VEA & PTA Announce the Put Kids First Rally

Recap: School Board Meeting 2/12/15

The Wythe County School Board met at 9 a.m. on 2/12/15. Attendance: 7 School Board members, 12 central office, 7 principals, 1 media, >15 community members, 2 teachers, and 2 retired teachers

• Public Comment
• Several community members spoke to the school board, expressing their concerns about the possibility of Speedwell Elementary School closing. Others addressed the board with concerns about the FCHS football program.

• Informational Agenda

• Ryan Walker presented the results of the 2014-2015 Employee Survey. Here's the link to his powerpoint. http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/wythe/Board.nsf/files/9TNKV874E264/$file/WCEA%2014-15%20Survey%20Presentation%20-%20Preview%20for%20SB.pdf
• Project Graduation: Dr. James explained that this is a program designed to provide remedial assistance for students who are at-risk of not graduating. It is grant-funded and gives these students more opportunities to remediate and to take/pass required SOL tests.
• Woodford Golf Fund: Mr. Lee gave the background of the fund and explained how the fund helps high school students more fully participate in the sport of golf.
• Budget FY 16 Update: Dr. Brannon hoeps to be able to give WCPS employees both a step increase and an additional salary increase for the coming school year.
• Principals Update: Four schools were in the spotlight at this month's meeting.
• Mr. Rouse highlighted these and other great things happening at Speedwell Elementary. They are happy to house the new program for students with autism at Speedwell. Their Tiger Tailgate party fostered community involvement and building relationships. The Trout in the Classroom program gets kids collecting water samples and evaluating their data. Also, teachers nominate students each month to join the Principal's Club to be recognized for their awesomeness.
• Mrs. Walters spotlighted these and other great things about Rural Retreat Elementary. RRES students are friends and "bucket-fillers." Teachers from all areas are helping to remediate students in math and language arts. Kids are excited to earn extra library time for rewards, as going to the library is a hands-on experience. Finally, and very importantly, kids are happy at RRES.
• Mrs. Vaught put Rural Retreat Middle School in the spotlight. RRMS has student-developed clubs to address the interests of the students. A STEAM Team has been developed, with 4 teachers traveling to each of the 3 middle schools for kids to get more experience with STEAM concepts: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. The students at RRMS believe, "Whether you win or lose, if you're a good sport, you always win."
• Mr. Jackson put Rural Retreat high School in the spotlight. He highlighted several teachers who have secured classroom funds/materials through donorschoose.org. They're using the ALEKS (Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces) program to help students become more successful. Students are using a great deal of technology in the classroom and becoming more active learners.

•  At this point in the meeting, your WCEA teacher reps had to leave to return to their respective schools.

Recap of Joint S.B. and B.O.S Meeting, January 27, 2015

The Wythe County School Board and Board of Supervisors held a joint meeting today at 1:30. In attendance were 17 community members, 10 central office staff,  1 teacher, 1 building admin., 1 ODPR rep, and 5 media members.

1. FY 2016 Joint Budget Work Session

• Dr. Brannon stated that the top priority for the School Board is what's best for the students of Wythe County. In order to provide the best for our students, additional revenue is needed. As the state will not be providing any additional money in the upcoming year, all additional funding must come from within the county. 
• Out of 134 school divisions in VA,  77 have raised taxes in the last 5 years. Mr. Dalton, of the B.O.S., noted that the local governments may not introduce new taxes at this time, but may only raise current taxes.
• Further discussion led to the unlikely possibility of participating in the state health insurance plan, as it probably wouldn't provide savings for WCPS.
• Student enrollment is the main factor in determining the budget. Declining enrollment has led to a decline in state funding over the past 5 years. 
• Dr. Brannon wants the "best and brightest" teaching Wythe County students. This requires more funding for teacher salaries in order to be competitive with surrounding divisions.
• Dr. Brannon informed the B.O.S. that grants have been applied for, and received, to help provide all FCHS 9th & 10th graders with a laptop/tablet through the One-on-One Tech Initiative.

2. Phase II of Construction

• A total of $14, 830, 000. would be requested to fund the next phase of construction. 
• Spiller and Scott are determined as having the greatest need of renovations.  A couple possibilities to save money in the long run were discussed, including building a new elementary school to accommodate the needs of Spiller, as well as closing Speedwell Elem. 
• It was noted that closing a school would lead to other expenditures including renovations to other buikdings to house additional students.
• Waiting on construction would raise the project cost by 2-3% each year, due to rising costs for materials, labor, etc...
• Mr. Dalton mentioned that it's a good time to borrow money for construction projects right now, as interest rates are lower.
• Mr. Dalton thanked SB members for the opportunity to work together to continue improving WCPS.
• Phase II specifics will not be decided for certain until the exact funding amount is known.

3. Public Comment

• Several community members attended and spoke in favor of keeping Speedwell Elementary open. There was a recurring theme of support for their school, the teachers there, and the positive atmosphere they feel is present at Speedwell. Statistics were shared to reinforce the importance of small class sizes and small schools' roles in communities.
• A few parents proclaimed that if the school were to close, the county would receive even less state funding because they would home school their children before sending them to another school.
• It was noted that several more parents wanted to attend the meeting.  Unfortunately,  due to it being held at 1:30, many could not attend. 
• A bus driver of Speedwell and Rural Retreat students asked the board to consider how long the children would be on the bus each day. He said that a child living 1.4 miles from Speedwell would be on the bus for 48 miles each day, if traveling to Rural Retreat. Some parents also mentioned the increase in bus time.
• Community members developed a facebook page in support of Speedwell. You can find it by searching, "Save Speedwell."

