FALL SPORTS DECISION EXPECTED SOON: Season could be delayed or pushed back. Page 11
July 15, 2020 | Vol. 19, No. 29 | 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.
See PrinceWilliamTimes.com for coronavirus updates
School Board weighs options for reopening schools Decision on in-school instruction expected July 15 By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
Prince William County students could opt to attend school two days a week – or stay home and receive all their instruction online – under the plan the school board tentatively approved July 8 for the coming school year. In a non-binding straw vote taken at the end of a seven-hour work session, the school board unanimously agreed on a plan that would allow as many as 50% of students to receive in-person instruction inside the school building at one time, an arrangement that would have students in school two days a week and working online from home the remaining three. The plan would split each school’s students into two groups, with one group attending classes in
person on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the other attending school on Wednesdays and Fridays. Monday would be reserved for online-only instruction and teacher planning. “Highly vulnerable students,” a group that was not specifically defined but understood to be mostly special education students, would be allowed to attend school four days a week. Teachers’ children from the age of kindergarten through 11 would also have the option of attending school four days a week as space allows. The plan was one of three options Superintendent Steven Walts presented the board during the July 8 meeting. The other two plans would have kept all instruction online or would have allowed students to attend classes in-person just one day a week with the remaining four days of instruction delivered online. A final decision was expected July 15. See REOPENING, page 4
COURTESY PHOTO
What a typical sixth-grade classroom could look like at 50% capacity with 3 feet of social distancing.
Swimming in the zone
Lawsuit: Jail still holding inmates for ICE
Amid pandemic, Lake Ridge pool finds a creative solution for separating swimmers
By Jill Palermo
Time Staff Writer
By Aileen M. Streng Contributing Writer
Across Prince William County, just a handful of neighborhood pools have opened during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The few that have reopened have a lot of rules, including staying in the zone. That’s the solution the Lake Ridge Parks and Recreation Association came up with for one of the two pools opened for recreational swimming this summer. Lake Ridge, in eastern Prince William, usually operates five pools for residents each summer. The Ridgewood Pool is open to lap swimming with reservations and no visitor passes. The Canterbury Woods pool is open for “swim zones” of groups of up to 10 people, also with reservations and no visitor passes. As long as they are Lake Ridge residents, people can swim together in a zone. “They both seem to be opening fairly smoothly,” said Ike Mutu, general manager of the Lake Ridge Parks and Recreation Association.
PHOTO BY DELIA ENGSTROM
Lake Ridge residents enjoy swimming again at the Canterbury Woods pool. “Pretty much every single lap lane is full every single day,” Mutu said. “So far, the interest is high, and people are using it. It’s strong and consistent. “Everyone is calling and asking how [we] are doing it,” he said. Residents must register a day in advance online. When they arrive, they must sign a waiver. The Canterbury Woods pool is divided into about 10 sections separated by poollane ropes. Swimmers can reserve a zone for one hour. That was OK for a group of
women who had met regularly at Lake Ridge pools for an informal water aerobics class for at least 11 years. They tried out the pool last week and said they would be back. “It works very well,” said Linda Rasmussen, the instructor. “We play and have fun,” said Joyce Castro. When they learned the pools were initially closed for the season, the women said they were disappointed. See SWIMMING, page 4
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The Prince William-Manassas Adult Detention Center is being accused of continuing to hold inmates beyond their release dates in cooperation with federal immigration enforcement officials despite the end of the jail’s 287(g) agreement, according to a former jail board member who resigned over the practice and a lawsuit filed in Prince William County Circuit Court. Lisa Shea, who recently changed her last name from Johnson-Firth, is a longtime Manassas immigration attorney who was appointed to serve as an alternate to the Lisa Shea jail board in May. She announced her resignation from the jail board July 2, a day after the jail was to have ended its 11-yearold 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement. Shea said she resigned after learning jail officials were still cooperating with ICE detainers and holding inmates beyond their release times and dates to allow ICE to retrieve and detain them. See LAWSUIT, page 2
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