2) Board Chair and Vice-Chair
Please join me in congratulating Dawn Page on her re-election as School Board Chair and Liz Doerr on her election as Vice-Chair. I'm looking forward to working closely with both of them over the coming year to implement Dreams4RPS, our new strategic plan. I also want to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Sapini for his service as Vice Chair last year. His insights and perspective have been invaluable. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with him and the rest of the Board in 2019!
3) State Funding
The General Assembly is back in session and things are moving fast. Our advocacy team is working with the Richmond delegation to put forth favorable amendments. We're deeply grateful to our delegation, as they've bent over backwards to help us on some very tight timelines. Big shout-out to Delegates Adams, Bagby, Bourne, Carr, and McQuinn; and Senators Dance, McClellan, and Sturtevant. Thank you!
When I talk to people about state advocacy, the first question I usually get is:
What exactly should we be advocating for?
That's an excellent question. You can find our full legislative agenda
here
. Take a moment to look through it and decide on 3 items that are most compelling to you and focus on those.
The next question I get is:
What exactly should I do? I don't really know what it means to advocate.
Also an excellent question. To help, we've created an advocacy toolkit. You can download it
here
.
Last question I get:
Does this really matter?
Absolutely. If we all share our stories - whether we're students, families, RPS staff, or community members - I fundamentally believe we'll move the needle on public education funding in the Commonwealth. But we need everyone to pitch in. Remember, since the recession, Virginia is down 9% in education funding, but we're up 5% in student enrollment. There's one word for that: unjust.
To help generate public pressure on the General Assembly, I urge you to mark
Monday, January 28 on your calendars for the #RedForEd march, which will begin at 11 am at Monroe Park
. A few details:
- That's a PD day so there's no school for students.
- All staff - school and central - are welcome to participate in the march without taking a leave day.
- Staff members who choose to participate do not need to report to their normal work sites in the morning; they can go directly to Monroe Park.
- For staff members who need help with transportation to Monroe Park, we will have bus service from the following hubs:
- Armstrong HS
- Thomas Jefferson HS
- Huguenot HS
- George Wythe HS
- John Marshall HS
- Arthur Ashe Center
- Note that the buses will depart from these hubs starting at 10 am.
- Staff members who do not wish to participate in the march should report to their normal work sites at the normal times. Teachers and other school-based staff can use the day for self-directed professional learning.
- We will be holding optional PD sessions for teachers from 2-4 pm that afternoon. More details about these sessions will come shortly.
- You can get more information about the #RedForEd march here.
4) Restorative Justice
Action 3.2 of our strategic plan, Dreams4RPS, is the following: "Make 'restorative justice' practices a core pillar of the 'RPS Way' by providing long-term, meaningful training for our educators and support staff on the skills necessary to resolve conflicts, increase empathy, and reduce suspensions."
I'm delighted to report that we're on our way! Under the amazing leadership of Ram Bhagat, several months ago we launched restorative justice pilots at three schools: Albert Hill MS, Boushall MS, and MLK MS. The leadership teams from these schools all came together last weekend for additional training on how to conduct "restorative circles," through which students (and even staff) work through the challenges confronting them in a positive, supportive, and constructive manner.
I had a chance to speak briefly with everyone at the training and I'm thrilled to share that they feel this work is already making a difference in their schools. When I recently visited Albert Hill, Principal Sears shared that "In-School Suspension" is now really "Restorative Justice Circle Time," which has transformed outcomes for her students.
We still have a long, long way to go on this work, but I'm very excited about the progress we're making and deeply grateful to the staff at these three schools for leading the way.