Thousands sign petition in Loudoun County calling on school district to cut back on work
ASHBURN, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - In Loudoun County, thousands of students and parents are furious – and they’re making sure school district officials know why.
One group gathered in front of district headquarters in Ashburn Tuesday and set off about a dozen car alarms to demand their kids be allowed back inside schools, while another quieter group took their fight online.
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“Kindergarten, fourth grade, and junior high school – it’s a lot for one person,” said mother of three LCPS students Michelle Fradera, who’s one of nearly 12,000 people who signed a Change.org petition calling on the district to cut back on work. “I can see they are stressed. They are not enjoying this process, and it’s sad, right? Because they used to love school.”
In the comment section of the petition one student wrote, ”I am getting too much work. I can’t even rest on the weekends.”
Father of three LCPS students Hassan Wahla also chimed in, writing, “My daughter is consistently working past 2 AM on her school work and still struggling to keep up.”
Wahla later told FOX 5 that while he thinks teachers and principals are doing a great job in difficult circumstances, he believes change should come from the top.
“Overall there’s a lot of pressure it seems like on the school systems to try to still teach all of the same material that they would teach in a normal setting,” Wahla explained, “but try to do this in a virtual setting four days a week and not having the level of engagement that students would have otherwise and still expect the same outcome, and I think that’s the challenging part for the students, for the parents, and certainly for the teachers.”
District officials said they had no comment on the petition, but in response to a question about the volume of assignments, a spokesperson emailed, “Principals are working with their staff to balance workloads and help students with time management.”
He added, “LCPS developed documents for use by teachers and administrators to identify the key content and competencies in the first quarter curriculum and help teachers prioritize those key competencies in the distance learning environment.”
Still, parents like Fradera, Wahla, and the group blaring their car alarms Tuesday said change is needed – and they’re willing to make some noise to get it.