Tag Archives: Education
Albemarle County Schools’ Populations Are Growing. Unexpectedly. ?!
Is anyone other than the politicians surprised?
The question is – would you support an Adequate Public Facility ordinance?
Aaron Richardson at the Daily Progress reports:
Some Albemarle County schools could exceed their capacity sooner than expected, thanks to rapid growth.
Supervisor Ken Boyd curiously chooses the word “adequately” when referring to funding*
“We’re committed to providing adequate educational opportunities in this county, but we’re going to have to look at what other capital improvement projects we have going on,” Boyd said. “We’d have to take a more holistic view than, ‘Gee, have we got $46 million more to spend on education?’”
“Curious” because either:
1 – He thinks the County should offer merely “adequate” education rather than “world class”.*
2 – He’s laying the groundwork for a conversation about adequate public facilities (which tend to be opposed by Realtors) , the long-debated ordinance that would essentially prevent new homes’ construction before adequate infrastructure/fire & rescue/school/etc was in place.
Better schools increase house prices.
At some point, the politicians and the people need to understand that our population is growing, and they need to plan accordingly.
What is an adequate public facilities ordinance? I found the following definition in 2005:
An Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) is a law adopted by the local government that allows it to defer the approval of developments based upon a finding by the governing body that public facilities would not be not adequate to support the proposed development at build out.
What are the components of an effective APF ordinance?
• Identifies the types of public facilities to be considered.
• Limits the period of time during which the deferral on development imposed by an APFO can be in force.
• Requires the locality to have in place a capital facilities plan to remedy the infrastructure inadequacy that has been the basis for the development deferral.
ProPublica has released/aggregated a lot of information on Central Virginia schools. Oddly, neither Greene County nor Nelson County are listed.
What a useful time to remind folks to check your school district before you buy . Redistricting happens. And school districts matter.
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Stupid is as Stupid Does. Or, the Decline of Common Sense in Education
Rather than seeking to educate people – kids, teachers, parents – about the potential dangers of inappropriate student/teacher interaction, the Virginia Board of Education is seeking to prevent all non-official digital communication :
…Model policy for electronic communications with students • Teachers and other school board employees must restrict electronic communications with students to accounts, systems and platforms provided by the school division. … • School board policy on electronic communications with students also applies to teachers and other employees of virtual school programs and other vendors providing instructional services to students.
…Given the choice between having my clients feel like they are making good decisions, and having them actually make good decisions based on facts, analysis and common sense, I will choose common sense 8 days a week. Continue reading
Some City of Charlottesville Schools to be Consolidated
This should be interesting news to those considering relocating to the City of Charlottesville: Consolidating to have one middle school would also allow the division to combine its administrative offices and stop leasing city buildings for certain programs. … Preschool programs are located at the six elementary schools, but having one middle school will necessitate that preschoolers move into one location to have enough space for the fifth-graders.
…asked parent Kathryn Buzzoni, a Fluvanna County resident who has a kindergartener at Venable Elementary and was concerned that those costs could result in a cutback in other services.
I’m sure there are blogs in Charlottesville discussing this from the parents’ point of view, but I haven’t been able to locate them. Continue reading
Greene County Schools’ Growth
Harrisonburg City grew by an astounding 4.59%, but we outpaced Albemarle, Charlottesville, Louisa, Madison, Orange, Fluvanna, Rockingham, Staunton, and Nelson.
…I suppose that quite a bit of that growth can be attributed to NGIC/DIA as well as the fact that now that Greene has a Lowe’s and Super Wal-Mart people are more inclined to stay in Greene rather than always have to go to Charlottesville. Also, I’d bet that that Hollymead Town Center – Harris Teeter and Target – derives a fair amount of their traffic from southern Greene County.
…If you want a small farm to keep a pony for the kids or a nice vegetable garden, going north may be the answer. Continue reading
Don’t Call it 4 x 4 – Albemarle County’s Semesterization Experiment
I have talked to quite a few parents and high schoolers about their perceptions and reactions to the block scheduling, and thought it would be useful to ask the opinion of Champion Tutoring for their perspective, and I received this gracious response : Thanks for asking. … I have been asked before to comment on the block schedule “from a Realtor’s perspective” and here is my comment: From my point of view, the teachers are overworked and not able to teach effectively. … From our personal experience, we are extremely reluctant to miss a day of school, as there is very little chance of ever recapturing what was taught on that day – there is too much information and too little time at school. … Crozet Gazette – Parents Revolt Against WAHS (Western Albemarle High School) 4×4 Schedule Carmen Garcia, the mother of one student at Western and two at Henley (where she serves as PTO vice president), said she called former School Board member Brian Wheeler about the schedule policy change last spring. Continue reading
Dear Albemarle County Schools: Why Not Accept Online Payments?
Pay to Play: One of the budgetary changes enacted this school year in Albemarle County schools is the “student activity fee” –
…The Athletic Fee Letter recently distributed to Western Albemarle High School parents notes the ways to make payments … bring the check or mail the check. … FALL COLLECTION NIGHTS Friday, August 13 (Football Scrimmage); 6:00 -7:00 at WAHS Stadium Wednesday, August 18 (Fall Sports Parents Meeting); 6:30 -8:00 at WAHS Cafeteria Thursday, August 19 (Open House); 6:30-7:30 at WAHS Cafeteria 2. Bring or mail directly to Western Albemarle Athletic Department: Western Albemarle High School Athletic Department 5941 Rockfish Gap turnpike Crozet, VA 22932
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