Comments on Our Loudoun Schools: Budget Q&A: Why Middle School Deans?

The FLES program is a complete waste of time and m...

2010-02-04T21:45:38.851-05:00

The FLES program is a complete waste of time and money. I watch in my classroom as the teacher is "teaching" the kids Spanish and from what I observe, most of the kids are playing with things in their desks, not paying attention or daydreaming. The teacher does nothing but play games and go over the same vocabulary. It is nothing more than a form of recess. I could be using that hour a

I have to agree about FLES. It's a great idea ...

2010-02-02T13:45:28.515-05:00

I have to agree about FLES. It's a great idea in theory but, for whatever reason, it's just not working. Maybe the school system should put it on hold for a few years, save the money and use that time to figure out how to make it effective. My son's class last year learned more Farsi in a two-week preparation for the school's international festival than they learned Spanish in

Profe, I find your comment about FLES very illumin...

2010-02-01T22:12:33.759-05:00

Profe, I find your comment about FLES very illuminating. You know this program is set up so that there is no quantitative assessment of anything the students do during this one hour per week of FLES. This year's freshmen are the first class to go all the way through FLES and SAMs. Isn't it interesting that it hasn't done them a bit of good? Kids I know tell me that, if anything, the

Farmwell parent, Hatrick has been sold a bill of ...

2010-02-01T11:42:16.897-05:00

Farmwell parent,

Hatrick has been sold a bill of goods regarding FLES. I teach Spanish at the high school level and I see no difference in kids that have had FLES and those who have not. Many of my freshmen students don't know colors or numbers despite having had FLES since kindergarten. I welcome any board members to talk to the language teachers at the high school and ask our

From the School Board's budget documents, redu...

2010-01-31T19:51:15.250-05:00

From the School Board's budget documents, reducing FLES to one day per week for grades 3 to 5 would result in savings of $1.2 million. The document says this reduction will "reduce the students' mastery of the language upon leaving elementary school." I challenge LCPS to produce students who have demonstrated a mastery of Spanish from FLES instruction. It also says one of the

How many layers of administrators do we need? Cou...

2010-01-30T14:12:49.788-05:00

How many layers of administrators do we need? Couldn't assistant principals get to know students, handle discipline, and go to band concerts? Or are they all busy in meetings?

Hiding school board votes is beyond the pale. We should be able to check online for every vote that is taken by our representatives on the school board. Frank Wolf has his every vote on his website.

@Farmwell Parent - I agree that without them who&#...

2010-01-29T15:40:38.993-05:00

@Farmwell Parent - I agree that without them who's going to do their work. I get it. I'm not saying they're a waste. Just that I haven't gotten what is expected from them. My kids come home and tell me things that make me cringe. They don't feel like they can go to the dean or principal (or even the nurse) because they have been made to feel unimportant and at times ridiculed.

2010-01-29T15:39:36.697-05:00

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Did everyone notice that new Chairman John Stevens...

2010-01-29T11:14:44.520-05:00

Did everyone notice that new Chairman John Stevens has eliminated roll call votes? So when things like this may come up for a vote for reductions, no one will know who voted what way. Yet another tactic to try to shield the politically doomed school bhoard members from voter accountability. It won't work, each vote will then just tarnish everyone. Of course I expect all of you to be

Middle School deans are not a luxury! I am a paren...

2010-01-28T11:32:21.861-05:00

Middle School deans are not a luxury! I am a parent, not a teacher, and I can tell you my child's dean is a godsend.

The deans have your children for three years, and believe me nobody in the middle school knows your child better than his/her dean. Their list of responsibilities is endless. They are in the front lines of discipline, keeping boisterous kids in line, and protecting

I'm going to be absolutely honest here. As a ...

2010-01-28T11:03:37.896-05:00

I'm going to be absolutely honest here. As a parent of 2 middle schoolers in LCPS I have NO relationship w/the deans. I have contacted them on occasions due to bullying problems w/my kids and never felt that helpful "closeness" you speak of. I'm sure they are helpful in some way but in my cases, they were just another person "dealing" with an issue.

This is the second post that seems to be addressin...

2010-01-28T07:45:35.396-05:00

This is the second post that seems to be addressing citizen concerns about how our money is spent. This is also the second post that appears to be justifying the added and extra expenses of (what I would consider to be) luxury, unnecessary expenditures. Until our school board can stop, take a step back and view the bigger picture, we will continue to have unrelenting spending on frivolous items