On Aug. 25, opponents of Beth Barts submitted petition signatures to recall her from the Loudoun County School Board of Education. Although the Senate rejected Youngkin's amendment to force the whole Loudoun County School Board (LCSB) to run again this year, Youngkin approved Delegate David Reid's (D-Loudoun) underlying bill, originally created to facilitate beginning a staggered election cycle for the various seats on the board. As of Sept. 8, the group had submitted 65,018 valid signatures. 'He's a sexual predator and unfortunately, were going to hear about him again.'. Anger built as the district implemented anti-racism efforts in August of that. The comments below have been moderated in advance. His top two issues listed: "school closures" and "critical race theory. Virginia elections officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night. It reflects the history of the region as well as a nearby road that is one of the major roads in the area, he said. Earlier this year, Loudoun released a 22-page equity plan, calling for implicit bias training, enhanced protocols for handling racist behavior, and improved reporting systems for students. An arrest warrant was issued two months later for two counts of forcible sodomy, and the student was released and transferred to Broad Run High School. In Virginia, recall efforts are determined in circuit court rather than at the ballot box. Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting. Virginia Department of Elections > Election Results > 2022 November General > LOUDOUN COUNTY > Member School Board (BROAD RUN DISTRICT) Congress Referendums Results by Locality Absentee By Precinct Statistics {JSON} LOUDOUN COUNTY - Results Progress Early Voting Election Day Mailed Absentee Provisional Post-Election Legend Not Started In-Progress A juvenile court judge found sufficient evidence to sustain charges of a May sexual assault in a Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) bathroom, allegedly committed by a "gender fluid" student. Unlike the Board of Supervisors, the chairmanship of the School Board is elected annually by its members, while the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors is always the at-large seat. (Terri Wu/The Epoch Times) 'Accidental Activist' Polifko announced her run for the school board in June 2022. In 2020, the Virginia General Assembly passed a law allowing public employees including county and school employees to collectively bargain over pay and benefits. Heres whats in store for you as you start your day: Ballotpedia has tracked 64 school board recall efforts against 165 board members so far in 2021the highest number of school board recall efforts we have ever tracked in one year. Division staff had suggested to name the school Hovatter Primary School to promote the cohesive unity of the two schools, but the board voted instead to form a naming committee to avoid confusion with two schools with a similar name. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, "It wasn't actually about education, or fixing the schools, or addressing the needs of the schools.". hide caption. The case became the hot tip of a raging debate in Loudoun County over transgender students' rights and parents' freedom of speech. The censuring was first reported by WJLA's Nick Minock. Unlike most other drama programs where children simply memorize and recite lines for a performance, , School Holiday Day Camps-Elite Day Soccer Camps, Multi-Sport Day Camps, StageCoach Theatre Company offers summer camps in the performing arts primarily forteens and pre-teens (ages 10 19)and alsotwo camps for ages 7 10. Share with Us. On Friday, parents are set to rally again forTanner Cross and the First Amendment, Fight for Schools said in an email to Breitbart News. He said that most of his donors are educators and that the average individual donation is around $40. The report said that there was a 'stunning lack of openness, transparency, and accountability both to the public and the special grand jury', A report into how the school district handled it said that the second assault was 'preventable' but denied that there was a coordinated cover up. Polfiko ran on a pro-parent platform, while Gothard was supportive of many of the school boards recent controversial measures that cut parents out of the process. Loudoun has recently been in the national spotlight for fierce debates over how to teach race, racism, U.S. history, and gender and sexuality, as well as the school systems handling of a pair of sexual assaults that took place last year. Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting. This created the backdrop for one pillar of the conservative outrage that's dominating the headlines out of Virginia's election: a fear over purported "critical race theory" a college-level discipline that Loudoun's school system has repeatedly stated is not a part of the curriculum and other equity issues that have metastasized into culture wars far beyond what's being taught in classrooms. He also asked the circuit court judges to recuse themselves from the case because it involved local officeholders. Citizen Participation in School Board Meetings Thank you for your interest in engaging with the School Board through the Public Comment process. One of those recall efforts this year is based out of Loudoun County, Virginia. That top figure came from Florida Voters in Charge, the sponsor of an initiative to expand casino gaming in Florida. Hoyler identifies as an independent and Shernoff wrote in an email that she refused to accept an endorsement from either political party because the school board is supposed to be nonpartisan.. While the Loudoun County School Board remains in left-wing control, Polifko will be able to give parents an inside look at what the board is considering and raise concern in light of potential impropriety. "And then figure out the facts later.". You can follow AlanaMastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram. One raucous hearing on a proposed policy to bolster protections for transgender students a policy required by a recently passed state law ended with an arrest, as parents condemned the alleged CRT curriculum and accused board members of teaching their children to hate themselves for the color of their skin. More. Virginia Gov. She received 54.8% of the vote and defeated one other candidate. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism Don't knowingly lie about anyone In 2016, Hillary Clinton won Loudoun County with 55% of the vote to Donald Trump's 38%. Fox News, The Daily Wire, and other national conservative outlets picked up the story, framing the board's equity initiatives as products of a dangerous liberal agenda. Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington, said the results of the Loudoun race could be a bellwether for the Republican Party nationally, many of whose members would like to imitate Youngkins success last year in Virginia. Welcome to the Monday, September 13, Brew. that is degrading to another person. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images) According to ABC7 News, "the same juvenile suspect was charged with a second sexual assault at another Loudoun County school after the May 28 incident." Jan 9, 2022 Loudoun County is in northern Virginia, just 25 miles out of Washington D.C. View the current election schedule for Loudoun County. He was reelected in a landslide in November 2019 and will be on the ballot again this year as an independent . Gothard said that he takes sexual assault very seriously and that he was frustrated that some of the details of what happened remain unknown by the public. Multiple students, the local NAACP, and even the commonwealth's attorney general have called for LCPS to correct systemic racial discrimination. "If somebody is not doing their job or not doing their job well and you get that much outrage, it's not manufactured outrage.". The school board has been routinely accused of pushing an ultra-liberal agenda on kids and parents and silencing those who disagree with them. Published: 16:53 EST, 28 February 2023 | Updated: 17:18 EST, 28 February 2023. "Ultimately, if we want to make changes, if we want to get to an education that values students as individuals and not as some identity group, then we have to replace the school board," Prior said. Barts was first elected to a four-year term on the board on Nov. 5, 2019. (Clemente did not respond to requests for comment. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post) Article Tiffany Polifko and Erika Ogedegbe have been projected winners of. Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. The second will ask who should succeed Newsom if he is recalled. It The trio voted alongside Ian Serotkin,Harris Mahedavi and Brenda Sheridan in suppressing the report, reports WJLA. Threats of harming another Ogedegbe, a 52-year-old chief data architect at American University, campaigned for improved early literacy teaching and better staff recruitment and retention rates. Watson Road is just west of the where the middle school is being built and runs along the ridge often referred to as Watson Mountain. Through the years the community of Watson had a general store, a post office and both a Baptist Church for Black congregants and a Presbyterian Church for white congregants. In Loudoun, a county which Youngkin lost in November 2021 by nearly 10 points, local elected officials are speaking out against the amendment. Florida Realtors President Cheryl Lambert said, The legislative leadership has committed to working with us to find significant, immediate solutions to Floridas workforce housing crisis. However, under a bill amendment proposed by Governor Glenn Youngkin, all nine of Loudoun's school board members would have to face a special election in November 2022. Next Loudoun to Host Two Upcoming Job . It remains to be seen whether the issues that began in Loudoun County's school board meetings (and now are playing out in school boards across the U.S.) will be enough to drive a Republican . Ballotpedia is the digital encyclopedia of American politics and elections. February 22, 2023 Construction starts this spring on the lower level of the memorial. Two more teachers will join Tanner Cross' lawsuit against the Loudoun County School Board. Polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. It now rests with Youngkin, a wealthy businessman and political novice who has sought to distance himself from Trump while simultaneously playing off the same fears that he fomented. #BREAKING: Tiffany Polifko is the projected winner of the Loudoun County School Board race in the Broad Run District. He was endorsed by the Loudoun Education Association. The Commanders used the franchise tag on Daron Payne. Loudoun Electoral Board Determines School Board Members' Staggered Terms Posted on: January 19, 2023. 