School Board Member at Large (Kyle McDaniel) | Fairfax County Public Schools

Kyle McDaniel School Board Updates - May 2024

School Board Member at Large (Kyle McDaniel) 4 weeks 2 days ago

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McDaniel School Board Updates

A lot has been going on since my last communication with you: budget, boundaries, and now we have a new cell phone pilot program that will be rolled out Fall 2024. See below for more information:

Budget:The Superintendent has adjusted her proposed budget which reduces planned expenditures by almost $100m. Below I explain why, and provide a view into the next two weeks of final budget deliberations.
Boundaries:As a member of the Governance Committee, I have been fortunate to have a seat at the table for the ongoing discussions about the boundary policies. Below, I address this issue, provide some facts, bust some myths, and outline the options before the School Board.
Cell Phones:You may have seen the press coverage from WTOP , WUSA9 , and NBC4 , but there is a lot to learn from the various policies that the School Board passed last week. I outline where we are, and where I hope we go in the update below.

I invite you to follow my social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram for updates I will share in between the monthly newsletter updates. As always, I welcome your feedback and if you have an issue you'd like to share with me, please send it via my school board website link.

Respectfully,

Kyle McDaniel

Budget Updates

As you may recall, in my last newsletter, I explained that the struggle in Virginia for education funding mostly rests with the broken structure at the state level. In Fairfax County, we are unfairly penalized for our “affluence”, which means less funding per pupil. This means our local government is expected to pick up the tab to fund our schools. If you notice your property taxes increasing, this is a consequence of Virginia’s lack of state-level funding for K-12 education. We need to do better.

In the meantime, we play the cards we’re dealt. In this case, it means cutting back the Superintendent’s proposed spending by almost $100m. How will we cut back her spending? Unfortunately, we do that by reducing the pay raise for all employees from 6% to 3%. This essentially makes up for the ~$100m underfunding from the Commonwealth and Board of Supervisors, while protecting class sizes, programs, and all the additional services your public schools provide on a daily basis.

I am often asked how much FCPS would save by not giving “administrator” pay raises. I asked this question to budget staff. The answer, based on my back-of-the-napkin math, is roughly $2m per 1% raise. Conversely, to give “non-administrators” a 1% raise, its costs $26.5m. The point being, eliminating administrator pay raises won’t do much of anything to provide any meaningful level of funding for teachers in the classrooms.

As the Vice Chairman of the School Board Budget Committee, I have been intimately involved with this process. I am disappointed that the School Board was not given the funding by the state and county to provide a 6% pay raise. I will keep working with the Board of Supervisors and the FCPS budget staff to develop innovative ways to focus our resources where they are most needed: in the classrooms.

Upcoming Meetings related to the Budget:

Tuesday, May 21, 2-4pm: Budget Work Session(Gatehouse)
Thursday, May 23, 7pm: Regular Meeting(Luther Jackson MS): The School Board will vote on the proposed budget and any related amendments or follow-on motions.

Superintendent Proposed FY 2025 Budget from May 9th, 2024 School Board Meeting

Boundaries

Over the last few weeks, the Governance Committee, of which I am a member, has grappled with updating the School Board’s boundary policy ( Policy 8130 ). These conversations are still ongoing, but I wanted to update everyone directly.

The current boundary policy has been largely left untouched for nearly 40 years. This has directly contributed to significant problems across Fairfax County Public Schools to include: split feeders, overcrowded schools, imbalanced academic programming, one-hour long bus commutes one way, extensive pupil placement exceptions, chaotic renovation queues, lopsided athletic facilities, etc. As I said in my last newsletter, its long past time to update this policy and begin the much-needed process of correcting these problems.

