Goochland Education Parents Association

GCSB Meeting 1/17

2012-01-19T05:28:00.000-08:00

All -

The School Board meeting held Tues 1/17 featured a 2 hour public
discussion period that I felt was very effective and informative.
About a dozen speakers addressed the Board with questions and
comments related to the budget. Although there are still many
issues and concerns, the School Board and the administration
staff are working very hard on this budget.

At the end of the session, the board members invited more
questions / comments via email or telephone.

If you were not able to attend the meeting or watch the live webcast,
you can find an audio recording at:

http://blogs.glnd.k12.va.us/teachers/schoolboard/

Please review it if you have time, and if the questions/discussions
spark any comments questions that you would like to pose to the board,
please contact your district representative:

http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/

If you prefer, you can send me questions comments, and I can forward
them as well.

Marc Maier - GEPA Chairman

A message to the public from the GCPS School Board:

2012-01-16T19:04:00.000-08:00

A message to the public from the GCPS School Board:

Re: January 17 School Board meeting – Budget Working Session

Please join the GCPS School Board (SB) on Tuesday, January 17 at 7:00pm at
Goochland High School for a special Budget Working Session. In addition to
a small amount of regular business, the main focus of this meeting will be
on the developing budget. There will be a presentation of the next iteration
of the budget and then there will be a Budget Working Session which will
provide an opportunity for a two-way discussion with the public regarding
the budget.

To our knowledge, this is the first “budget conversation” of its kind and we
are excited about the opportunity to engage with the public in this manner to
understand their key concerns, hear their ideas, and have the opportunity
to respond.

The format of this Budget Working Session is designed to provide an opportunity
for everyone to participate but to limit the length of the meeting to a
reasonable time, and is as follows:
* Speakers do not need to sign up in advance but will be asked to
state their name, address and District;
* Speakers will address their comments and/or questions to the Chair.
* Speakers are limited to 5 minutes at the podium to share their views
and/or ask questions – this includes the time for Administration and
SB members to respond;
* Speakers may have the opportunity to speak again after all interested
parties have had a turn at the podium (essentially, going to the back
of the line before speaking again);
* This portion of the meeting will not exceed 2 hours.

If we run out of time and there is a clear desire for additional conversation
beyond the two hours allotted, we will consider how to accomplish that. We want
to make sure everyone has an opportunity to speak but are also mindful that
budget conversations could last hours, days, weeks, etc. without limit.

We hope that you will attend and make your voice heard. Thank you, in advance,
for your valuable input.

GEPA Buget Committee Forming

2011-12-27T06:14:00.000-08:00

With the upcoming school budget cycle the new School Board is about to undertake, the GEPA board feels that the best action to help the community stay involved and active is to form the GEPA Budget Committee. This committee will focus on the school system budget process to help GEPA make sure the next budget reflects the best interest our children. The new GEPA Budget Committee will be headed by the previous GEPA chairman Penny Palen. Anyone is interested in joining that committee should please contact her directly.

Marc Maier -- GEPA Chairman

School Board Meeting 11/22

2011-11-17T18:40:00.001-08:00

Just a reminder that there will be a School Board meeting Tues 11/22, 6:30 PM at GHS.

The agenda has not been posted at the GCPS site yet, we'll add a link once it has.

Marc Maier -- GEPA Chairman

GEPA Candidate Questionnaire Replies

2011-10-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

The GEPA Candidate Questionnaire Replies have started coming back in.

They are being posted in a topic on the forum site:

GEPA Candidate Questionnaire Replies

The replies from the candidates will be posted in the order that they are received.

Marc Maier -- GEPA Chairman

GEPA Candidate Forum Location

2011-10-11T02:50:00.000-07:00

We want to clarify the location for the GEPA Candidate forum scheduled for 4 PM on Sunday, October 23rd. Is it as the Goochland Recreation Center on Sandy Hook Road (Route 522) which is also the District 2 Sandy Hook polling location. The address is:

Goochland Recreation Center
2415 Sandy Hook Road
Goochland VA 23063

Marc Maier -- GEPA Chair

GEPA Candidates Forum - October 23, 4PM

2011-10-04T19:31:00.000-07:00

All -- The GEPA board is pleased to announce the GEPA Goochland County Candidates forum is planned for Sunday October 23rd, 4-6 PM, at the Goochland Recreation Center.

We are honored that Mr. Wayne Dementi has agreed to act as the moderator for the event. Invitations are going out to all county candidates.

Please spread the word, and plan to attend with your questions for the candidates. We will start advertising the forum this week, but can use all the help we can get via word of mouth.

On a side note, the candidates questionnaire was emailed to all Goochland County School Board candidates on Monday evening. We will post the replies to the blog site as they arrive. Thanks to all that submitted questions.

Marc Maier -- GEPA Chairman

School Board Candidate Questionnaire

2011-09-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

All -- GEPA plans to collect questions from the community, sort and organize them, and send them to every school board candidate. Ideally, we are looking to send 25-50 questions pertinent to the school board, school administration, and school system budget. We plan to post the candidates responses for the community to review.

We would like to have everyone's submissions by Sunday 9/25, so that we can prepare them and send to the candidates by Friday 9/30. We will post the candidate replies as soon as we receive them.

Please post your questions into this forum topic. If you have problems or issues doing so, please email your question(s) to me at marcmaier@earthlink.net and I will be happy to add them on your behalf.

We are using the forums for this as the easiest method to collect the display the questions. Trying to collect them over email could result in a few hundred email messages and make it too easy to miss important questions, and too hard for everyone to see the questions already posted.

The link for the forum topic is:

forums.goochlandparents.com link

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Marc Maier -- GEPA Chair

School Board Meeting 9/13

2011-09-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

All -

just a reminder that there is a school board meeting Tues. 9/13 at 7 PM at Goochland High School.

There are some items on the agenda which may have wide concern (I will review the packet tomorrow from work where I have better bandwidth - the full packet takes about an hour to load from my home connection):
G. Approval of 2012-2013 Budget Calendar
C. School Improvement Plan: Goochland High School
D. School Improvement Plan: Goochland Middle School
E. Activity Fund Audit
G. Comprehensive Plan
H. August 2011 Financial Update

There will also be two public comment periods, towards the beginning and end of the meetings.

The full agenda and packet can be viewed here:
http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/agendas/

Marc Maier - GEPA Chairman

GEPA School Board Candidate Forums

2011-09-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

With the input from Sandie Warwick, the GEPA board has decided to look at having a candidate forum for each district. However, instead of a debate-style event, we envision more of a open house style event, with the candidates having a table / area to meet with constituents from their district to answer questions and discuss school board issues.

To pull this off, we need to request volunteer help to organize the forums in Districts 1, 4, and 5. We also need someone to assist with the forum for District 3. We anticipate that they should run for approximately 2-3 hours. The place/time/date of the event will be up to the volunteers to work out with the candidates, preferably at a location convenient to that district.

The volunteers will be responsible for the following:

-- contact the candidates and schedule a time/date for the forum.
-- select and reserve a space convenient for the district for the date/time of the forum.
-- notify GEPA on location, date, and time info so that we can advertise the event.
-- manage the forum (mainly ensure the candidates get set up, and the forum starts/ends on schedule).

If we can not get enough volunteers to pull off a forum in each district, we may look at combining districts or going to a single forum for all districts.

If you are interesting in volunteering to run a forum in your district, please email me directly (marcmaier@earthlink.net) by Monday Sept. 12. Please do not reply to this message, as it will bounce to the entire email list. If you have any questions about volunteering, please email me directly and I'll reply as soon as I can. I plan to create and provide a basic check list to each volunteer to try and make sure that each district forum can run as smoothly and uniformly as possible.

Thanks,

Marc Maier -- GEPA Chairman

GCPS Now on Facebook & Twitter

2011-09-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

via Penny Palen on the gcps-parents@googlegroups.com email list:

Parents,



The schools have finally joined the age of social media!  After last

week's earthquake and the delays with School Messenger, I suggested to

Asst. Superintendent Pete Gretz that they may want to consider an

additional venue of communication with parents, one with more "real

time" posting ability.  The accounts are now active and can be found

attached to a new website:



http://goochland.posterous.com/



Parents can access these accounts for school updates and emergency

information.



Please feel free to pass this information along to others!



Penny Palen

First Day of School

2011-08-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

The GEPA board would like to extend our best hopes and wishes for a safe
and fruitful school year for all the Goochland County students, teachers,
parents, and administrators.

We would also like to ask all county residents for more patience and care
over the next few mornings as folks get used to the buses being back on
the roads and families adjust to new morning routines.

Marc Maier - GEPA Chairman

School Board Meeting Aug 9

2011-08-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

The Agenda for the August 9 School Board workshop and meeting has been posted:

http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/agendas/

Please review the agenda if you have a moment and consider attending the meeting.

Marc Maier - GEPA Chairman

Campaign Season and GEPA

2011-08-02T20:04:00.000-07:00

As many of you are aware, we have several members of the GEPA email list and forums site that are candidates in the 2011 county elections. In order to keep these GEPA resources as open and fair as possible, we are allowing access to any county candidate that requests it.

The other option would be to remove all candidates from the resources until the election, but we feel this would not be a fair solution in respect to their roles as parents and community members. And giving candidates equal access helps to foster overall communication which is one of GEPA's primary goals.

However, we do not want the GEPA resources to be used for any form of campaign activities, just as we do not want members advertising businesses or otherwise spamming everyone else.

In order to administer the GEPA resources as fairly as possible and prevent abuse, the GEPA board is taking the following actions:
- The Terms of Service on the GEPA forums has been amended in relation to campaign activities.
- The GEPA email list is being put into moderation mode - all messages have to be approved by a moderator before the message is sent to the list members.

The main impact is could may be a slight delay in messages posting to the list pending moderator availability. If you have an urgent messages to go out, please add the marker 'URGENT' to the subject and we will try to expedite appropriately.

Please let me know if you have any questions / comments / concerns, or if you think any further actions are needed. I can be reached using the 'Contact Us' link on this page.

Marc Maier - GEPA Chairman

No Goochland School Closure

2011-07-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

A petition has been started concerning the possible closure of one of the elementary schools.

Please review and sign if you disagree with this possible action being considered by the school administration:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/goochland_school_closure/

Marc Maier
GEPA Chairman

Bookmark This

2011-07-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

The GEPA blog site is now attached to a full domain:

http://www.GEPAparents.org

which is a little easier to remember and pass around than the full blogspot URL. And the old URL will continue to work as well.

Marc
GEPA Chairman

Greetings from the new GEPA board.

2011-07-26T20:01:00.001-07:00

A very belated hello from the new GEPA board members. Unfortunately it has taken a little time to transfer over the administration functions of this blog and the forums, but we are starting to get up to speed.

First, on behalf of the new board I'd like to express our thanks to the previous board for all their effort and hard work over the last year. We will do our best to keep the momentum going.

Over the next year, the new board has set several goals:

- Plan a school board candidates community meeting before the November 8 elections, so that all concerned county residents meet all the school board candidates and discuss their concerns.

- Continue attendance at school board meetings by GEPA board members and relay important news and items.

- Review the school administration / board budget process and the issues from the past few years, to look for ways to suggest improvements to the process and increase community participation.

- Continue GEPA efforts to foster open and respectful communication between parents, residents, board members, and school administration in order to continue overall improvement in the Goochland County school system.

Lastly, anyone with concerns or issues with the GEPA blog and forums can call me at 804-556-5188, or email me at marcmaier _at_ earthlink.net.

Marc Maier - GEPA Chairman.

GEPA Annouces New Board

2011-07-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

Parents and Friends,

The Goochland Education Parents Association (GEPA) is proud to announce the installation of the 2011-2012 Board:

Marc Maier, Chairman

Rebecca Herrera, Vice-Chairman

Kristin Emery, Secretary

Nicole Melton, Treasurer

As GEPA moves forward to another school year, I respectfully ask that you continue to support this organization and the individuals who will volunteer their time and effort in these leadership roles.

I want to personally thank everyone whose involvement made an important impact this past year – from attending School Board meetings and serving on various committees to speaking out at public hearings or simply letting us know your thoughts and opinions on important issues involving our schools. Together, we made a difference.

Over the past year, we’ve gained some wonderful momentum, not only having our voices heard but also impacting some important decisions made by the School Board (SB) and Board of Supervisors (BOS).

· We saved various important after school activities including swimming, band, golf, & gymnastics as well as transportation for the Maggie Walker kids.

· Our “Stand Up For Goochland Education” campaign was also a success because of the involvement of MANY citizens of Goochland. Although the schools didn’t receive all of their funding, the message sent to our BOS was clear. Our schools are an important part of our county.

· We also focused on the communication issue between the SB & BOS. During my meeting with SB Chair Ivan Mattox and BOS Chair Bill Quarles this past spring, I raised the issue of the importance of improving this relationship for the betterment of our county. This was an important first step in the process, but continued efforts will be needed as the two boards transition after the November elections.

As I bid adieu, I now ask for your support as candidate for School Board in District 2. I feel my dedication to the kids, experience on GEPA the past two years, and in depth knowledge of the budget and state mandates are just what we need in the next four years. I hope you agree.

In closing, it is important that GEPA and our community continue to advocate for our children, regardless of the outcome of the November elections. So, I hope to hear many new voices join in the discussions, so together we can keep this momentum going to create the best possible future for our children.

Let’s put the public back in public education!

Penny Palen,

Former Chair, GEPA

Candidate, School Board - District 2

July GEPA Meeting

2011-06-30T08:40:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of important things to discuss in our next meeting.

First off, I’m excited to say that two of our GEPA board members are running for School Board!!! Lucky for us it’s time to elect new board members or I’d be on my own! So, we’ll be taking nominations & voting in new officers at this meeting. This will give us time to help the new folks transition before they officially take office in August.

We’d also like to discuss the agenda for the school board meeting scheduled for Tuesday, 7/12. We expect the vote on the activities fees to take place at this meeting.

If you have thought in the past you would like to be more involved, then I would ask that you think about it now. I think we have all benefited from the information gained over the last two years. And, the future school board, no matter who is sitting on it, will benefit from parent & community input in the years to come.

Please plan to join us at Rocco’s at 4:30pm, Sunday, 7/10. The agenda will be announced later, but if you are unable to attend and would like to help out next year, then please contact Penny Palen at pjpalen@gmail.com .

Thanks everyone for your continued support of our school system.

Jen Hefner
GEPA Treasurer

School Board Budget Passed

2011-06-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you
might find you get what you need.”

The GCPS School Board voted at last night’s continued meeting and
unanimously approved the FY12 school budget. Although some parents
are unhappy that the school board didn’t return 100% of all cuts, I
think it’s fair to say that they actually LISTENED to the parents’
concerns and suggestions this year. I hope this trend continues on
with a new school board and additional budget cycles in the future.
Keep making your voices heard!

Within the past two weeks, we worked together successfully to get the
following added back into the budget:
• Golf
• Gymnastics
• Swimming
• Part-time art position at elementary level (reduced from one full-
time)
• Part-time music position (reduced from one full-time)
• Part-time drama position, in lieu of eliminating drama entirely (GHS
English teaching position needs to be backfilled. They will have this
position cover drama as well. Thanks to the suggestion of a student
at the May 24th meeting!)
• Maggie Walker transportation (The schools considered liability
issues, especially after one parent spoke about his child’s safety at
the May 24th meeting. Great job!)
• The hiring of a Director of Elem. Education (Dr. Geyer)

Here’s the plan for items to be cut and/or reduced:
• Career/Tech Education now requires co-pay (Left out of the
presentation last night)
• Dual Enrollment JSRCC now requires co-pay
• Pay-to-play athletics (Although this wasn’t actually ever presented
as a “cut,” I believe it is still being considered as an “option.”)
• Superintendent’s “refreshments” budget was cut from $3K to $1500.
• Tina McCay’s position in administration will not be backfilled. (It
was mostly funded through grants/stimulus, but the Title I duties will
be absorbed by another member of administration.)
• 4th and 5th year French and Latin (Although the schools are
looking into various alternatives for educating the students in these
programs … if Blue Ridge Virtual is used, we NEED to have transfer
credits apply to students’ transcripts, which is currently not the
case.)
• Consolidation of 5 bus routes
\
Here’s what wasn’t mentioned:
** Per Ivan Mattox, all positions lost through attrition will be
backfilled.

AN ADDITIONAL ITEM OF NOTE:
Although GEPA and many parents have been questioning the true need of
certain high-level administration positions (ie: assistant principals
at GMS/GHS which are not necessary for Va. Standards of Quality), the
schools did not initially include ANY of these positions in their
Reduction-in-Force policy. Therefore, they cannot be eliminated to
fund the additional changes to the FY12 budget. Perhaps next year…..

Penny Palen

School Board Meeting Part II May 31st

2011-05-30T08:57:00.000-07:00

The continued budget meeting of the GCPS School Board will meet
again:
Tuesday, May 31st
7:00pm
Goochland High School
The School Board is making an exception and allowing an additional
comment period for this meeting. Public comment will be limited to
one half-hour and every speaker held to a time limit of three
minutes. (Since this is a continuation of a "workshop" meeting,
usually only one comment period is held at the beginning.)

IF YOU WISH TO SPEAK, GET THERE EARLY!!
THEY WILL HAVE A SIGN-UP SHEET AT 6:30....FIRST COME-FIRST SERVED.

School Board Workshop Meeting May 24th

2011-05-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

GOOCHLAND COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD WORKSHOP
MAY 24, 2011
GOOCHLAND HIGH SCHOOL
6:30 P.M.

Tonight’s meeting will include the School Board’s vote on the revised FY12 budget, including any proposed cuts to programs and teachers.

As it stands now, we are losing a part-time art teacher and a music teacher at RES, in addition to a drama and a French teacher at GMS/GHS. Of course, this does not include any teachers we will be losing to attrition or retirement, whose positions may not be backfilled. Also included in the proposed cuts is the elimination of the swim team. It appears that golf is not going to receive the axe, per Mr. Mattox. French and Latin 4^th and 5^th year are also planning to be cut.

The new GES principal may also be announced.

Please attend if you want your voices heard. The link to the agenda follows:
http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/agendas/

Public Hearing Reminder!

2011-03-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that the public hearing on the County and School FY12 budgets

will be held tomorrow evening, March 29, 2011 at 7:00pm. It will take place in the Goochland High School Auditorium, in order to accommodate a larger than usual crowd.

If you are interested in speaking at this hearing, please remember to sign up with the clerk before the meeting begins. You will be limited to three minutes. If you don’t feel comfortable speaking and/or still want to attend and show your support, we will be asking the citizens at an appropriate time to “stand up for education” and show their support of the schools.

Please pass this along to other citizens of this county, as our hopes are to have as many people possible! We need your support!

Goochland County Board of Supervisors will be voting on the final budget(s) during their April 5^th meeting (next Tuesday).

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Community GEPA Meeting

2011-03-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

The Goochland Education Parents Association will be holding an OPEN meeting on March 23, 2010. It will take place at 5:30pm at the Goochland Library. All members of our community are invited to attend. We will be discussing current school and county budget issues, as well as other concerns that have recently surfaced regarding our school system in general. Please feel free to share your questions, concerns, opinions and facts!

The Public Hearing on the Goochland County budget will be held on Tuesday, March 29th at 7:00pm

Teacher Reduction In Force Policies and Notices AGAIN

2011-03-05T07:28:00.000-08:00

Here we go again folks.
The School Board's March 8th meeting agenda is now posted on the GCPS
website.
Oddly enough, there are no "enclosures" to view at this time. I
suspect they will probably be added in the last final moments before
the meeting, as is typical of any issue of controversy. The following
is a portion of the agenda:

Date Prepared           Meeting Date
March 3, 2011           March 8, 2011
Initiated By            Linda Underwood
Staff Contact           Linda Underwood
Explanation of Subject/Issue
Enclosure 3 provides the Reduction in Force Resolution that will be
presented for approval.
Superintendent’s Recommendation:
Approve as presented or provide direction as appropriate.

To view the agenda:
http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/agendas/

To contact your Board of Supervisors:
Disctric 1    Andrew Pryor:       (804) 457-7177
apryor@co.goochland.va.us
District 4    Rudy Butler:         (804) 784-4241
mbutler@co.goochland.va.us
District 5    Jim Eads:         (804) 784-3944
jeads@co.goochland.va.us
District 2   Bill Quarles       (804) 556-2927
wquarles@co.goochland.va.us
District 3 Ned Creasey       (804) 556-3229
ncreasey@co.goochland.va.us

It is imperative that we stand up to the BOS and the County and get
this budget funded. There is simply no alternative and our CHILDREN
are the ones who will suffer the consequences. We have spent
countless hours reviewing the budget, there just isn't anything
significant to cut for FY12. We cannot afford lose any more teachers.

