Happy Monday, Washington. Looks like we might start the week with a little rain, no doubt the salty tears of a thousand schoolchildren as they tuck away the summer toys and fill their backpacks with clean notebooks and sharpened pencils. School is back in session this morning for the D.C. Public Schools, and just as kids everywhere feel unprepared in the face of a new year, the schools themselves may be just as unprepared for them.
Schools Weather Changes: A population boom in Virginia will see its public schools struggling to handle over one million students by 2010. The suburbs around Washington will get the brunt of this influx that could cost $275 million in taxpayer dollars, while Virginia’s southern counties will actually see a decrease in students. Meanwhile, D.C. public schools are moving up their annual headcount, which often results in chaos as teachers are removed mid-year when fewer students show up than expected. And, after a mandatory program was tossed, parents in Virginia can now volunteer their kids to participate in random drug testing. Schools will use technology that can determine up to 72 hours later if a student has consumed alcohol.
Southeast Teen’s Killing Provokes Community Anger: A vigil was held Sunday for 17-year-old Cynthia Gray, who was killed “execution-style” last Thursday near her home on Benning Road, while saving the life of her 7-month-old godson by pushing him underneath a parked car. People in the neighborhood were unimpressed with Mayor Williams’ visit to Gray’s grandmother, along with his crime emergency measures, which local activitists say aren’t proactive enough to prevent what some fear is a “new era of violence.”
Briefly Noted: Governor Kaine close to Dulles Metrorail extension decision … Local Air National Guard unit off to Mideast again … Clinic offers free immunizations for school children … Maryland scrambles to remove name from ballots … Mayoral candidates debate last night and again today.
This Day in DCist: This day last year was a lazy Sunday, but in 2004 we featured a local photoblogger, and saw a visit from a rapper-turned-religious leader.
Photo of Columbia Heights sidewalk by Flickr user DCMatt.
