling the most were clustered in low-income zip codes, or are impacted by high crime or family dysfunction. That would be difficult, it would also be more illuminating for guiding policy & tax dollars.

Tying success to equity in outcomes says little about if the ideal is to raise everyone up or simply handicap top performers. A lower district average for test scores is obviously not a greater good than a higher district average on the net, even if it features disparity amongst groups. These distinctions matter to parents.

What this policy aims to fix is bigger than Manassas City Schools.

Systemic racism in certain areas of life is real. But using it as a catch-all excuse to explain away classroom challenges is dishonest and burdens kids with a perception of struggle that has real consequences on their performance.

Code DAB correctly recognizes the fast track to special ed and the principal’s office for black and brown kids, as well as any child — white, blue, or purple who might just be shy or learn at a different pace. In my time doing criminal justice reform advocacy, I’ve seen the same things.

The disciplinary school to prison pipeline & how the criminalization of difference sets people up for failure in the classroom, and a lifetime of harm.

But what this policy does is wrong. It looks at the historical struggle and places Manassas City schools in the position of being responsible for eliminating social ills beyond its purview.

It calls for hiring waves of “culturally responsive personnel” as if we live in a society or a city with cultural cohesion within racial groups. What is the culture of mixed-race households?

• What is the culture of a Latino student?
• Does a Venezuelan have the same culture as a Guatemalan?

You can’t teach based on culture. We can teach with attention to language barriers and helping everyone keep up.

DAB empowers this Board to funnel money toward consultants, politically charged staff training, and administrative glut — so long as any inequity in outcomes exists.

It’s a blank check.

What it does not do is say that Manassas City Schools is responsible for teaching kids to read. It does not say that illiteracy is directly linked to incarceration, and incarceration to broken families, and broken families, to poor performance in classrooms, and poor performance back to crime.

In a vicious cycle that doesn’t stop.

The board should re-evaluate the scope and motive of Codes DAB and ACC, and reassert its commitment to teaching reading, math, and science as the key to opportunity in life.

As long as your commitments are to “the continuous work to dismantle systemic oppression” our schools are absolved of responsibility for the things they are for — which is literacy and knowledge.

Some may be afraid to say it, but every parent watching this cares primarily about their individual child flourishing, not group dynamics.

I ask the Board to consider the gravity of these proposals, and how they radically shift responsibility for performance away from our educators.

And to practice patience and prudence by not passing these policies in their current form. They are too broad. Too sweeping and ideological. They are not scientific. They’re not focused.

And if more time is given to the public in the post-COVID 19 and post-ZOOM call world to get familiar with the proposals, I’d argue they’ll be deeply unpopular.

Stephen Kent
Manassas, Va.

Pickleball was a smash hit at the 2021 Taste of Woodbridge event in Stonebridge Town Center.

On June 12, the Woodbridge Pickleball Club booth buzzed with excitement as volunteers introduced the sport to many enthusiastic new players. The streets lined with a temporary court held a steady flow of participants who experienced firsthand why pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the nation.

The sport in popularity during the pandemic.

Players with a variety of racquet sports backgrounds have been getting in on the fun. It is a beautiful thing to witness a smile overtake a player’s face as they lay down their first overhead smash. At that moment, you know they’ll be back for more.

While power drives are regularly seen in pickleball, finesse is equally as important. The sport attracts people of all ages and abilities and has many different styles of play. Pickleball is easy to learn and described as a combination between tennis, badminton, and ping-pong. Matches may be played as doubles or singles and players do not need to purchase a lot of expensive equipment to get started.

Well-known as a friendly sport, pickleball is celebrated for the many mental and physical health benefits it provides. Opportunities to play are springing up all over Prince William County as more and more underutilized tennis courts are being converted into pickleball courts.

Woodbridge Pickleball Club members fill the courts at the Dr. AJ Ferlazzo Building and Veterans Memorial Park seven days a week, mornings and evenings.

If you are looking to try something new, connect with other local players, or just curious what all the fuss is about reach out to the Woodbridge Pickleball Club. Players guarantee once you get started, you’ll be itching to get out and play every day.

For more information, email the Woodbridge Pickleball Club at [email protected].

Jennifer Judy
WPC Board Secretary

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and Prince William County(PWC) just completed the widening of Route 1, between Mount Pleasant Drive and Annapolis Way just south of the Occoquan River in late 2020.

A massively over-designed interchange at Routes 1 and 123 was also included as part of the project to provide better network connectivity between the Belmont Bay community and Interstate 95. But, due to the high cost of the interchange, only the Right of Way (ROW) was obtained and the construction was shifted to a future Phase 2.