'And they're twisting this just enough to make it a political hot button issue.'. The manner in which the assaults were investigated and communicated were a catalyst in Loudoun that exposed just how morally vacant and corrupt the school board was and continues to be, he said. Jeff Morse has been a member of Loudoun County's School Board since 2011, Dozens of parents attended rallies and meetings with the school board to voice their concerns over the allegations and cover up. When school is out - Drama is IN! On September 7, 2021, Floridians for Housing, a ballot initiative committee sponsored by Florida Realtors, announced they were suspending their ballot initiative campaign. Watson Mountain Middle School in under construction at the intersection of Evergreen Mill Road and Red Hill Road. ), Greg Moulthrop, a Republican challenger looking to unseat the Democratic incumbent Suhas Subramanyam for a House of Delegates seat that represents parts of Loudoun and Prince William counties, handed out fliers at an early voting location in South Riding. Theres a first time for everything., I do feel like Watson Mountain Middle is an appropriate name for the middle school. Exact locations TBD. Polifko did not respond to a question asking about her funding. These candidates platforms are resonating with some conservative parents including Ian Prior, a Loudoun father and former Trump administration official who leads the parents rights group Fight for Schools. . When they arrived, they met a local volunteer named Mara. Loudoun County Office of Elections 750 Miller Dr. The sexual assault has drawn national attention and . Although school boards are ostensibly nonpartisan, each race has a Republican, a Democrat and an independent or moderate candidate. According to police, a student allegedly committed a sexual assault at one LCPS school, and assaulted another student at a different school months later. The report found that Landon County Public Schools administrators were 'looking out for their own interests' instead of the interest of the school. California voters will head to the polls on Sept. 14 for the recall election seeking to remove California Gov. But he did not call for the firing of top Loudoun school officials. Speaking to DailyMail.com in November, she said: 'He's a 15-year-old boy that wanted to have sex in the bathroom, with somebody that was willing. February 15, 2023 Thousands of locals attend National Gallery Nights, the museum's themed celebrations of arts and culture at the East Building. View All News County Resources ADA Accessibility/Language Access Contact Us Public Records Requests (FOIA) ", "Education's always been the number one issue that I've come across [with voters], followed by public safety and the economy," Moulthrop told DCist/WAMU. Camp Locations are at select Elementary Schools in Loudoun County. Visit us at Ballotpedia.org, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Both candidates also emphasized the need for Loudoun school officials to speak more often, and with greater honesty, to parents. Sandy Sullivan, president of the association, said in an interview that Gothard and Ogedegbe have the right priorities and would take the correct approach to leading the Loudoun school system. Leave the school numbered. Be Nice. Ashburn, VA 20148. One early-blooming tree suggests peak bloom could be very early this year, after an unusually warm winter. K-12 classrooms: The Montgomery County school system is revisiting safety training after a report of a student with a gun led to a campus lockdown. In October 2021, the same boy was convicted of assaulting a girl at a different school. Voter precinct information can be found here. The Nov. 7, 2023 general election in Virginia will give Loudoun County voters the opportunity to participate in Virginia General Assembly elections along with elections for the county's. Loudoun school board race partisan, tense and a test of GOP appeal. If the renewed Republican efforts translate to gains in Loudoun, you can expect similar efforts elsewhere., The trio competing for the Broad Run seat are Nick Gothard, a 22-year-old nonprofit program manager; Tiffany Polifko, a 40-year-old behavior analyst who provides treatment for children with autism; and Andrew Hoyler, a 26-year-old commercial airline pilot who currently serves on the school board. He was fired in a unanimous decision by the board shortly after a closed two-and-a-half-hour session in early December, the day after the report was published. But in 2021,. Hearing on Loudoun County school board recall effort set for Sept. 13, Florida