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NEW YEAR, NEW YOU
[ loudounnow.com ]
A new you
25, 2017
[ Vol. 2, No. 11 ]
2017
Jan. 19 –
LoudounNow LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
New Year, New You section inside
Jan. 19 – 25, 2017 ]
‘We Shall March Forward’
Raises, Mental Health Services Top Williams’ Priority List BY DANIELLE NADLER
Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
Hundreds marched through downtown Leesburg Monday as part of the town’s 25th annual Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have a Dream” celebration.
MLK Day Program Stresses Unity BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ
I
n the days leading up to a presidential inauguration that has left the nation deeply divided, the keynote speaker at the 25th annual Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have a Dream” ceremony in Leesburg reminded his audience of a key area where we can find commonalities: education. Blake Morant, dean of the George Washington University Law School, standing before the hundreds of men, women and children gathered in the auditorium of the Douglass Community
Center, said King would have been proud “of the rainbow of people” attending the program. As King was an educated man who inspired many with his words, Morant said he took time in preparing his speech to look back at some of King’s earlier works, those from before he had completed his education. He drew reference to King’s thesis at Morehouse College in which he wrote that “Intelligence is not enough. It must be matched with character.” “That’s the true mark of education,” Morant emphasized. He also recalled the earlier advice of his late grandfather,
a longtime minister and pastor, who advised his grandson, “You can have all the book learning, but if you don’t have common sense it does you no good.” Morant said there was an opportunity for us all to focus on the commonalities we all share, and to do that through education. And education isn’t contained just to classrooms, but from what we can share with each other through conversation and learning from each other, he emphasized. MLK DAY >> 10
Superintendent Eric Williams wants to address the top concerns recently brought up by Loudoun County parents and the school system’s 10,640 employees, but he says he will need a boost in funding to do it. In front of the School Board on Thursday, Williams unveiled his proposed fiscal year 2018 spending plan for the state’s third largest school division. It would funnel money to support more mental health services in the high schools, expand full-day kindergarten, and provide pay raises and more hours for bus drivers to address a severe staffing shortage in the Transportation Department. His proposed operating budget totals $1,124.2 billion. That’s up $93.6 million or 9.1 percent over the current fiscal year budget. Two of the priciest line items are related to enrollment growth, which he expects will cost $32.3 million, and employees’ salary and benefits. Projections show the school system will grow by almost 3,000 and reach a total student population of 81,622 by August. The budget includes $38.7 million in increases just related to employee pay. About $14.9 million would give every eligible employee a step increase on the salary scale, to average a pay raise of 2.2 percent. Another $10.3 million would provide pay raises for teachers, with an eye toward making salaries for mid-level educators more competitive with neighboring school systems.
Bus Drivers Williams wants to spend $2.3 million to give bus drivers more hours and a pay raise. After a slew of families said their children are facing longer bus rides—as long as 90 minutes each way—school leaders reported that the division is desperate for drivers. In November, Transportation Director Michael Brown said, ideally, they could use as many as 160 more drivers than the 1,289 who are already on the pay roll. SCHOOL BUDGET >> 27
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