• 4. Superintendent Search

• About 275 surveys were completed and submitted as part of the public input portion of the search for a new superintendent. Not all board members had received survey results prior to today's meeting.
• Mr. Frye and Mr. Sage both reinforced the public opinion that a new superintendent should reside in the county.
• Other requirements were agreed upon, including teaching experience. 
• Preferences include a doctorate, experience as a principal and central office administrator,  as well as work experience in VA.
• After much discussion and working on their own surveys, SB members decided to continue the discussion in closed session.
• The meeting was adjourned. 

Recap: Open Hearing & School Board Meeting 1/20/15

Attendance: 5 teachers, 2 retired teachers, 2 students, 2 building admin, 7 SB members, 1 BoS member,

Public Hearing on Superintendent's Search

1. Michelle Patton and Annie Zorn spoke about their desires for the new superintendent.

Phase II Construction Discussion

1. Plans were presented on Spiller, Scott, FCMS

2. Renovations to GWHS and FCHS were discussed

3. Plans were discussed for the possibility of adding space to RRES

4. Decision was made to go to Board of Supervisors for a $15 million dollar request to cover Spiller, Scott, FCMS

Recap: MLK, Jr. Walk & Program

It was a great event today in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Thank you to all that made it happen! We walked, we talked, and we prayed - three of MLK's favorite things.

Dan Wilner lead GWHS students in a rockin' performance.

Children of all ages discussed and colored Martin's Big Words!

One of Martin's most important Big Words - equality.

The WCEA was given the great opportunity to participate in the program. We used Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport as a basis for an activity and discussion with the children in attendance. Check out some pictures...










FYI - Here's a link to a great YouTube version of Martin's Big Words to use with your students.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBKP6v3rWSI

WCEA members walking with our community in honor and memory of MLK.

Recap: School Board Meeting December

Attendance: 7 SB members, 10 SBO staff, 1 admin, 1 media, 2 teachers, 0 community

Phase 2 - Dr. Poole (Spiller, Scott, Speedwell (approx. $15-16 million)

• Timeline - 2015 Planning, 2016 Bids for construction, June 2016 break ground
• Scott: bus loop, full size gym on ground floor behind current gym, full renovation of rest of building, possibly parking lot in back, current gym would remain as auditorium/multipurpose
• Discussion: Mr. Martin asked about possiblity of building new school in town; double the price for new school; tax rate at $0.44 makes it difficult to build new school; Mr. Frye asked if we could save money by putting GWHS, FCHS in phase 2 instead (building costs increases over time)
• Spiller: K wing would become parking lot, addition of loop behind 3rd grade wing below playground, office entrance reconfigured to include main entrance, 
• Discussion: Mr. Martin asked about building new structure at SMMS on the football field, possibility of building just K-2 or 3-5 building, Mr. Frye asked about building on the old HS area across the street from Spiller; asked about including FCMS since it wasn't done in Phase 1; all considerations are still on the table and can be discussed
• Speedwell: complete renovation, but footprint remains the same

Testing Update - Ms. Cochran

• HS/MS testing for first semester went well, technology was smooth
• Reports restructured to include amount of rigor and use of calculator

Budget Forecast - Dr. Brannon

• Legislators are saying cuts in everything will need to be made to balance budget
• Governor: no cuts are being proposed to K-12 public schools
• Expenditures: 
• 3-5% step increase recommended for all employees (cost $300K for every 1%); 
• Health Insurance costs  $30K for every 1% to prevent costs falling on employee, 
• Options: VRS Health Insurance transfer costs to employee, leasing bus fleet
• EMT Course Offering costs $75K
• Phase 2 architects fees $275K (depending on what we propose to do in Phase 2)
• Revenue: Enrollment projected to decline so revenue likely to decline 4,150 this year to 4,125 next year
• Discussion: SB would like to have joint meeting/discussion with BoS

Action Items (all passed unanimously)

• VSBA Supt. Search - advertisement meeting Jan. 6th @ 11am
• Budget Schedule (Feb 12th WCEA presents budget requests from Budget survey)
• Employee Bonus - $163 BOS, $37 SB + $100 for parttime (should include everyone except hourly & subs)
• VSBA Funding Resolution - requesting increased money for education
• Policy JN Amendment - $20 fee for 1-to-1 E-backpack program at FCHS (yearly fee for using device)

Dr. Brannon Updates

• Final SACS/AdvancED final report to come in Jan/Feb; thanks to all stakeholders involved
• Recognition of staff who helped resolve special issue at Spiller 
• Principals' Reports - will be held at winter/spring SB meetings
• Flu Vaccination - not strand that was vaccinated; Spiller had 150 students out yesterday
• SB Meeting on January 8th

SB Member Updates

• Kidd attended summit for schools in difficult conditions; engaging parents, early childhood edcuation, extending the school day for activities were all popular topics

Recap: Mr. Strong 5K & Christmas Parade

Getting ready to head down the parade route!

Do we have everything spelled correctly?
Kim Aker and Jen Ryan check out the sign.

Lots of fun was had on Saturday, December 6 as the WCEA participated in the Mr. Strong 5K and the Wytheville Christmas Parade.

Here comes the banner!

Jen Ryan posing by the float.

Jen Ryan & Crystal Evans at the Mr. Strong 5K.