Candidates' Take: How Do We Deal With Have, Have-Not Schools

Editor's Note: Even though Fairfax City residents cannot vote for Fairfax County School Board members, the decisions made by the county school board affect curriculum, resources and staffing in city schools. Fairfax City schools are run by FCPS through a services contract the city has with Fairfax County.

Seven candidates will vie for three at-large seats on the Fairfax County School Board in the Nov. 8 elections. 

Patch took six questions  and sent them in a survey to all at-large candidates. All but candidate Lin-Dai Kendall got back to us with their answers.

This series will look at how the candidates responded to each question.

Question: When you compare high schools in Fairfax County, especially looking at free and reduced meals and band and athletic booster numbers, there is a large disparity between some high schools, resulting in “Have vs. Have-not” schools within Fairfax County.  How do you intend to deal with this growing disparity?  How does the School Board and Board of Supervisors plan to help the most needy schools, as its budget continues to shrink?

Read on for full responses.

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Steve Stuban: FCPS needs to conduct a study to reveal these disparities and dedicate funding to close the gaps.

Our community continues to make a notable commitment to educating our children by allocating 53.5% of its 2011 fiscal budget to the school system.  When you include state and federal government contributions, as well as citizen and corporate contributions, that’s a fiscal budget for the school system of over $2.2 billion, which breaks down to an investment of approximately $12,550 per student each year. 

However, this does not cover all student expenses and, as FCPS resources have become more limited, it has become necessary to charge a student athletic participation fee to cover typical expenses such as stipends for coaches, team transportation, game official fees and facilities costs.  This is particularly troublesome as there is a known correlation between achievement and participation in extracurricular activities – as students do better when there are strong connections with their schools.  Fortunately, this fee barrier to participation in athletics has been removed for students eligible for federal free or reduced price meal programs, and payment is handled confidentially on-line, rather than through the school, to prevent any stigma for students needing such waivers.  In addition, some parent Athletic and Band Booster Clubs have filled this gap and made a significant impact raising funds to assist with team expenses such as covering the cost of uniforms, equipment and capital improvements.  For instance, at James Madison High School about 50% of the athletic budget is borne by the Booster Clubs -- which has taken care of costly improvements to the athletic complex such as overhauling the bleacher area, installing the scoreboard, and replacing the football field with a high tech synthetic turf, thereby enhancing the experience of our students. However, I would like to consider further data on whether participation opportunities vary drastically across FCPS schools and whether there are wide disparities in student participation across schools and amongst at risk subgroups.  I would also like further data on the degree of financial support parent Athletic and Band Booster Clubs provide to meet their team needs. 

Unfortunately, there is concern about unevenness in the level of parental support, particularly from within our school boundary areas which service a greater proportion of students receiving free and reduced price lunches.  This unevenness has created the appearance of disparities between “Have vs Have not” schools.  I would like to consider further data to substantiate these disparities and, to the extent that they exist, and have a bearing on student achievement, I believe additional funding to even out the extracurricular opportunities and participation could be made available under the umbrella of activities supported by programs such as FCPS’s Priority Schools Initiative, which is intended to promote student academic achievement and close the achievement gap.

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Ted Velkoff: Send resources to schools with greatest needs and seek funding from businesses and Foundation.

First, we need to continue to target resources to the schools with the greatest needs, in order to address this imbalance.  Second, we need to encourage business partners to contribute funds and resources to these schools, to help cover expenses that may be more easily covered in other communities.  Finally, we need to use the Foundation for Fairfax County Public Schools as a source of funding to help reduce disparities between schools.

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Ilryong Moon: Continue needs-based staffing, get rid of athletic fees and lobby for more state funds.

Our current method for dealing with the disparities addressed in this question is the use of needs-based staffing. In all of our schools ESOL students and those in poverty receive extra weight in our staffing formula. The point here is to level the playing field so that all of our students—not just the most fortunate or our highest achievers—can go on to reach their full potential. This needs to continue.

