Wednesday, May 8, 2013
It's National Bike to School Day. What's the status of an approved plan to build a sidewalk along Euclid Avenue from Blooms Quarry Road to Manassas Park Middle School.
It's National Bike to School Day, but it's unlikely students will be riding to Manassas Park Middle or High Schools, and it isn't because of the rainy weather. The City of Manassas Park received a $425,000 grant in February of 2012 from the Virginia Department of Transportation's Safe Routes to Schools program to build a sidewalk along Euclid Avenue from the middle school to Blooms Quarry Road. According to VDOT data,the project has a completion date of June 2015, said Robert Williams, the Safe Routes to School Coordinator for VDOT. The program is locally administered by Manassas Park, so that date may have changed, Williams added. The Manassas Park point of contact for the project couldn't immediately be reached on Tuesday for comment. …
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
The new buses will cost about $272,000.
Three new school buses will be in service in Manassas Park for the 2013-2014 school year. On Monday, the Manassas Park City School Board approved and authorized a lease-purchase agreement with U.S. Bank Corp for $272,540 for the three buses. The school division purchased two, 77-passenger school buses and one special needs bus to service all four of the city's schools. The 77-passenger buses cost about $86,000 each, while the special needs bus was just short of $100,000, according to school division data. The buses will replace the aging school buses that are now in service. The old buses will be used as backup buses next year. Meanwhile the current back up buses will be traded in and used toward the purchase of the new buses, school staff…
Friday, March 22, 2013
The driver of a tractor trailer that crashed on Euclid Avenue Tuesday is a Pennsylvania man, Manassas Park Police said.
Manassas Park Police have now released the identity of a man they say is the driver of a tractor trailer that crashed into several utility poles, ultimately closing two of the city's four schools on Tuesday. Officials initially announced someone had been charged with the crash, but didn't immediately release the identity of that person, or if a formal arrest had been made. Police now say 51-year-old Kevin Holgate of Nicholson, PA was arrested and charged with reckless driving in the case. He is expected to appear in court on May 16. Holgate was driving a 1999 Peterbuilt 18-wheeler early Tuesday morning when the truck somehow hit at least three utility poles near the intersection of Euclid and Manassas Drive, police said. Several …
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Manassas Park Police said the tractor trailer took out at least three utility poles on Euclid Avenue on Tuesday.
The driver of a tractor trailer that took out several power lines and damaged at least three utility poles on Euclid Avenue has been charged with reckless driving, Manassas Park Police said. The name of the driver wasn't released by police. The crash happened at 3:39 a.m. Tuesday on Euclid Avenue near the intersection of Manassas Drive. The tractor trailer struck the power lines and damaged at least three utility poles, police reports show. The street had to be closed much of the day Tuesday while Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) workers made repairs. Manassas Park City Schools were closed because no one could safety get to the middle and high schools out of fear a power line would fall on a passing bus or car during repairs…
The approved budget is $330,000 more than what was proposed in February by Superintendent Dr. Bruce McDade.
A $35 million budget for Fiscal Year 2014 was unanimously approved Monday night by the Manassas Park City School Board. The approved budget for Manassas Park schools is exactly $35,065,000—$330,000 more than the $34.74 million budget proposed in February by Dr. Bruce McDade, superintendent of Manassas Park City Schools. This is because of a revision in the state budget, the $170,000 more that was added for school operations and the $160,000 added for food service, according to school division data. School board member Brenda Foster said she wanted to make it clear that the body isn't changing a budget that's already been approved. The budget is finalized when the school board approves it. Before that point, it is still a proposed budget, …
Meetings will begin 15 minutes later so every board member can attend the entire meeting.
The Manassas Park City School Board voted 4-1 Monday night to change the time its meetings begin. Meetings will begin at 7:15 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. in the school board meeting room, upstairs in Manassas Park City Hall. School board member Brenda Foster brought the measure before the body on Monday night, saying that the meeting time had been changed before and that prehaps it should be done again so that the newest school board member Fran Kassinger can attend the entire meeting. Kassinger was appointed to the board in 2012. The school board is made up of working professionals like Kassinger who come straight from their jobs to the meetings. School Board Rachel Kirkland voted nay to the measure, saying that there had been no discussion …
A tractor trailer hit a pole on the corner of Manassas Drive and Euclid Avenue Tuesday morning, taking down the power line and preventing access to Manassas Park Middle and High Schools.
Manassas Park City Schools were closed on Tuesday after a tractor trailer crashed into a utility pole, taking down a power line and preventing access to Manassas Park Middle and High Schools. At 4:02 Tuesday morning, a truck hit a pole in the median of Euclid Avenue shutting down both lanes of the road, Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) spokesman Mike Curtis said. The down line prevented access to the bus lot behind Manassas Park Middle School, division Superintendent Dr. Bruce McDade said. It also prevented safe passage to both the middle and high schools, leaving administrators with no choice but to close all the schools, he added. The lanes remained closed for much of the day Tuesday because of fears that the low-hanging …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Virginia's winter storm and several inches of snow keep kids at home.
Manassas Park City Schools are closed Wednesday, March 6, due to the winter storm that began moving through the area overnight. According to the district website, it is a code red for employees. How are your children spending the day off? Tell us in the comment section below! See more winter storm coverage at Manassas Patch
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
The Northern Virginia Community College Dual Enrollment STEM Academy has room for 30 Manassas Park High School juniors and seniors next fall. The students can earn college credit while still in high school, NVCC officials said.
Thirty Manassas Park juniors and seniors could earn college credit while still in high school beginning this fall, thanks to the Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) Dual Enrollment STEM Academy. The Manassas Park School Board on Monday approved the Memorandum of Understanding with NVCC, allowing students of Manassas Park to participate in the dual enrollment STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) academy at the NVCC campus in Manassas. A total of 110 students from Manassas Park and Manassas are expected to participate in the pilot program which is set to begin this fall, Aleksander Marthinussen, STEM Education Coordinator at NVCC's SySTEMic Solutions told the Manassas Park School Board on Monday. Students from …
Friday, January 25, 2013
The impending inclement weather has resulted in schools dismissing a few hours early today.
Schools in Manassas Park and Manassas are dismissing students early because of the impending snow showers. Metz Middle School in Manassas is dismissing at 1:30 p.m. on Friday while Mayfield Intermediate School is dismissing students at 2 p.m., Manassas City Public Schools spokeswoman Almeta Radford said. All the school divisions elementary schools will dismiss at 2:30 p.m. Manassas students will return to school on Tuesday morning, as Monday is a teacher work day. Manassas Park Middle and High Schools are dismissing at 1 p.m. while the lower schools of Cougar and Manassas Park Elementary will dismiss at 1:45 p.m. Stay with Manassas Park Patch as more information becomes available on the snow showers.
Jamie M. Rogers
3:24 am on Thursday, May 9, 2013
Hey Kris! Calvin O'Dell is the city employee I usually correspond with regarding this project. I believe he works closely with VDOT officials concerning Safe Routes to Schools. Very nice fellow and super helpful. I'll reach out to him again later today for a completion date. more ›