December School Board Meeting Update

1. Public Comment - Ryan Walker spoke to ask the School Board for any input they might have on the Budget Survey the WCEA will be sending out in January.
2. Mr. Sykes gave a presentation on the accomplishments of the Technology Center. Credentials awarded have tripled in the last four years. He gave lots of credit to the teachers. 
3. Dr. James gave an update on the Academic Review process. The state representative has reviewed the data and given preliminary recommendations. There will be follow-up visits in late January and late March.
4. Ms. Cochran talked about fall SOL testing that is underway. She also discussed the implementation of the Algebra Readiness Diagnostic Test (ARDT) that middle school students will be taking.
5. Dr. Robinett presented on the new Sick Leave Policy which will only apply to employees hired after January 1, 2014 who will be on the new hybrid VRS plan. For more information read the post on our blog below.
6. Dr. Brannon gave a capital improvement update on the progress at Sheffey and RRMS. At Sheffey the 2nd grade classes have moved into renovated rooms, the gym is open until the concrete can be poured, and the roof will require temperatures in the 40s to install. At RRMS, there has been trouble with the floor contractor, the hallway floors will be replaced once school is out, and the main entrance, and canopy should be ready for use by January 6th. 
7. Dr. Brannon also gave a preliminary budget report. Costs that will be considered in the new budget include: an increase in the School Board's percentage of VRS (cost $600,000); step increase for all employees (cost $300,000); possible increase in health insurance (cost unknown). Enrollment is down slightly, but so is the Local Composite Index so those costs may offset each other. Dr. Brannon also presented the VEA's Salary Buying Power document which shows that the gross and net salaries for WCPS employees have increased at a higher rate than most in the state - many have actually decreased. 

New Sick Leave Policy

We have fielded many questions about the Sick Leave Policy that was presented at the School Board Meeting on Thursday night. Please be aware that this policy only affects those hired after January 1, 2014; therefore, it will not affect anyone currently employed by WCPS. Current employees will be allowed to accumulate sick leave under the current policy.

The reason for the new sick leave policy is that these new employees (hired after Jan. 1, 2014) will be on the new VRS hybrid plan that was passed through the General Assembly. Part of the hybrid plan requires that employers pay for a disability policy for the employees on this plan. This disability policy will cover longterm leave such as employees taking leave after giving birth. Since WCPS will be paying for this disability program for new employees (hired after Jan 1, 2014), employees would be "double dipping" to still be allowed to accumulate unlimited sick leave and get paid for that leave when they retire.

The School Board plans to hear feedback between now and the January meeting when they will vote on the policy. If you have concerns, please contact your Association Representatives, your School Board members, and/or School Board Office personnel.

You can view the proposed policy here. The yellow highlights are the sections that deviate from the sick leave policy for all current employees. If passed, there will be two sick leave policies - the current one that will remain for all current employees and this new one for Hybrid Plan employees (hired after Jan. 1, 2014).

AEW Reception

 

 WCEA is Hosting a Reception

 

to say thank you to ALL employees of WCPS who work everyday to educate our children and make a difference in their lives!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

4:30-6:30

Spiller Elementary Cafeteria

ALL WCPS Employees are Invited

Food, Music, Fun, Time to Socialize

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A Special Thanks to our local sponsors:

Bankers Insurance, Community Animal Clinic, David T. Wilson, Ely Financial Network, First Century Bank, Grubb Funeral Home, Wythe Sheet Metal

Election Update

Yeah for Virginia! We have elected a Governor (McAuliffe) and Lt. Governor (Northam) who will be friends of public education and work towards making our schools a better place for students and teachers. Unfortunately, we weren't able to elect our endorsed delegate. We will need to do a great job of keeping new Delegate Campbell informed of our views and opinions in hopes that he will vote in support of public education. We will have to wait and see what happens in the Attorney General's election.

See VEA President Meg Gruber's take on the election.