Just recently, VDOT and Prince William County initiated a Strategically Targeted Affordable RoadwaySolutions (STARS) study for the interchange to attempt the scale back the scope and cost of the interchange. Unfortunately, the initial alternatives presented as part of the STARS study did not include any concepts outside of the existing interchange footprint was approved over 10 years ago and before the I-95 E-ZPass Express Lanes Comprehensive Agreement was signed, the North Woodbridge Small Area/Town CenterPlan was finalized and the Transforming Rail in Virginia was initiated.

The current interchange design and STARS variants should be scrapped.  All the alternatives presented restrict vehicle turn movements and include circuitous bike/ped movements that only serve to increase vehicle speeds, reduce safety, and induce additional vehicle trips.

Route 1 already creates a massive barrier between the Virginia Railway Express and the planned town center and constructing the massive interchange will only further separate the “planned” transit-oriented community.
The whole concept of transit-oriented smart growth development is for the residents to access transit service and other adjacent amenities without needing to use a vehicle.

The focus should be on creating a transit-oriented smart-growth development community for Prince William County.  The movement of transit/pedestrian/bike should be prioritized with Route 1 and Route 123 is designated as urban boulevards, which have lower vehicle design speeds compared to their current principal arterial designation.

If an interchange is still a priority for the county, a single loop/quadrant interchange is the best option for this location. It will require additional ROW, but could allow for a significantly shorter/smaller bridge structure compared to the alternatives presented.

The Route 28/Wellington Rd/Norfolk Southern Interchange at Route 28 and Wellington Road in Manassas is an example of this type of configuration. Additional ROW could be acquired through the rezoning process.  Excess ROW should be used to support affordable housing opportunities.

North Woodbridge is an important activity center for Prince William County and the proposed interchange designs will make it difficult to realize the area’s potential.

Mark Scheufler
Prince William County

By Anand Desai
Bristow

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Prince William County government reported paying its 100 highest-paid employees a total of $18.3 million in 2020: that’s 5.4% more than 2019’s figure for that year’s top 100, on top of another 5.4% over 2018’s. (The previous two years’ raises were 1% and 3.8%.)

The increases were even bigger at the top. And these figures don’t include the School Board’s, whose earlier FOIA response showed a similar set of high-end salaries and a few teachers receiving up to $133,000.

Compare that to senior federal employee salaries generally maxing out a little under the $174,000 for members of Congress, and local teachers’ starting pay about $50,000.

While the coronavirus pandemic has forced an “austerity budget” on many Prince William County taxpayers facing a 7% higher property-tax bill – whether directly or eventually through rents – and the School Board continues to foist austere trailers on many students, folks with secure desk jobs, avoiding long commutes.

Overbroad percentage raises can soak up the most tax dollars for those who need them least, do little to attract or assist struggling newer employees, and distort public-interest incentives for professionals where there is a risk of insiders’ favor, rather than free-market alternatives, driving negotiations and advancement.

Even if our county needs a budget increase exceeding inflation, population growth, and coronavirus-specific projects (which seems far from certain, given hundreds of millions of federal dollars at its March 9 “COVID-19 Operational Update” suggests may be forthcoming), I urge our supervisors and School Board to limit management pay and direct our hard-earned dollars to specific, pressing needs.

Here are some of the highest-paid government positions in Prince William County for 2020:

COUNTY EXECUTIVE
$373,873.16

ATTORNEY
$311,815.30

MEDICAL DIRECTOR
$311,635.49

POLICE CHIEF
$272,101.37

PSYCHIATRIST
$266,045.23

PSYCHIATRIST
$253,261.76

PSYCHIATRIST
$238,307.08

COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY
$225,160.10

DFR CHIEF
$224,011.44

DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOP
$214,249.32

FIRE DEPT DEPUTY CHIEF
$213,344.01

FIRE DEPARTMENT LIEUTENANT
$210,917.42

POLICE CAPTAIN
$210,486.05

FIRE DEPT CAPTAIN
$210,075.00

DEPUTY COUNTY EXECUTIVE
$208,811.25

DEPUTY COUNTY EXECUTIVE $206,220.42
BOARD MEMBER – PR. WM. /MANASSAS REGIONAL JAIL BOARD
$204,708.96

JAIL SUPERINTENDENT
$201,429.15

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE/CFO
$200,718.00

CHIEF DEPUTY ATTORNEY
$199,147.69

DFR CAPTAIN
$198,536.35

DEPUTY COUNTY EXECUTIVE
$195,366.14

By Cord A. Sterling
Former member of Stafford Board of County Supervisors

It is well known that some politicians will spin fabricated tales to advance their goals. We in Stafford are not immune to this behavior.

