By Sarah Vogelsong
CP Reporter
The schedule for the 2015–16 school year remains unresolved after the School Board tabled a decision on the matter at its Jan. 12 meeting.
Despite a motion from Madison representative Shawn Kelley and a second from Western Caroline representative Mary Anderson to select a calendar that would set the first day of school as Aug. 17, the officials backed away from making a final choice.
The two possible calendars primarily differ in their start date and the length of winter break. In Option A, students would return to school on Aug. 17 and winter vacation would last two weeks, starting Dec. 23 and, because of the scheduling of two teacher workdays directly on the heels of the break, ending Jan. 5.
Option B would set the first day of school as Aug. 13 and would give students a two-and-a-half-week winter break.
Assistant superintendent Rebecca Broaddus reported that surveys had revealed that teachers preferred Option B two to one, and that parents were evenly split on the question.
Nevertheless, two parents spoke during the citizen comment portion of the Jan. 12 meeting to urge the Board not to select Option B. Timothy Payne noted that a later start date would be “more conducive” for students involved in sports and activities such as band that begin practices two weeks before the first day of school. Beginning the calendar year on Aug. 13, he pointed out, would mean that students would be hitting the fields in late July.
Kelley also aired concern over the long winter break of Option B, which he said “seems like an extremely long time for academic purposes.”
At different points during discussion, Kelley, Anderson, and Port Royal representative Tinka Harris stated a preference in favor of Option A. Nevertheless, no vote was taken.
During discussion, Broaddus also floated the idea of shortening the high school and middle school day by five minutes and the elementary school day by 10 minutes, but no decision was made. (Editor’s note, 3 p.m., Jan. 13: This paragraph has been corrected from an earlier version that had incorrectly flipped the times.)
In other news from the meeting, the Board reelected a number of individuals to the posts they held in 2014, including George Spaulding as board chairman, Nancy Carson as vice chairman, and Broaddus as clerk of the board. Meetings in 2015 will continue to be held at 5:30 p.m. on the second Monday of the month at Caroline Middle School.
The Board made quick work of a number of topics. Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Elementary Education Kathleen Beane presented an update on the work of the assessment review team. Upon questioning from the Board, Beane reported that the team has eliminated extra testing, including the second grade achievement test.
Tests currently left in place are benchmarks—which Broaddus reported are also being reduced for science and history—the STAR reading and math tests, and the Virginia Standards of Learning tests, which are mandated by the state.
Additionally, Beane stated that the assessment review team had conducted a survey of testing in nearby localities and found that Caroline “w(as) not by any stretch of the imagination overtesting according to the surrounding areas.”
Spaulding, however, expressed some skepticism, quickly shooting back, “Maybe everyone is overtesting.”
Supervisor of Construction and Maintenance Geoffrey Honan and Randy Jones, CEO of OWPR, the firm overseeing the renovations of Caroline High School and Madison Elementary School, reported that preliminary comments on the schools’ site plans have been received from the Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia Department of Transportation and that the school system and OWPR are working to address concerns.
Jones noted that most of the comments received are administrative in nature and are “not items that directly affect the design of the project.”
Currently, he said, OWPR hopes to be able to come to the Board’s Feb. 9 meeting to request permission to send out bids for the projects.
Finally, the Board received an update on the 2015–16 school system budget from Director of Finance John Martin. Martin provided projected costs for the priorities previously identified by the Board, including salary increases, instructional materials, and professional development. The new salary scale and step increases are the most expensive of these projected costs, with an estimated price tag of $834,196 (a figure that includes benefit costs).
A 10 percent raise for support staff employees, such as bus drivers and cafeteria workers, is projected to cost $777,956, and the hiring of additional staff—including four new elementary teachers and two new secondary teachers needed because of increased enrollment—is estimated at $753,300.
Together, the budget increases required to fund these proposed priorities would total just over $3 million.
“Am I clear that what we’re asking for is a third increase from the county … well, not quite a third, a fourth?” Anderson asked.
“That would be correct,” Superintendent Gregory Killough replied.
The School Board will hold a budget workshop at 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 20 at the School Board Office. A joint meeting with the Board of Supervisors will also be held on Jan. 27.
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