n LOUDOUN
4 | n LEESBURG
VOL. 8, NO. 26
8 | n EDUCATION
10 | n OBITUARIES
17 | n PUBLIC NOTICES
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MAY 18, 2023
With No State Action, County Board Fills School Funding Gap BY RENSS GREENE
rgreene@loudounnow.com
With schools still short millions of dollars from the state and the General Assembly showing no signs of reconvening, the Board of Supervisors has stepped in to fill the school district’s $13 million gap in hopes the state will step up later. This year, a Virginia Department of Education error meant school districts across the commonwealth were planning for more money than the state planned to send them—in Loudoun, a $7.4 million gap next year. That was compounded by the General Assembly’s action to pass a minimal, “skinny” budget for a total shortfall of $13 million compared with the information from the state Loudoun County Public Schools used to plan its budget. Meanwhile, according to the county staff, school district staffers have indicated they will take the difference out of school employees’ paychecks. “In our discussions with Loudoun County Public Schools staff, they’ve indicated that they will be reconciling their operating budget by holding back a portion of employee pay,” Deputy Chief Financial Officer Megan Bourke told the Board of Supervisors finance committee at its May 9 meeting. “I believe they’re FUNDING GAP continues on page 33
Alexis Gustin/Loudoun Now
Pet Rock Factory founders Charlie Green and Griffin Vogel, Evergreen Mill fifth graders, started painting and selling pet rocks to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Students’ Pet Project Rocks School, St. Jude’s
BY ALEXIS GUSTIN
agustin@loudounnow.com
Two fifth graders at Evergreen Mill Elementary School decided to turn their newfound love of making pet rocks into a way to help kids dealing with illness. Griffin Vogel and Charlie Green created the Pet Rock Factory after learning about patents and the original pet rock in their gifted class. During class, the two
made their own pet rocks, which they named Chicken Nugget and George and began carrying them around school. Vogel said after a few friends asked her to make one for them she came up with the idea to make them and sell them to raise money for a charity. PET ROCK FACTORY continues on page 32
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