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Tag: prince william county school board

  • New redistricting plan emerges for Woodbridge Area and Potomac Shores elementary schools – WTOP News

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    A modified version of the recommended redistricting scenario for the “Woodbridge Area” and “Potomac Shores” elementary schools emerged at the Prince William County School Board meeting Jan. 21.

    This article was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.

    A modified version of the recommended redistricting scenario for the “Woodbridge Area” and “Potomac Shores” elementary schools emerged at the Prince William County School Board meeting Jan. 21.

    The current recommended scenario — dubbed Scenario 6 — would reassign over 2,600 students to new schools. It also includes the closure of the aging Potomac View Elementary School.

    The Woodbridge Area elementary, set to open in the 2026-27 school year, will have a program capacity of roughly 630 students, while the new Potomac Shores elementary, set to open the following year, will accommodate just over 1,000 students.

    Under Scenario 6, all of the affected schools would be within compliance over the next several years for capacity utilization, with no school exceeding 105% and other schools moving away from being less than 80% utilized.

    The proposed redistricting would mean 2,660 students are reassigned to a new school, roughly 31% of the students who attend the affected schools.

    The proposal maintains current boundaries for student walkers wherever possible, school system officials said, and students who attend Kilby Elementary would progress to one middle school — Fred Lynn — rather than two.

    Under this scenario, students at Pattie Elementary School would progress to only one high school, Forest Park, and are no longer split between two middle schools. Vaughan Elementary School is reduced from three geographic progressions to two.

    The school system ultimately recommended Scenario 6 with specific parameters for implementation, including:

    • Rising fifth-grade students will not be reassigned. All rising fifth graders residing in areas affected by the adjustments may remain at their currently assigned elementary school for their fifth-grade year.

    • The attendance area for the Woodbridge area elementary school will take effect beginning in the 2026-27 school year.

    • All remaining elementary school attendance area adjustments, including the establishment of the Potomac Shores elementary school attendance area, will take effect beginning in the 2027-28 school year.

    • Students in grades other than rising fifth graders who reside in areas reassigned effective of the 2027-28 school year will attend the school to which they are newly-assigned beginning in that school year.

    The board held a public hearing on redistricting Jan. 21, where several community members expressed discontent with the recommended proposal.

    Parent Shannon Quarles said Scenario 6 poses a problem for people who live in the Forest Park community.

    The proposed redistricting would move Forest Park families from Pattie Elementary to Dumfries Elementary.

    While the Forest Park communities are within one mile of Dumfries Elementary, Quarles said it is not a safe route for students walking to and from school.

    “There are no sidewalks and no crosswalks along the busy Van Buren and Basetown roads,” Quarles said. “So despite proximity, our children do not have safe access to Dumfries Elementary as walkers.”

    Justin Wilk, who represents the Potomac District, which is most affected by the redistricting, offered a motion last week to direct the school system to create a modified version of the recommended plan.

    Specifically, Wilk requested that students in the “Graham Park corridor” remain at their current school, which is Dumfries Elementary. He also requested that students from the Forest Park area be moved to Covington-Harper Elementary School

    “I believe these changes will maintain attendance area contiguity to the greatest extent possible while balancing capacity utilization across the schools impacted,” Wilk said.

    Wilk’s motion was approved in 7-0-1 vote, with Vice Chair Richard Jessie, who was participating in the meeting electronically, abstaining.

    The board is expected to finalize the redistricting scenario on Feb. 4, when the school system will present the final Scenario 6 with Wilk’s amendments.

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    Ciara Wells

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  • ‘School boards are the front lines for democracy’: Prince William Co. chair Lateef launches lieutenant governor run – WTOP News

    ‘School boards are the front lines for democracy’: Prince William Co. chair Lateef launches lieutenant governor run – WTOP News

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    Babur Lateef, the chairman of the Prince William County School Board, has launched his campaign to be lieutenant governor, saying “the idea that Virginia somehow is in an educational crisis is a complete myth.”

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    Babur Lateef announces candidacy for Lt. Governor of Virginia

    Babur Lateef, the chairman of the Prince William County School Board, has launched his campaign to be lieutenant governor, telling WTOP in an exclusive interview that “the idea that Virginia somehow is in an educational crisis is a complete myth.”

    “Glenn Youngkin has done real harm to the spirit of partnership within our communities,” Lateef said, while announcing his bid to be the Democratic candidate for the November 2025 election, to succeed Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.

    Lateef is currently the sole candidate who has filed for the position, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. 

    In his six years as school board chair, Lateef points to his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, the transition back to in-person learning and the focus on Northern Virginia school boards, which fueled Youngkin’s election in 2020 and continues today.

    “I think we’ve done a good job in Prince William County over the last few years of focusing and prioritizing student and family needs, and as the largest employer in the county, also doing a lot for teachers, in giving them historic pay raises,” said Lateef.

    Lateef said the Prince William County Board added to its core mission: “Mental health (care) for our students, as well as safety and security, which unfortunately in this day and age requires us to do more things such as artificial intelligence scanners, and adding more police officers and SROs to schools.”

    Echoing the themes of his first campaign video, released Friday, Lateef said “School boards are the front lines for democracy.”

    Lateef said school board meetings have always been a place for parents to voice their opinions and suggestions to the school board members they’ve elected.

    In the past several years, school board meetings in Northern Virginia are often contentious, with attendees and political advocates often sharing video clips on social media.

    “There’s been a lot of folks trying to divide us with culture wars on book banning, diversity, equity and inclusion,” Lateef said. “I would call much of this ‘manufactured crisis,’ because we are really doing a great job in our county, the 10th most diverse county in the country and the most diverse county in the Commonwealth.”

    Lateef says he stands proudly behind Virginia’s public schools.

    “There are folks that are not happy with the way things are being run, and I think there are just people manufacturing a lot of this crisis, and making it look like the schools are something they are not,” Lateef said. “They remain to be America’s greatest hope.”

    Under Virginia’s election system, voters could choose a governor of one party to serve with a lieutenant governor of another party.

    Youngkin is barred by Virginia law from seeking a second term. WTOP asked Lateef how well he could work with a Republican governor.

    “I think I would tell the current governor, if I was in office, that there is no crisis there,” said Lateef. “And, if you believe there’s a crisis, let’s solve those crises, let’s invest in the things that we all agree need work.”

    As he launches his campaign early, in hopes of spreading his message outside the Northern Virginia enclave, Lateef said teacher pay statewide needs to be increased, plus older schools need to be replaced, “especially in southwest Virginia, and the different parts of the state that don’t have the tax base we have in Northern Virginia.

    “There’s a lot more work that we can do in the southwest, in Virginia Beach and Norfolk, and Richmond — health care, and we’ve got to commit to working for families and helping create jobs.”

    Lateef points to the state’s ability to lure Amazon to build its second headquarters, which in part was because of Virginia’s education opportunities and educated workforce.

    “We want to attract those kinds of jobs here, high-paying jobs. We want to help working families, reproductive rights for women, and education — those are our real priorities,” Lateef said.

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    Neal Augenstein

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