The next BOS meeting on the County budget is March 14th
The BOS Public Hearing on the County budget is March 29th,
Ther School Board meeting on RIF notices is March 8th at 7:00 @
Goochland High School Auditorium
Please Help Us Fund Your Schools!!

Penny Palen
Chairman,
Goochland Education Parents Association

Board of Supervisors Presentation of School's 2011-2012 Budget

2011-01-29T04:03:00.000-08:00

Goochland Schools need your help supporting this budget! THIS is the meeting to voice our opinions and concerns regarding our children’s education. Here are the recent details:

* Last year, the County gave the schools $17,330,174 - $2.6 million less than the previous year. As a result, we lost approximately 20 teaching positions, most of which have not been refilled.

* This year the BOS have asked the schools for a reduction of an additional $693,000 from the county

* An addition of approx. $75,000 for mowing, insurance fees and utilities just recently billed to the schools from the county.

* An addition of $85,000 for the hiring of a Math Specialist

* The addition of approx. $126,000 to restore two of the four furlough days that were incorporated into last year’s budget.

We have been informed by several Board of Supervisors that the more citizens from each district attending and/or speaking their concerns will have a HUGE impact on their decisions.

Please mark your calendars and plan on attending the meeting. Bring a friend! Bring your spouse! Bring a student!

The Board of Supervisors will be presenting the 2011-2012 Goochland Schools’ budget:

· This Tuesday, FEBRUARY 1st
· 7:00 pm

· Old HS, Board Room

GEPA Announces New Program for GOOCHLAND TEACHERS!

2011-01-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

We are excited to announce a new program for parents and citizens to make classroom donations directly to a Goochland classroom! Teachers are registering needed items and supplies on our FORUMS page (see above link).
Even the smallest donations can make a difference for a classroom. Please take a look and consider donating. Some items may even be sitting unused in your home!
Questions? Comments? Feedback? Please feel free to contact us via the link above!

January GEPA Meeting

2011-01-05T13:56:00.001-08:00

Parents/Friends:
It's that time of year again. Make your resolutions, return those
unwanted gifts, and come join us for a discussion of the upcoming
school budget!
We are having a meeting this Sunday at the Goochland Library at
2:00pm. The 2011/2012 school budget is being presented to the Board
of Supervisors on January 27th, with a Public Hearing on the budget at
the next School Board meeting (Tuesday, January 11th).
For more information and/or to review the budget:
http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/agendas/
(We will have more in-depth information available at the meeting)
We hope to see you there!

Please Help with Email Campaign to Governor McDonnell!

2010-12-16T09:36:00.000-08:00

As many of us are aware, Goochland County Public Schools are facing
yet another difficult budget cycle. There is a little known element
to the school's budget that we need to address directly to Governor
McDonnell - and it must be addressed today.

In August 2010, Congress enacted the Federal Education Jobs Fund.
This Federal fund was to be used to replace the funds lost due to the
dramatic budget cuts – to restore the quality of classroom instruction
in K-12 schools. Virginia schools received approximately $250 million
from this fund.

Our govenor is trying to REDUCE next year's state funding to the
school districts by the amount of federal aid each district received.
This is absolutely unacceptable. As I explained to my 11-year old
son, it is akin to your Grandmother giving you $20 for your birthday,
but then having that amount deducted from your allowance, as you have
already been paid for that month. Then, your parents get to spend that
$20 on themselves. Goochland schools received about $260,000 in these
Federal funds. We need every penny!

The Goochland Education Parents Association is asking everyone to
please take a few moments and send a message to our Governor in
support of our children's educational dollars. Below is a sample
letter that you are welcome to copy and paste. Gov. McDonnell's email
address and Facebook page are linked as well. (Another interesting
link I have added is a news article written by the VEA President,
Kitty Boitnott, that appeared in the Virginian Pilot in November.)

Penny Palen,
Chairman,
Goochland Education Parents Association

http://www.governor.virginia.gov/AboutTheGovernor/contactGovernor.cfm

http://www.facebook.com/bobmcdonnell?ref=ts

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/11/use-stimulus-money-congress-intended-schools

Dear Governor McDonnell,

In this time of further budget cuts to our local school systems,
parents, teachers and citizens of Goochland County are requesting that
Virginia not cut the basic State Aid to our public schools by the
amount of federal funds received under the 2010 Federal Education Jobs
Fund.

This fund was created to preserve the integrity of K-12 education in
our country. The goals were to hire teachers, maintain or reduce
class sizes, and preserve & reinstate instructional programs. To use
this federal aid as an excuse to reduce 2011 state funding would be
inappropriate, as it would have the exact opposite effect of this
bill’s original intention. Our teachers and programs would once again
be in jeopardy.

The real victims of this, however, are our children. They deserve a
quality education in Virginia. The use of federal money to replace
state education funds is unacceptable and unfair to Virginia’s
schools, educators, and most importantly the students.

Sincerely,

GEPA now has a P.O. BOX

2010-12-10T02:40:00.000-08:00

Have a question or concern? Feel free to write us at:

Goochland Education Parents Association
P.O. Box 1262
Goochland, VA 23063

GCPS Strategic Plan Needs Volunteers

2010-12-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

Subcommittees will begin their work in February and finish by the end of May when their recommendations will be presented to the school board.
The Strategic Plan - Subcommittee Volunteer form can be downloaded online http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/resources/subcommittee_form.doc or can be picked up at schools or the Central Office. If you have questions, please call (804) 556-5601 or email Superintendent Linda Underwood. lunderwood@glnd.k12.va.us

This is from the GCPS website

GEPA Meeting Notes 9/27 & New Board

2010-10-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

Meeting 9/27 at 6:30 at Rocco’s

Meeting was called to order at 6:48 PM by Kristin McNaron, Secretary

Introductions: All in attendance made brief introductions.

Informational Items: We discussed the fact that the GEPA constitution was created in a hasty manner when the group first formed, and that it is in much need of a major revision. The outgoing board, led by Mr. Adeeb Hamzey, worked on draft of a new constitution, but we strongly encourage the new board to complete this work to build a better foundation for the organization.

Nominations: The following nominations were made and accepted:

Chair – Penny Palen

Vice Chair – JD Wright

Treasurer – Jenn Hefner

Secretary – none

Being uncontested, votes were taken by a show of hands, and the new board is accepted. Kristin McNaron has already indicated her term of Secretary will end after September 30, so the organization is in search of nominations for the Secretary position.

Other business: We discussed goals for GEPA in the coming year. These include:

More proactively presenting our ideas to both boards before budgets are set
Improving internal communications processes
Improving our ability to educate public on educational issues
Working more closely with PTAs

Next Meeting: Tentatively Monday, October 18^th at the library – Adeeb took the action item to try to reserve the library

The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 PM.

GEPA Election, Monday, Sept 27 at 6:30 pm

2010-09-23T06:26:00.000-07:00

Parents --- It's TIME . . . time to elect a new board for GEPA. Please plan to attend Monday, September 27 at 6:30 PM at Rocco's.

Thanks,
Kristin

Welcome Back!

2010-08-23T19:41:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to all Goochland students, teachers, and school staff! We hope that today marks the start of a stellar school year for everyone.

Note that there is a School Board workshop tomorrow (Tuesday, August 24) at 6:30 at the High School. The agenda is here: http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/agendas/

Next GEPA Meeting, Tuesday, July 20, 7 PM at Goochland Library

2010-07-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

The monthly open GEPA meeting will be held at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday 20, July 2010, in the Goochland Library Meeting Room. Please mark the date in your calendar! (The library is closed, but the meeting room is available.)

Our goal is to hold regularly scheduled GEPA meetings on the 3rd Tuesday of each month.

We'll be following up with an agenda, but wanted to make sure you saved this date.

There's a lot going on in our schools right now, and parents need to keep working together for the benefit of all of our children, and to support quality public education in this County.

On a side note, your blog moderator/Secretary Kristin was on vacation during the July 6th BoS meeting and July 13th SB meeting, so I am trying to pull together notes from several sources to post for you. I will post them as soon as I can. The excellent blog "Goochland on My Mind" does have a post about the BoS meeting here. Ms. Warwick noted that GEPA's comments (delivered by Mr. JD Wright) appear about 58 minutes into the audio recording of the afternoon BoS meeting. The recordings are available here.

July 13 School Board meeting

2010-07-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday there will be a regularly scheduled School Board meeting at 7 PM in the GHS Auditorium. It's important to continue to attend SB meetings throughout the summer. Please try to be there! The agenda can be found online here:

http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/agendas/

Reminders & Minutes from 6/29 GEPA Meeting

2010-06-30T19:40:00.000-07:00

Reminders:

Parents of elementary gifted students: there is a meeting to review the gifted transition plan at 7 PM Thursday, July 1 at GES.

http://blogs.glnd.k12.va.us/teachers/cforeman/2010/06/02/july-1st-meeting/

http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/news/gifted_transition_plan/

All Goochland citizens are invited to attend the July 6^th BOS meetings at 3 & 7 PM. The agenda has not yet been published, but we are aware that there will be an agenda item related to recent issues in the running of the school system. We’ll post the agenda as soon as it is published.

All Goochland citizens are invited to attend the July 13^th School Board meeting at 7 PM at GHS. The agenda has not yet been published, but we will post it as soon as it is.

Minutes of the GEPA General Meeting, June 29, 2010, 7 PM at Rocco’s

The meeting was called to order by GEPA Chairperson Jo D Hosken at 7:08 PM.

There were no changes to the agenda.

Beth Hardy, a parent of children in Goochland schools, presented a petition begun by parents concerned about the actions of the school board and superintendent in recent months. The petition is being circulated in hard copy and online at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/goochlandschools/ . This petition will be presented to the Board of Supervisors on July 6^th, to the school board on July 13^th, and to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE).

Penny Palen, a parent of children in Goochland schools, shared information about what options citizens have in regards to the school board and issues we’ve faced. The current school board has 18 months remaining in office. Citizens have a legal option to petition the circuit court to remove a school board member from office. The petition must provide the signatures of the number of voting-eligible residents equivalent to 10% of the number of votes cast in the previous election. (So if a school board member received 800 votes, the petition must contain at least 80 signatures). A period of Q&A followed on the subject of what it would take to make this petition. The relevant code is here: § 24.2-233. Removal of elected and certain appointed officers by courts.

Jane Christie, a parent of children in Goochland schools and Vice Chair of GEPA, shared information on what recourse citizens have in regards to the school superintendent. Section 22.1-65 of the Code of Virginia provides that a Superintendent can be fined, suspended from office for a limited period or removed from office by either the Board of Education (VDOE), upon recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools (Dr. Patricia Wright), or by the school board for sufficient cause. GEPA is collecting a list of issues/grievances with superintendent Underwood to share at the July 6^th Board of Supervisors meeting and with the VDOE.

Other parents shared their concerns and ideas with the group.

In closing, parents and teachers were invited to share any issues and concerns with the schools with GEPA. You may communicate in complete confidence with the GEPA Board at board@goochlandparents.com.

Some follow-up facts:

In the minutes of the meeting this week, you will note that a certain percentage of registered voters must sign the petitions to remove school board members. Here are the actual vote counts for the current board members from the 2007 election:

DISTRICT / TOTAL VOTES / # OF REGISTERED VOTERS WHO MUST SIGN

PETITION (10-15%)

District 1: Haskell 788 total votes 79-118 registered voters

District 2: Miller 771 total votes 78-117 registered voters

District 3: Maddox 773 total votes 78-117 registered voters

District 4: Meng 922 total votes 93-138 registered voters

District 5: Cisne 1279 total votes 130-190 registered voters

Petition regarding Goochland Schools

2010-06-29T07:56:00.000-07:00

The linked petition here was started by a concerned parent in the community. Please consider signing it and pass it along to other Goochland residents. The text of the petition reads. "We, the undersigned, feel that the GCPS School Board and Superintendent Underwood do not represent the views of the parents and constituents in our County, and we do not support the manner in which they are applying our resources."

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/goochlandschools/

The donation page at the end is not associated with Goochland schools or any Goochland organization. You do not need to donate to have your signature counted.

Important GEPA Meeting Tuesday June 29, 7 PM at Rocco's

2010-06-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night at 7:00 we will be having a meeting of any and all parents who want to attend at Rocco's. The goal is to lay out some ideas to stop this madness. The principal switching between GES and RES is the last straw on the camels back. We must find a way to convey to our county and state that we will not accept these broad and sudden changes that we see as destructive to our children's education.

I urge you before you call your realtor or private school or download homeschooling papers to come and meet with other concerned parents and let us find a way to end this downward spiral.

Principal reassignments

2010-06-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

Important update regarding both RES and GES principals. Among other items presented at the June 22 was a personnel item that wasn't fully disclosed to the public at the time. RES will now have Mrs. Dianna Gordon as their principal, and GES will now have Mr. Stacey Austin as their principal. The personnel item can be found at http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/images/uploads/6-22-10_2_Personnel_Action_Summary.pdf . This move brings many questions to mind, but among them are why make this move now, after School Administration has encouraged parents of the now decentralized gifted center to contact principals at their "home" schools in order to provide input and seek information regarding the transition of the effected students, only to have all of those efforts effectively nullified by this reassignment. Another interesting question of note is what further transfers will be made, considering Mr. Austin will now be the direct boss of his wife (a teacher at GES) and Mrs. Gordon will now be the direct boss of her daughter in law (a teacher at RES)?

Please contact Dr. Underwood and/or Connie Foreman (Interim Elementary Instruction Specialist) for any questions you may have regarding these moves. Parent discussion of these matters may be carried out on our forums at http://forums.goochlandparents.com/simple_machines_forum/111/index.php?topic=33.0

Updated by Kristin, 6/24/10 10:08 PM: While I haven't seen confirmation amongst the personnel actions listed on the website, I've been informed that Miss Hughes has been reassogned to GES and Mrs. Austin has been reassigned to RES.

6/8/2010 School Board Notes

2010-06-17T21:34:00.000-07:00

All materials presented are available online at http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/agendas/june_8_2010/ Check the download packet for the org chart, the Title 1 applications, the audit info, and Ms. Early's presentation. Check the additional handouts for more info, including the previous version of the org chart.

The next meeting of the School Board is 6/22 at 6:30 PM in the Annex Building Conference Room. Many items from this meeting were deferred to that one. The KPMG Audit and revised gifted program are also on the agenda. The agenda has been posted here: http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/agendas/

********************************************

Mr. Mattox and Mr. Meng were absent for this meeting.

Teachers of the year from each school were honored. The county-wide Teacher of the year was announced: Ms. Heather Wilckens from RES.

Action Items:

VRS Contribution

The board needed to decide whether to pick up the 5% employee share of VRS contributions this year. The BoS decided to continue covering this for county employees. The SB voted to approve this.

GES odor

Estimated costs are $3500 to Mosely Architects and $1000 for a smoke test to determine cause of the odor. Dr. Underwood recommended that board approve that once funds can be identified, she may sign the contract. She indicated that she won’t be able to identify funding until after July 1 anyway . The board approved this request.

Eperitus (energy audit)

Costs for the next phase of the audit are $3500 for the deeper dive into the GMS/GHS spike in usage (1^st priority) and $3500 for the Technology audit (2^nd priority). Dr. Underwood recommended that board approve that once funds can be identified, she may sign the contract. Mr. Haskell asked to take it to the workshop on June 22 (since 2 board members absent) for the vote.

School Health Advisory Report

Presented by Heather Early. Ms. Early spoke about the programs launched through their program, including the Farm to School Program (bringing locally grown farm products to the tables at school) and the Walking Program. The Walking Program was launched at GES this year and will launch at BES and RES next year. Ms. Early talked about childhood obesity and the goals and action items within our schools and community.

Title 1 A

Dr. Underwood presented the Title 1A application. This program is aimed at disadvantaged students. The bulk of the funding goes toward 2 BES reading specialists & 1 GMS reading specialist, materials and supplies, staff development, set-aside for homeless students. The application will be brought to workshop on 6/22 for approval. The position of Parent Involvement Specialist is focused on title 1 reading. They will decrease this position next year, so the responsibility falls on others.

Vision, Mission, Goals

Over the next 3 meetings, the SB will evaluate how far we’ve come or need to go for existing priorities, see if there are additional priorities to be established.

Organizational Chart

Based on the re-org, a draft org chart was presented to the SB. Ms. Erard had asked to get it voted on, but must be approved by July 1. Mr. Haskell asked to defer to June 22. Miller asked that she contact each of the board members for feedback before 6/22.

Title 1 Part D

Unspent neglected & delinquent funds from last year will be combined with next year’s fund to fund a student services specialist and student at Goochland prep. Will bring 6/22 for approval.

Gifted Transition – Connie Foreman is working with several teachers on curriculum and structure. They are also incorporating new gifted regulations. The plan will be presented at the 6/22 board meeting, and there is a tentative meeting with parents on 7/1.

Discipline/Security measures

The Superintendant and School Board cannot comment on specific cases. Parents should refer to student code of conduct and process that is followed on discipline. When events occur, they follow crisis and security plan, and after every event, they review actions and possible improvement. They continue to work with law enforcement, will review all plans like they do every year. If you have questions, Dr Underwood is happy to answer but cannot discuss individual students at any time. The code of conduct goes home with every student at the start of the school year & crisis plan is on the website under School Board. Crisis plan details are held close to the vest to ensure can’t be anticipated if targeted.

June 8th School Board Meeting

2010-06-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

Reminder that there is a school board meeting on Tuesday, June 8th at GHS. Agenda is here --> http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/agendas/

To parents of elementary gifted students

2010-06-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

Elementary Gifted Change
Points to Ponder

Introduction
Elementary Gifted Education is moving to home school based classes for the 2010 – 2011 school year. As the new curriculum is being created, parents may wish to contact their home school principals and other administrators to offer input and discuss the impact of the change on their children. This document is meant to provide parents with general categories of concerns, along with a few specific points which they may want to have addressed by administration. It is intended to provide a starting point for parents to build on and tailor as they choose. It is not intended as a boilerplate document.

Grouping of students
How and with whom will the gifted students be grouped at each home school?
• Will gifted students be grouped together for homeroom?
• Will there be opportunities for all 3 grades of gifted students to work together in a classroom?
• Will there be opportunities for gifted students to work with their gifted peers at other schools on projects? i.e. a virtual classroom?
• How many children will be in their class(es)?
• What will determine eligibility for gifted classes?
• What would determine that they are no longer eligible for gifted classes?
• Will they have mainstreaming for some classes? If so which ones?
• How long will the plan made for this year remain in place?
• How will field trips be handled?

Gifted Curriculum
What will be the difference in gifted curriculum vs. standard curriculum in grades 3, 4, and 5, by subject?
• What subjects will the designated gifted teacher teach?
• Who will be teaching the other subjects?
• What grade levels will be taught in math? And reading?
• Will there be differentiation in subjects not taught by designated gifted teacher? How?
• Will the designated gifted teacher also be teaching Young Explorers?
• How long will the plan made for this year remain in place?
• How will you determine if change in rigor is needed?
• What external or internal resources will be made available for children who are exceptional in specific subjects?
• Will there be opportunity for differentiation in science? Social studies?

Measurement
How will the outcomes of the gifted instruction be measured in the home school programs?
• How will the success of the program be evaluated?
• Are there metrics other than SOL scores to evaluate the program’s success?
• Could a survey or matrix be created to evaluate the program?

Continuum/Accountability
Who is responsible for gifted program content and results? How will continuity in instruction from year to year be assured?
• Who in each elementary school is accountable for gifted education from K-5th grades ?
• What will the role be of the gifted coordinator be on a day to day basis?
• Will the teachers of gifted students be able to specialize in a subject across the three grade levels so that gifted students have the same teacher for a subject in their 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade years?

Social-emotional wellbeing
• What sort of guidance will be provided for students returning to their home schools?
• What sort of feedback will be provided to parents through the transition?

See the forum thread here of you'd like to add your own questions or comments.

Announcing a new way to communicate with other parents!

2010-06-02T17:25:00.000-07:00

We've recently added forums to our website: http://forums.goochlandparents.com/

This should allow us to interact more readily without creating an
email everytime we do so! Check it out, sign up & post.

OR.....if you choose to just lurk and read, more power to you. Guests
can vote in polls, they just can't post.

Let me know what you think & how we can improve it!

Now that we are taking a collective breath from the budgeting process, you will see GEPA work to increase & improve communications. We'll be adding additional information to this blog in the coming days and weeks, so please . . "stay tuned."

Tender Tots & NAACP Updates

2010-05-26T20:45:00.000-07:00

Parents -

At the April 27 school board workshop, I noted that we had requested additional information from both the YMCA and the NAACP from the representatives that spoke that night. As promised, the information is linked below.

