STUDENT WALKOUT INFORMATION
STUDENT WALKOUT INFORMATION
By now you are probably aware that many students across the country plan to stage a walkout on March 14 at 10:00 am as a protest against school violence as well as a remembrance of the 17 students who died in the recent school shooting in Florida. As you can imagine, this presents a lot of opportunities as well as problems for schools.
I have had the chance to review and discuss potential options with other school leaders across the region. To that end, I wanted to let you know how we plan to deal with the situation and what the expectations are of our students, faculty, and staff.
To begin with, many of the students feel very passionate about being in solidarity with other students across the country; however, some do not. While I want to acknowledge those who want to walk, it is of equal importance to protect the rights of those who do not. My approach to all of this has been one of keeping the students safe while being pragmatic about the reality of dealing with hundreds of students, and their parents, in terms of safety, discipline, and academic consequences. Here are the main points:
- Students plan to walk out on March 14 at 10:00 am for 17 minutes. This is at the tail end of 1st Block and the opening of 3rd
- I am working with the students as to where they will go, but it will be a well-supervised area on campus. They absolutely may not leave campus.
- Security and the Richmond Police Department will be present.
- Teachers will remain in their classes if they teach during 3rd . They will take roll and record absences of any student who does not make it to class at the beginning of 3rd. Teachers and staff will not participate in the walk-out. This is a student event. I will pull a few teachers who are off during 3rd Block to help me supervise and keep the students safe.
- Teachers may begin instruction at the beginning of 3rd.
- Students should return to class by 10:20 a.m. or so. When they arrive in class, they will be marked as Tardy Unexcused. Any work missed by a student who participates in the walk-out may be made up with no penalty, but the Unexcused Tardy will be counted toward any potential exam exemption. Current policy allows for 2 Unexcused Tardies before a student loses his or her exam exemption.
As always, please email or call me with any questions.
Dr. Robert Lowerre, Director
YOUTH ART AND MUSIC MONTH OPENING WEDNESDAY!
This year, in addition to our regular month-long student art exhibition in the second floor hallway, various school music groups will also be performing throughout the evening of our opening event on Wednesday, March 14 from 5-7 p.m. Student short films will also be shown in the auditorium. The event is open to the public and refreshments will be provided. Please mark your calendar!
MLWGS Regional School Board Meeting and FY19 Budget Public Hearing
Thursday, March 15 (Alert: Adjusted Budget Proposal to be Presented)
The regularly scheduled meeting of the Maggie Walker Governor’s School Regional Board will be held on March 15, 2018 at 9:00 am, in room 153, on the MW campus and includes the FY19 budget public hearing.
Dr. Lowerre’s Alert: Due to the delay of the State Legislature to approve a budget, an amended budget reflecting the loss in revenue of $289,000 will be presented at the school board meeting on March 15. The amended budget will be posted shortly.
Dr. Lowerre’s Alert: Due to the delay of the State Legislature to approve a budget, an amended budget reflecting the loss in revenue of $289,000 will be presented at the school board meeting on March 15. The amended budget will be posted shortly.
Persons wishing to address the Regional School Board are required to contact the Board Clerk. In order to address the Regional School Board, the speaker must provide the Clerk with a summary of his/her comments by 10:00 am on the last business day prior to the meeting at which he or she desires to be heard.
Spring means lots of Foundation funding for student travel. This year, we committed to offsetting the cost of class-related trips for students traveling to Morocco (MENA senior seminar), Canada (AP Comparative Government), Phoenix (Math Modeling), and DC (We the People). The combined enhancement grants for these four trips total just over $57,000, all of which goes to reduce or eliminate the cost for participating students and their families.
So far this year, the Foundation's 2017-18 Annual Fund Campaign has raised $254,982 which is 77% of our $330,000 goal. 29% of current parents have donated a total of $57,657. In our strongest fundraising years, parent participation has reached 70%. Help us get there this year! Here is the parent participation by class as of 3/7:
- Senior: 27%
- Junior: 34%
- Sophomore: 26%
- Freshmen: 28%
Make your gift today to enrich the MLWGS experience for all students. Our fundraising over the course of the next few months will determine how much enhancement grant funding we will be able to commit to providing in the 2018-19 school year.
Students on the 2017 Morocco trip
