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Danielle
Congrats to Tuscarora’s bookworms. The high school’s team won Loudoun’s Battle of the Books. The annual competition quizzes students on 10 selected works.
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Students Help SkillsUSA Celebrate 50 Years
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Danielle Nadler
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Leesburg Today/Danielle Nadler
C.S. Monroe Technology Center students work on the walkway leading to the SkillsUSA National Leadership Center. The association commemorates 50 years of promoting a skilled workforce next month.
tudents in C.S. Monroe Technology Center’s masonry program are creating a work of art that doubles as an expansive walkway into the SkillsUSA National Leadership Center just north of Leesburg. The walkway will be completed ahead of SkillsUSA’s 50th anniversary celebration May 8. From its national headquarters along Rt. 15, the association supports high school, college and postsecondary students—and their instructors—in trade, technical and skilled service instructional programs. The walkway is a good metaphor for what SkillsUSA is all about, according to Tom Continued on Next Page
Loudoun School Leaders Called To The Stand In FOIA Case Danielle Nadler
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dnadler@leesburgtoday.com
dozen Loudoun County school administrators and School Board Chairman Eric Hornberger (Ashburn) spent four hours in Loudoun County Circuit Court last week in a case brought against the school system by a parent who says they are concealing information that should be public. Brian Davison filed a writ of mandamus alleging School Board members and school system administrators violated the Virginia Freedom of Information Act by failing to respond adequately to numerous requests for
information dating back to September. Davison has filed 53 FOIA requests in that time, 24 of which were filed in one hour, according to school system Public Information Officer Wayde Byard. His requests dealt with topics ranging from the salaries of all school system employees to all emails—more than 3,000—that refer to Student Growth Percentiles, which measure student improvement across grade levels. Davison, representing himself, specifically names 15 top school system employees, as well as all nine School Board members, in his case. In court April 23, Hornberger, Superintendent Eric Williams, Chief of Staff Michael Richards, Director of Personnel Asia Jones, Director
School Notebook WINCHESTER FIRM GETS $23M ES-27 CONTRACT
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he construction contract for Brambleton’s next elementary school has been awarded to a Winchester company for just under $23.4 million. The Loudoun County School Board voted unanimously April 14 to hire Howard Shockey & Sons to build ES-27. The company has worked on several school construction projects in Loudoun, including serving as the contractor for Tuscarora High School in 2009-2010. Construction on the 102,367-square-foot elementary school is expected to wrap up during next summer in time for an August 2016 opening. It will be built on land near the intersection of Northstar Boulevard and Creighton Road and
is designed to house about 930 students. The school will relieve nearby elementaries, most of which serve more students than planned. Howard Shockey & Sons’ bid was the lowest of six submitted for the school’s construction. All of the bids fell within $3.1 million of each other. The next lowest bid came in at $23.9 million. It was from Hess Construction, which built Rock Ridge High School last year. The highest bid was just less than $26.5 million from Keller Brothers Inc., which built the Mercer Middle School addition last year.
LOUDOUN SCHOOL MUSIC PROGRAM RECOGNIZED
Loudoun is among the best communities
of Technology Systems Aaron Smith and Byard were called to testify. From the stand, Byard said he has spent eight to 10 hours a week responding to Davison’s requests for information. “I’ve spent a lot of time and energy on this… To the best of my knowledge we’ve provided the complete information.” Davison challenged Byard on the amount he charged him to fulfill his requests, some of which were estimated to cost more than $1,000 to produce. Judge Jeanette Irby later asked Davison whether he had paid Loudoun County Public Schools for any of his FOIA requests. “No,” he answered.
for music education, according to the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation. The organization named Loudoun County Public Schools to the 2015 Best Communities for Music Education. The school system is one of 388 throughout the country to receive the designation. The foundation evaluates schools’ and school systems’ music program funding, staffing of highly qualified teachers, commitment to standards and access to music instruction.
FREEDOM STUDENTS WIN GOVERNOR’S CHALLENGE
A team from Freedom High School, under the direction of teacher Michelle Plasari, won first place in the 2015 Governor’s Challenge in Economics and Personal Finance. The team was one of three in the Old Dominion crowned state champions at the April 17 competition, held at Virginia Common-
“That’s all I need to know,” Irby responded. The school system does not typically run reports to collect emails or other requested documents until payment is received. Interactions between Davison and the judge and between Davison and school system attorney Julia B. Judkins got heated as the afternoon wore on. At one point, Irby referred to Davison’s argument as a “conspiracy theory.” When he asked her what she meant, she replied, “You’re stating that they were all conspiring to not provide you information.” After he interrupted her and Judkins on several occasions, Irby told Davison, “You’re so rude sometimes.” Continued on Next Page
wealth University. The Governor’s Challenge is conducted in partnership with the Virginia Council on Economic Education, a nonprofit public-private partnership focused on enhancing K-12 economics and financial education.
MONROE STUDENTS COMPETE IN STATE CTE CONFERENCE
Nineteen C.S. Monroe Technology Center students competed in the Virginia SkillsUSA State Leadership Conference in Roanoke on Saturday. The students were: Austin Weber, Colin Pack and Julia Hamilton (advertising design); Gustavo Garcia (post-secondary advertising design); Mariah Brodbeck (graphic sublimation); Samuel McDonald (welding); Daniel Lee (post-secondary welding); Nick Carr (carpentry); David Arbogast (HVAC); Charles Barnhouse (post-secondary HVAC); Casey Alvarez Continued on Next Page