June 1 - 7, 2023
Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee
Fou n d e d 1991 • V ol. XXXIII No. 16
The City of Falls Church’s Independent, Locally-Owned Newspaper of Record, Serving N. Virginia
F.C. Schools’ Summer Fare Reduced from 4 to 3 Weeks
SO, IT RAINED ON OUR PARADE
Comprehensive Programs Aim To Address Range of Needs by Kylee Toland
Falls Church News-Press
Falls Church City Public Schools’ plans for this summer were spelled out in detail at last week’s F.C. School Board meeting, and it was announced that this year’s summer programming will run for three weeks instead of four. Director of Equity and Excellence Jennifer Santiago and Director of Curriculum and Instruction Julie Macrina led the presentation last week on how summer school programming will look for Falls Church City Public Schools (FCCPS), as well as how this programming will support students in each school. These schools include Jessie Thackrey Preschool, Mount Daniel and Oak Street Elementary Schools, Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School and Meridian High School. The overall purpose of this year’s programming, Santiago said, is to provide space and time for students who need intervention in preparation for their next year of learning and to fulfill student needs based on decisions of the Individual Education Program (IEP) committee. In addition, high school students will be offered remediation and “extension credit options.” This year’s summer school programming will run for three weeks instead of four, like in previous years. Santiago said
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IT WAS THE RAINIEST Memorial Day Parade and Festival in at least 30 years in Falls Church this Monday, being the biggest event of the year for the Little City. Nobody was spared, and also no one drowned or melted, so it turned out as a novel experience for all. See Editorial, Page 6, and many more photos inside. (Photo: Gary Mester)
Moran Shifts Endorsement to Dehgani-Tafti
by Charlie Clark
Falls Church News-Press
Key new endorsements have spiced things up in the heated Democratic Primary race for Arlington-Falls Church Commonwealth Attorney. With the June 20 election day now just three weeks away. Incumbent Parisa Dehghani-Tafti won a major new endorsement in the last week and challenger Josh Katcher added two new ones, as well. Former Congressman Jim Moran withdrew an earlier endorsement of Katcher to back Dehghani-Tafti. “Originally, a friend was raising money for Katcher,” he told the News-
Press, “but when I told my wife, Deborah Warren,” who is a deputy director of the county Human Services Department, “she told me Parisa is very competent and doing a good job. So I listened to Parisa speak and would [be] up [to] agreeing to switch my allegiance.” Meanwhile, Katcher picked up endorsements from the Arlington Coalition of Police and two longtime Arlington County officials, former Clerk of the Circuit Court David Bell and former Treasurer Frank O’Leary. In similar emailed statements, the two Democrats said they were taking an unusual step of opposing a Democrat “not suited by skill, experience
or inclination” for the job, as Bell put it. As the June 20 Democratic primary day nears, the two candidates for Commonwealth’s Attorney and their backers are exchanging ever-angrier ripostes depicting the incumbent’s record on personnel vacancies and indictment policies. Current office holder Dehghani-Tafti‘s restorative justice reform agenda, pursued with national media attention since 2019, has drawn fire from her former deputy Katcher, who accuses her of lax enforcement and dishonesty. “Crime is up and indictments are way down,” read Katcher’s
May 24 press release quoting campaign manager Ben Jones. “According to the FY 2022 and FY 2024 Arlington County Proposed budgets, in the two years prior to Dehghani-Tafti taking office Arlington County saw 2,172 and 1,747 felonies reported, resulting in 1,045 and 713 criminal indictments brought, respectively. In 2021 and 2022, despite 2,054 and 1,800 felonies committed, only 449 and 274 indictments were handed down, meaning that more crimes in our county are going unpunished than at any point in recent history.” “In 2021, only 21 percent of
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