But Cindy Shelton’s recent work of fiction may serve as a shining example that college professors of the 22nd Century will use in their classrooms as they outline the decline and fall of democratic integrity.

In her recent article, she claims that since 2006, the county delayed investments in roads, new buildings, and maintenance instead of raising taxes. Perhaps someone should take her around our county so that she can see the improved Route 17, the dramatically improved Falmouth intersection, the expansions of Routes 610 and 630, the new Courthouse Road interchange at Interstate 95.

While taking this tour, she could see the five elementary schools that were rebuilt and renovated, a new Stafford High School, a new office building for the Commonwealth Attorney’s office, new athletic fields, and the Jeff Rouse Aquatic Center — all built since 2006.

When I was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2008, I was presented a budget that was out of balance, deteriorating infrastructure, tax rate increases that had grown significantly year over year—and threats from the bond rating agencies to downgrade Stafford to junk status.

When I left eight years later, the infrastructure projects mentioned above were either finished or ongoing, taxes on homeowners were held in check, and we had achieved a AAA bond rating.

It didn’t require taxes. It required fiscal management.

She cleverly talks about “tax rate” reductions as if to imply that these were tax cuts. However, she conveniently forgets to mention that the tax rate is one component of taxes.

The other is the assessed value of the property, and the rates were reduced to offset the increase in property values.

In a similar attempt at obfuscation, she talks about the water treatment facility and reservoirs as if they are not being maintained because of tax revenues, conveniently forgetting that these are utility projects funded through the utility fees and ignoring the fact that an entirely new reservoir, dramatically increasing the water supply, was added just a few years ago.

What are we to make out of her claim that without a tax increase, services will be cut by $25 million but neglecting to inform the public that the county will be receiving over $40 million in relief grants from the Federal Government?

Why hide such an important fact? Because it doesn’t serve her narrative that she “needs” more of our money.

She accurately captures the fact a new courthouse was delayed but fails to acknowledge that this was because we prioritized the replacement of older schools over giving criminals a more comfortable courthouse in which to be convicted.

She is also correct that the development projects, including the apartments she supported by the courthouse, will drive demand for increased services.

In fact, between her support for new residential developments and her support for new taxes, one is left to wonder if it is the interests of the county residents or the interests of the developers who support her, that drives her zeal to raise our taxes.

Since Cindy Shelton was elected, she has pursued residential development and tax increases to fund it, all at the expense of county residents. Last year she voted to increase taxes, despite the economic suffering that households and small businesses were suffering.

Now this year, she is the chief engineer of one of the largest tax hikes in Stafford history at the very time when small businesses are hoping to emerge and start to pay down the debt they incurred staying afloat. Others have already closed.

Governing is hard. Choices have to be made.

This year, I have to choose between replacing my aging air conditioner or my old carpet. Or maybe now neither, as I may have to pay the Cindy Shelton tax.

Other Stafford residents face similar choices. So do our small businesses.

Shouldn’t the Board of Supervisors face the same instead of looking to us as a bottomless well from which to draw revenues?

Today, many businesses and individuals are making the decision to leave states and localities where taxes are too high to move to Texas, Florida, and Wyoming.

It isn’t the weather that is driving them away, but the taxes. As tax increase after tax increase has been piled upon them, they are voting with their feet and moving to states and localities that value them as individuals rather than nameless sources of revenue.

As Benjamin Franklin stated, “nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Little did he realize that more than 200 years later, Cindy Shelton’s latest tax increase could be the death of Stafford’s small business community by taxation.

Cord A. Sterling represented the Rock Hill District on the Stafford County Board of Supervisors and was Chair of the Finance and Budget Committee from 2008-2016.

By Cindy Shelton
Stafford County Aquia District Supervisor

Did you know that since 2006, Stafford County’s growth provided the county an opportunity to invest in itself? But it chose differently.

When you look at the congested roads and a lack of places to shop and dine, do you wonder why?

The Stafford County Board of Supervisors has voted year after year to delay the investments in roads, new buildings, and maintenance in the interest of lowering taxes at the very time when we should have been slowly raising them to fund the future.

Stafford County provides a budget to actual data to the Board during the annual budget meetings. Analyzing that data, coupled with our financial reports, clearly show a capacity to fund such improvements as well as a reluctance to do so.

For example, if the Board had adopted the needed tax rate since 2006 based upon the Board’s priorities, we would have collected enough revenue to fund the items in the current Capital Improvement plan without the need to resort to credit.

