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Accept no charity and ask no favors
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
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LOCAL
City Asks Residents to Minimize Waste
Like Arlington Co., City of Alexandria and Fairfax Co, the City of Falls Church is asking its residents to limit the amount of trash they leave out at the curb each week due to a surge in residential trash over the past month. Virginia’s stay at home order, combined with self-quarantining, non-essential business closures and other social distancing measures have contributed to as much as a 40 percent increase in residential trash tonnage and is putting a strain on the region’s waste management systems, officials report. Guidelines for residents to assist waste management crews include the following: Dispose of used wipes, tissues and paper towels in trash bags that are tied shut; minimize setting extra bags outside the cart; refrain from generating large amounts of waste – keep spring cleaning pile in the basement, attic or garage until normal operations resume; flatten cardboard boxes to create more room in recycling carts; consider backyard composting or “grasscycling” lawn clippings. The City also announced this week its provider has suspended its electronics recycling program.
Falls Church Grocery Stores Enforce Stricter Precautions
Three grocery store chains with locations in Falls Church announced this week plans to introduce stricter precautionary measures to avoid the potential spread of the coronavirus. Giant Food, Harris Teeter and Safeway will all now limit the amount of customers allowed in the store at one time. Starting this week, Giant, with locations at Bailey’s Crossroads (3480 S Jefferson St.), the City of F.C. (1230 W Broad St.) and Seven Corners (6360 Seven Corners Center), is limiting occupancy to 20 percent of each store’s overall capacity, Harris Teeter (301 W. Broad St., Falls Church) will max stores out at 50 percent capacity and Safeway (7397 Lee Highway in the Shops at West Falls Church and in the Willston Center at 6118 Arlington Blvd.) is limiting its stores to one person per 150 square feet during normal business hours and one person per 300 square feet during hours limited for seniors and other at-risk customers. In addition, Giant and Safeway are implementing one-directional shopping up and down aisles in stores.
All Park Amenities in City Shut Down
The City of Falls Church has shut down its tennis and basketball courts along with its skate park in the west end, joining previously closed playgrounds, it annonuced Wednesday. “Use of these amenities does not allow for adequate social distancing, and they draw too many people together,” the City said. City parks remain open for residents to walk through, though the City urges people to maintain a six-foot distance from others. If the park is too crowded, people should leave the park, the City says.
F.C. Schools Go to Pass-Fail Grading In 4th Quarter
In a lengthy update memo from Falls Church City Schools’ Superintendent Peter Noonan last Friday, included a decision to grade all students in the system on a pass-fail basis for the fourth quarter. In the update, posted on the Schools’ website, he wrote that the new grading plan will be in place for the resumption of online education on April 14 through the new end of the school year on June 4. A complicated grading system will, in general, integrate letter grades achieved through the third quarter to remain the same for the semester if students earn a “pass” in the fourth quarter. As part of this, students will be able to turn in missing work due from Jan. 27 – March 12 (the last day of classroom teaching) without penalty and students can retake summative assessments in International Baccalaureate programs. The IB program as it is “still has authentic student assessments to base final grades upon.” Noonan stated that school divisions must upload all of the Internal Assessments and all student coursework to the IB by April 20. He added, “We expect all of our students to be engaged in their school work during this time of distance learning and we will do everything in our power to keep them engaged. Passing grades will be based on a mastery of work, work completion, daily participation and active engagement in online learning for the fourth quarter.” Noonan’s report added that “the FCCPS has worked exceedingly hard to ensure our families are supported throughout this public health crisis. This is especially true in the area of Nutritional Support. We distributed over 130 boxes containing two-weeks of non-perishable food at the onset of our closure to ensure our Free and Reduced Meals Program (FRM) families were supported. Each family also, through the generosity of the Falls Church Education Foundation received a $50 grocery gift card per child to purchase additional food and items needed.”
APRIL 9 – 15, 2020 | PAGE 9
