A Fairfax elementary student might soon see her artwork on Google’s homepage.
Google announced today (Wednesday) that Arya Pribadi, a student at Greenbriar West Elementary School in Chantilly, has been named a finalist in its “Doodle for Google” contest. Her drawing, which depicts a family of four celebrating the COVID-19 vaccine, was selected from tens of thousands of K-12 student submissions nationwide.
With just days to go before Fairfax County Public Schools finalizes its fiscal year 2025 budget, teachers voiced frustration this week with the news that school employees will get lower-than-expected pay raises.
As it stands, the Fairfax County School Board is on track to adopt a revised budget that includes a 3% pay increase for all school employees, down from the initially proposed 6%, starting July 1.
Facing lower-than-expected revenue from the county and state, Fairfax County Public Schools is considering a proposal to reduce staff pay raises.
Under Superintendent Michelle Reid’s new proposal, presented at last week’s school board meeting, all school employees would receive a 3% pay increase instead of the initially planned 6%, which would’ve made starting teacher salaries in Fairfax County the highest among surrounding jurisdictions.
A fourth-grade teacher at Colin Powell Elementary School in Centreville for more than 20 years has been named the Washington Post’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.
The newspaper announced last Tuesday, April 23 that Laura Senturia had earned the title — and a $7,500 prize — for her “rare talent for identifying her students’ innermost strengths.”
Real estate taxes will likely go up for Fairfax County homeowners in the coming year, but perhaps not by as much as they could.
The Board of Supervisors plans to approve a 3-cent tax rate increase, down from the four cents that was advertised. That will reduce the average tax bill hike from about $524 to just over $450.
Nearly 14 years after Clifton Elementary School shuttered, its sign has been repurposed.
The sign now serves as a bulletin for local organizations, businesses, and community groups to promote events such as farmers markets, cultural celebrations and educational workshops.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors faces tough decisions ahead of next week’s budget markup session, following demands from local unions to increase county employees’ wages.
Last week, dozens of county employees from various departments gathered at a series of public hearings to protest the 2% market rate adjustment (MRA) included in the county executive’s proposed fiscal year 2025 budget — asking instead for an increase of at least 4%.
(Updated at 1 p.m.) Fairfax County police are investigating an evidently unfounded bomb threat that forced an evacuation of West Potomac High School this morning (Wednesday).
A search of the school at 6500 Quander Road in Belle Haven revealed “no suspicious devices,” police announced at 12:26 p.m.
(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) A counselor at Glasgow Middle School in Lincolnia is facing criminal charges after he allegedly head-butted an 11-year-old student last week.
Detectives began investigating the reported assault on April 16 and found that Craig Small, a 44-year-old Lorton resident, assaulted the student and “carried him out of the cafeteria” in response to the student calling him “a derogative name,” according to the Fairfax County Police Department.
Fairfax County Public School Board members have finalized a first draft of the division’s new boundary adjustment policy, which is scheduled for a full board review next month.
The major updates to the new policy mandate that the superintendent adhere to a specific set of criteria when drawing school boundary lines and require a county-wide review of school boundaries every five years.