The Goochland YMCA is taking on the Tender Tots program that has been cut from the 2010-2011 School Budget. Here you will find the information sheet provided by the YMCA. Enrollment is open, and you may visit the YMCA to sign up.

This week the Goochland Gazette also published a helpful article about the Tender Tots program's transition here.

At the same meeting in April, Mr. Sekou Shabaka spoke about the long-running requests of the NAACP Educational Committee. At that time, Chairman Cisne invited Mr. Shabaka to provide written suggestions & feedback. At the workshop this week, Mr. Shabaka again addressed the board asking them to acknowledge the letter that has been sent. He further asked that the effort be conducted as a distinct project and not part of daily operations of the schools. He noted that there are successful models to learn from, including the SEED school initiative profiled on 60 Minutes and the Brooklyn-based Williamsburg Collegiate School. A copy of the letter from the NAACP to the school board is here.

School Board vote

2010-05-25T17:06:00.000-07:00

I wanted to let you know that the SchoolBoard voted tonight unanimously to approve the Superintendent's proposed budget with no changes since the presentation on May 11th. (Maxwell Cisne was absent, so this was unanimous with the attending 4 board members).

I want to extend on behalf of many people a huge THANK YOU to everyone who emailed or called their reps. And a STANDING OVATION to the speakers tonight --- including over a dozen students representing all 5 Goochland schools. Myself and others around me were moved to tears by the wise words of these children. Several parents got up and spoke without having planned to simply because they were so moved by the young speakers.

I wish I could say that the board was so moved.

We have lost the teachers. We have lost the gifted center. But we aren't done. Stay tuned.

Calling all parents -- School Board meeting Tuesday, May 25th

2010-05-23T22:35:00.000-07:00

The final vote on the revised 2010-2011 school budget will be this Tuesday. We highly encourage you to attend and to bring your children with you. Pick up the phone and call your school board reps tomorrow and tell them your thoughts. Then show up at the meeting Tuesday and make a stand . . . show them that we're not done fighting to keep teachers in classrooms.

WHO: YOU and YOUR CHILDREN
WHAT: School Board Workhop (Agenda)
WHEN: Tuesday, May 25th at 6:30 PM
WHERE: Goochland County Annex Building

Special Education Parent Advisory Council Meeting

2010-05-12T18:07:00.000-07:00

This meeting is for parents of children receiving special education services:

Special Education Parent Advisory Council
Meeting Notice

Date: May 13, 2010

Time: 6:00 PM

Place: Goochland High School Media Center

Information: The Parent Resource Center
Goochland High School (804) 556-5322, Ext. 4713
or Mrs. Becki Stokes at claibnbeck@comcast.net

Is there anything new at your child's school related to Special
Education? There has been a lot going on this year that will
affect what goes on next!

This is the last meeting of the 2009-2010 school year. Please plan
to attend. We look forward to seeing you.

Goochland Special Education Parent Advisory Committee

Agenda Thursday, May 13, 2010

Welcome

Minutes

Transition Update - Bridget Parker

Preschool Update

Special Olympics Update - Jayne Hancock

Parent Resource Center Update - Nell Gambino

Special Education Update - Becki Stokes

Parents' Point

Revisiting Student Recognition

Special Education Information

Privacy Issues

Nominations/Votes

5/11 Superintendent's Revised Budget Proposal

2010-05-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

I have scanned and posted Dr. Underwood's budget presentation --> click here.

Please note, that this is a proposed budget, and the School Board will vote on it at their workshop on May 25th. If you have feedback, please contact your School Board representative. Their contact info is HERE. Note that many of them do not get or read their official email address inbox, so I HIGHLY recommend a phone call instead of an email.

5/11 School Board Meeting

2010-05-11T19:58:00.000-07:00

Parents ---

The main agenda item tonight was the revised school budget reductions in response to the Board of Supervisors additional reduction of $317k from the school budget. It was quite notable that the presentation was printed for the SB, but not on the website for the public. The information was projected on a screen, but even moving to the front row it was all I could do to read any of it, particularly at the breakneck pace at which the slides were presented. I obtained a hard copy after the meeting, which I will scan and post in its entirety tomorrow morning. But as a teaser, here are a few notes:

RIF notices were distributed last week (yes, during teacher appreciation week). RIF letters went to 13 teachers (the other reductions are through attrition)

Summary of positions reduced (this is TOTAL, both ones already in the approved budget, plus new recommendations by the superintendent):

21 teachers
5 instructional assistant positions
1 maintenance position
1 procedural due process specialist
1 elementary director
1 HR specialist
1 research and information services position
2 receptionists positions
reduced part-time cleaners hours

"New" reduction recommendations since the 4/6 BOS vote:
$65,000 from facilities (this is the whole facilities budget -- it was "just in case" money, some money is added back to maintenance to offset this)

$13,000 from transportation by reducing number of stops in subdivisions and dead-end roads

$48,000 from maintenance due to reduced electricity rates

Director of Elementary Education (on LOA next year, critical functions assigned to existing staff)

Human Resource Specialist (retired, critical functions assigned to existing staff)

Research and Information Services (resigned, critical functions eliminated or assigned to existing staff)

Procedural Due Process Specialist (position eliminated, the teacher in this position will move back to a classroom position, responsibilities added to school psychologist)

Revised elementary gifted program from center based to school based (assign one enrichment teacher to each elementary school to address Young Explorers and Gifted (grades K-5))

Reduce one additional elementary classroom teacher

GES Odor
Beyond the budget, there was a lengthy conversation about the odor from the bathrooms in Goochland Elementary School. I will spare you the details, other than to say that the school maintenance department has been chasing this smell for 35 or more years. The board approved a request for Mr. Turner to get quotes for professionals to come in and diagnose the root cause of the issue.

Please check back tomorrow for the full presentation once I get it scanned.

School Board Meeting Tuesday, May 11

2010-05-10T06:07:00.001-07:00

Parents -- The next school board meeting is Tuesday, May 11 at the High
School at 7 PM.  Note that Dr. Underwood will be presenting her
recommendations on further budget reductions during this meeting, so it is
definitely a key one to attend.

http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/agendas/

Teacher Appreciation Week

2010-05-03T14:05:00.001-07:00

Reminder that this week is Teacher Appreciation Week. Check with your schools' PTAs on exact schedule of planned events for the teachers, but at the very least, each and every one of them deserves our heartfelt THANK YOU.

THANK YOU GOOCHLAND TEACHERS!

April 27 School Board notes

2010-04-28T21:18:00.000-07:00

Note: All notes published on this blog are a best effort to translate what is communicated at meetings. Any mistakes here are my own --- please point them out if you see any and I will try to rectify.
Kristin McNaron, GEPA Secretary

Public Comment

Sekou Shabaka spoke on behalf of the Goochland NAACP. He noted that they had been appearing in front of the Goochland School Board for 10 years, addressing the subjects of low test scores, discipline issues, and drop-outs amongst black students, particularly black males. In short, the group feels that no appreciable results have come of their requests in this time. They asked that a neutral entity be brought in to assess the situation and that the school board and administration work with parents and community to build a comprehensive plan on how to address and improve the issues. The NAACP has previously provided recommendations to the board and they have offered community support in execution of a plan. Chairman Cisne asked Mr. Shabaka for written copies of any talking points or recommendations from the NAACP, which Mr. Shabaka indicated that they would provide.

*Note: GEPA board members have requested a copy of the NAACP recommendations as well, along with permission to post them here. We’ll post them as soon as we can.

Karron Myrick’s comments: (this is the written version recapping her spoken statement/request):

I am following up in writing on the request I made at the April 27, 2010 School Board meeting. I asked the board to use consistently these three concepts in the funding decision-making process:

1. Core –What is the fundamental job and service that must be delivered by our public schools? The Virginia Department of Education tells us the most important or core job of the public schools is established by what is tested. The VA Department of Education tests the performance of our schools/students in Reading, Writing, Math, Science and Social Studies. All programs and instruction related services that support this core should be absolutely the very last thing touched in a budget crisis.

2. Research – Life is full of tradeoffs. Research-based decision- making helps everyone (administrators, teachers, and parents) to understand the risks and benefits of decisions made. I urge the administration and teachers of Goochland County Public Schools to base funding decisions on educational research. Outcomes per dollar are the most important thing. How many children does this program impact and how much per child does it cost. Next to that information should be a rating of how closely the item is tied to the essential core mission of schools.

3. Measurement – Measurement is essential in maintaining high standards and tracking progress. Although never perfect, it is a fundamental and an important tool.

I believe the school system is moving away from an efficient, best practice model for the identified gifted students in grades 3-5. I am saddened and baffled that the elementary center-based gifted program is not viewed as core since it is accelerating advanced students in Reading, Writing, Math, Science and Social Studies.
This program really should not be part of cuts. Since GCPS is abandoning a best practice model, I formally request that the school system measure the impact of this change. I ask the system to compile five years of SOL scores for identified gifted students in grades 3-5, and make these scores available to the Gifted Advisory Committee and available for all parents before the new school year. I would like the scores under the new "home school based" model to be compared to this historical data. I hope that the students in their individual schools can achieve scores at a similar level, as their predecessors did in the center-based model.

John Wright spoke on the subject of potential future savings by looking at how the school system obtains computers. Currently Goochland schools lease computers. Mr. Wright read an excerpt of an article about Henrico’s decision to switch to a Dell contract from an Apple contract and the substantial savings gained from the move. Mr. Wright would like the schools to consider this in future planning as existing leases expire.

Cindy Stansberry spoke about students on the ends of the bell curve in the schools. She noted that most instruction was geared toward the middle of the curve, but that students on both ends benefitted far less from that curriculum. She noted that instruction in the schools must address the special needs of the students on the ends.

Jane Christie’s comments: (this is her written recap of her statements/requests to the board)

1. From the School Board minutes, it appears that at least 11 teachers, a math specialist and a reading specialist have left the school system during the current budget cycle. Are there any plans to replace these positions to maintain the current pupil/teacher ratios in Goochland County schools?

2. Are there plans to refill the administrative position vacated by Mr. Brad Franklin, or will this non-teaching position now be eliminated in order to preserve teaching positions?

3. At the last School Board meeting, Dr. Underwood mentioned plans to hire a consultant to assess energy efficiency in our schools. I understand the comment was made that "you have to spend money, to save money". Dr. Adeeb Hamzey, who until recently worked for Dominion Virginia Power, has been offering for years to perform an energy efficiency evaluation of our schools, FREE of charge. Please can the School Board explain the current proposal to spend thousands of dollars to hire a consultant to perform this function in the current economic circumstances?

4. Earlier tonight, Karron Myrick mentioned the influence of peer pressure on gifted students. As a parent, I would like to affirm her comments based on our own experience. Goochland High School has no gifted program for gifted art students. The Blue Ridge program is geared towards Math and Science students and offers primarily Honors classes. Honors classes developed for the top 20% of students are NOT a gifted program! Our eldest daughter was in the first group of gifted students to complete grades 3-5 in the Goochland center-based gifted program, and benefited from continued gifted education during her middle school years. Literally the day she started 9th grade, problems began. Isolated from her intellectual group, and no longer challenged in her studies, she started losing her way academically, electing instead to apply her bright mind to modifying her appearance and behavior, to find social acceptance amongst her peers.

Our family is experiencing first hand the lack of academic motivation, the denial of giftedness, the negative impact of peer pressure and many of the other behavioral problems predicted by the research studies when a gifted child ceases to be academically challenged.

Rogers, K.B. (2007). Lessons learned about educating the gifted and talented: A synthesis of the research on educational practice. Gifted Child Quarterly, 51, 382-396. This synthesis of research over the past 120 years suggests that gifted need daily challenge in their areas of strength – not doing so is associated with stress, depression, and boredom; they need regular unique opportunities for independent work which results in strong academic growth – not doing so is associated with dependence, lowered motivation, and reticence and underachievement; they need subject and grade-based acceleration which has the strongest impact on academic growth and psychological health; they need to socialize with intellectual peers which also produces strong academic and moderate social affective effects; they need curriculum differentiated in pace, content, the amount of practice required and organization which produces significant gains in academic performance and subject specific skills and how much they like school.

Personnel items:

see the agenda packet http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/images/uploads/4:27:10_packet.pdf

Dr. Underwood added Amy Potter to the list, with a Leave of Absence for the remainder of the school year. Dr. Underwood noted that the other 3 LOAs were for the entirety of the coming school year.

Supplemental Appropriation
Dr. Underwood indicated that the final state budget appropriated an additional $162k in State Fiscal Stabilization Funds (part of the Federal ARRA funds) to the county. She clarified that this money would come out of our operating budget and move to grants fund. She has identified expenditures that will meet the criteria of this funding. (This item will be on the BoS agenda next Tuesday.)

2009-2010 School Calendar
This school year students missed 9 instructional days due to inclement weather. Only 6 days were built into the school calendar, with the note that any additional days would be made up by extending the school day. The administration, after consulting principals and teachers, feels that it is not necessary to extend school days. State code requires that students attend either 180 days or 990 hours of instructional time. With the make-up days we have, students will attend 177 days and 1062 hours, so we can meet the mandate using hours of instruction. The instructional calendars and testing schedules have been shifted to accommodate the missed days, and additional hours are not needed. The board voted and approved this recommendation.

2010-2011 School Calendar
There have been no changes and no negative feedback on the proposed calendar since the last meeting. The board voted and approved the proposed calendar. The approved calendar is here: http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/news/proposed_calendar_for_2010_11/

YMCA Memo of Understanding
See the entire memo in the agenda packet. http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/images/uploads/4:27:10_packet.pdf

The budget reductions in the 2010-2011 budget eliminated the Tender Tots and Virginia Preschool Initiative programs. Jan Kenney spoke on behalf of the YMCA. The YMCA is moving forward to fill the gap by taking over the Tender Tots program. They will use the same curriculum, and the program will be available to the entire community, including financial assistance to those who need it. The YMCA has requested the use of the same program space in the Specialty Center. The memo itself addresses the collaboration between the schools and the YMCA, including the 2nd grade swim lessons, after school care, and the use of school properties for certain programs.

*Note: GEPA board members requested more details on the Tender Tots program and permission to publish this information on this blog. Ms. Kenney indicated that they are currently working on informational flyers and will provide us with that information once it is complete.

Community Policy and Management Team
Dr. Underwood spoke about the fact that schools use funds from this program to provide services that address needs of students in their home schools (or least restrictive programs). Currently there is a policy conflict between Virginia Department of Education and CSA, and the schools do not know the impact of funding this will have. This conflict may force the schools to put the burden of these costs back into the school budget.

Budget Update
Dr. Underwood reviewed a comparison of last year’s budget (the all-time highest for the county schools), this year’s, and next year’s current proposed budget.

Next year’s budget is planned based on having $750k unspent at the end of this school year.

The schools need to make an additional $317k in cuts.

Dr. Underwood will make her proposals for the additional cuts at the May 11th School Board meeting, and will request approval at the May 25th meeting. The budget changes will be reported to the Board of Supervisors at the June 1st meeting.

Other Business
Dr. Underwood indicated that the drug dogs did visit the middle school/high school complex last week. There were 3 “hits” in the school parking lot and disciplinary measures are underway. When asked, she did indicate that the implicated persons were all students.

Mr. Mattox spoke about the Independent Studies and Internships program. This program has $50k in startup from the schools, and 103 students have taken part in the program since then. He requested that Dr. Underwood publish some information about the success of this program.

Mr. Miller asked the board to consider the suggestions that have been made to move meetings next year to better facilities – perhaps the Board of Supervisors room.

School Board Meeting + GEPA meeting 4/27/2010

2010-04-26T06:43:00.000-07:00

Parents --

The next meeting of the School Board is Tuesday, April 27th at 6 PM in the Annex Building Conference Room. Here is the agenda this week: http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/agendas/

As always, we encourage your attendance!

We will also have a follow-up GEPA meeting at Rocco's immediately following the School Board meeting. Please attend as we will discuss next steps & ideas for helping the schools.

Letter to the School Board

2010-04-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Sirs:

The board of the Goochland Education Parents Association (GEPA) would like to extend a thank you to Mr. Miller for his work as School Board Chairman over the last year, as well as for his many years of service to the county schools. Despite the difficulties of the budget climate this year, we recognize that Goochland has built an impressive school system for such a small county, and our organization exists in part as an effort to not lose ground so hard fought for by administrators, school board members, teachers, and parents over the years.

We would also like to congratulate and welcome Mr. Cisne and Mr. Mattox as the new Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the School Board. We very much look forward to working with you this year.

While this school budget process is winding down, there are still decisions to be made. The School Board must consider how to allocate the negative contingency approved by the Board of Supervisors, must consider how to live within the approved budget, must plan for the appropriate usage of stimulus and grants monies, and must plan for the high likelihood of additional cuts in the future. We sincerely hope that the members of the School Board keep in mind the oft-stated priorities of your constituents as you make these decisions.

As we have communicated since forming in January, we ask that you do the following:

1. Preserve classroom teaching positions.
2. Preserve the current pupil/teacher ratio.
3. Preserve a balanced, full service curriculum of programs and services to fulfill the needs of every child in the GCPS system.
4. Reduce administrative costs and other non-teaching overheads.
5. Operate the GCPS system in the best interests of ALL the children ALL the time.
6. Maintain Goochland property values.

We would like to re-iterate our desire and willingness to work with the School Board to achieve the goals of the parents in the county. It is truly not our desire to make speeches at meetings, but rather to sit at a table with you and have meaningful dialog about how to best support our children's education. You may reach out to us at any time via the board's email address: board@goochlandparents.com. We remain willing to meet with you individually or via committee.

Sincerely,
Kristin McNaron
GEPA Secretary

cc:
Raymond Miller
Maxwell Cisne
Ivan Mattox
Jim Haskell
Andrew Meng
Andrew Pryor
William Quarles
Ned Creasy
"Rudy" Butler
Jim Eads
Andrea Erard
Diane Bennett
Jo D Hosken
Jane Christie
Adeeb Hamzey

GES PTA Landscape Committee Spring Cleanup this FRIDAY April 16

2010-04-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

This Friday, April 16, the GES PTA Landscape committee will be working at the school immediately after school to help spruce up some of the grounds. If you are available, whether you have gardening knowledge or not, please come out and lend a hand. There is plenty for anyone to do.

We will be bringing a scoop of mulch from Southern States, wheel barrels, shovels, rakes, clippers, string trimmer, extension cords and hedge clippers, gloves and any other tools we find necessary.

We may also be there from 1-2 to start with some of the weeding and plant dividing.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or just come on out for as much or as little time as you can spare!

Thanks,

Colleen & Bill Williams, Landscaping Committee GES PTA

http://ges-sc-pta.blogspot.com/

April 13th School Board notes

2010-04-13T21:47:00.001-07:00

Notes from the 4/13 School Board meeting:

Recognition
The Board recognized students who made all-state band as well as students and volunteers for Destination Imagination.

Public Comment
GEPA Chair Jo D Hosken re-presented the school board with the GEPA petition. She commented that the parents, the public, and the BOS have all asked them to cut administration instead of teachers where possible. She noted that she understood the SB wished additional VRS funds to be released to the schools, and wished them luck in that endeavor.

School Calendar
The 2010-2011 proposed calendar was presented. Details are posted online here: http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/news/proposed_calendar_for_2010_11/

The board, at Mr. Haskell’s suggestion, requested to wait until the next meeting (the Workshop on 4/27) before they take action so that public has more opportunity to review and provide feedback.

Budget Update
Dr. Underwood reviewed the BOS budget actions. The BOS left the school budget categories as proposed, but added a contingency of -$317,099. This means that this additional amount must be cut from the SB budget. Dr. Underwood noted that to do so, they were re-evaluating positions, including some being vacated due to attrition (retirement, resignation, leave of absence). She also indicated that they were going back and looking at consolidated services and consultations on efficiencies, including energy efficiency studies by Dominion Power.

At the May 11th SB meeting, Dr. Underwood will make the proposal for the additional cuts.

Special Education Audit
The schools recently had an audit of the special education program conducted. This audit was paid for with stimulus funds. The results of the audit were that some aspects of our program worked well and some did not. The audit provided recommendations for improving the areas that didn’t work as well, including:
• Work with staff and the state to articulate and teach entrance and exit criteria for services
• Work to improve and support the GIST program, which does act as a pre-referral for Special Education services.
• Re-organize the co-taught model
• Consolidate some services

Clarification for the board
Dr. Underwood clarified that when the decision was made at the last meeting to move forward with fixing the electrical at the existing bus garage, some board members seemed to understand that the $1500 would come from the $600,000 CIP appropriation. It was intended was that this money would come from existing operating budget. The board acknowledged this clarification.

