Four years of HS Physical Education?

Constituent Question: "Is it true that HS students will now be required to take four years of Phys Ed instead of two?"

Answer: No. According to the Virginia Department of Education, this is just a rumor.

LCPS staff tells me that a similar rumor surfaces every year that the driving age is increasing to 18. The rumors are similar because they probably start with upperclassmen yanking some upcoming freshman's chain.

Senior Class Pranks

I'm in my first year as a high school parent, so I have a lot to learn. This week I learned about senior class pranks when I went by Potomac Falls HS yesterday morning and found that the seniors had staged a takeover of the parking lot. They had a sign directing "underclassmen" back towards the gym. Dozens of them were standing around, lounging on cars, waving the underclassmen cars past. Their cars were scattered chaotically around the parking lot.

I don't know much about this tradition or even about what happened yesterday; I hope people will share more, or tell me if I've heard wrong. Here's a little of what I heard:

• Each year's prank is coordinated with an assistant principal, so it's a surprise but has some prior review by an adult.

• A previous class removed all of the chairs from the lunchroom, with the exception of a few tables that were marked "Reserved for Seniors." The rest of the school had to stand at lunch.
  

• In one year, PFHS seniors built a classroom out of desks. I'm not sure what to make of that one, I get the feeling I'm missing some key info here.
  

My favorite:

• One class put alarm clocks in the ceiling tiles scattered around the school. A few of them were still going off periodically at the start of the next school year because they couldn't be found.

School Nutrition Advisory Councils

I attended a meeting tonight of the School Board's Health, Safety & Wellness committee. It was the kind of meeting that I wish had more attention from the community, because it (and the several committee meetings like it) was a real opportunity to talk in depth about a subject with senior administrators... in this case about a particular aspect of nutrition in schools. In addition to four school board members we had in the small conference room:

• Superintendent Ed Hatrick
• Assistant Superintendent Ms. Sharon Ackerman
• Assistant Superintendent Dr. Mary Kealy
  
• Director of Elementary Education Dr. Mike Martin
• Director of Curriculum & Instruction Mr. Peter Hughes
• Supervisor of Food Services Jinny Demastes

At this particular meeting we discussed the Governor's Nutrition and Physical Activity Scorecard. This year 32 LCPS schools applied for evaluation under this program, which includes aspects affected both by district-wide practices and by individual school practices. One of the school-level scoring practices is the existence of Nutrition Advisory Councils... just a way of saying that the school has a way for parents to provide input to cafeteria operations.

I do get a fair amount of parent input on school cafeterias, and I'm a frequent LCPS diner myself. I'm going to make a habit of recommending to parents who provide that input that they join their school's Nutrition Advisory Council if there is one, and start one if there isn't.

Butting Heads

I came across a story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch this morning about School Boards & Boards of Supervisors, their perpetual conflict over budgeting, and how relationships have deteriorated during the recession. The School Board will discuss the future of the Joint Committee of the School Board & Board of Supervisors tomorrow night, this article is a good read in advance of that discussion.

The article cites Powhatan, Chesterfield and Goochland counties and their conflicts over the budget, which sound very familiar to folks her in Loudoun.

"Where some of our frustration comes in is sometimes when we hear -- over the last couple of years -- that they want more information about how we do our budget," Trammell said.

He said school leaders provide as much detail as possible, but feels that the supervisors sometimes approach the point of micromanagement.

"Sometimes they find themselves making a value judgment without enough information," he said. "I wouldn't know how to try to second-guess their decision on mental health and all the services they provide. I wouldn't know more than to try to make a judgment on that than the man on the moon."

Walton said that in Powhatan, the main problem is the details -- or the lack thereof.

"In a recession, where you're pulling back on funds, you need good information," he said, adding that he never felt they received that level of clarity. "If you can't get numbers that add up forwards and backwards, you're lost in the wilderness."

The article also cites the Hanover, Henrico and Richmond as examples of Boards that work well together for different reasons (an appointed SB, a good County administrator and a common enemy, respectively).

[Richmond Times Dispatch]