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MAY 25, 2018
School board revisits date for start of year
SUCH A GOOD TIME
TRACY BELL
tbell@insidenova.com
T
he Stafford County School Board discussed school start dates for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years. The discussion was for information only, with the board planning to make a decision at an upcoming meeting. Under consideration is whether to go with a preLabor Day start or a post-Labor Day start to the school years. School year 2018-2019 will begin with a post-Labor Day start on Sept. 4. Proposed calendars for both pre- and post-Labor Day starts were created for the 2019-2020 and the 2020-2021 school years. “This has been a tough issue for us for years,” said SCPS Superintendent Bruce Benson, explaining that the difficulty lies with people who are passionate about their reasons for wanting one or the other. “They hang on to that one thing,” Benson said, asking the board to think about the big picture in moving forward. If the school year began before Labor Day, students would start school Aug. 12 in 2019. Spring Break would be moved to March and the school year would wrap up May 27 – two days after Memorial Day, according to the proposed calendar. The post-Labor Day option in the 2019-2020 school year would mean that students start school Sept. 3—a day after Labor Day—with the last day of school being June 12. Survey results in 2017 indicated that
Passing the twist and waltzes, the conga line proved to be the most popular dance at the 20th annual seniors’ prom at North Stafford High School on May 19. The gathering, that lasted only a few hours, broke attendance records. For more from the event, see Page 3. ALEKS DOLZENKO | INSIDENOVA
Democrats vie for chance to take on Rep. Wittman ALEX KOMA
akoma@insidenova.com
T
hree Democrats are in contention for the nomination to take on U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman with the race for the party standard-bearer headed toward the June 12 primary. The five-term GOP congressman representing a swath of Virginia from the D.C. suburbs to Hampton Roads will face a challenge this fall from one of three people who want to represent the 1st District: Edwin Santana Jr., John Suddarth and Vangie Williams.
EDWIN SANTANA
JOHN SUDDARTH
Democratic Party voters in the heavily Republican district, which has been held by the GOP since 1977, will decide which candidate will be the next to take on a con-
gressman who has been in office since winning a special election in 2007. Santana, an engineer and secondgeneration Puerto Rican, is hoping to tie Wittman to the Trump administration, saying the Republican is part of what he calls a leadership vacuum in Washington. As of the last reporting period his campaign had raised $36,014. A Marine, Santana wants to focus VANGIE on the creation WILLIAMS of a single-payer health care system, strengthening public schools, economic growth and broadband access for all residents, PRIMARY
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