New Business
Regarding Budget Process

Mr. Miller noted that at the last BOS meeting, a concern had been expressed by the BOS that the SB should present a budget of the amount requested by the BOS via the County Administrator. The SB chose not to do this, but rather presented was they felt was needed for the schools. Mr. Miller and the board were criticized in the BOS meeting for this.

Mr. Miller read a portion of the Virginia Code (Virginia Code § 22.1-92 - Estimate of moneys needed for public schools; notice of costs to be distributed). He read the following: “It shall be the duty of each division superintendent to prepare, with the approval of the school board, and submit to the governing body or bodies appropriating funds for the school division, by the date specified in 15.2-2503, the estimate of the amount of money deemed to be needed during the next fiscal year for the support of the public schools of the school division.” (See this code here: http://law.justia.com/virginia/codes/toc2201000/22.1-92.html)

Mr. Miller noted that this statement seemed to preclude the SB from presenting multiple options for budgets. He asked that the board consider their response on this matter so that it is clear how they will handle in future years.

Regarding Chairmenship

As indicated at the beginning of the year, Mr. Miller had stayed on as Chairman to see the board through the budget process. As that is winding down, they agreed to turn over chairmanship. Mr. Cisne was elected the new board Chair, and Mr. Mattox as vice chair.

More cuts to Goochland Schools

2010-04-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

The next school board meeting is Tuesday April 14th at 7 PM at GHS. Read Jo D's recap from last week as to why YOU NEED TO BE THERE.

More cuts are upon us ! On this past Tuesday, the BOS voted to
maintain the tax rate .This should have put another 582K worth of cuts
to our schools but the county was asked to split the cuts so we are
now facing yet another 317K in cuts.
Several things have been pointed out about these cuts . The BOS has
asked the SB to have these cuts reflect the desires of the parents. Mr
Miller pointed out on Tuesday the 7th that he represented 99% of the
constituents in this budget that eliminates 22 positions.
Dr U has stated to the Times-Dispatch that this will mean further lay-
offs . And postings in the comment section of the Gazette tell us that
bus drivers have already been told that they are on the chopping block
as well.
317K would mean possibly another 5 teachers . Dual bus runs. End to
Center . No telling what other cuts will be thrown at us on Tuesday
night . It is very important that parents , teachers and citizens of
Goochland come out and express how we feel this money should come out
of the budget .
If Mr Miller feels that he is representing 99% he is wrong . He needs
to understand that the parents of GEPA have been representing other
people not just the faces he is most familiar with .
If you believe that this budget should be readdressed and cuts should
be made to admin not teachers. Or bus drivers . If you do not want
classrooms with 26 kids in them , if you do not want your child to
catch the bus at 6 am , if you do not want to lose your job, if you do
not want your collegues to be fired ,if you do not want your property
values to decrease because our quality of education has decreased
THEN
there is a School Board meeting on Tuesday April 14th at 7 PM at GHS .
Come out; speak up ; be heard .
The members of GEPA have shown this county twice that cuts do not have
to come from our core of our schools. Now we need everyone else to
tell the School Board that we are not going away and we want cuts to
come from waste.

http://goochlandomm.blogspot.com/

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/GOOC07GAT_20100406-203802/335458/

BOS & Taxes

2010-04-02T09:45:00.001-07:00

Parents --

GEPA has been silent on the specific subject of the county proposals regarding taxes. As an association representing many diverse families, it isn't our place to speak on behalf of individuals on what is a very personal matter of opinion.

That said, the Supervisors DO want input from their constituents on the tax issues. We highly encourage you as individuals to reach out to your supervisors and share your opinion on the matter.

The final vote is on Tuesday. Opinions will be made before then -- so I encourage you to call or email today.

For contact info:

District 1
Andrew Pryor
(804)457-4177(h)
apryor@co.goochland.va.us

District 2
William E. Quarles Jr.
(804)556-2927(h)
wquarles@co.goochland.va.us

District 3
Ned S. Creasey
(804)556-3229
ncreasey@co.goochland.va.us

District 4
Malvern R. Butler
(804)784-4241(h & f)
mbutler@co.goochland.va.us

District 5
James W. Eads
(804)784-3944(h)
jeads@co.goochland.va.us

3/30 County Budget Public Hearing

2010-03-30T22:00:00.000-07:00

At the start of the hearing on the school budget, Ms. Dickson presented new revisions to the school budget numbers. She indicated that these numbers had changed on Friday 3/26 due to new information on the state budget. The numbers presented were only the category-level totals. GEPA presented a revised budget proposal based upon school budget numbers that were presented at the 3/23 school board meeting. GEPA speakers repeatedly asked for the budget detail behind the category numbers. At the end of the entire hearing process, Mr. Creasey asked that the board request the detailed budget from the school board. Ms. Dickson will make this request on 3/31, and once the information is obtained, it will be publicly posted. There will be no more hearings on the matter, so if you have questions or concerns once we get the new information, you are advised to contact the Board of Supervisors.

Note that the Board will vote on the county budget on April 6th. In response to a question, Ms. Dickson indicated that the budget was required to be complete by May 1.

The GEPA proposal --> Click here

The various versions of the category-level allocations --> Click here. There has been no info shared on the reasoning behind the shifts in the 3/26 version of the school board budget. Please review the GEPA proposal for reasoning for their proposal.

There were three GEPA speakers. Their comments were as follows:

PENNY PALEN:

I am speaking on behalf of Goochland Education Parents Association (GEPA) to assure you that parents and county citizens are still very much committed to continue engagement in the workings of our local government, more specifically the Public School System.

We feel it is our obligation to facilitate ongoing communication with you and the School Board, collectively and individually, and to influence your decisions with respect to quality education for our children. Our aim is to work together towards a common goal; that of being good stewards of County resources in the best interest of the general public.

This budget process has been a difficult road, one which had not been traveled prior. We take pride in being able to challenge the status quo and greatly appreciate your willingness to lend GEPA a listening ear.

As we come to the final phase of this budget process, we would like to share with you the following:

*GEPA questions certain allocations of funds between categories by Dr.

Underwood in the recent School Board budget, which do not appear to be entirely

in accordance with instructions provided by the Virginia Department of

Education, and may violate the spirit, if not the letter of the Code of

Virginia. These changes are misleading, symbolic at best, and do nothing to help the bottom line, mainly saving the jobs of our teachers.

* GEPA is encouraged, however, to see members of the School Board becoming more
receptive to meaningful discussions and proposed ideas to improve this
process.

* GEPA is pleased to see more cooperation between the two boards in a
manner that better serves the public good.

* GEPA is on record for recognizing members of the Board of
Supervisors and County Administrator for their active involvement, in
a public way, to influence much needed changes to the school budget
submitted by Dr. Underwood and Chairman Miller.

* GEPA looks forward to participatory involvement of a proposed joint committee suggested recently by Chairman Quarles.

Thank you for your time and due diligence in this long and arduous process.

KRISTIN MCNARON

Gentlemen of the Board, Ms. Dickson, thank you for letting us speak to you tonight. My name is Kristin McNaron, and I live at {redacted – KGM}. I speak to you today as the secretary of the GEPA.

The recent re-categorizations in the school budget do absolutely nothing to address the fundamental concerns of the many parents that have spoken to both the School Board and this Board over the last 4-5 months. Specifically, the school budget still retains all of the highly-paid administrative positions, makes no cuts in transportation, maintenance, or technology, and targets classroom teachers and supplies most heavily. We are further concerned about the overall lack of information on where salaries exist in the school budget . . . with no line item detail, no listing of positions by category/sub-category codes, no detail about how positions are being funded by the county versus by grants, it is difficult to get the true picture of where our money is being spent.

Despite this, through research done by GEPA members , we want to illustrate to you that classroom teaching positions DO NOT HAVE TO BE casualties of our current budget predicament. As such, we have revised GEPA’s budget counter-proposal in order to give you an alternative viewpoint into how to fund our school system.

We have provided you all with a copy of our revisions along with supporting materials.

{Kristin walked through highlights of the proposal shown at the top of this post}

JANE CHRISTIE

My name is Jane Christie, I live at {redacted - KGM}. Gentlemen, I am here on behalf of GEPA to ask for your help in ensuring accountability and transparency in local Government.

Superintendent Underwood recently gave a presentation on school accounting, to you and to the public. The importance of understanding the Function Codes and Object Codes specified by the Virginia Department of Education, when interpreting the School Board budget, was explained, and there seemed to be a suggestion that this was really all too complicated and confusing for the public to grasp.

The only thing we don’t understand, is why the Superintendent would present a budget to the School Board and to the County for approval, when 80% of that budget is NOT supported by the Function Codes and Object Codes the Superintendent has so patiently described. Only 20% of the expenses in the School Board budget are specified in this level of detail, with the balance of $19,853,479, vaguely described in a single line item under each major Category, entitled “salaries and benefits”. When it comes to explaining the largest single expense in the School Board budget, the Function and Object Codes specified by the VDOE are conspicuous by their absence!

The Superintendent is requesting a figure equivalent to approximately half of the projected annual revenue for the entire County, with no Function Codes or Object Codes to account for nearly $20 million of public funds. Gentlemen, as stewards of the tax-payers’ money, we implore you NOT to accept a School Board budget with such an inadequate level of detail. It is imperative to use the codes provided by the VDOE to detail the “big ticket items”, not just the relatively minor budget items. Why would the County accept anything less from the School Board in their budget?

We would like to see the School Board budget specify salaries and benefits separately in EVERY budget category, using the VDOE Function and Object codes. For example, if teaching salaries and benefits were listed under Function Code 61100 for Classroom Instruction, with Object Code 1000 for salaries, and 2000 for benefits, then it would be clear, on the face of the budget, how much taxpayer money was being spent on classroom teaching positions. Changes to this amount could only be made during a public meeting, with School Board approval, which offers the public far better transparency and accountability.

This may also offer a practical way to preserve teaching positions. In January, the School Board implemented a Reduction in Force policy in our schools. The schools currently employ 450 personnel, with around 250 teaching positions, and 200 non-teaching positions. The primary function of a school system is educating children, but only about half of our school system personnel actually teach! To make matters worse, the current RIF process is NOT affecting teaching and non-teaching staff equally - 91 teacher and aides, and only 4 non-teaching staff have been notified that their position may be at risk.

GEPA’s goal, as concerned parents and citizens, is to preserve pupil/teacher ratios and the quality of educational programs in our public schools. We are actively engaged in identifying areas of waste in our schools, to ensure that County funds are efficiently utilized to educate the students in this County to the highest standard attainable with current funding. Quality public education attracts people and businesses to the County, and maintains property values, which helps generate tax revenue for the benefit of all Goochland County residents. We remain willing to work with all concerned to achieve this goal, and ask you to consider the budget proposals we have researched at length, and presented to you here tonight, and to require more detail in the School Board budget prior to approval. Thank you.

Letter from Linda Wise to SB and BOS

2010-03-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

Parents -- I just wanted to share with you a wonderful letter (below) from Linda Wise about the school budget and budget process. It's worth your time to read.

Please don't forget -- the hearing on the County budget is tonight at 7 in the Goochland High School auditorium.

Date: March 29,2010

To: Board of Supervisors, School Board, County Administrator, Superintendent, and fellow citizens

A study in opposites…..County Administration vs School Administration

The new County Administrator has taken us from the Dark Ages into the Age of Enlightenment. The new budget process is a terrific step toward giving us the transparency and detailed information we’ve been asking for. Each department made a presentation that gave the public a better understanding of what services they provide along with the complications and intricacies they face in delivering these services. Staff gave us insight into this year’s very difficult budget process and I thank them for their efforts to be more responsible, especially in these tough economic times. Many difficult decisions and cuts were made to their budgets. Ms. Dickson and her staff have proven that by being meticulous in their actions and more forthcoming with information, the citizens can become more understanding and trusting. At the same time we citizens must also remember our responsibility to be informed, knowledgeable and respectful.

Ms. Dickson’s diligence and candor, comes at the most difficult time this County has ever faced. Her style of leadership is positive, realistic and constructive, which will be much needed to face the challenges ahead. Unlike her predecessor she recognizes that she has an obligation to the citizens. Our former County Administrator inflicted great damage to our County by his arrogant, careless and negligent behavior and while he may not be judged in any court, other than that of public opinion, it is more important that the Supervisors recognize his mistakes and learn from them. For once, we feel that County Administration is dealing with the problems and not avoiding them or sweeping them under the carpet. I feel this transparency and frankness not only serves to keep us educated, but helps us to better understand and support our county staff. Her efforts to give the Supervisors more accurate information has given them the knowledge to ask more questions and make better decisions.

On the other hand, we have the Superintendent of Schools and the School Board still stuck in the Dark Ages. Their attitude and demeanor, and the way they conduct business including the budget process, seems reminiscent of our past County Administrator. I attended the March 9th School Board meeting and left feeling like an unwelcome intruder. At BOS meetings the Supervisors and Administrator politely listen to the speakers, occasionally clarifying an issue and thanking them when they are done. At the School Board meeting on the other hand, not only were speakers not thanked but nothing is ever clarified. Unlike BOS meetings where all discussed documents are on overhead screens, we simply sat and watched the School Board shuffle papers around as they mumbled amongst themselves. The sound system makes it impossible to hear or understand much of what is discussed, which adds to the feeling that they really don’t want us to hear them or know what they are doing.

I recently requested information from County Administration pertaining to stimulus money and got an immediate, polite response from Ms. Dickson, and quickly received the information. I also requested detailed budget documents from Dr. Underwood around the same time. I was seeking minutes, spreadsheets, or anything that would give me more insight into how the school budget was discussed and developed and how they reached their decisions. Several emails back and forth with a Staff member followed. At first I was frustrated and angry, feeling I was getting a run-around and that Dr. Underwood simply didn’t want to supply me with these documents. Then I was horrified when told that these documents did not exist. How is it possible that a person in charge of a $25 million dollar budget keeps no notes, documentation, spreadsheets, minutes or recordings of budget discussions and decisions ? This is a person in charge of millions of dollars of taxpayer money. I was told that while there were discussions about budget cuts they were not reflected in the minutes. Apparently, the Superintendent and her School Board did not insist that the same type of self-analysis, research, and discussions be conducted by School Staff, as had been done by County Staff. If they did, there are no documents that reflect this. Dr. Underwood and her Board, by all appearances, have forgotten who they work for………….us. Our votes put the School Board members in place and our money funds their budget. We are the bosses and we have every right to expect transparency, honesty, openness and full disclosure of any and all issues, with the exception of those items that allow them to go into closed session.

Dr. Underwood and the School Board appear stunned, indignant and resentful that parents, citizens or Supervisors dare to question them on their budget process or other matters. It is irresponsible, to say the least, that the analysis of the budget or any other school business, is not done in a thorough, professional and methodical manner, and that these discussions and the resulting determinations are not documented in any way or carefully presented to the public. Either Dr. Underwood and the School Board choose to work under a mantel of secrecy and concealment, or they simply haven’t done their homework well enough to read it in class. Either of these choices is disturbing.

At a recent Supervisor meeting Dr. Underwood gave a presentation (requested by the Supervisors) on categories in her budget. She seemed determined to make her explanation of her budget’s breakdown by funds, categories, function and so on, look like rocket science. It didn’t seem that complicated to me. She explained that a separate Grants fund was set up to track stimulus and other grant money in her budget. Obviously. Not only would you want to track these funds separately, but it would be necessary in order to satisfy the state and federal tracking and reporting requirements. Part of the public’s confusion has been about personnel and where they are located within the various funds, namely Instruction, Administration, Technology, Grants, etc. Dr. Underwood stated that all positions funded by stimulus money are located in the Grants Fund. At first, when questioned by the supervisors she said that all of these positions had to be new positions. Later she stated that some of these positions were actually long time employees who were given new titles and moved to Grants to be funded by stimulus money. She was asked if these people funded by ARRA (stimulus) funds understood that their jobs are not permanent, to which she did not reply. According to Dr. Underwood the following positions were created with ARRA money: Elementary & Parent Involvement Specialist, Student Services Specialist, Elementary ITRT, Alternative Education teachers; Special Education Aides, Special Education Transition Specialist. The impression given at this meeting is that anyone hired with Stimulus money should understand that their job was most likely temporary in nature. When ARRA funds dry up, so does the job, since the County funds cannot sustain them. Are these people who won’t be missed when stimulus money stops?

There are 6 types of ARRA funds received by the Schools listed under Grants, and money in each of these funds cannot be used by another. People funded under the Fiscal Stabilization portion which has now dried up cannot be funded by other ARRA funds. In the 10-11 budget these 6 budget categories include total funds of $558,705 , of which $389,381 (70%) is for salaries. In the approved 09-10 budget, the total for ARRA funds was $817,665, with $534,824 or 66% has gone to salaries. That’s a lot of salaries, but worse than that is that the potential loss of jobs is not a future problem, but a current one. One of the Stimulus funds, the Fiscal Stabilization fund has already dried up. This fund shows a total in 09-10 (current budget) of $264,226 of which $227,716 or 86% is for salaries. That’s $264,226 worth of personnel that could be eliminated as of June 30^th. I feel most sorry for long time employees who were moved to this or other ARRA funds, and now their jobs are in jeopardy. I know one young lady, an Elementary Instructional Technology Resource teacher, whose position was moved from Operating to Grants under the Stabilization fund, and whose job has been eliminated. She wasn’t originally hired with Stimulus money, but she’s still been cut, rather than being moved back into the Operating budget.

I’d very much like to see a list of all the employees listed in the current budget under Fiscal Stabilization, because in spite of the impression given at the BOS meeting, all these people have not been cut from the budget. I suspected some had been moved into the Administrative or Instructional funds for the 10-11 budget cycle and I was right. In Dr. Underwood’s budget presentation, she states that an ESL position has been moved to Instruction, and one Alternative Education teacher and the Student Services Specialist have been transferred to another fund under Grants. So, I’d first like to know how the decision was made to keep some and fire others. Second, I’d like to know how you justify saving these jobs, while firing long time teachers. The fact that personnel hired by the Fiscal Stabilization fund are being moved into the 10-11 Operating budget, while some long time teachers are losing their jobs, is an injustice. To me it is a travesty, misuse and abuse of the system. I feel sorry for anyone who loses their job, but based on Underwood’s presentation, people hired with Stimulus money should have been made aware that their jobs would most likely only be funded for 2 or 3 years. Perhaps Dr. Underwood was hoping that once hired, she would be able to fund the positions with County funds, but that is unrealistic. If these cuts were not based on performance evaluations or last hired/first fired criteria, the Board is going to have a lot of explaining to do. Perhaps these evaluations have been done, but at this point the public has been offered no clarification on the process or criteria used.

I will not pretend to know all there is to know about the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) funds, but I have done some research on the subject. I recognize that there are many stipulations placed on school systems that limit or determine what they can do with this money, however after reading descriptions on the Virginia Stimulus website of how these funds should be used, it is clear that the intent in all of the various grant categories is to help schools continue or enhance programs. Documents from the Virginia Department of Education made this opening statement. “The four principles state that the funds: 1) must be spent quickly to save and create jobs 2) should be used to improve student achievement through school improvement and reform 3) will be subject to additional and more rigorous reporting requirements than normally apply to grant recipients 4) are available for only two to three years and should be invested in ways that do not result in unsustainable continuing commitments after the funding expires.” That makes perfect sense to me. The main thing that jumps off the page is the idea of using the money in ways that are sustainable and make a lasting contribution to improving our schools. Hiring new people results …”in unsustainable continuing commitments after the funding expires.”, unless the job performed is temporary in nature, perhaps like someone doing an evaluation or training.

The information I received from the County says the ARRA funds were used for compensation, tuition reimbursement, software, hardware, staff development and tutoring. All but compensation makes perfect sense. According to VDOE the Fiscal Stabilization fund could have been used for teachers, nurses, library media specialists and support staff, but it could also have been used for tutors, professional development, program evaluation, materials and supplies, parental involvement activities, equipment, transportation and also modernization, renovation, repair and new construction of public school facilities.

Knowing that this money would only be around for a couple of years and that the County as a whole is in deep financial distress, using this money to add new positions that were probably unsustainable in the future is a really bad idea. Instead put the money to work where you could get the best temporary, one time benefit, such as training programs to enhance and train existing teachers; program evaluation, materials, supplies, equipment and modernizing, renovating or repairing school facilities. Heck, putting the money toward a better sound system and overhead screens in the High School would have been money well spent. The other existing ARRA funds listed teachers, tutors, but also professional development, program evaluation, materials and supplies, equipment, and parental involvement activities, so obviously there were other uses for this money besides new personnel. There are some teachers on Dr. Underwood’s list under Grants; particularly in Special Education, and I have no doubt that some or all would be sorely missed, which is why it seems so tragic that they were funded with temporary stimulus money, in the first place. The greatest tragedy now appears that longtime teachers are losing their jobs in order to save people hired with ARRA money.

