Prince William Health District to step in, vaccinate teachers: sources
The Prince William Health District will step in to vaccinate teachers, sources tell PLN.
The health district will receive 3,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine to give to teachers in Prince William County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
Novant / UVA Health System will also provide an additional 2,400 doses at the Unity Reed clinic. That’s on top of the 2,700 amounts it provided teachers last weekend.
The newly announced vaccination clinic will be held his weekend at Unity Reed High School (formerly Stonewall Jackson High School) outside Manassas. A formal announcement on the new clinic is expected at tonight’s Prince William County School Board meeting starting at 6 p.m.
Prince William keeps up pressure to return students, overrules superintendent Lateef
School leaders are hopeful they can get more children back into classrooms by March.
During an emergency meeting Tuesday, the Prince William County School Board voted to overturn Superintendent Steven L. Walts’ plan that would have delayed the return of students’ in the fourth through 12th grades until after spring break in late April.
Prince William Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Steven Walts.When it was announced on January 6, Walts’ plan stunned parents and students hoping to return to the classroom at 50 percent capacity starting on February 2, the goal since October.
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.
Effort rename the soon-to-open Gainesville High School likely to fail A image rendering a prototype of the 13th High School.
The Prince William County School Board will revisit Gainesville High School’s name six months after selecting the school’s name, which has yet to open.
Occoquan District School Board Representative Lillie Jessie has asked to reconsider the naming of the school, according to the Jan. 6, 2021, School Board meeting agenda. There are few details included with the agenda posting.
Jessie and the seven other elected members of the School Board voted unanimously on June 10, 2020, to name the new school “Gainesville,” as name the school’s library after fallen Prince William County police officer Ashley Guindon, who was shot and killed on her first day on the job, February 26, 2016.
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.