League of Women Voters^®
of Falls Church

Falls Church Police Chief Mary Gavin will speak at the League of Women Voters of Falls Church (LWVFC) Annual Meeting on Saturday, June 8, 2013. The meeting from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM will be held at La Côte d'Or Café, located at the corner of North Washington and North Westmoreland Streets.

Please complete your registration for the meeting and luncheon by June 1. The agenda for the meeting, as well as the proposed 2013-2014 budget and slate for LWVFC's Board of Directors can be found here.

The League is also pleased to announce that a generous member will match all contributions to the Education Fund made between now and August 31, 2013 up to $1,000. This in itself is an excellent reason to make an Ed Fund donation: you get a tax deduction and your dollars will double. When you send in your reservation for the annual meeting, please add a check made out to LWVEF (League of Women Voters Education Fund). Thank you; we look forward to seeing you on June 8.

The League of Women Voters of Falls Church held a forum in City Council chambers on March 20 titled "Let's Talk About School Growth." The community conversation explored the impact of population growth on the Falls Church City schools and the implications of their expansion for the City as a whole.

Speakers included Gary Fuller, principal planner with the City, who provided an overview of the past 10 years of the City's changed and changing demographics; Johannah Barry, City Council member, who highlighted some of the budget and development policy challenges the Council faces as it seeks to serve all of its citizens; and Susan Kearney, chairman of the Falls Church School Board, and Dr. Toni Jones, superintendent of Falls Church City Public Schools, who detailed how they are working to manage the growth in enrollment while delivering the best possible education to City students.

While 26 percent of the City's population is under the age of 18, the City's population is far more diverse, including seniors, empty nesters, and singles, all of whom have interests and needs beyond the school system. The central question addressed by speakers and members of the audience alike was: How can the City best serve its diverse population while maintaining its award-winning schools? Falls Church Community Cable TV (FCC-TV) taped the forum, which can be seen on YouTube.

Falls Church City's Police Chief Mary Gavin and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Toni Jones addressed the issue of community and school safety last month at a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Falls Church. During the session, Chief Gavin and Superintendent Jones stressed their ongoing, close collaboration to keep the community in general, and especially our schools, safe and secure. They described current initiatives, which include police officers regularly joining students for lunch at all four City schools and at St. James, thereby getting to know students, their teachers and school administrators, and the facilities themselves, and plans to build a fence around the perimeter of George Mason High School.

Chief Gavin recommended a six-minute video on what to do in an active shooter situation titled "Run Hide Fight" and produced by Ready Houston. The video can be found on YouTube. Links to versions of "Run Hide Fight" in English with subtitles and in text only are also available at Ready Houston's website. Chief Gavin said officers in the department would be glad to work with any group to view and discuss this resource.

Falls Church Community TV (FCC-TV) taped the League's session on community and school safety and has made it available here.

The League of Women Voters of Falls Church recently reviewed and edited its local positions, focusing in particular on positions formed prior to the year 2000. The League's Board approved on February 12, 2013 changes proposed by a task force assigned to do this work and amended during the January 2013 program planning meeting. The membership will vote on LWVFC's local positions as edited at the League's 2013 annual meeting. To view current Falls Church League positions, please click here.