I’d very much like to see the exact list of positions that were added in the last couple of years, both in Operating and Grants. We seem to keep adding positions, but we can’t pay for teachers or books or programs? Dr. Underwood stated at the Supervisors meeting that the payroll list on the Gazette’s website is incorrect. That’s easy, then give us a new list with titles, budget category and salaries. Even better would be for Dr. Underwood to list these positions accurately in her budget under the proper fund each year, so there would be no misunderstanding or confusion.

In the Approved Budget posted on the website, Dr. Underwood talks of the necessity to cut classroom teachers because of decreased revenues. By her own admission cutting these teachers will have an immediate negative impact on students. How then does she justify eliminating these teachers, when no personnel cuts have been made to Administration, Technology or Transportation ? This has been the concern of citizens and parents. The cuts being made are the ones that will impact the students the most. She states that the following were eliminated from the Instruction budget: 2 intervention teachers, Tender Tots program (which by the way, generates $50,000 in revenue), VA Preschool Initiative program, literacy and math specialists, Drivers Ed, Summer Governor’s school, 2 Special Education teachers, 2 clerical positions, 1 instructional Support teacher, 1 In-School Suspension, 7 classroom teachers, 1 gifted program teacher, materials and supplies were cut 50%. Doesn’t sound good. A total of $169,129 was cut from textbooks, books and subscriptions, education & rec supplies. Can we really afford these types of cuts to books and supplies? Could stimulus money have paid for some of this? I suspect it could. GEPA’s point is that they simply want Underwood and her Board to find places to cut their budget that won’t eliminate teachers or instructional supplies or programs. Up to now, it doesn’t appear that any real effort has been made to address that concern or re-evaluate decisions made.

In the School Board minutes where they voted to support Dr. Underwood’s budget, Mr. Miller made the following speech: “We all have spent many hours thinking of the issues and pondering the ramifications of the choices available. Our goal has been and will always be, to the best of our abilities with the resources allocated to provide for the needs of our students.” “Although you may not agree with decisions that were made in order to arrive at this budget, not supporting this budget would be completely counterproductive.” First, let me say that I don’t feel that the Superintendent directed her Staff to do the same type of thoughtful analysis and creative thinking used by County Staff in order to come up with the best budget possible. I’m equally confident that had she done so, her staff could have come up with many solutions and ideas. That’s simply bad leadership. Secondly, it speaks volumes about the smugness and patronizing attitude of the School Board to think that no matter what they decide, these parents are wrong to question them, and should simply acquiesce. What I find most offensive and unbelievable is that neither the Superintendent nor the School Board members ever seem to feel an obligation or duty to the parents and citizens who were asking respectful, insightful and educated questions. This dismissive, condescending attitude only serves to make all of us feel mistrust and anger. While I can certainly understand their embarrassment and discomfort by recent events, I hope they are able to recognize their mistakes. We assume that they have not performed their jobs correctly, because they have refused to demonstrate to the public anything that proves the contrary. If we are wrong in our perceptions, then prove us wrong by you actions.

When Mr. Miller, School Board Chairman, was asked by the Supervisors, if the explanation of categories and budget decisions was presented to the public, he said he made an attempt. Then he continued to explain that he asked Underwood for mid-year academic achievement reports and shared this with the public. They evaluated cost per pupil and academic achievement per pupil. The public was directly asking for information pertaining to the budget; clarifications on positions and where they were funded, why cuts were made to instructional personnel, programs and supplies, rather than in other areas. How did an achievement report address these questions? Mr. Miller continued to say that the job of the School Board is to select a competent superintendent and let her do her job, and that “…..we rely on auditors to tell us.” Huh? I’ve never known auditors to make evaluations on how a company or local government spends their money or how effectively they have managed it and certainly not evaluate personnel.

Furthermore, after researching documents on the Schools website pertaining to School Board ethics and legal mandates I would like to quote from these documents: “The School Board endorses the concept that community participation in affairs of schools is essential if the school division and the community are to maintain mutual confidence and respect and work together to improve the quality of education for all students.” In another document it states…”The School Board will review its performance annually to ensure its proper discharge of responsibilities to the community.” Perhaps now would be a good time to review its performance and consider its role in providing the public with information and giving them a reason to have confidence and respect. I don’t think the public feels we are working together. And while Mr. Miller insists that the Board basically hires a good person and then allows them to go their merry way. “It is the responsibility of the School Board to maintain and improve the quality of administration and instruction.” This would clearly indicate that the Board has a responsibility to get more involved in the details and ask more questions. From where I sit, the Board appears somewhat glazed over and compliant. One of their duties is to …”Survey, at least annually, the school division to identify critical shortages of teachers and administrative personnel by subject matter…” And finally from their Code of Ethics, two things….”Approach all School Board issues with an open mind, prepared to make the best decision for the whole school system.” and “Do nothing to violate the trust of those who appointed him to the School Board or of those served.” Amen.

With better leadership and more disclosure, this situation could have been avoided. I hope valuable lessons have been learned by all. I would ask the same thing of Dr. Underwood that we have asked of Ms. Dickson…….honesty, integrity and diligence. Denial, misdirection and slight of hand will not help the public to trust you. We expect a sincere effort to communicate the facts and willingness to discuss them. We certainly understand the complexities of both jobs. On the other hand, too many contradictions and confusions have led to a deep mistrust and lack of confidence. I would ask the same thing from the School Board that we have asked from the Board of Supervisors. Keep yourselves informed and educated on the subjects under your control and remember you are accountable to the public. It is your duty to question things and to ask for clarification. It is your job to make sure our children are well educated and that the citizen’s money is well spent. In the words of one Supervisor who has learned some painful lessons over the past couple of years……”Trust but verify.” I also hope more parents and citizens will become involved and better informed and express their opinions and ideas.

Sincerely,

Linda Wise

Manakin Sabot

3/30 County Budget Public Hearing

2010-03-26T22:36:00.000-07:00

Reminder that the public hearing on the county budget is this Tuesday, March 30, at 7 PM at the Goochland High School auditorium. This is your opportunity to comment on your viewpoint about the county budget and the school budget. Please take this opportunity to let your voice be heard.

Agenda: http://www.co.goochland.va.us/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=RNaeiPGmug4%3d&tabid=59&mid=1876

Comments from 3/23 Board of Supervisors meeting

2010-03-25T02:58:00.000-07:00

I regret that I haven't compiled all the notes from the SB and BOS meetings (I was out of town and attended neither, and from the notes I've been sent, both were quite long). For the SB, most relevant information is in their agenda packet here: http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/images/uploads/Agenda_3-23-10_1.pdf

Kristin

Comments presented by Jane Christie to the Board of Supervisors:

On behalf of the Goochland Education Parents Association, I would like to formally request that you require the School Board to post a detailed, revised budget to support their proposed re-categorizations of expenses, to give the public a fair opportunity to review this revised budget prior to the public hearing on the County budget on March 30, 2010.

We also request a detailed listing of the positions that have been relocated, and the School Board methodology for reallocating these positions, referencing the applicable regulations, and identifying the relevant function and object codes.

To provide adequate accountability for taxpayer funds, and to identify and preserve the funding available for teaching positions, we specifically ask that you require that the revised School Board budget should separately identify salaries, benefits and other expenses in the Instruction category, under each of the four Function Codes defined by the Virginia Department of Education, in accordance with the Code of Virginia, namely:

61100 Classroom Instruction (e.g. teachers)

61200 Instructional Support - Student (e.g guidance counselors)

61300 Instructional Support - Staff (e.g. teacher training)

61400 Instructional Support - School Administration (e.g. office of the Principal).

GEPA firmly believes that this level of accountability in the budget is a crucial step in preserving teaching positions, pupil/teacher ratios and the quality of education in GCPS, and the absolute minimum required at this time to provide accountability for public funds.

It has also become apparent that revenue from temporary grants and stimulus funds is being used to fund permanent positions within the GCPS system. As stewards of the taxpayer’s money, GEPA questions if the School Board and Board of Supervisors would endorse this practice? For what other purposes could this grant money be used, and what will happen to these permanent positions when the temporary funds run out? Please would you require that the School Board make available to the public a detailed listing of all the GCPS system positions currently funded by the Grants Fund, indicating the position name, amount funded and duration of the funding?

Finally, we request that you do not agree to the School Board request to increase funding for the Administration category by 33%, and instead, ask the School Board to reevaluate these administrative positions and make cuts in this area. I believe this category could still be reduced by over $100K by combining positions, and eliminating positions added in the last 3 years. We respectfully request that you fully fund the Instruction category, in accordance with the School Board budget approved on January 26, 2010, and instead require the School Board to make cuts in the areas of the budget which are not directly related to the education of the County’s children.

Conflicting SB and BOS meetings 3/23

2010-03-23T09:17:00.001-07:00

Parents -- It seems that the School Board and Board of Supervisors have scheduled conflicting meetings tonight. Both agendas WILL cover school budgetary items as well as KPMG audit information , and it is important that we have parents at both. If you plan to attend one or the other, it would be helpful and appreciated if you could email board@goochlandparents.com so we know what kind of coverage we have at each.

School Board is 6:30 at the Annnex Building
Agenda: http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/agendas/

Board of Supervisors is at 7:00 at the Goochland Administration Building
Agenda: http://www.co.goochland.va.us/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=%2fRF5V5WDonY%3d&tabid=59&mid=474

Saturday, March 13 - RES Bouncy Day at GHS + Paper Drive

2010-03-12T10:42:00.000-08:00

Saturday, March 13 ,11am-2pm at Goochland High School gym, Randolph PTA will hold "Bouncy Day". Cost is $5/kid – pizza, drinks and bake sale items also available for purchase. The PTA and GEPA will again be collecting paper for our ongoing paper drive at this event, so please consider bringing a ream (or case) of paper for our teachers/students.

Tip: Paper is $1 a ream after rebate at Staples today and tomorrow

At Thursday night's GES Spaghetti Dinner we collected enough paper to donate a ream to every GES teacher. THANK YOU to everyone who donated and helped collect!

Paper Delivery!

TONIGHT 3/11 Paper Drive at GES Spaghetti Dinner

2010-03-11T06:38:00.000-08:00

Tonight is the GES PTA's annual Spaghetti Dinner and Auction (5 - 7:30 PM). GEPA and the PTA are working together to continue the paper drive to benefit our teachers and classrooms. If you are attending the dinner, please consider bringing a ream (or case) of copy paper for the cause.

Here is the link to the details on the PTA event: http://ges-sc-pta-auction.blogspot.com/

March 9th School Board Comments and Recap

2010-03-10T20:06:00.000-08:00

Below you will find GEPA comments and a short recap from the 3/9/2010 School Board meeting:

In the first public comment period, Jo D Hosken, Dena Tremain, Kristin McNaron, and John Wright spoke on behalf of GEPA. Their comments are below. Rena Adeeb spoke about the Maggie Walker Governors School, and Michael McDermot spoke about frustration with the budget and feeling of entitlement in the county.

Jo D Hosken:

In front of each of you now is a copy of an email sent out by the superintendent on March 5th .The email reads.

• From: Linda Underwood Schweigert
> Date: March 5, 2010 8:20:35 PM EST
> To: Dianna Gordon , Bryan Gordon
>
> Subject: the battle is on
>
> Any way that any of the athletic boosters might be riled up enough to
> speak out at school board or supervisors meetings? GEPA has added
> elimination of the athletic director to their hit list.
>
>
>
> L
> Linda A. Underwood, Ed.D.
> Superintendent
> Goochland County Public Schools

It goes without saying I was horrified

In response I sent emails out to the involved parties with a statement from GEPA saying:

It has come to our attention that Dr Underwood has sent out an email stating that GEPA supports the elimination of the Athletic Director. This could not be further from the truth. While we do state that there are 7 positions that make over 1 million dollars we have always maintained that there should be NO cuts to teachers, textbooks and programs. Athletics is the largest program in the school system thanks to the hard work of Bryan Gordon. Elimination of such a program or teacher would be against best practice for our children and would cost many of them advanced education opportunities.

You were all carboned on that response. To make it very clear, this email from Dr Underwood was not true. It was a lie. It was a lie living under the subject heading “the battle is on “.
For months now we have told each of you that the superintendent has used intimidation on the teachers. The superintendent told one of our most respected and revered teachers to rile up parents against parents. To go to battle. Is that how the superintendent sees the parents who stand up for Teachers, textbooks and programs as the enemy.

I am extremely disheartened by this. She is their boss telling her subordinates to rile the parents against each other fight her battle. This is abuse. This is abuse of power. Abuse of position. What was this teacher supposed to do ignore her direct order? How many other members of staff were told to do battle with the parents who speak out? How many other lies were told to reinforce this? This email was sent to my son’s principal. As a member of Gepa I am now the enemy of my son’s principal. What kind of position does that put her in? 94 Rif notices went out to her colleagues what is she being told do what I say or you are next?

This is abuse of the parents. If our superintendent sees any parent who disagrees with her as a parent to do battle with then how does she see our children? Small causalities of the battle? How am I supposed to send my son to school if teachers and principals are told to treat me as the enemy because I stood up for them?

I do not believe that this school board can turn a blind eye anymore to what is being said. What was written. And speaking for myself and several parents I no longer trust this person with the care of my children .If I am her enemy in battle as she states then what will she do to my kids. Our kids? This is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Gepa families and petitioners make up over 1000 children in ours schools. Heaven help you if anything should happen to one of those kids.

Dena Tremain:

It has come to my attention that an email signed by Dr. Linda Underwood was
circulated among our athletic boosters on March 5. I find the email so
offensive that I don't know quite where to begin. In this email Dr.
Underwood stated that "GEPA has added elimination of the Athletic Director
(Bryan Gordon) to its hit list." This statement could not be further from
the truth. I know this because I became involved with GEPA amidst concern
over some of Dr. Underwood's initial proposed cuts. If anyone recalls, Dr.
Underwood proposed the school board eliminate athletics from Goochland
County's middle school. I, personally, spoke to the school board and Dr.
Underwood on January 12 in defense of middle school athletics, as a member
of GEPA. Since then, I have attended and participated in GEPA meetings.
Not once has the idea even been suggested that cuts be made to our athletic
program, and certainly not to its steward and founder, Bryan Gordon. GEPA's
slogan is "Teachers, textbooks, and programs." Bryan Gordon is an
excellent, qualified teacher and the steward of our wonderful athletic
program. I would not support any entity that would suggest eliminating this
person or what he stands for. With all due respect, the only person who has
suggested any cuts to any aspect of our athletic program at any point in
time is Dr. Underwood.

However, the most appalling aspect of this email is the part where Dr.
Underwood urges one group of parents to get "riled up" and do battle against
another set of parents. Athletic parents against academic parents? The
fact is these parents are one and the same. My children love to play
sports-swim team, soccer, baseball, softball, basketball, you name it. Does
that mean I shouldn't be concerned about their academic well-being? My
daughter is a pitcher and has a curve ball that has been known to make a
grown man jump out of the batters box with his knees shaking. She has also
never had anything less than an "A" on her report card in any subject at any
time because she knows that school comes first. Should I protect one aspect
of her future more than another? Of course not. I will defend them both
equally. But, I will not stand by idly while someone tries to pit one set
of parents against another. Those two groups of parents are NOT two
separate groups at all. Let's drop the stereotypes, shall we? Athletes can
be smart; smart kids can be athletic. Girls can play ball and boys can
write poetry. The point is that parents are parents and we ALL demand the
best for our children.

Almost 100 teachers and instructional aides, along with other people who
have direct, personal impact on our children on a daily basis were told
their jobs are on the line. Not one administrative position is on the line.
Is it even remotely possible that there is waste somewhere else within the
school system? Maybe some inefficiency in our transportion/maintenance
department, for example, where costs are skyrocketing exponentially despite
the fact that our student population has not grown at nearly the same
rate-even after adjusting for the cost of fuel? We opened our middle school
right next to our high school, yet still our transportation costs have
skyrocketed. Is it possible there may be another way to do things there, or
say with our health care costs that would save the school board money,
rather than taking teachers directly away from our children? The school
board won't discuss it publicly, so we don't know. But, here is what I do
know. GEPA was the first to stand up and defend athletics after Dr.
Underwood was the first and only one to suggest part of that program be
eliminated. GEPA stands for Goochland Education PARENTS Association. Our
motto is "Teachers, textbooks, and programs." The only group proposing the
elimination of teachers and programs is the School Board led by Dr.
Underwood.

Kristin McNaron:

Members of the Board . . . . my name is Kristin McNaron, and I live in Sandy Hook. I am speaking to you today both as a concerned parent and as the Secretary of the GEPA.

I recently had an opportunity to speak with my SB representative, Mr. Miller, along with several other parents in our district. At that time, Mr. Miller indicated that he felt we had begun focusing on "distractions" such as cost cutting opportunities in maintenance and transportation. I'd like to take this opportunity to state unambiguously that our focus remains the same . . . . the preservation of teachers, programs, and textbooks so that all children in Goochland County have the opportunity for a superior education. When it comes time to tighten a budget, one thing has everything to do with the other . . . . waste in maintenance and transportation DOES impact our ability to properly fund our instructional needs. And because the School Board and Superintendent appear to be unwilling or unable to pursue a thorough accounting for costs and efficiencies, we've taken the time to study them ourselves.

Our mission has been quite steadfast. GEPA first spoke to you as a organization at the January 12th School Board meeting. As I stated in the public comment period that day "we will NOT support any further cuts to core programs or teaching positions" and " We feel very strongly that if budget cuts need to be made, they should be made first and foremost in the areas which have the least direct impact on our children’s education, which would include higher level administrative positions, transportation and maintenance."

These messages have been relayed to you again and again in public comment periods, in one on one conversations, via emails, and publicly posted on goochlandparents.com. Yet here we are today with you still not listening to your constituents.

Today we know the following:

91 teachers & instructional assistants, one librarian and a school nurse have been officially notified that they might not have a job in Goochland County Public Schools next year.

Yet NO administration, transportation, maintenance or other personnel in the entire school system appear to have received such a notice.

The Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent and 5 Director-level positions together earn over $1 million in salaries and benefits between the 7 of them!

Yet NO cuts are being made to high-level administrative positions.

The budget approved by the School Board for next year will cut the school materials and supplies budget in half and cut the amount spent on textbooks and subscriptions next year by about two thirds.

Even though Goochland is already among the least efficient counties in the State for transportation and maintenance costs, the School Board budget recommends INCREASING the amount of money spent in BOTH of these areas.

We understand from Ms. Dickson's statements at the March 2nd BOS meeting that you are providing revised categorizations to the BOS. The door is open . . . it isn't too late to LISTEN to your constituents, and to save teachers, programs, and textbooks by eliminating costs in non-instructional areas. We URGE you to focus on why you are here and be the responsible stewards you were elected to be.

John Wright:

My name is John Wright; I live at {redacted – KGM}. Board members, I am speaking to you tonight on behalf of the Goochland Education Parents Association.

On February 9th of this year, I requested, on behalf of GEPA, a formal review of the Superintendent due to an ever widening breach of confidence with the citizens that she serves, blatant misrepresentations of fact on public record, disregard for Dept. of Education regulations and the abusive environment she has created for her staff and the students themselves. I am here to reiterate that call to action, but also to add one minor and two very serious breaches of her contract with the School Board.

First, as you have already heard, she used the school’s email delivery system to convey an email request the athletic director to, and I quote, “rile up” the athletics boosters against GEPA based upon false accusations of our intentions to have him removed from his position. That request, in our opinion, is tantamount to inciting a riot. She admitted on record to the local newspaper that she did so today. Her only remorseful (and I use that term loosely) statement was that Mr. Gordon wasn’t supposed to forward her email out. Apparently, she intended to use her influence over her employees to get them to do her ill will, and pit parent against parent. I ask you, doesn’t that sound like someone hell bent on creating a breach between the school system and the citizens they serve???

Second, parents closely associated with GEPA can no longer reach their children’s teachers via email. Parents have attempted to contact teachers about early dismissals, student illnesses, and even student assignments. These emails never reach their destination. I can only speculate that she has a large hand in this new technical error, but it seems to fit a pattern of control demonstrated unilaterally by Dr. Underwood.