Meet & Greet Jonathan McGrady

Who: All Wythe County School Employees
When: October 17, 2013, 3:30-5:30 (drop-in)
Where: Ann Laing's home (280 S. 1st Street - behind St. Paul UMC)

Why: Meet someone who cares about public education, has teachers in his family, has kids in public schools, and is a local farmer and attorney.

Hosted by: Ann Laing & Frances Watson, retired WCPS teachers

Refreshments and beverages available!

Become involved in decisions made by politicians about your classroom and work environment. He wants to hear from us, how he can change policies and laws, and what we need - this is your chance!

Jonathan McGrady for VA House of Delegates, 6th District

A response by President of VEA, Meg Gruber:

Statement by VEA President Meg Gruber

For a number of years, the salaries of Virginia teachers have lagged below the national average. Unfortunately, that’s still the case.

 

The National Education Association collects salary information directly from each state education department annually. In 2012, the national average teacher salary was $55,418. The average salary for Virginia teachers was $48,703. Virginia teachers trail the national average by $6,715.  The Commonwealth ranks 30^th among states in average teacher salary. See the full report (attached, Table C-11) for details.

 

We are working to find out why the Bureau of Labor Statistics data differ so much from the established annual reports compiled by the NEA and used by numerous sources, including the influential Congressional Quarterly. One difference between the BLS report and previous salary reports is that the BLS report includes non-Virginia jurisdictions in suburban Maryland in its calculations of the “Washington-Arlington-Alexandria” region. (Incidentally, that region was the only region of 10 in Virginia that exceeded the national average by a significant margin in the BLS report on teacher salary.)

 

Virginia teachers deserve fair pay, and that’s why it so important to make sure accurate information is available to guide the public and policymakers.

How VEA is keeping the future bright for Virginia education.......

http://www.goodforvirginia.org/

Reminder:

WCEA meeting is tomorrow, September 17th at 4:15 in room 235 at Spiller.

 

 

Update from School Board Meeting on September 12th.

 

•  I, Stephanie James, thanked the board for funding support. I commended the board for NOT cutting funding for instructional supplies and for supporting technology. I asked the board for leniency as  the new online lesson plans are implemented. I highlighted the positive aspects of the lesson plans, but also informed the board of the amount of time it was taking to make them. I asked for additional time and more technological training and support.
• Dr. Brannon reported that, according to VEA report, Wythe County supports funding 60% above Required Local Effort.
• Dr. Brannon read a resolution written by the Virginia Association for School Superintendents. This resolution  strongly opposes certain aspects of Virginia's Standardized testing and accountability. School Board members were asked to review it to see if any changes were suggested before passing it.
• Dr. Poole did a capital improvement update. Construction at Sheffey and RRMS is progressing. The Community gym at Sheffey will break ground in the next couple of days, their open-area classrooms are closed and the 2nd grade classrooms are next. At RRMS, the crews are working on updating the electrical and will be finishing the 6th grade wing and the office suite soon.
• The Board approved the goals and objectives for 2013-14 school year that Dr. Brannon proposed.
• The board approved policy changes to student fees, fines and charges.
• Dr. Brannon read a Thank you note from the Board of Education. They had a wonderful visit to RRES and were very complimentary of school, staff and students.

 

The next School Board Meeting is October 10th at 6:00pm at the School Board Office. Please make plans to attend.



Reminder:

 

 

Tomorrow night (Thursday, September 12th at 6:00pm) the Wythe County School Board will meet at the School Board Office. All employees are encouraged to attend. You can find the agenda on Wythe County Public Schools website   boarddocs.com/vsba/wythe/Board.nsf

 

 

 

Topics on the Agenda that may interest you:

 

*  Wythe County School Board Goals and Objectives will be shared. 

*  Dr. Poole will present an update on Capital Improvement.

*  Dr. Brannon will give a First Reading of VASS High Stakes Testing Resolution.