In 2016, the Board decreased the tax rate from $1.07 to $1.01, fully aware of the future capital needs and the mounting debt service. Just since 2016, had we maintained the rate at $1.01, we would have gained $20 million in additional revenue.

This needed agility would have allowed us to take on other transportation projects, decrease our dependence on debt, or even tackle other projects proactively instead of waiting until the situation was critical.

Just as recently as last year, when other counties voted to stay the course with their budgets to fund a response to the pandemic, Stafford County voted for tax relief for its citizens knowing full well the long-term impact it would have on the county.

Our staff was apparent in their budget reports that if we didn’t increase taxes in 2021, we would need to cut services by $25 million.

For years, we underfunded maintenance projects, and our water treatment facilities were in horrible shape. We had only one maintenance person between the two water plants. Equipment was in disrepair in the county and the schools.

I’ll never forget the day I visited Smith Lake Reservior in North Stafford and stood in shock at the condition of one of our critical water sources. Simultaneously, the schools were screaming for funding, and the attrition rate for our first responders was abysmal. Meeting after meeting, we were begged to increase salaries.

People left Stafford for much higher wages, from county staff, teachers, to firemen, deputies, and even the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board. We wasted money training new people to start over again when they left for higher-paying jobs in other counties. The churn from this well-meaning but miserly approach to funding is well documented.

We also underfunded big-ticket items such as a courthouse or school. As Stafford grew, we gained more capacity to fund these large items. Let’s analyze the Board’s actions since 2006. One perspective is that we didn’t maximize our debt capacity by taking on more debt to invest in the future. Another view is that we should have been paying off that “credit card” to pay cash for our needed assets in the future. Both are valid points of view, but sadly the Board did neither of these and instead lowered taxes.

In plain terms, we voluntarily lowered our “paycheck” (tax revenue) because our employer (residents) would not have to pay us as much. If we delayed building roads and schools, we didn’t need the money immediately, so we agreed to work for less. Who thinks that way?

Stafford still needed schools, roads, and a courthouse, and delaying it will lead to higher costs in the future. It’s like knowing you have a leaking roof but putting off the repair. Any homeowner knows that the cost to repair can cause catastrophic damage if you don’t fix it immediately.

As we delayed needed Stafford County projects, the costs of those projects continued to increase naturally.
A $65 million high school that we needed to plan for years ago now costs $154 million. Even worse, the delay in building it pushes up against the need to build another high school, the county’s seventh and the county’s 18th elementary school. Enrollment projections also indicate a need for another middle school.

The Early Childhood Education program is projected to expand beyond its classroom capacity within the next few years, requiring these students to be put back in elementary schools – creating more capacity pressures in elementary schools.

Good planning would have had these projects due at different times, not all at the same time.

I get that it is easy to criticize the past, and hindsight is 2020. But I submit it isn’t hindsight but the value or fresh eyes. Hindsight, or retrospectives, as I like to think of them, are only valuable if you use them to change behaviors by learning from them.

I suggest we draw a line in the sand as we can’t do anything about the past. A sunk cost is a sunk cost. Our compassion and tunnel vision to keep taxes low put us where we are now: a wealthy county that spends its money elsewhere and doesn’t invest at home.

There is good news. In 2018, 2019, and 2020, we changed our course, and the Board increased its investments in schools and infrastructure.

Smith Lake Water Treatment facility looks completely different and reflects the new heart the county has. We have invested in employees, including public safety, to ensure they are paid living wages. We have protected our retirees from ensuring they have health plans.

But we still haven’t built our needed schools, paid teachers what they deserve, provided a safe place for disabled individuals in our courtrooms, or rebuilt our crumbling roads and fire stations. All of those projects were pushed out into the future because we simply did not have the money to do them.

We made up a lot of ground in the past three years. Now, in its fear of raising taxes, the Board is backing down yet again on investing in Stafford. In our last budget meeting, a set of slides showed how much we would need to cut out of our budget and the impact on future taxes if we did.

The need to raise taxes to $1.09 soon to make up for not raising taxes in the past is sobering. Our citizens deserve a correction. We need to invest in our future.

We need to correct the underfunding of the past, close the gap needed to build our infrastructure, maintain what we have as efficiently as possible, and provide amenities that keep residents and workers here in Stafford. In other words, we need to invest in building our community.

For an average increase of $130 a year to Stafford property owners, we can stay the course and make up for bad but well-meaning decisions.

Most board members don’t like where we are, but the facts speak for themselves, and I promised to not sugarcoat the truth, no matter how distasteful. Keeping the tax rates at the recommended amounts is fiscally and socially responsible. Ironically, increasing taxes can decrease the rate of growth in Stafford County, a priority set by the Board.