January 23, 2019 | Vol. 18, No. 3 | www.PrinceWilliamTimes.com | 50¢ Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
New boundaries for elementary schools approved 16 Prince William schools affected by ‘compromise plan’ By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
Under a compromise redistricting plan approved last week, fewer kids than anticipated will have to switch elementary schools in eastern Prince William County next year, but the area will retain about 20 portable classroom trailers spread among six
schools. Still, that’s down from the 61 trailers being used by schools in Occoquan, Lake Ridge, Woodbridge and Dale City this year. That reduction was enough to satisfy most of the Prince William County School Board members who voted 7 to 1 to approve the new boundaries Wednesday, Jan. 16. The new boundaries affect portions of the following eastern Prince William elementary schools: Antietam, Belmont, Featherstone, Kerrydale, Kilby, Lake Ridge, Marumsco Hills, Minnieville, Occoquan, Old Bridge, Penn, Potomac View, Rockledge, Springwoods,
Vaughan, and Westridge. The new attendance areas were drawn because county will open a new elementary school in August on Prince William Parkway near Chinn Library. The county also recently completed multi-classroom additions at Antietam, Lake Ridge, Springwoods, Leesylvania, and Minnieville elementary schools. The new construction is intended to relieve some of the worst overcrowding at the elementary school level in the county. In total, the new building adds about 95 classrooms of space in the
eastern Prince William elementary schools at a cost of about $200 million, according to Superintendent Steven Walts. Only School Board member Willie Deutsch (Coles) voted against the plan. Before the vote, Deutsch said he is concerned by the “wasted utilization” in the new boundary plan, meaning some schools would end up below capacity while others remain overcrowded. Deutsch also said he believes the board has an obligation to taxpayers to maximize the county’s investment in new schools and school additions. See REDISTRICTING, page 4
Shutdown survival
Nonprofits, neighbors help furloughed feds By Karen Chaffraix and Jill Palermo Times Staff Writers
As the partial government shutdown stretched into a record-breaking fifth week, federal workers braced for yet another missed paycheck. In response, nonprofits, community leaders and groups of likeminded neighbors sprang into action to try to help. One example: A group called “Montclair Moms” emerged from its Facebook page to gather last weekend at member Heather Page’s house. They collected food from neighbors and compiled meal kits for furloughed federal workers, U.S. Coast Guard families and whoever else in their area might be affected by the shutdown. The idea was hatched after the group’s initial project last week, an impromptu potluck supper. The potluck was casual, done mostly for fun. But as the shutdown dragged on, the situation quickly took on a sense of urgency, Page said. “People started saying things like, ‘Hey, I’ve never been to a food bank before. How do I do it?’” Page said of messages left on the closed group’s Facebook page, which has more than 1,000 followers. That’s when a few in the group came up with the idea for a shutdown supper drive. They collected pasta, sauce, peanut butter and jelly, bread and other items to pack into grocery bags and took donations to buy freshly-made pizzas from a few area shops. About 30 pizzas were donated from Domino’s, Papa John’s and Pizza Hut. The group then spread the word about a drive-thru pickup line in Page’s cul-de-sac. Affected neighbors were invited to drive by to pick up pizzas and a bag
TIMES STAFF PHOTO // JILL PALERMO
Shutdown supper drive: Brody Page, of Montclair, helps pack bags of groceries during a recent food drive for furloughed federal workers organized by his mom, Heather Page, for the “Montclair Moms.” of groceries Sunday afternoon. About 45 families partook, said group member Emma Young. “We can’t pay all the mortgages and gas for everyone, but children won’t go hungry on our watch, and the money that would’ve been spent on food can go to those things,” Young said. “It is seemingly small but makes a big difference.” “We came together as women to do something,” added Page. “We’re feeding our neighbors and stocking people’s shelves.”
Feds considering unemployment, food banks
Of course, federal workers like David Larrimore, of Lake Ridge, said he never imagined going so long without a paycheck because of a government shutdown. Larrimore, an IT professional with a federal agency and father of three, has been
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through three previous shutdowns, but none have lasted as long as this one. “After February 1, we don’t know what we are going to do other than loans from either a bank or family,” Larrimore said Friday. “We are not shopping at all, other than for food, and we are buying cheap starches. Food banks are the last resort for us.” Larrimore said that while there’s money to pay some of their January bills, they’ve sent letters of explanation to their creditors, and friends and family have dropped off food and gift cards. Larrimore is considered essential, so he is working with no pay. He refrained from describing what he would like to say to those responsible for the shutdown, but added, “There are a lot of phenomenal people who work for the federal See SHUTDOWN, page 4
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