This process begins long before high school and aims to eliminate the achievement gap in our schools. We are targeting our neediest students in their youngest years and giving them and their parents the instruction and attention they need to prevent getting behind in the first place. The programs and resources available to these students change in middle school and high school—a first generation college student needs different kinds of college preparation than someone whose parents can help guide them through the process, for instance—but the point is that our neediest students and schools have certainly not been left on their own.

There is more we can do. Athletic fees impact those on the margin the most, and should be eliminated. Further, some of the cuts in recent years, like the elimination of summer school, have had the greatest impacts on those on the margin, like these students who might benefit from extended instruction time. We should look to restore summer school if funding levels return, or find a way to redirect funds from other areas. Additionally, we should engage the community and local businesses in particular to enter into partnerships with these schools to provide additional help.

The school board should also lobby both our supervisors and general assembly. In Richmond, we should ask for more education funding in general and fairer funding for FCPS. This system relies on state funding for only about twenty percent of its budget while about half of the average Virginia school’s expenses are covered by the state. Supervisors need to take into account factors like inflation, enrollment population and changing demographics. Flat transfers effectively amount to budget cuts because these factors have pushed the cost of educating our students higher.

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Ryan McElveen: Re-examine Priority Schools Initiative, provide grants to creative teachers and pilot pre-K programs.

We need to look outside of traditional methods to further close the achievement gap. The Priority Schools Initiative, which identifies schools to target for extra funding and support, brings with it bureaucratic reporting requirements that burden participants.

In re-examining this initiative, we should consider providing grants to teachers and schools that develop programs to engage parents in communities with socio-economic barriers to achievement. Although accountability is important, we should not let bureaucratic requirements hinder the imagination of well-meaning teachers.

Most important, in these communities we need to consider piloting pre-K programs to address the Kindergarten-readiness gap and ensure that students who are otherwise disadvantaged don’t start off their schooling with avoidable academic weaknesses. In the long run, pre-K will save FCPS money by averting student remediation down the road.

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Lolita Mancheno-Smoak: An audit will make a reallocation of funds more effective.

First, we must acknowledge that the demographic make-up of Fairfax County is changing dramatically; there is a significant growing immigrant population that needs to be recognized with the increase in public school enrollments. The School Board’s responsibility is to ensure that there is equitable distribution of resources across the system so that every student receives the same caliber of excellent educational services and learning opportunities regardless of their individual socio-economic status. As members of the School Board we must be aware that in this highly affluent county there are a growing number of families in which both parents or a single parent must work multiple jobs in order to just subsist and therefore have limitations on discretionary income. These income limitations and parental time constraints make it difficult for some students to participate in band and athletic programs. This situation is ripe for businesses, non-profits, and faith-based organizations to partner with the FCPS and explore innovative ways to facilitate access to music, arts, and athletics without over dependence on discretionary family income and by doing so, as a community, mitigating the actual and perceived disparities amongst all children. 

Follow-up question: How does the School Board and Board of Supervisors plan to help the most needy schools, as its budget continues to shrink?

As the budget becomes tighter, it is imperative that the School Board establish an independent audit function reporting directly to the School Board to help identify operational efficiencies and opportunities for more effective reallocation of funding to yield better service system wide.

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Sheree Brown-Kaplan: School Board and Board of Supervisors need to collaborate to fund intervention and involvement programs for needy schools.

Schools with difficulty meeting AYP are typically those with disadvantaged students. It’s especially important that these schools employ early interventions for struggling students and find ways to maximize their parent involvement. The needs of the student population should be identified by the individual school’s leadership working hand-in-hand with their teachers and parents. The School Board and central office administrators must be prepared to address school needs based on that input. Real collaboration between the School Board and the Board of Supervisors is needed to ensure the funds to support such efforts. This is dependent on fostering a relationship between our supervisors and the School Board that promotes confidence that our public investment in education is properly managed.

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Check Patch again for more questions and answers.