(11/1) Since March of this year, most of the conversations about our educational system focused on the pandemic – emergency responses, creating new virtual learning environments, refining virtual learning, addressing connectivity and access issues, and mitigating the impact of isolation and disconnection on the mental health of our students. Conversations evolved to address new health metrics introduced by the Governor and Superintendent Salmon days before the start of the school year, sports conditioning and competition, and how to safely and effectively expand FCPS small in-person groups into a sustainable hybrid model that will be successful for both students and educators.

But at some point – hopefully sooner rather than later – our country, our state, and Frederick County will move beyond the immediacy of health and safety concerns in our communities and schools to more broadly addressing the needed progress within the FCPS school system. One of the first potential challenges the next Board of Education is likely to face coming out of the pandemic is the possibility of cuts to K-12 education funding following the negative economic effects of COVID-19.

Given that Frederick County’s per pupil funding consistently ranks at the bottom of the state in terms of spending, any further cuts to education will result in the loss of valuable programs designed to meet the varied needs of students. As the country begins to recover from the effects of the pandemic over the next several years, our school system will examine crucial questions. What learning losses are students facing from the period of time when they were out of the school building? How can we continue to offer technology-based learning opportunities to reach students who thrived in the online environment? What additional programs can be offered to mitigate widening achievement gaps? What additional support will schools need to be prepared to provide to students who were faced with isolation, grappled with anxiety about the deadly virus, and are navigating an environment rife with uncertainty about the future?

It is likely that students will re-enter school buildings with even more variability in their academic skills and knowledge than under normal circumstances; educators will need to continue to differentiate instruction, provide opportunities for individualized learning plans and structure, and ensure cross-collaboration between grade levels and subjects. However, one of the most critical aspects of returning to school buildings will rest on understanding the impact of COVID and how to best support the social and emotional needs of students and staff.

During the pandemic, our students and communities faced greater food insecurities, loss of family members and friends due to coronavirus, fear and isolation, and loss of family income. The Board must account for the reality that the COVID-19 crisis more greatly impacts our most vulnerable and typically underserved communities – and ensure that resource allocation and programming is directed to meet not just the learning and academic needs of our students, but also mental health services, restorative practices, programming for students with limited English proficiency, wraparound services, expanded Pre-K for three- and four-year-olds, and targeted special education interventions.

Beyond these immediate needs of education in the aftermath of COVID-19, if elected to continue serving on the Board of Education, I will place a high priority on expanding access to in-school and after-school programming and targeted intervention for students who are not meeting college and career readiness standards. FCPS should focus on expanding access to high-quality career and technical (CTE) programming by offering additional pathways to post-secondary success for students who may not plan to enter college immediately following high school.

Additional funding for the 26 programs currently in place within FCPS and their immediate expansion throughout FCPS ranging from Construction Technology Programs like Carpentry to Mechanical Programs like Collision Repair or Service Programs like Cosmetology will be required. We should also consider opportunities for career exploration and hands-on, career-focused experiential learning for middle school students. Our schools must acknowledge that every child is not college-bound and make efforts to remove the perceived stigma of pursuing alternative post-secondary options, including employment in high-demand industries with pathways to high wages and good benefits. By increasing access to a variety of CTE programming, internships, apprenticeships, and work-based educational experiences, all students will face greater options for post-secondary success.

In the current everyday, we are living moment to moment, working to keep our heads above water, but there will be a time when we must look forward to building the education system for our children’s futures. I hope to be a part of that conversation as a member of the Board of Education and would be proud to earn your vote this November.

Read Rae Gallagher October article