Lastly, and most reprehensibly, Dr. Underwood is culpable in the now famous “The Dogs are coming” video aired in January 2009 on the high school morning announcements in order to warn drug using students that Goochland’s Sherriff intended to bring drug sniffing dogs into the school. Only the Sherriff, Dr. Underwood, and the High School Principal were aware of the impending dog search prior to the airing of the video. The video aired for a week, until the search was conducted, and then was never aired within the school again. Apparently Dr. Underwood felt it was more important to sweep a growing drug and disciplinary problem under the rug, than to follow the law, address a problem head on and deal with it in a manner that sends a clear message that drugs will not be tolerated in the schools. Instead, she taught the students that they can circumnavigate the law when it isn’t convenient to their purposes. Each of you is very aware of this situation and has been confronted by the Sherriff about it. To this day, the sheriff’s department is not able to conduct searches in a random manner. Not surprisingly, drugs and now gangs are rampant within the middle and high schools. We can only wonder how student life would be different if the issue had been addressed properly. In order to insure that this issue isn’t again swept under the rug, a copy of the video in question has been provided to the local video (with student faces blurred out).

For all of these reasons, we again respectfully request that the Board perform a formal review of the Superintendent and ask that the results be made available to the public. A copy of this request is being provided to each member of the Board of Supervisors.

Recap:
After Recognitions, Announcements, and Consent Items, 4 informational items were presented:

A. Summary of Mid-year reviews – details are not included in the agenda packet, but Dr. Underwood presented to the school board a summary of the school systems internal mid-year review.

B. Virginia Advance Study Strategy (VASS) – Goochland is part of a grant program through VASS, a subset of the National Math and Science Initiative. Mr Nickols presented an overview of the program. This is a 3 year program promoting advance studies in math and science in counties in which advanced studies are either not available or have low (<10%) enrollment. The goal is to increase enrollment in these programs. The grant provides training for educators for AP and pre-AP classes, money for supplies and lab equipment, and financial incentives for students and teachers. The grant money does not go through the school board, but is rather a direct investment.

C. Analysis of transportation costs --- an analysis of school transportation costs was provided to the school board for review. The information is not provided in the agenda packet. The school board will review the information for discussion at the school board workshop on 3/23.

D. Bus Garage – the school system has estimated that upgrading the planned bus garage to an exterior acceptable to the Design Review Committee will increase the expense by $50-100k. The county has since indicated a desire to move the proposed garage to the old middle school property and asked that the school board suspend spending money on the bus garage at this time. The SB asked that they work cooperatively with the county and BOS to review the timeline and cost of this proposal.

Old Business:

Mr. Haskell asked about the procedure for drug dog searches, and Dr. .Underwood indicated that for the last 14 months the policy has been that the schools get 10 minutes notice.

Mr. Haskell indicated that they were looking into transportation and maintenance costs and WERE listening to constituents. He also indicated that consolidation of services was good if it could be arranged with the county.

Mr. Miller indicated that he and Dr. Underwood had spoken with the County Administrator and agreed to a review of categorization of expenses. This will be done in conjunction with the County Administrator and categorizations will be changed as mutually agreed as long as the bottom line is preserved.

Mr. Miller indicated that state code dictates that the Superintendent be reviewed and that they had "obeyed the code in that process."

Dr. Underwood indicated that the “verification of status” letters followed the defined RIF process. She further indicated that additional notifications COULD be sent if further cuts are made.

In the second comment period, Penny Palen spoke about the potential cost savings of eliminating the School Messenger system as a neighboring county has done, and Teresa Miller spoke asking the board to really consider the cuts they are making and how/where they are done. She feels that she is already seeing impact of the cuts in school offerings next year at the high school level.

School Board meeting 3/9 at 7 PM

2010-03-08T20:01:00.001-08:00

REMINDER: There is a School Board meeting tomorrow (Tuesday, March 9th) at 7 PM at the Goochland High School Auditorium. Please make every effort to attend!

Email subject line "the battle is on "

2010-03-06T06:44:00.000-08:00

It has come to our attention that Dr Underwood has sent out an email
stating that GEPA supports the elimination of the Athletic Director .
This could not be further from the truth . While we do state that
there are 7 positions that make over 1 million dollars we have always
maintained that there should be NO cuts to teachers , textbooks and
programs. Athletics is the largest program in the school system thanks
to the hard work of Bryan Gordon. Elimination of such a program or
teacher would be against best practice for our children and would cost
many of them advanced education opportunities.

Did you know?

2010-03-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

Did you know?

91 teachers & instructional assistants, one librarian and a school nurse have been officially notified that they might not have a job in Goochland County Public Schools next year.

No administration, transportation, maintenance or other personnel in the entire school system appear to have received such a notice.

The Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent and 5 Director-level positions of Education, Technology and Athletics, earn over $1 million in salaries and benefits between the 7 of them!

Contrary to the express wishes of parents and citizens voiced during the public hearings, NO cuts are being made to high-level administrative positions.

The budget approved by the School Board for next year will cut the school materials and supplies budget in half.

The School Board budget will also cut the amount spent on textbooks and subscriptions next year by about two thirds, from $161,000 to $58,000.

The Tender Tots preschool program is being completely eliminated next year, to save about $43,000.

The acclaimed Goochland County Center for Gifted is being phased out, to save a maximum of $28,000, and the proposal is for 26 gifted students to be taught in one room with one full-time teacher next year.

Even though Goochland is already among the least efficient counties in the State for transportation and maintenance costs, the School Board budget recommends INCREASING the amount of money spent in BOTH of these areas.

There is NO money in the budget for musical instruments or art supplies next year.

The School Board has approved a budget with over $15 million, or more than 60% of the entire school budget, in a single line item, entitled “salaries and benefits”, and feels that this is an acceptable level of accountability for public funds.

Contact your School Board and Board of Supervisors Representatives!

District 1:

SB James Haskell (457-4161)

BOS Andrew Pryor (apryor@co.goochland.va.us)

District 2:

SB Raymond Miller (457-4602)

BOS William Quarles (wquarles@co.goochland.va.us)

District 3:

SB Ivan Mattox (556-2246)

BOS Ned Creasey (ncreasey@co.goochland.va.us)

District 4:

SB Andrew Meng (784-3866)

BOS Rudy Butler (mbutler@co.goochland.va.us)

District 5:

SB Maxwell Cisne (784-3158)

BOS Jim Eads (jeads@co.goochland.va.us)

Goochland County Voting Districts

Support our Schools!

As parents, we are all busy working and raising our children, but right now, many of our teachers are at risk of losing their jobs and desperately need our support. Please take a minute to note these two dates in your calendar, and do everything in your power to be there:

Tuesday 9, March, 2010 - School Board Regular Meeting, 7.00 p.m. in the Goochland High School Auditorium

Tuesday 30, March, 2010 - Board of Supervisors Public Hearing on the County Budget, 7.00 p.m. in the Goochland High School Auditorium.
There will also be a meeting of the Board of Supervisors at 3.00 p.m. on this date, where there is usually a public comment period.

91 teachers and instructional assistants, a media resource teacher and a school nurse have officially been put on notice that their position is at risk. The next step is an individual notice of layoff, giving 30 days notice to those teachers who have been selected to lose their jobs. This means about half of our teachers are currently living in constant fear of losing their jobs, which is extremely damaging to school morale, and emotionally distressing to all the teachers, students and parents.

Now is the time to contact your School Board representatives to let them know that you are NOT happy that the School Board budget proposes cuts in teaching positions, programs and textbooks, instead of cuts to excessive expenses in administration, transportation, maintenance and health insurance premiums

It is also REALLY important to have a major show of support for our teachers at the School Board meeting on March 9th and at the Board of Supervisors meeting on March 30th.

The Superintendent and School Board seem to have convinced themselves that this issue is going to go away if they simply ignore us. You can ignore a petition or a phone call, but it is hard to ignore real people (a.k.a. voters) in numbers, and in person. The School Board and the Board of Supervisors need to feel the community outrage about this decision - there would be no need to cut teaching positions to achieve $1.4 million in cuts in this budget if the Superintendent and School Board managed the school system more efficiently, and eliminated some of the higher level administrative positions.

In the last couple of months, two churches each mobilized about 50 people to attend the Board of Supervisor meetings to support the planning application for their new churches. How does it look to the Supervisors when parents don't show up in numbers to support our teachers, and express our concerns, when about half of the teachers in the County are now living in fear of losing their jobs?

The Supervisors can require changes to the budget category amounts, and fund the budget, but the School Board has complete authority to spend the funds within the categories once they have the money. It is our job to convince them that the instructional funds need to be spent on our teachers, programs and textbooks / learning tools. If the School Board experiences major public opposition to their decision to cut teachers, then maybe we can influence this outcome, save our teachers, and preserve the pupil/teacher ratios in the classrooms for our children.

3/2 Board of Supervisors meetings

2010-03-02T19:33:00.000-08:00

At today's 3 PM BoS meeting, the board voted to advertise a 57 cent tax rate. They also voted to advertise the School Board's proposed budget with a caveat that there may be some re-categorization of the money within it.

By voting to *advertise* these things, they open the process for public consideration and comment, culminating with the March 30th public hearing on the budget. They may ultimately decide to approve any tax rate at 57 cents or less, and they may make changes to the SB allocations by category.

During the 7 PM BoS public hearing, Ms. Dickson indicated that she expected to receive within a week a revised School budget with changes to the categorizations.

The fact that the BoS and Ms. Dickson are talking openly about a need for re-categorizations within the school budget shows that (1) they ARE hearing us and (2) the door is cracked open for change.

Is it VITAL that we make a show of force at the March 9th School Board meeting and continue to drive home the need for re-categorization of positions and for cuts within areas of waste and inefficiencies (i.e. non-instructional, non-teachers). We MUST continue to shout from the rooftops that cuts to teaching positions are UNACCEPTABLE.

Likewise we MUST make a show of force at the March 30th Board of Supervisors public hearing to reinforce these points and the need to ensure our core educational standards stay intact within the county.

Stay tuned . . . you will hear more about the upcoming hearings and how you can help.

Minutes of the 2/28 GEPA Meeting

2010-03-02T19:31:00.000-08:00

The meeting was called to order at 7:15 PM.

Expansion of Board – this agenda item was deleted.

John Wright provided an update on the budget process.
• At the March 2nd BOS meeting, the BOS will decide on what tax rates to advertise.
• There will be a budgetary hearing on March 30th.
• The BOS will vote for a budget on April 6th.
• The BOS can only designate allocations by category for the SB budget.
• The BOS may decide to vote on category allocations different from those requested in the current SB approved budget. If they do, the Superintendent and SB must draft a budget that works with those numbers, but they will not be held to the same standard for public hearings.

Petition presentation to School Board discussion
• We currently have over 600 signatures on the petition (between online and hard copy versions). The signatures on the petition represent the families of over 1000 students in GCPS.
• There are currently 100 members on the GEPA Facebook group and 140 members in the GEPA Google group.

Paper Drive/Fundraising
• 8 cases of copy paper have been delivered to the schools to date, with additional paper ready to distribute
• We are scheduled to collect copy paper at the GES spaghetti dinner and auction on March 11th.
• PTA will collect paper at the RES Bouncy Day on March 13th
• It was brought to the attention of the group that simply presenting the paper to the school DOES NOT get it in the hands of the teachers. At least at GES, each teacher has an allocation of paper and then must buy their own, so paper given to the school is being used by administration. GEPA will modify their strategy to ensure that teachers receive the paper.
• Other future fund/supply-raising ideas were discussed including used instrument drives, school supply drives, and potentially supplementing the free breakfast program if state funding is eliminated.
• It was suggested that GEPA coordinate with the county PTAs to ensure we’re addressing the greatest needs in the schools and not creating duplicate efforts or working at cross-purposes.

RiF Notices

• We’ve heard about 27 RiF letters to teachers at GES, 14 at Byrd, all non-tenured teachers of Randolph, 20 at the high school, and unknown at the middle school. It is unknown if any non-instructional staff received RiF letters.
• Vice Chair Jane Christie reached out to Dr. Underwood to get an accurate accounting of what RiF letters were sent and to what positions. Dr. Underwood did not know how many letters were sent or to whom. She indicated that Diane Bennett was the only person with that information, and she was out of town, returning on Monday. Jane will continue the inquiry with Ms. Bennett on Monday.

Drug Dog Video

John Wright briefed us on the context of the Drug Dog Video, as conveyed via the Sheriff’s office. Approximately 18 months ago, Sheriff Agnew approached Dr. Underwood and Ms. Ball (principal) to discuss bringing in drug dogs to sweep the school, with the intent to ensure that the date did not interfere with exams, testing, etc. No one outside Sheriff Agnew, Dr. Underwood, and Ms. Ball knew of the impending search. Yet a student produced video ran on the morning broadcast at the high school for the next week or so essentially warning kids that the “dogs are coming” and any illegal substances in lockers, backpacks, cars, etc would be found and students busted would be prosecuted by the school and authorities. When the dogs did sweep the school, no drugs were found. It is notable that the video ONLY ran at the school for the week or so between the meeting with Dr. Underwood and Ms. Ball and when the dogs came to the school --- thus acting as a powerful warning to the students and staff. When Sheriff Agnew later discovered the existence of the warning video, he confronted Dr. Underwood and Ms. Ball about the leak of information. An admission was made that indeed students had been made aware of the impending search. Sheriff Agnew later also confronted the School Board regarding the incident. To our knowledge, no disciplinary or censure actions were taken relative to this incident.

The student video in question was viewed.

A discussion ensued regarding this incident as another instance of administrative choices in our schools that clearly were not made in the best interests of the children, families, or community members. We discussed what we as parents can do about this, including asking our School Board reps why no actions were taking about the poor administrative judgment shown. Several parents expressed that the video could have run at the beginning of the year as a general deterrent or even every single day as an ongoing deterrent, but felt that running it for a week as a specific “don’t get caught” type warning was reprehensible and bordering on obstruction of justice.

March 2 Board of Supervisors Meeting
• There is a BOS meeting at 3 PM, where the advertised tax rates will be decided upon.
• There is a BOS public hearing at 7 PM.
• It was decided that GEPA will comment during the 7 PM public comment period, and request to participate in Mr. Quarles committee(s) idea.

New Business
• None

Adjournment

GEPA Open Meeting on 2/28

2010-02-25T20:08:00.000-08:00

There will be a open meeting of the GEPA on Sunday, Feb 28 at 7 PM at the home of Jo D and Treve Hosken. Their address is 12662 Fawn Lane.

Any Goochland resident is welcome to attend. The agenda will focus on a recap of the budget process to date and next steps for GEPA as well as GEPA paper drives and other ideas for assisting the schools.

If you need directions, email the board at board@goochlandparents.com.

Please consider bringing a ream (or a case) of copy paper to support the paper drive.

2/23 School Board Meeting Recap

2010-02-25T19:47:00.000-08:00

The School Board meeting was held to 45 minutes due to the 7 PM BOS Workshop.

Kindergarten Early Enrollment
The policy of allowing early kindergarten enrollment was discussed. In the past GCPS would allow children not old enough (according to state guidelines) for kindergarten to petition for early enrollment (with some paid tuition - details not discussed). To be allowed early enrollment, children must be assessed by the schools for social and cognitive readiness. Given that we will have no new teachers, the Superintendent and schools recommended that they end this policy.

Our neighboring counties do not allow early enrollment.

The SB asked how many students this affected. Last year there were 3 assessed, all qualified, but only 1 enrolled.

The SB modified the recommendation to SUSPEND this policy for the 2010-2011 school year. Voted and approved.

Transportation Facility
Mr. Turner presented an update on the new transportation facility. $600,000 has already been appropriated to make improvements to the existing bus garage and build a new bus garage next to the existing one. Of this money, $25,000 has been spend on developing the engineering plans, and $11,000 has been spent putting new roof on the existing garage.

The plans for the new garage (a metal pre-fab structure) were presented to the Design Review Committee for the overlay district, and it was rejected by that board (as metal buildings are not allowed in the overlay district).

Mr. Turner presented the SB with 3 options:
1. Appeal to the BOS for a waiver of the Design committee's decision
2. Develop a new plan with a different exterior that would be acceptable to the committee. This would cost more than planned, but the exact cost is not yet known.
3. Make sufficient renovations to the existing facility that are required to keep it operational the next 3-5 years. These renovations include sewer hookup, electrical upgrade, concrete apron for the shop, painting the exterior, and window replacements. In an additional 3-5 years, the bathrooms will require renovation.

Mr. Turner estimated the cost of the option 3 renovations without the bathrooms at about $75,000.

If the SB goes with option 3, the remaining funds (roughly $490,000) not spent by June 30 would go back to the county.

Mr. Haskell proposed that the SB defer their decision for 2 weeks and asked Mr. Turner to research the cost of a different exterior (option 2).

GES Renovation Needs
Per the last SB meeting, the replacement GES building is not in the county CIP. The SB discussed renovations that would be needed if the existing GES building continues. Mr. Turner indicated that immediate needs included HVAC in the kitchen, a new boiler at the Specialty Center, and some work to accommodate the kitchen (I didn't catch these details). Dr. Underwood also pointed out the bathroom renovation and elevator (since the building is not ADA compliant). Dr. Underwood felt they had sufficient information to develop a solid estimate of the costs of renovations for the SB to consider.

At this time the meeting was recessed.

Displeasure with School Board and Superintendent

2010-02-25T19:39:00.000-08:00

Below is a letter from Linda Wise to the School Board, originally sent on February 12th. We appreciate her permission to reprint her words here.

Dear Mr. Meng,

As a taxpayer and concerned citizen in your District, I feel it is my duty to express my extreme displeasure with the School Board and the Superintendent. I have followed the yearly saga of the budget via the newspaper, on the GEPA blog, the School website, reports from other concerned citizens, and attendance at some of the meetings. I find it remarkable how every year the School Board and Superintendent use smoke and mirrors to vilify the Board of Supervisors and even parents and citizens who cry out for a more responsible budget.

I have been extremely impressed with the efforts of the GEPA. I found their presentation and speeches to be eloquent, thoughtful, practical, well-researched and credible. Their attempts to present new and fresh ideas and solutions to the financial problems facing the school system , should have been received with open minds. In fact, these are suggestions that you yourselves should have come up with long ago. Instead, the Superintendent and the School Board responded in an arrogant, dismissive and condescending manner, which in the final analysis simply made all of you look supercilious and ignorant. In the past, your Board has been able to stir up the parents and scare them into believing that the bare-bones school budget is being viciously cut by the callous Supervisors and County Administrator and as a result their children will suffer. You use these passionate parents as pawns in a game that attempts to take any blame or responsibility off your shoulders and places it on the Supervisors and Administrator.

Thankfully, this time is different and an impressive group of parents and citizens have refused to be used in this way, and instead have insisted that the Superintendent and the Board come up with a more responsible, effective and realistic budget. They have taken a close look and realized that there is waste and excess in the budget and that the school payroll has become top heavy with Administrative jobs, at the expense of teachers and instructional supplies and programs. Parents and citizens, through this economic downturn have had to learn to be more careful, responsible and resourceful with their money and prioritize, and they are now demanding that local, state and federal governments do the same.

Be very careful not to think that this is just a small group of people, when over 400 signatures were collected on a petition in a very short period of time. You can figure that for every signature on that petition, there are at least 10 people behind the scenes in total agreement. One of the reasons I chose to speak out is because I know there a many parents who are scared to speak out for fear of reprisal. I don’t have to worry about that. It’s time parents and citizens were heard, and what we’re telling you is that we expect our Supervisors, County Administrator, Department Heads, Superintendent of Schools and School Board to be better guardians of our hard-earned dollars and come up with a responsible and effective budget that best serves this County. A storm is brewing and you best sit up and take notice. We hope the Supervisors will never accept a budget that allows cuts to teachers’ jobs, instructional programs and supplies. We want average, gifted and challenged children alike to receive the best education we can offer. On the other hand, financial hardship is a reality for this County right now and we expect a more sincere effort on your part to cut waste and meet the request of the Administrator.

While there are many other areas of concern in your budget, my focus here is on the payroll. I strongly suggest that the School Board and the Superintendent do some in-depth analysis of personnel and make cuts to administrative staff by consolidating jobs and eliminating non-productive positions. Conduct a serious review of job descriptions and workload studies, that will lead to determinations of who is competent, resourceful, proficient, and efficient and who is not. Determine which employees are not really working a fulltime job and combine various positions and in this way make your administrative budget more cost-efficient. I have taken a close look at the administrative positions in our school system and was shocked by the number of people earning over $70,000 a year.

Every effort should have been made by Dr. Underwood to cut down administrative personnel and consolidate positions, rather than cutting teacher’s positions or instructional programs. Perhaps it’s harder for her to cut people in Administrative positions she works more closely with, but frankly that’s why she gets paid the big bucks. As a manager she must show us that she will make the right decisions based on facts, not friendships. Running our schools is a business like any other, and should be run in a businesslike and professional manner. In difficult economic times, tough decisions have to be made. No one wants to see someone lose their job, but the highest priority must always be given to teachers.

