by Adele Uphaus MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT Participants in Wednesday’s school-community roundtable hosted by Fredericksburg City Public Schools were almost finished allocating an additional $1 million in funding when event MC Lori Mueller tossed in a few last-minute curve balls to the mock-budgeting event. “We have some last-minute funding requests that have come in,” Mueller […]
String Queens bring orchestral music to all
By Adele Uphaus When she was performing in regional youth orchestras while growing up, it was rare for Kendall Isadore to see another person who looked like her. “I was always the only one in my all-state orchestra, or one of two,” Isadore said. “It’s hard. We’ve always been the only ones.” Orchestras throughout the […]
State Board of Education approves two regional lab schools
by Adele Uphaus MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT Last week’s approval by the state Board of Education of two new lab school applications brings the total new schools approved in Virginia to three – and two of them are connected with colleges in the Fredericksburg area. The Academy of Technology and Innovation (ATI) at the University […]
Spotsylvania student injured while boarding school bus
by Adele Uphaus MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT A 14-year-old student was struck by a motorist while attempting to board a school bus in Spotsylvania in the early morning of Nov. 15. The driver, a 20-year-old, failed to yield to the bus’s displayed stop signs and flashing lights, according to a press release from the Spotsylvania […]
Specialty centers are coming to Stafford high schools in fall of 2024
by Adele Uphaus MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT Specialty centers are coming to Stafford County high schools in the fall of 2024. The School Board at its regular meeting on Tuesday approved a program of studies for high school that includes launching three specialty centers that will provide “enhanced four-year courses of study, preserve and integrate […]
Spotsylvania School Board tables book policy changes indefinitely
by Adele Uphaus MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT The Spotsylvania School Board on Monday evening voted to indefinitely table proposed revisions to its policy and regulations concerning the selection and review of instructional materials. Berkeley district representative April Gillespie made the motion to table the revisions and was supported by board members Dawn Shelley, Nicole Cole […]
Stafford School Board to discuss ALL-IN VA plan at work session
Stafford County Public Schools has completed its plan for implementing Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s ALL IN VA learning loss recovery initiative and the School Board will discuss it at a work session on Tuesday. According to the agenda for the work session, the division expects to receive $10.4 million in one-time funding to provide “high-dosage” tutoring […]
Spotsy School Board to consider more revisions to policy concerning library books
The Spotsylvania School Board on Monday will consider approving additional revisions to its policy and regulations concerning the selection and review of instructional materials. On the whole, the proposed changes represent compromises arrived at by an ad hoc book policy review committee that met four times over the summer, according to committee member Bernadette Chimner. […]
Winners in Spotsylvania and Stafford school board races prepare for what’s next
Perhaps the biggest local story from Tuesday’s election is the flip of the Spotsylvania School Board from Tea Party-aligned control. Incumbent Livingston representative Kirk Twigg, who described himself to voters as the “anti-woke” candidate and is facing a felony charge of forgery and tampering of public records, lost his bid for reelection to a third […]
Imperial Takeover
Augustus was pulling off coups long before Lisa Phelps came on the scene. Educated citizens will understand the reference. The chairman of Spotsylvania County’s school board, however, surely won’t. That would require reading – and given her desire to ban and burn books with “pornography,” we assume anything from, or about, the Roman Empire is […]