Documenting Virginia’s steady descent into madness…
Woke Kintergarten. Asra Nomani and her buddies at Parents Defending Education have caught the Fairfax County Public School system with its figurative pants down. A summer learning guide at Bailey’s Elementary school for the Arts and Sciences in Falls Church suggested readers follow Web links to “Woke Kindergarten,” “No White Saviors,” other contents informed by Critical Race Theory, and photographs including nudity and semi-nudity, reports The Fairfax Times. After an outcry, the schools removed the material, declaring that the postings were made “in error.” Translation: “We don’t disavow the material, we made a mistake posting it online where parents could see it.”
The wrong kind of munchies. The Virginia Poison Center is recording a surge in calls relating to individuals ingesting marijuana edibles. Seventy-six percent were children, half of whom were under six, reports WTVR News. Fifteen children have been rushed to the hospital, and five required treatment in critical care units. Apparently, young children are drawn to the edibles, which look like candy, cookies or brownies. Virginia, which has decriminalized marijuana, is following the same path as states that legalized weed. Several of those states ban packaging that imitates popular snacks and the use of cartoons, animal shapes, or anything that might be attractive to children. Virginia should consider doing the same.
Defunding school resource officers. Back in May, the Alexandria City Council defunded SROs (School Resource Officers) in city schools and reallocated $790,000 to hire a “mentoring partnership coordinator,” a public health nurse, a therapist supervisor, three senior therapists, and a human services specialist. Guess who’s not happy? Alexandria school officials. According to The Alexandria Times, the school board wants the SROs back.
A School Board report outlined the implications of the removal of SROs: increased vulnerability at school sites; decreased deterrence of situations like active threats; potential increase of calls for service from APD to respond given no SRO coverage; decreased police response time to calls for service; and an increase to ACPS’ operating budget to fund additional security to help offset the loss.
“We do have situations where sexual assault happens outside of school, but a young lady feels exceptionally comfortable going up to a police officer,” said board Vice Chair Veronica Nolan back in June. “There’s also going to be fights that were normally deescalated by SROs that are going to take place, and we just cannot expect any of our staff to be able to deescalate those or break up fights or prevent that.”
