Voices: Teachers union pushes for pay raises, promotions for food service, transportation employees Hansford
Prince William Education Association President Maggie Hansford spoke before the Prince William County School Board on February 8 to push for raises for school employees.
I just want to start off by making Dr. Walts for making educators a priority in this year’s budget.
There are a couple of things that I would like you to consider when you are working on this year’s budget. I know you have a lot of priorities and a tall task.
I would like for you to consider a 2% cost of living adjustment for our staff. It looks like inflation is estimated at 2 percent, so a staffer earning their STEP (salary increase), and the cost of living (salary increase) every year should reflect that inflation.
More than half of school children surveyed in Prince William County say they’re having problems focusing on their work.
The children, who attend classes virtually, say teachers are too quick to assign work and aren’t taking the time to explain the lesson.
In late November, Prince William County Public Schools received 56,000 responses to an online survey to gauge how virtual education is progressing during the pandemic. The majority of the 89,000 students in the school division are taking online classes as officials have opted to leave many classrooms shuttered in the wake of rising cases of the coronavirus.
A total of 61% of the 26,000 middle and high school students surveyed said they couldn’t concentrate during online coursework and virtual video lectures. At the elementary level, 35% of 13,000 children surveyed said they were having problems focusing.
Diversity, transparency tops wishlist for new Prince William schools leader
Updated at December 28, 2020 - Uriah Kiser Prince William Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Steven Walts.
More than 20 people have already applied to replace Dr. Steven L. Walts, one of the longest-serving public school superintendents in Virginia.
Walts has led the Prince William County Public Schools for the past 15 years and will retire on July 1, 2021. The Prince William County School Board on December 17 voted unanimously to approve a candidate profile, which is intended to has made it clear to applicants what qualities it’s looking for in Walts’ replacement.
The school division contracted with BPW Associates to hire a new superintendent. It will stop accepting applications for the job on January 27, begin interviews in February, and select six finalists the following month for the School Board to review.