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DECEMBER 16, 2016 | NORTHERN VIRGINIA MEDIA SERVICES
School board revisits redistricting
REMEMBERING THOSE WHO SERVED
Members focus on Falmouth, Moncure and Winding Creek TRACY BELL
tbell@insidenova.com
R
edistricting at Falmouth, Moncure and Winding Creek elementary schools was on the agenda for the Tuesday meeting of the Stafford County School Board. At a work session two weeks earlier, the school board asked for additional, broad information about redistricting possibilities. Scott Horan, assistant superintendent for facilities at SCPS, told the school board that since then, information was put together for each school’s potential plan. According to a school board background report and discussed redistricting options, Falmouth Elementary School could receive roughly 120 students from the England Run neighborhood who currently attend Margaret Brent and Ferry Farm elementary schools. The board is also looking at several pre-K classes that will need to be relocated. Horan said 54 students from Ferry Farm Elementary School and 73 students from Margaret Brent Elementary School, would possibly go to Falmouth. At Winding Creek, Horan said that about 100 additional students are projected for next school year, based on local neighborhood statistics. “Worst-case scenario, there would be four additional classrooms needed than what they have today,” he said. In order to take the additional students, Horan said that its two pre-K programs would potentially need to be relocated. Other possibilities include temporarily converting a computer room at Winding Creek and either converting part of a FOCUS room or a music-art space into a classroom. A modular classroom could also be placed at Winding Creek, he said. “This would be a one-year issue,” Horan said. “That’s what we’re looking at. How can we mitigate the impact on both Winding Creek and Moncure for this one year as the board and our process goes through a comprehensive redistricting at the elementary schools?” Horan said a comprehensive re-shifting in elementary schools across the northern part of Stafford is planned in 2019-20, following the temporary fixes. At Moncure Elementary School, 30 extra students are projected for next year, BOARD Horan said. PAGE 7 Stafford school board member
World War II veteran Florence Spinneweber, 94, a member of the Women’s Army Corps, chats with Stafford County Supervisor Wendy Maurer during the Virginia World War I and World War II Commemoration Commission tribute to WWII veterans at the Stafford County Regional Airport on Dec. 15. Spinneweber started as a typist, then became part of a caravan that traveled from town to town in a drive to sell war bonds. Shejoined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps in 1942 and became a WAC a year later when the auxiliary converted to regular Army status, according to her biography. PHOTO COURTESY OF STAFFORD COUNTY
Drones could assist sheriff’s office this spring TRACY BELL
tbell@insidenova.com
T
he Stafford County Sheriff ’s Office is planning to be ahead of some other law enforcement agencies by using drones as early as
this spring. The Stafford County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to support a sheriff ’s office certificate of waiver/authorization for a public agency application, which is needed from the Federal Aviation Administration to initiate an unmanned aircraft systems program. The purpose of the program is to protect life and property through the support of law enforcement operations and related activities, according to a board background report. Trained deputies would use the drones for search and rescue; am-
held for the public. Also at the meeting, the board discussed a World War II veteran recognition event held last week in conjunction with the Virginia World War I and World War II Commemoration Commission. The event was held through a partnership with Fredericksburg and Stafford and Spotsylvania counties. “We were delighted to have 42 veterans come to our ceremony… It really was one of the most special and meaningful events we’ve held here in Stafford,” said Supervisors’ Chairman Robert Thomas, R-George Washington. “It certainly was a privilege to honor those heroes.”
ber, senior and blue alerts; training programs; damage and traffic assessments; crime-scene documentation; and search warrants. The letter would also state that the board recognizes, on behalf of the sheriff ’s office, the legal responsibility for operation of the drones. Stafford Sheriff David Decatur said that drones can also be used to locate missing people who wear bracelet tracking devices. The sheriff ’s office anticipates getting two to three drones if approved, he said. Decatur added that he realizes concerns STAFFORD COUNTY SUN about civil liberties and privacy when it comes to using drones. In the future when the use of drones is approved, Decatur said, an informational dem8 57144 00401 8 onstration would be
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