Realtors suspends initiative campaign following compromise with state legislators. Rivera said he has raised about $13,000, mostly from individuals private donations. hide caption. Conservative media outlets claimed the student was gender fluid a fact that has not been confirmed by authorities, but nonetheless sparked criticism of the recently adopted policy that allows transgender students to use whatever bathroom aligns with their pronouns. Polifko and Ogedegbe both led after election night last Tuesday. how the system investigated sexual assaults. Barts was first elected to a four-year term on the board on Nov. 5, 2019. says Todd Kaufman, the vice president of Loudoun4All, an advocacy organization formed by LCPS parents in response to the vitriol earlier this year. Loudoun school board race could have national impact for GOP - The Washington Post Advertisement Education Local Education Loudoun school board race partisan, tense and a test of GOP. The filing deadline for this election was June 11, 2019 . Recall supporters are also circulating petitions against another six members of the nine-member school board. Video clips of meetings went viral. Rivera said the school board, superintendent and top staff should have been more upfront with the public about the assaults. Each of the Loudoun Job Fairs will feature several . 'They failed at every juncture. Contact us at editor@ballotpedia.org. Meanwhile, independent candidates Shernoff and Hoyler are both worried primarily by students academic performance. Election Districts; Superintendent Search 2023 ; Superintendent Search 2021; . I love all of my students but I will never lie to them regardless of the consequences.. Fast, informative and written just for locals. He only received a verbal warning, despite earlier reports that the student allegedly behaved inappropriately toward girls in his class. Barts attorney filed a motion to dismiss the petition against her since it was not signed by an attorney. Neal Augenstein | naugenstein@wtop.com. Home Loudoun County, VA News Loudoun Superintendent Scott Ziegler fired. We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. "But it all starts with recognizing that our curriculum has gone haywire," he declared at the September rally. The race for two seats on the Loudoun board was unusually tense, tight and partisan this year. Khalil Hamra/AP Photo Play it now! Locate qualifications for Voter Identification (ID). Parental power in education has already become an issue in the 2024 election cycle . Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. We have to take care of kids as individuals, and that is truly a goal of both those candidates early literacy, they know thats a big concern, said Sullivan, whose association has roughly 3,400 members. Interim Superintendent Scott Ziegler said the district uses a Culturally Responsive Framework that speaks to providing a welcoming, affirming environment and developing cultural competence through culturally responsive instruction, deeper learning, equitable classroom practices and social-emotional needs for a focus on the whole child. Ziegler said the district did not use Critical Race Theory in its staff training or student curriculum. Our primary voting equipment is the Premier Election Solutions Optical Scanner, which uses a marked paper ballot read by a light reader. The Republicans are broadly focused on school safety and parents rights, while Democrats are zeroing in on literacy education and staff recruitment, and the independent candidates are prioritizing achievement gaps in education, the needs of special education students and greater communication with parents. In May 2021, a 15-year-old boy class in a kiltaped his female classmate in a transgender-friendly bathroom at Stone Bridge High School in Virginia. each comment to let us know of abusive posts. For the other 17 campaigns, the number of valid signatures on file ranged from two to 9,347. Speaking before a crowd of hundreds in Leesburg, the seat of Loudoun County, Republican gubernatorial hopeful Glenn Youngkin laid out his vision for reshaping the commonwealth's education system, promising to establish "excellence" in Virginia schools. Ultimately, if we want to make changes, if we want to get to an education that values students as individuals and not as some identity group, then we have to replace the school board, Prior said. Before becoming a candidate for public office, she was, in her own words, "an accidental activist." The filing deadline for this election was June 21, 2022 . Youngkin's proposed special . Be Truthful. The applause started before he even finished his sentence. Board member Atoosa Reaser reported receiving racist death threats. The two seats in contention are those representing the districts of Leesburg and Broad Run, with three candidates seeking each seat. The School Board also voted unanimously to form a naming committee for ES-32, a school in the Dulles South area being built on a 117-acre site with Lightridge High School and Hovatter Elementary School. LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. 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