What does that mean, practically?It means that the School Board will update policy 8130 and charge the Superintendent with implementing it, as we do with every other policy. Here are some common questions I get about this process:

Will every school boundary be redrawn? No. This policy update is intended to address the exceptional problems that the current policy has allowed to exist, and even perpetuate. This update will not mean a complete redraw of all boundaries. My view on this is very simple: let’s keep what works, and fix what’s broken.
Will this result in more “bussing”? No, and quite the opposite in fact. The current policy has led to kids being on one-hour long bus rides to get to their base school. The new policy language requires the Superintendent to prioritize efficient transportation as a consideration when developing boundaries. Long and short, this new policy is designed to reduce how much time kids spend on busses. I think we can all agree that less time in traffic is a good thing for everyone.
Will my rising senior be able to graduate from their current school if the boundary changes and moves them to another school? Yes. I can confidently say that grandfather provisions (aka phasing) are being included in the new policy to address this exact scenario. The Governance Committee has specifically addressed this concern with the Superintendent, and I am committed to making this happen.
When will the new boundaries be implemented?I can’t say for sure, but I’d suspect Fall 2025 at the earliest. Perhaps, more reasonably, I’d say Fall 2026. My position has been that the School Board implements the new boundary lines once they are drawn and approved following an extensive public outreach process.

As this policy update continues to advance, I will keep you up to date.

Cell Phone Policy Update

Last week, the School Board adopted my motion for a pilot program to address the secure storage of cell phones in our schools. I am looking forward to hearing more from the Superintendent on her exact proposal. I have toured dozens of schools in the last 4 months in all corners of Fairfax County, and I can confidently say that we need to implement procedures that help teachers enforce the current rules. The Superintendent will come back with her proposal for the pilot before school starts, likely sometime in July.

I also supported a proposal requiring the Superintendent to develop options for a more aggressive “crack down” on cell phones across all grade levels. We've asked the Superintendent to bring back both the results of the pilot program, and the menu of options, by next Spring. In the meantime, my proposal for an aggressive public relations campaign will help raise awareness of the current rules and expectations about cell phones. Stay tuned for more updates.

I recognize that cell phones are a hot topic that elicit strong opinions on both sides of the issue. We need parents and guardians to be partners at the table to help manage this for the kids in the classrooms. I hear from teachers that managing cell phones is extremely difficult, and that they need help. Let’s all jump in to help so our teachers can do what they do best: teach.

Upcoming School Board Meetings

Monday, May 20, 2-4pm: Governance Committee(Gatehouse)

Tuesday, May 21, 2-4pm: Work Session - Budget (Gatehouse)
Tuesday, May 21, 4:30-8pm: Advisory Committee Reports(Gatehouse)
Thursday, May 23, 7pm: Regular Meeting(Luther Jackson MS)

Please note that times and topics are subject to change.

The work sessions and regular meetings will be broadcast live on Channel 99 (Verizon channel 11) and the FCPS website . Both will be recorded for future viewing and posted to the FCPS School Board YouTube channel .

For Spanish speakers, to watch recorded School Board meetings, or live during regular meetings, visit the FCPS en Espanol YouTube channel

Come and work with us in the School Board Office!

We are seeking a Deputy Clerk to help ensure our elected School Board is meeting its mission to provide an excellent education to our 182,000+ students and maintains its status as a top employer for our 45,000 educators and staff!

This high-level job is fast-paced; includes working with policy and legal matters; requires strong project management, communication, and collaboration skills; and will require flexible hours that may include weeknights and occasional weekends. The position works from the FCPS Central Office in Falls Church, right off of I-495 (the Capital Beltway).

Click here to learn more and to apply: Deputy Clerk Job Listing

Share Your Thoughts on Middle School Start Times

Attend a forum to hear about adolescent sleep research from an expert, learn about FCPS’ ongoing middle school start times study, and participate in small group discussions. All forums will deliver the same presentation and provide the same feedback opportunities. Breakout sessions will be held for middle school students to share their voices. Students are encouraged to attend!

Monday, May 20 , 6-8 p.m., at Hughes Middle School .
Wednesday, May 22 , 6-8 p.m., at Frost Middle School .

While registration is not required, it does help with planning. Language interpretation and childcare will be provided. Learn more about the project exploring middle school start times .

Register Today for FCPS Summer Camps

Registration for FCPS Career and Technical Education (CTE) camps and Institute for the Arts (IFTA/E-IFTA) camps closes on Friday, June 7. Tuition is waived for students eligible for free and reduced-price meals. Bus transportation is available from select FCPS high schools and middle schools. Learn more about Summer Learning and Fun for Students .

The views contained within this newsletter reflect the views of the individual school board member who is the publisher of this newsletter and may not reflect the views of the Fairfax County School Board.

Web | Phone: 571-423-1090
Julie Shepard, Staff Aide, 571-423-1078