The Reston Citizen

Ken Plum, seen on the left participates in a rally for Stu Gibson, the school board member behind the boundary changes.

In an increasingly bitter debate on school boundary changes Virginia delegate Ken Plum (D-Reston) has contrasted the racist tones of concerned parents with the school integration debates ’70s. He also tells of South Lakes good side. While maybe exaggerated he still has a valid point:

One of the more memorable moments in recent Virginia history was recorded in a front-page New York Times photograph and story of Governor Lynwood Holton walking his daughter Tayloe into a predominately Black high school in Richmond in 1970 to enroll her for classes. His wife was at the same time enrolling their other daughter Anne and their son Woody in schools in which they were the only white children in their classes. Woody grew up to become a prominent author and historian, and his sister Anne is now First Lady of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Governor Holton took a bold leadership step to show folks that their fears about the integration of public schools were not well founded. He explained later that he felt integration of the schools was the morally right thing to do. After decades of lawsuits, our public schools are for the most part integrated. The worst fears of the consequences of integration were never realized. […]

The recent process the School Board has undertaken in our region to adjust boundaries has brought some of the feelings about our local schools into the open and exposed some biases that we may be surprised to learn continue to exist in our communities. In the process, South Lakes High School has gotten a bum rap.

Two [of our children] are school teachers, one is a lawyer, and one is an environmental inspector for local government. When we read what others are saying about Scout Lakes High School, we know they are seriously misinformed. Numerous studies have shown that the strength of a school is in its leadership, and South Lakes High School is filled with educational leaders. Principal Bruce Butler has been recognized by his peers with the Fairfax County First-Year Principal of the Year Award and has recently been named in the community as Citizen of the Year.

In other high school redistricting news, on January 14th at 7pm South Lakes will offer parents from other schools a  preview on South Lakes IB and AP offerings. The meeting will be held in the lecture hall, if you need more information contact the school.