As Fairfax County Public Schools superintendent Jack Dale fielded questions from residents of McLean last week, no particular issue stood out in the crowd. Rather, concerns ranged from inadequate recess time for elementary school students, to annoyance over the time of year designated for class portraits.
Dale discussed the new Fairfax County Public Schools budget at the Jan. 18 McLean Citizens Association general membership meeting, and then addressed concerns in a question and answer session.
"This year's budget is probably one of the leanest that I've ever put together," said Dale. "The county's revenue and our revenue is highly dependent on property taxes, so the total revenue coming into the county was very minimally increased this year."
Dale said this year's budget increased about four and a half percent from last year's budget, and that approximately 85 percent of this year's money will be put toward Fairfax County Public Schools employee costs.
"I have got to pay attention to employee salaries and benefits in order to stay competitive," said Dale. "There is only a two percent cost of living pay increase for employees in this budget, which isn't that much. I'd like to do more, but if you don't have the money, you don't have the money."
DALE ALSO spoke about the Fairfax County School Board's commitment to moving away from "minimum competencies."
"We want to ensure that every one of our students, when they graduate is conversant in at least two languages," said Dale. "We are very much behind the rest of the world in language acquisition."
Kent Gardens Elementary School parent Catherine Lorenze said that while she is an avid supporter of the foreign language initiative, she is concerned about the discrepancy in the amount of money allotted to foreign language programs, compared to the amount of money allotted to English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs.
"There is $60 million being given to ESOL programs this year, but the foreign language budget is only $3 million," said Lorenze. "How can the county more affordably teach children English? That is a huge amount of money."
Dale said that the high costs of ESOL programs are due to the stringent competency requirements set forth by the school system.
"We have to get our students up to English level as soon as possible," said Dale. "When they hit level 3, we have to fully test them in reading, English, social studies ... and we're held accountable for that."
Dale said that the three student groups that cost the most to educate are ESOL students, special education students and students who come from impoverished backgrounds. He estimates that they can cost anywhere between 200 to 300 percent more to educate than other students.
ANOTHER PARENT asked about upcoming changes in the structure and procedures of the Fairfax County School Board. Jane Strauss, Fairfax County School Board member for the Dranesville District, said that the newly implemented changes will result in the board having "considerably more accountability."
"We are looking for a much closer partnership with parents," said Strauss. "We want to get as much done as we can to fit with what the community expects, but also with what parents expect in regards to their individual child."
McLean resident Jan Auerbach asked Dale about his position on requiring students to complete a certain number of hours of community service.
"It's kind of an oxymoron," said Dale. "How do you teach kids to have a voluntary sense of civic engagement, and then require it? It's an interesting question, and we're wrestling with that issue right now."
Louise Epstein, president of the Fairfax County Association for the Gifted, said that she would like to see above-grade level testing incorporated into the curriculum.
"The only tests that are reported on are reported at grade level," said Epstein, who has a daughter at Thomas Jefferson High School, and two children at Longfellow Middle School. "In McLean and Great Falls, where our students could achieve a pass/advance score at the beginning of the year before they learn anything, why can't we have above-grade level testing for them?"
Dale said that this would not be out of the question, and is in line with the goals of the Fairfax County School Board.
"That's the direction we're going," said Dale. "We cannot just look at SOL's [Standards of Learning] or pass/advances."