Take a close look at the payroll. There is no question in my mind that some of these positions could be eliminated or combined. There seems to be a great deal of overlap and at times an overabundance of positions geared for the same purpose. Sometimes managers think they will increase efficiency and productivity by adding more people. Often it is quite the opposite. Tasks and duties spread across more people often leads to less efficiency, more delays, missed details and loss of continuity. It also would seem that there is an over-abundance of top level administrators. By the way, only positions highlighted in yellow were designated as Admn in the budget for 09-10.

The following information was obtained from a database of GCPS salaries as provided by the School System to The Gazette, as of August 31,2009.

Board Member $ 5,500

Board Member 5,500

Board Member 5,500

Board Member 6,000

Board Member 6,000

Superintendent 121,808

Assistant Superintendent 107,279

Director of Secondary Education 105,812

Director of Elementary Education 66,998

High School Principal 94,263

Middle School Principal 79,882

Elementary School Principal 94,407

Elementary School Principal 80,139

Elementary School Principal 75,177

High School Assistant Principal 73,644

High School Assistant Principal 70,547

Middle School Assistant Principal 65,027

Dean of Students 90,301

School Board Clerk/Administrative Services Specialist 54,835

School Secretary 43,883

Administrative Assistant 37,516

Secretary 29,313

Receptionist 25,967

Administrative Assistant 18,479

Administrative Assistant 21,975

School Secretary 34,662

School Secretary 43,883

Receptionist 20,579

Director of Finance 83,070

Account Payable Specialist 45,869

Payroll Specialist 29,968

Middle School Secretary/Bookkeeper 38,345

School Bookkeeper 31,224

Human Resource Specialist 60,654

Teacher Induction Specialist 32,533

Human Resources Clerk 33,011

Information Technology Specialist 63,293

Technical Services Specialist 58.856

Research & Information Services Analyst 50,570

Technical Services Coordinator 89,925

Services for students and/or parents, but clearly not instructional:

Procedural Due Process Specialist 47,973

School Nurse (Underwood put some under Admn, some Instr) 46,755

School Nurse 49,298

School Nurse 58,862

School Nurse 43,874

School Psychologist 53,851

School Psychologist 42,911

School Psychologist 23,469

Guidance Counselor 41,194

Guidance Counselor 40,400

High School Guidance Counselor 72,543

High School Guidance Counselor 58,640

High School/Middle School Counselor 56,295

Elementary Guidance Counselor 50,798

Guidance Counselor 46,272

High School Guidance Secretary 23,830

Secretary (Clinic/Guidance) 17,213

Student Services Specialist 40,571

Student Services Secretary 37,075

Elementary & Parent Involvement Specialist 45,438

At this point the total is $2,999,546

I would consider all or most administrative, but I suppose these are open to interpretation:

Director of Special Education and Student Services 97,492

Internship/Independent Study Coordinator 45,303

Coordinator of Student Services and Special Education 65,527

Administrator of Alternative Education 45,620

Testing Coordinator 50,172

Transition Specialist 43,287

Library Media Specialist 49,298

Library Media Specialist 44,500

Library Media Specialist 45,374

Library Media Specialist (this is not a repeat) 44,500

Library Media Specialist 42,373

Supervisor of Instructional Technology 71,313

I am flabbergasted that Dr. Underwood didn’t even consider eliminating or combining Administrative positions in order to make some cuts to the budget. Obviously, I cannot pretend to know what each person does and whether or not what they do is essential or unnecessary, or how productive they are. But the point is that a responsible and competent manager is supposed to do just that. The Superintendent’s job is to make sure that the work is done as proficiently as possible, with the least number of people and at the lowest cost possible. Anything short of that is frivolous and irresponsible use of taxpayers’ money. It would appear that positions within the School System have just been piled on, with no real plan or coordination of duties and tasks.

Henrico’s website states that the cost per pupil is $9,469, while our cost, as stated by Dr. Underwood herself is $10,594. Henrico County’s pie chart shows that 79.2% of the budget is under Instructional and 3% Administrative. Dr. Underwoods’s pie chart states that 70% is Instructional and 3.65% is Administrative. She reports that $889,913 of the budget is Administrative and $17,123,254 is Instructional. When if fact, just adding up the salaries shown above, that are clearly not Instructional, it comes to $3 million, and that’s not to mention the benefits such as health insurance and retirement that would be added to the figure. These salaries alone make Administrative costs over 12 %, and reduces Instructional to 61%. That is simply unacceptable.

The argument from Dr. Underwood as to whether a position can or should be categorized as Administrative or Instructional is ridiculous. I don’t care where she sticks each person in the budget, I care that we not argue semantics and get down to the facts. Unless you are talking about a teacher or someone who assists and supports the teacher and students with actual instruction, it’s not instructional, it’s administrative. We realize that we need nurses, librarians, counselors and support personnel, but when cutting personnel and costs, teachers and educational programs should be last on the list. To do anything else is frankly, illogical and reprehensible. The determination comes down to what jobs can be cut or consolidated with the least amount of pain and impact on our students.

The Board apparently also needs to be reminded that the Superintendent works for them, and they need to start demanding that she show more leadership and careful guardianship of the taxpayers’ money, and the education of our County’s children. In my opinion, the Board simply cannot allow Dr. Underwood to continue to behave irresponsibly, incompetently, and arrogantly, when her actions have become so divisive and destructive. The Board must also start taking more responsibility for the decisions made, and do their own research and analysis. Stop simply rubber stamping whatever she does. Like the Supervisors, the members of the School Board were elected by the citizens and you must be responsive and responsible to the citizens.

We are not pawns and we certainly are not stupid…….I suggest you start listening. There is more at stake here than whether or not you and your fellow Board members get re-elected. There is the matter of reputation, pride, honesty, and integrity at stake. Under Dr. Morgan our school system excelled and his leadership, honesty and knowledge inspired teachers, students and parents alike. He turned our school system into something we could all be proud of, so let’s not lose that legacy now. These are difficult times and it takes a competent manager and leader to make the tough choices, for the right reasons. As a taxpayer, I am demanding and expecting our Superintendent and our School Board members to admit mistakes and oversights in this budget process, go back to the drawing board, and take a more responsible and accountable look at the budget you manage. Much better to recognize and rectify your mistakes now, than to have the Board, Superintendent, parents, citizens and most especially the children pay for them later.

This letter is not confidential, so feel free to share it with anyone you like.

Sincerely,

Linda Wise

CC Board of Supervisors

School Board Members

County Administrator

Superintendent

GEPA Board

2/23 Board of Supervisors Meeting notes

2010-02-24T08:17:00.000-08:00

Here is the final version of John Herrman's outstanding presentation to the BOS last night. If you haven't seen this presentation, I urge you to review it. It is very compelling!!

http://www.goochlandparents.com/files/GCPS_Transportation_and_Maintenance_Final.ppt

I will not try to recap Ms. Dickson's budget proposal, but her powerpoint is embedded in the agenda packet for the meeting here:

http://www.co.goochland.va.us/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=XpKazY2VKV0%3d&tabid=59&mid=474

SB and BOS Meetings on 2/23

2010-02-22T18:34:00.001-08:00

School Board meets at 6 PM in the Annex Building.
BOS meets at 7 PM in the Administration building.

Agendas are below:

GOOCHLAND COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD WORKSHOP
FEBRUARY 23, 2010
ANNOTATED AGENDA
Annex Building Conference Room
6:00 p.m.

I. Call to Order

II. Additions/Deletions/Changes to Agenda

III. Public Comment Period

IV. Personnel Actions (Action Item)
Personnel actions are provided as Enclosure 1. Additional recommendations
may be provided at the meeting.

V. Early Admission to Kindergarten (Information Item)
A discussion will be held regarding kindergarten early admission.
(Enclosure 2)

VI. Transportation Facility Renovation (Information Item)
An update will be provided on the renovation of the transportation facility.

VII. Goochland Elementary School Renovation Needs (Information Item)
A discussion will be held regarding the renovation needs of Goochland
Elementary
School.

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS' WORK SESSION AGENDA
FEBRUARY 23, 2010, 7:00 P.M.
BOARD MEETING ROOM
GOOCHLAND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
1800 SANDY HOOK RD., GOOCHLAND, VA

I. Call to Order: Chairman Quarles
II. Invocation and Pledge
III. Citizen's Comment Period on Unscheduled Matters
• John Herrmann: Education Budget
IV. Presentation of FY2010-11 County Administrator's Recommended Budget
V. Other Business
VI. Adjourn to March 2, 2010

2/16 School Board Meeting Comments & Recap

2010-02-16T19:36:00.001-08:00

Comments from GEPA Members:

JOHN WRIGHT

My name is John Wright; I live at {redacted - KGM}. Board members, I am speaking to you tonight on behalf of the Goochland Education Parents Association.

Mr. Miller, as you are aware I was present when you addressed the Board of Supervisors on February 2nd of this year. In that address, you stated that you have, and I quote, “worked under many different Superintendents” in your time on the School Board. This statement, I believe is at the root of issues that GEPA and many of your constituents have with the budgetary process, and with the actions taken (or not taken) by the School Board recently. Dr. Underwood works for the School Board, not the other way around. We have seen all too frequently the consequences of the Board’s rubber stamping of proposals put forth by the Superintendent, and feel that those consequences have done the Board and the citizens of the county a great disservice.

We have gathered literally hundreds of signatures on petitions submitted to the Board of Supervisors, asking them to reject the budget that you approved on January 26th of this year. Our differences with the proposal are well documented, so I will not repeat them. People signing this petition feel, like we do, that the budget submitted does not reflect the public’s best interest, and in fact feel that it has driven a wedge between the citizens and Dr. Underwood.

Dr. Underwood has committed a breach of confidence with the citizens that she serves. Constant avoidance of specific questions, bait and switch tactics with budgetary items, a lack of good faith in executing her duties, and a refusal to supply requested information have created this breach. In fact, had we not gone over her head to the Department of Education, I have serious doubt that we would have ever gotten past budgetary information her office is required to make available under state code. To top it all off, Dr. Underwood is on record, both here and before the Board of Supervisors, blatantly misrepresenting the facts about the categorization of administrative staff as instructional. She said it’s been that way since before she ever began working in Goochland. A quick check of historical data proves that administrative staff was shifted in the FY 2007 budget when she was Assistant Superintendent, and that as Superintendent, she created six new clearly administrative positions which she placed into the instructional category.

The School Board’s use of parents as pawns in their ongoing chess match with the Board of Supervisors is reprehensible. To ask us with a straight face to go to the Board of Supervisors and request a tax rate increase when obvious waste was never addressed is shameful. The use of our children’s educational future, as well as their emotions, for political gain is enraging; causes distrust, and further alienates the public from the Board and Dr. Underwood.

For all of these reasons, we respectfully request that the Board perform a formal review of the Superintendent and ask that the results be made available to the public. A copy of this request is being provided to each member of the Board of Supervisors.

JANE CHRISTIE:

Back in November, early on in the budget process, one of the School Board members used the analogy of the school system being like an airplane, that the School Board and Superintendent were trying to keep up in the air.

The cuts to the School Board budget requested by the County were likened to being asked to cut off one of the wings, because so many cost cuts had already been made to the plane, that there was now nothing else left but the nuts and bolts.

We would like to say that we don’t want a pilot and a team of mechanics who would try to keep our plane up in the air by:

Diluting the jet fuel

Shutting down the main engine, or

Hacking off the end of the wing.

What we are looking for is a pilot, and a team of engineers, who would have the good sense to kick the 6 elephants out of the cargo bay, before even attempting a take-off!

Now, I don’t say this to mock you, gentlemen. The goal is simply to couch our message in terms you might understand, in an attempt to convey what GEPA has been trying to explain to you for months.

Because despite all the public “hearings” held during the budget process, if we had managed to have just one, solitary public “listening”, it really might have made a difference to the outcome.

Recap of the Meeting:

Next week's meeting on Tuesday conflicts with a BOS meeting, so the SB agreed to move their meeting to 6 PM and recess at 6:45 to allow people to attend the BOS meeting. So I believe the schedule next Tuesday is:

3 PM - BOS meeting -- John Herrman giving his whole presentation
6 PM - SB meeting
7 PM -- BOS meeting -- County Administrator presenting the county budget proposal

JD Wright and Jane Christie spoke during the comment period.

John Hedron provided an overview/demo of the use of technology in the schools.

Stacy Austin presented his Randolph School Improvement Program.

There was a discussion about the school CIP:

In regards the CIP . . . the county is changing the way the CIP is handled, and only items actually funded for the next 5 years are contained in it. None of the SB's proposed CIP items are in the county CIP. This means NONE of the GES improvements are there. However, there has been discussion between Dr Underwood and the county about a CIP item to renovate the old High School gym and the old middle school. Essentially, the county would renovate the old middle school and move the Parks and Rec department there. Currently the Parks and Rec uses the old High School gym building (this is behind the Free Clinic/up the hill from the Specialty Center). This CIP item would renovate the old gym building for use by GES. This would add a gym and 4-5 classrooms to GES. (which would be good -- not as good as a new school, but better than nothing). Dr. Underwood pointed out that this does not address capital needs within the existing GES building --- I believe bathroom renovation and HVAC are among the primary needs. So she has asked the county to look at addressing those needs within the CIP, as well as having a discussion about the general building usage roadmap for the entire county. The current line item for the old High School gym and old Middle School renovations is $3.077million.

Budget update: Dr Underwood indicated that she had met with the county and a consultant to discuss an RFP for healthcare (for schools and county). She indicated that they had asked that the RFP include non-traditional options including HSAs and self-insurance. When asked about the timeline, she indicated that the county's current plan renews 7/1, so presumably a decision would be made before that. She also indicated that she is talking to the county about sharing of services -- namely mowing. Currently the schools contract out all grass mowing. The county indicated that they believe that they can take on all mowing for the schools except the balls fields with just their existing staff and addition of some equipment.

Brad Franklin talked about a grant that they are pursuing in regards to Readiness and Emergency Preparedness. If the GCPS receives the grant they could gain UP TO $150k over 24 months for planning, equipment, evaluation, etc.

Mattox asked Dr. Underwood about the potential for Governor McDonnell to change the state's calculation for school system allocations (unfreezing the LCI -- see this article: http://www.wtop.com/?nid=600&sid=1889634). If this goes through, Goochland is the only local school system that actually gets more money (a whopping $4000 -- but other systems could lose millions more). She agreed that this particular change would not hurt us, but that the governor's office was looking at deeper cuts in the overall budget that could mean $300,000 more in cuts in state funding to Goochland in 2011 and again in 2012.

School Board Meeting 2/16

2010-02-15T20:34:00.001-08:00

The meeting that was canceled last week is this Tuesday, Feb 16 at 7 PM at Goochland High School.

The agenda: http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/agendas/

We hope to see you there!

Reminder -- Paper Drive 2/13/2010

2010-02-12T17:46:00.000-08:00

Stock the Schools!
Copy Paper Drive to Benefit GCPS

As a hands-on community, we need to help the schools in these difficult times.

Join your neighbors in keeping our schools supplied with paper
& educating our children.

Drop your donation at
Grace Episcopal Church
2955 River Road West

New Date:
Saturday, February 13
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

BOS Comments from Feb 2nd

2010-02-09T09:09:00.000-08:00

There were 7 GEPA Speakers at the Feb 2nd Board of Supervisors Meeting. The text of their speeches is posted below. I have removed personal addresses from the speeches.

JOHN WRIGHT:

My name is John D. Wright. I live at {redacted - KGM}.

Mr. Chairman, Board Members, and Mrs. Dickson, I stand before you this evening an exasperated parent. On November 24 of this past year, I received a phone call from a desperate parent of a classmate in my oldest daughter’s class, informing me that at that evening’s School Board meeting the Superintendent was going to propose devastating cuts to core programs of the school system. She requested that I round up as many other parents as possible to attend that meeting in order to have a voice in this process.

At that meeting, a School Board member shocked parents by flatly admitting that cuts were being proposed to core programs in order to, and I quote, “sick the parents on the Board of Supervisors”, while the Superintendent nodded her approval of the statement. It seemed the familiar back and forth between the School Board and the Board of Supervisors was once again going to play out. The School Board and the Superintendent again intended to make parents the pawns in a high stakes game of chess between these two boards.

Parents are all too familiar with tightening budgets, and making sacrifices in order to meet the essential needs of their children. It didn’t take long to connect the dots that plummeting home values, rising costs and a school population that is growing at 2.5% per year were on a collision course that would no doubt mean dire times for the county and its school system. The County Administrator requested, and rightfully so, a cut of $2.9 million dollars from the previous year’s budget.

This began one of the most frustrating budget processes in the history of Goochland Schools. I say frustrating, not because of the amount of money being cut from the budget, but rather because of the insincere and at times vindictive approach to the process by the School’s Superintendent. Questions went unanswered or skirted by distractive statements that were off subject. Documents such as Board minutes and the budget itself were not made available to the public for weeks, if at all. Offers of help and suggestions from parents were ignored.

On December 15th, the Superintendent tried to sooth parents by announcing a proposed budget consisting of only $700,000 in cuts. She tried to placate the frustrated parents by saying that her proposed budget no longer was going to cut core programs, was no longer going to remove valuable classroom resources, was no longer going to threaten the quality of education being provided by this fine school system. Once again, parents sat shocked at the statements being made. In the final public comment period, a parent questioned the wisdom of going to the Board of Supervisors with a budget so far out of line with the County Administrator’s mandate.

Not surprisingly, at the December 22nd meeting, the Superintendent announced that she planned to propose $1.5 million dollars in cuts, including all the items she assured parents would not be in danger the previous week.
During this time, numerous requests for information went unfulfilled, ultimately forcing parents to request information from the DOE. DOE officials could not believe that the information wasn’t made available locally.

Also during this time, parents felt they had no choice but to attempt to make themselves heard as a group, forming the Goochland Education Parent Association (GEPA). In a week’s time that group grew to over 100 members. Over time that number has multiplied.

The proposed budget was not made available to the public until after several more meetings on January 12th, the final scheduled meeting before the School Board was to vote whether or not to accept the Superintendent’s proposal. GEPA and other parents demanded time to review the proposed budget, and successfully requested another meeting to address their concerns.

As a group, GEPA used the combined talents of it’s members to research, collaborate and propose a Budget Counterproposal that comprised of cuts in the waste in the system, while preserving the frontline Teachers, Textbooks and Programs targeted by the Superintendent’s proposal. This budget counterproposal was thoughtfully assembled, and cuts were not proposed that could not be substantiated by hard facts obtained from the DOE, information previously made public through the local media, and the small amount of information provided by the school administration themselves.

GEPA members, and parents at large, scheduled meetings with their School Board representatives to explain their positions and seek answers. We even invited two School Board members to a GEPA meeting. In this meeting, the school board member who did attend asked why we hadn’t contacted him sooner. When it was pointed out that dozens of emails had been sent to him on a wide variety of budget matters, he admitted that, and I quote, “Oh, I don’t really check that email account”. When asked if he had considered GEPA’s counterproposal, he stated that he did, but when discussing specifics it became apparent that he had not. When asked specific questions about the Superintendent’s proposal, it was apparent that he hadn’t fully read that either.

Ultimately, the parent’s efforts were not seriously considered. The Board saw fit to rubber stamp the Superintendent’s proposal, and then had the gall to request that parents go to the board and ask for a tax rate increase to help fund their flawed version. In the process, they placed blame on the County Administrator and the Board of Supervisors for forcing them to make the decisions they set forth.

I stand before you today to say that I do NOT request that you raise my taxes, or those of other citizens struggling to make ends meet in these difficult times. I stand before you today to say that the School Superintendent has committed a breach of confidence with the public she serves, casting suspicion in the public eye of each action taken on her behalf. I stand before you today to ask that you reject the Superintendent’s Budget Proposal, approved by the School Board, and make changes to it that produce a more sustainable school system. I stand before you today to ask that you pay attention to the wishes of your constituents, even if the School System chooses not to do so. Thank you.

JOHN HERRMAN

John presented a portion of his powerpoint presentation. The full presentation is here --> http://www.goochlandparents.com/files/GoochlandCounty_Maintenance_and_Transport.pdf

ADEEB HAMZEY

Chairman Quarles
County Administrator – Ms Dickson
The honorable members of the Board of Supervisors
Members of the audience
Good evening
My name is Adeeb Hamzey, and I live at {redacted – KGM}
What I am sharing with you tonight reflects my personal point of view, as well as that of the newly formed and growing Goochland Education Parents Association (GEPA), with respect to the County school budget.
I would urge you to reject the School Budget as presented to you by Superintendent Dr. Linda Underwood based on the following, among other issues either covered or will be covered by other speakers tonight.
Having said that please let me assure you that we, the citizens of Goochland County, fully understand and appreciate the need for tightening of belts, including those of County administration and public schools. We are living through very trying times indeed, and we need to make smart and far reaching decisions that address the short term economic constraints yet meet the needs of future generations. Unfortunately, the school budget, as approved by the School Board, is unacceptable.
It lacks vision and is short on a comprehensive thought process. Cutting instructional programs that took years to build, bringing down standards of educational quality, and eliminating teachers needed in the classrooms, while justifying expensive and nonproductive administrative positions, is misguided and lacks leadership.