*  Dr. Brannon will also present the VEA report on required local effort.

*  Dr. Melinda Robinett will present policy for Student fees, fines, and charges.

 

 

We hope to see you there!

Welcome Back

 Check out these photos from the Back-to-School County Wide Convocation. Thanks to all the people who stopped by the WCEA table to see us and put your name in for the drawings. We were excited to give away a KindleFireHD, iPod Nano, Happy Nails $35 gift card, teacher supply basket, a Sheetz giftcard, and a table full of teacher goodies! A special thanks to members - Delores Craig, Joey Russell, and Annie Zorn who joined our WCEA officers at the table to meet and greet folks. Best wishes in overcoming your Goliaths this year!

More info on our great speaker, Dave Weber. http://daveweber.com/

Gubernatorial Education Platforms

Interesting article on the platforms of the gubernatorial candidates.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/cuccinellis-k-12-education-plan-would-let-virginia-parents-take-over-failing-schools/2013/08/13/213cfcb8-03cd-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html

Member Benefits

Don't forget about your NEA Member Benefits. Here's a link to the back-to-school deals that are being offered. You can register for a chance to win an Ipad Mini!!!

http://www.neamb.com/backtoschool 

School Board Meeting

August 8, 2013 at 6:00 pm the Wythe County School Board will meet at the SBO. This evening meeting will give you an opportunity to provide input or simply show up---- to show your interest! Please plan to attend.

                                            AGENDA HIGHLIGHTS

*  Beginning of school information

*  An update on the Capital Improvement Projects

*  DRESS CODE Policy Revisions (Can be found on Board Docs - "fifth option" is crossed out and underlined version; "final" is the clean copy) http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/wythe/Board.nsf/Public

• There's another policy mentioned that has to do with 12 months employee leave. It doesn't appear to change much. 

School Board meeting news...

1. Stephanie James, Kim Aker, Denise Davis, and I all spoke with concerns regarding more night meetings and the dress code proposals. 
2. Mr. Kidd and Mr. Frye were reelected to chair and vice-chair, respectively.
3. SB meetings for the 13-14 school year were set. Meetings from Sept to May will be held at 6:00pm on the second Thursday of the month. We all will now actually have the opportunity to attend the SB meetings! This a great accomplishment that WCEA has been working toward for several years. We were tasked with getting more teachers to attend :)
4. The dress code proposal was presented by Dr. Robinett. The formal and casual plans that were on BoardDocs were presented and compared to the current dress code. She then explained several drawbacks to implementing a new dress policy - including many of the problems that we had brought to their attention in our remarks. Dr. Robinett's final recommendation was to not adopt either of the proposals - instead she recommended amending the current dress code policy. The policy vote was not held today. We were asked to get feed back on the idea of keeping the current policy with amendments. The vote will likely be at the August meeting. 

The current policy can be found here on p.220-221. The four amendments she suggested were:

• No denim is allowed (excluding dress down days)
• Limit number of dress down days (proposing 10 days per school year - 1 per month)
• No sweatshirts are allowed (excluding dress down days)
• Require employee signature (doesn’t want anyone to violate without them knowing)

WCPS School Board Meeting 7/10 @ 9am

Topics of interest at the SB meeting include:

1. Elections of SB chair & co-chair
2. Proposed dates/times for SB meetings
3. Proposed dress code for teachers

Please come at 9am on Wed to hear the details. If you'd like to share your opinion come a few minutes early to sign-up for public comment.

Check out the proposed meeting dates/times & dress code at BoardDocs.

On Wednesday, February 13th the Wythe County School Board will meet at 9:00am at the School Board Office. WCEA will present the results from the Employee Salary Surveys. Your Education Association and your Uniserve Representative will be there to support educators across the county. If you have any questions or want to express a concern, please see your Association rep! WCEA will meet at Spiller in room 235 on February 14th at 4:00 to share updates from the board. Members are always welcome and encouraged!!