The long-awaited decision has been made! Prince William County Schools will continue to open starting February 25 and 26 for 4th, 5th, and 6th and 9th grades. For 6th graders it will be their first day in middle school, so to have them in the building by themselves will give opportunity for teachers to orient them to life as middle schoolers! The same applies to 9th graders who will be just entering high school.
March 2 and 3 will see 7th, 8th, 10th -12th grades return to their classrooms. So, all students who wish to have in-person learning will have that opportunity. If they want to remain virtual, they just need to notify their school. As well, students who had opted for virtual may change their status to in-person, too. Specific bell and bus schedules are subject to change.
This schedule had been approved by the school board at their January 12 meeting. They voted on it again Wednesday (February 17) in order to be definite about their proposal. Dr. Walts also put forth an adjusted Return to Classroom schedule that would have brought the last group of students into the buildings early in April. Though his plan was discussed, the fact that the Board accepted its own former proposal by a 5-3 vote nullified the need to vote on Walts’ alternate schedule.
Chairman Lateef said that the public has been preparing for reopening according to what the board proposed in January. Students have planned on it. School principals included virtually at the meeting said they are prepared to open whenever they’re given the go-ahead, so the Board’s vote was reasonable.
That means that next week, February 25 and 26 more students reenter the classroom. Settled at last! Our students matter and take precedence. Good job, School Board!
— Posted by Tom Salmon for Doris, a fellow member of the Prince William and Manassas Family Alliance
Prince William-Manassas Family Alliance 
I wish San Diego Unified would follow suit! The good thing is many, many parents here are in such an uproar agains the unions that I’m sensing a shift, finally in that people have become aware how entwined unions are with he Democratic Party and how little they care fore children,
Anyway, have you seen this story about VA union emails showing how they will fight to keep schools closed?
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/email-records-revealed-how-teachers-unions-are-fighting-to-keep-virginia-schools-shuttered/
@Tricia
That’s an interesting article. Thanks for the link.
Our leadership here in Virginia is diligently trying to turn us into California east. Why the teachers unions go along with this kind of astonishes me. If we had education voucher instead of government-run schools, less of the money would go into administrative overhead. In the long run, teachers would get bigger paychecks, and they would have more individual control over where, what, who, and how they teach.
Their benefits might not look as good, but the way things are now — with states sitting on the precipice of bankruptcy, their benefits look much better than they really are,
My guess is that a large part of the problem is teachers colleges. They use to be quite rigorous. For example, the FBI would hire teachers because they were so well educated. Don’t think that is the case any more. The unions encourage degrees and certifications as barriers to entry into the profession, but these barriers don’t ensure competence. They just require more time and investment to get certified.
My guess is that the anger of parents will eventually have the same effect in California that it is having here. At some point union leaders will begin to realized the politicians won’t back them if they fear losing their jobs. And even in California, if enough people decide to throw the bums out, the people can throw the bums out.
I think you’re right about the teachers colleges not really educating teachers. Well they do but I would imagine on progressive agendas. I also agree that a lot of teachers would favor getting paid and awarded based on merit (the good ones anyway) but their unions have brainwashed them to fear voucher type systems.
Unions really are bad for the country in so many ways. Maybe their horribleness in preventing kids from going back to school will help more people see this.
@Tricia
Unions are a response to monopolistic employers, huge corporations and big government. They have their place, but the can be just as bad as the monopolies they oppose.
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