BUDGET PROCESS
Several meetings citizens have had with Dr. Underwood and members of the School Board point to the awkwardness of the budget process as practiced by those involved in this ritual. They quickly assert that they have to wait for the Board of Supervisors to initiate the budget cycle, and that didn’t come until September 2009. Decisions were made in haste, and conclusions were quick in favor of suggestions to raise taxes. Show me good stewardship in handling expenses, and I will understand the need for more taxes. Raising taxes is a LAST resort not a convenient step.
I work in the private sector and have been involved with preparing budgets. My experience has been that budget preparation takes seven to eight months, during which time cost centers provide their individual budget segments. Controlling entities meet regularly to assess YTD and budget variance that allows timely adjustments. This metric is not unique to the private sector. It is obvious there is a lack of communication between the School Board and County Administration on many issues including the budget. Communication is non-existent between School Board and the superintendent on one hand and the parents on the other hand. It is our right and responsibility to contribute positively to our representative government, since we live in a democracy unlike others. However, the voiced concerns of our citizens seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
This practice is antiquated and needs to be replaced with one that fosters better communication, transparency, and builds trust with the citizens.

WASTE
This School Budget encourages waste on two fronts: material and intellectual.
I see material waste in allocating costs to school administration, maintenance, and transportation; waste that is addressed by Mr. John Herrmann and others; waste in procuring cafeteria food and other supply items; waste in electrical consumption, such as lights left burning all night on various occasions in football and baseball fields, and the like. A good example, on the notion that electric rates were going up by 18% by VEPGA, a budget increase in excess of $33,600 was placed in the Building Services Section 64300 – 090. Where are the actual numbers? What austerity and conservation measures have been enacted by the school administration, through the school system buildings, around the year to lower electrical consumption? Not only turning lights off, removing some light bulbs from electric fixtures, and adjusting thermostats save energy. These measures teach the youth the value of meaningful conservation. Let them feel it and live through it to appreciate it. AND save money along the way. I love my post office, but why do we need $15,000 in postal services? Some figures are carried over from last year. Actual numbers, if tracked, should show whether they need to be adjusted up or down. Contracts such as the $135,000 for repair and maintenance need to be renegotiated, and the $80,000 budget item for repair and maintenance supplies needs to be tracked more closely. Food supplies need to be controlled better. The approximately $5,600 daily revenues will increase if better cost controls are in place. I witnessed many students throwing most of their meals in the waste basket. These are just examples of the waste that needs to be addressed before a decision is made to lay off a teacher or a program is cut.
The intellectual waste is even more dangerous, as it affects the status and preparedness of future leaders. The mind is a terrible thing to waste. When a curriculum is diluted to the point where it provides no challenge to capable students, it stymies their potential and stifles their ability to function at their best. All the young talent in the gifted center, for example, is going to be less served going forward due to the deliberate phasing out of the gifted center and the dilution of the curriculum in the middle and high school. All the research in this area points to this fact. This is detrimental to the future of our kids, to our property value, and counterproductive in terms of making Goochland County the desired place to raise a family.

INEFFICIENCY
Inefficiency lies in not challenging the way we do business. I see duplication of services and nonproductive practices that require further scrutiny in the school budget. In the Technology Division-wide Instructional Support, Code 68,200-90, I question the value of the $500,000 for leases and rentals. Inefficiencies also exist in other areas of Goochland schools operation such as maintenance, transportation, and school administration.
IN CLOSING,
What we need is transparency, a financially savvy superintendent, and a capable school board to challenge budget assumptions and expenditures, which result is a more streamlined budget worthy of defending by the citizens of Goochland County. It may be the School Budget, but it is the taxpayers’ hard earned money.
We definitely do not need rubber stamping decisions with total disregard to public input. Thank you for your time.
Adeeb Hamzey

KRISTIN MCNARON

Gentlemen of the Board, Ms. Dickson, thank you for letting us speak tonight. My name is Kristin McNaron, and I live at {redacted – KGM}. I speak to you today as the secretary of the Goochland Education Parents Association.

In my professional career and life, I have tried to live by the adage . . . don’t offer criticism where you can’t also offer ideas for an alternative solution. Members of the GEPA have spent hundreds of hours studying the proposed 2010-2011 school budget, and we found that there are many opportunities for a more efficient budget that is more in line with community priorities. We offer these ideas in the form of a proposed alternative budget. We offered this alternative budget for the School Board to review, comment, or question . . . as we offer it to you tonight. We will provide you copies tonight, and you may also find the proposal at www.goochlandparents.com.

The GEPA budget alternative is based on the School Board’s proposed budget. While we challenge the miscategorization of clearly administrative positions within the instructional category in the SB budget, we have maintained this categorization for comparative purposes and noted the concerns in our included narrative.

The GEPA budget supports 6 key priorities:

1. Preserve classroom teaching positions.
2. Preserve the current pupil/teacher ratio.
3. Preserve a balanced, full service curriculum of programs and services to fulfill the needs of every child in the GCPS system.
4. Reduce administrative costs and other non-teaching overheads.
5. Operate the GCPS system in the best interests of ALL the children ALL the time.
6. Maintain Goochland property values.

To compare and contrast the SB budget versus GEPA’s proposed alternative:

Within the instructional category, our alternative cuts only $131k LESS than the SB version, but we make the cuts in administrative positions rather than in teachers, programs, or textbooks.

Within the administrative category, our alternative cuts $61K MORE than the SB budget by combination of duties of multiple positions.

Within the transportation category, our alternative suggests $220K in cuts through efficiencies not yet explored by the School Board, whereas the SB version increases the transportation budget YOY.

Within the maintenance category, our alternative cuts $54k through efficiencies and green programs, whereas the SB budgets asks us to again increase this category YOY.

And within the technology category, our alternative cuts $95k by combination of multiple positions, whereas again, the SB budget would have us increase this budget YOY.

The budget to be proposed to you tonight by the Superintendent on behalf of the School Board is NOT in line with community priorities, and we cannot support it. The community has voiced again and again that we CAN be part of the solution, and we have thoughtful alternative ideas that are falling on deaf ears. We ask that you listen.

JO D HOSKEN

Good evening my name is Jo D. Hosken of {redacted - KGM}. What I would like to address is the ratios in the classrooms. Dr Underwood’s proposal states that we will increase the classroom sizes by eliminating teaching positions. She defends this by comparing us to neighboring counties like Henrico and Chesterfield. I think that we are all aware that this is comparing apples to motorcars. Our county revenue barely exceeds their schools’ budget cuts. The amount of resources in each of these school systems is not comparable to ours.

Dr Underwood points out in her blog that this change will instill a minor change bringing us to 18.88 students in the elementary grades and 17.2 in middle and 19.78 in high school. Perhaps the administration failed to look at classroom roosters or include in these ratios special needs children who require 3 to 1 ratios. My son who is a kindergartener at Randolph currently has 19 other classmates. In fact the ratio within Randolph is currently 18.47 to 1. We at Randolph are blessed with full time volunteers who assist in the classrooms but compared to Short Pump Elementary which houses 23 kindergarteners to one teacher and one full time aide, apples to motorcars, we actually have higher ratios.

With a 2.5 % growth in enrollment occurring in Goochland county schools annually over the last three years our teacher to student ratios are increasing and will continue to increase without any teacher cuts. To propose an additional increase while eliminating math and literacy specialists designed to help children who struggle already in the classrooms is absurd. This has time and time again been shown to decrease performance.

In the Center based program the current budget proposes combining two grades in one classroom with one teacher and assistance from another teacher for certain subject matters. This will put 26 children in one room with one teacher. That puts us at state capacity for our most accelerated students.

I fear that our administration forgot somewhere during this process that these are not numbers but little bodies. There is no such thing as a .4 of a child or a teacher. These children will be sitting in larger classrooms and not have resources for extra help in either direction and they will suffer. Who will help them if they struggle with this week’s lesson or prepare them for next week’s assignment? These are children not computers they require teaching not downloads. We will have to rely heavily on volunteers who have come into the schools out of the goodness of their hearts and in return what we will be giving them is added burden and decreased property values from suffering schools?

KENDALL HOFFLER

Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Kendall Hoffler. I have two children at Randolph Elementary, and two younger children who will be there in a few years. My husband and I are both born and raised in the Short Pump area and moved to Goochland six years ago to raise our children here, in a place were they could feel safe playing outside, get a quality education, and easily get to know and become a part of their community.

It is as a member of this community, as well as a parent, that I present the following petition to the Board of Supervisors. This petition was created last week, after the School Board voted unanimously to accept Dr. Underwood’s proposed budget for the 2010-2011 school year. In five days, and during a snow storm no less, more than 400 names have been collected. These are not just members of GEPA, or parents like me, but rather our fellow citizens, some with no children in our school system, that are simply concerned about the impact of this budget on the future of our schools and on our property values.

I can easily speak to this as a parent, who does not want to see any funds cut from the school budget. I’d like to see it fully-funded, so that no cuts need to be considered, but I know that is not realistic in these economic times. It becomes more difficult to speak to this as a homeowner. I have seen my property value drop by more than $60,000 this year alone, and it has been stated previously that one of the greatest factors in the valuation of a home or land is the locality’s educational system. What are the implications to all of our property values if we allow our schools to take a step backwards, which is what the proposed budget does?

I cannot in good conscience support the current proposed school budget, which eliminates teaching positions, vital programs, and important educational tools. I do not think it reflects the priorities that have been stated throughout the budget process, and I do not think the superintendent and the school board have listened to the community. I submit this petition, and the number of signatures gained in such a short time, as proof of that.

Again, over 400 Goochland residents have signed the petition, which reads:

We recognize that Goochland County is facing significant revenue reductions for the 2011 fiscal year, and we appreciate the budget constraints this places on both the County and the School Board.

However, we cannot support the proposed School Board budget, which cuts to the core of our school system. The proposed School Board budget does not accurately reflect the publicly-expressed budget priorities of the parents and residents of Goochland County, which are:

1. TEACHERS: Preserve classroom teaching positions and current pupil/teacher ratios.

2. PROGRAMS: Preserve a broad range of programs and services in our schools, to meet the diverse educational needs of EVERY child.

3. TOOLS: Preserve the key tools needed to support education, including textbooks, art supplies, musical instruments, educational software and other teaching materials.

We do not accept the reduction of any teachers, programs or educational tools. This petition asks the Goochland County Board of Supervisors to protect our teachers, programs and the educational tools available that enable each and every child to reach their full potential.

Thank you for your time.

JANE CHRISTIE

Mr. Chairman, gentlemen of the Board, Ms Dickson, thank you for letting us speak tonight. My name is Jane Christie, I have lived at {redacted - KGM} for about 19 years and have 3 children in GCPS. Tonight, as a parent, a taxpayer and the Vice Chair of the Goochland Education Parents Association, I would like to say that while we sincerely appreciate the difficulties caused by the current economic situation, we cannot accept, and ask you to reject, the proposed School Board budget, which we believe cuts costs in all the wrong areas.

We question why the Superintendent is willing to accept health insurance premium increases totaling almost 50% in two years and the proposal to increase the school budget by $276,000 next year to fund increased health insurance premiums. And why, when it has been shown that Goochland is already among the least efficient counties in the state for Transportation and Maintenance costs, does the Superintendent still recommend increasing the budgets in both of these areas. Contrary to the express wishes of parents and citizens, voiced at numerous public hearings, the Superintendent proposes no cuts in high-level administrative positions, which is difficult to comprehend when we have, for example, a Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent and 5 Director-level positions of Education, Technology and Athletics, earning over $1 million in salaries and benefits between the 7 of them!

How can the Superintendent possibly justify these excesses, whilst eliminating 10 frontline teaching positions, cutting the school supplies budget in half, eliminating educational programs, (including the acclaimed Goochland County Center for the Gifted, and Tender Tots), cutting $120,000 from the textbook budget and completely eliminating the budgets for musical instruments and art supplies next year? To consistently target for cuts the very areas on which most advanced education scholarships are based, - the arts, athletics and gifted ability – seems incredibly short-sighted and damaging, not only to the students and the schools, but to our property values in the County. How can we realistically maintain quality in our schools, with these proposed cuts in teachers, educational programs and materials, when faced with a growing school population?

We also request that you please, do NOT accept the School Board request for a single, lump sum payment of funds, and instead, continue allocating funds to the School Board according to the expenditure categories prescribed by Section 22.1-115 of the Code of Virginia. There are already concerns about the allocation of funds within these legal budget categories. For example, the Superintendent currently classifies the positions of Assistant Superintendent, Human Resource Specialist and Psychologist as Instruction expenses, when the VDOE clearly specifies that these should be reported under the Administration budget category. This might perhaps explain why our Administration budget is one of the lowest in the State, and our Instruction budget is apparently too small for us to afford our teachers! To allocate funds as a single lump sum would conveniently avoid this issue of accountability for the Superintendent, but as stewards of the taxpayer’s money, we ask you to favor the public interests of accountability and transparency over the Superintendent’s desire for budget flexibility.

We also question how the Superintendent can seriously put forward a budget for consideration by the School Board, the Board of Supervisors and the public, with over $15 million dollars, or more than 60% of the total budget, in a single line item entitled “salaries and benefits” under the Instruction category? In the interests of public accountability, we feel the Superintendent has a duty to provide a detailed breakdown of salaries and benefits in each expenditure category, by position and Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) account code.

In conclusion, we ask that you please do not accept the proposed School Board budget, which does not eliminate identified waste, cuts to the core of our education system and does not accurately represent the publicly expressed priorities of the people of Goochland County. Thank you.

Feb 9th School Board meeting canceled

2010-02-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

According to the school website, tonight's meeting is canceled.

http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/news/inclement_weather_keeps_schools_closed/

Stock the Schools - rescheduled due to weather

2010-02-03T21:59:00.000-08:00

Support our Schools -- Online Petition

2010-01-31T16:25:00.000-08:00

Please sign and forward our online petition:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/goochlandparents/

Stock the Schools!

2010-01-31T13:07:00.000-08:00

Stock the Schools!
Copy Paper Drive to Benefit GCPS

As a hands-on community, we need to help the schools in these difficult times.

Join your neighbors in keeping our schools supplied with paper
& educating our children. Drop your donation at either of these two times/locations:

Grace Episcopal Church
2955 River Road West

Saturday, February 6
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Attend This Tuesday’s
Board of Supervisors Meeting

Tuesday, February 2
County Administration Building
3 p.m. - Regular Meeting
7 p.m. - Public Hearing & School Budget Presentations

Paper donations will also be accepted by members at this meeting.

1/26/2010 School Board Meeting + Next Week's BOS Meeting

2010-01-26T20:53:00.000-08:00

The School Board unanimously approved the Superintendent’s proposed budget tonight.

The next step is presentation to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, February 2^nd in the County Administration Building. I don’t see the agenda posted yet, but from the calendar, the regular meeting is at 3 PM, and the Public Hearing and School Budget presentation are at 7 PM.

If you would like to speak to your Supervisor prior to the presentation, here is contact info:

District 1

Andrew Pryor

(804)457-4177(h)

apryor@co.goochland.va.us

District 2

William Quarles, Jr.

(804)556-2927(h)

wquarles@co.goochland.va.us

District 3

Ned Creasey

(804)556-3229

ncreasey@co.goochland.va.us

District 4

Malvern “Rudy” Butler

(804)784-4241(h & f)

mbutler@co.goochland.va.us

District 5

James Eads

(804)784-3944(h)

jeads@co.goochland.va.us

Next School Board meeting

2010-01-24T15:42:00.000-08:00

The next School Board meeting is Tuesday, Jan 26 at 6:30 PM at the Annex Building Conference Room. Contact your School Board representative prior to that meeting to let him know your feelings about the current budget proposed by the Superintendent. Find your rep' contact info here: http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/sc...hoolboard/.

If you don't know your district, check here: http://www.co.goochland.va.us/Departments/DepartmentsGZ/Registrar/tabid/58/Default.aspx

School Budget Powerpoint

2010-01-24T09:16:00.000-08:00

Here is the budget issues Powerpoint developed By John Herrmann to share with the GEPA and our School Board representatives. Feel free to use this presentation as talking points with your School Board rep. If you would like to speak to your representative, their contact information is on the School Board web page.

You will need Powerpoint or a Powerpoint Viewer to read this:
http://www.goochlandparents.com/files/Goochland_County_Maintenance_issues.ppt

Added a PDF version:
http://www.goochlandparents.com/files/GoochlandCounty_Maintenance_and_Transport.pdf

School Board member contact info:
http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/

GEPA Budget Counter-proposal - 1/20/2010

2010-01-20T07:01:00.000-08:00

**Secretary's footnote: Minor corrections were made to align the narrative and budget spreadsheet. Revised 1/20/2010

GEPA’s PROPOSED
FY 2010 – 2011 OPERATING BUDGET

GOOCHLAND EDUCATION PARENTS
ASSOCIATION

Goochland Education Parents Association (GEPA)

Vision

We are committed to ensuring that Goochland County Public Schools continue to provide a high standard of education, through an efficient educational system designed to promote excellent results at every level, which offers each and every child the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Mission

Our efforts will focus on supporting the development and maintenance of a balanced, full service curriculum in Goochland County Public Schools to fulfill the needs of every child in our school system, whether they be gifted, accelerated, average, below average or special ed., and regardless of whether their individual talents lie in athletics, music, drama, art, languages, vocational arts, or technology.

Critical Budget Issues

GEPA respectfully requests the Board of Supervisors to reject the School Board request to appropriate School Board funds as a single lump sum payment, and instead, asks the Board to continue to appropriate County funds to the School Board by category, in accordance with the major classifications for expenditures of school funds described in Section 22.1-115 of the Code of Virginia. GEPA respectfully submits that the County’s responsibilities to the taxpayer are best served by allocating funds to these legally defined categories, and that the public interest in accountability and transparency overrides the School Board desire for budget flexibility.

GEPA recognizes that Goochland County is facing significant revenue reductions in the 2011 fiscal year, and appreciates the budget constraints this places on both the County and the School Board. These revenue reductions at State and County level have created the need for School Board budget cutbacks, and GEPA recognizes the necessity for compromise in this challenging economic climate.

GEPA is concerned that the proposed Superintendent’s budget, first made available to the public on January 12, 2010, does not accurately reflect the publicly expressed budget priorities of the parents and taxpayers of Goochland County. GEPA is further concerned that the Superintendent has not presented the School Board with alternative budget scenarios for consideration during this difficult decision-making process.

In accordance with the Goochland County Public Schools publicly stated goal of actively involving the community in attainment of school system goals, GEPA has prepared an alternative budget proposal for the consideration of the Superintendent, the School Board and the Board of Supervisors. This alternative budget offers increased savings over the Superintendent’s January 12, 2010, budget proposal, and reflects the budget priorities repeatedly expressed by the taxpayers and constituents of Goochland County during public comment at School Board meetings, and during public hearings throughout the budget process, from November 24, 2009 until January 12, 2010, and up to the present:

Budget Priorities

1. Preserve classroom teaching positions. The desire to cut administrative and other overheads before cutting ANY teaching positions, was clearly articulated by many members of the public, both in writing to the Superintendent and School Board, and during public comment throughout the budget process. The preference for preserving teaching positions over administrative positions when considering budget cuts, was also expressed by former Governor Tim Kaine in his December 18, 2009 budget for Virginia schools. Attracting and retaining quality personnel is a stated goal of the Goochland County School system, and GEPA respectfully submits that teachers are the most important and influential personnel in the GCPS system, with the greatest potential to directly impact the quality of education offered to our children.

2. Preserve the current pupil/teacher ratios. Many parents who spoke during the public hearings on the budget expressed satisfaction with the current quality of education in the Goochland County Public School System. The Superintendent’s Proposed FY2011 budget indicates that growth in the GCPS system has been 2.5% over the past three years, and this increased enrollment has been absorbed into existing classrooms for the past 2 years. Class sizes are already increasing, resulting in increased pupil / teacher ratios. There is a wide body of literature documenting the positive impact of small class sizes for students, especially in grades K-3. Specifically, the research documents that smaller classes are especially beneficial for reading and math achievement and for low-income and minority students (Robinson, 1990; Achilles, 1999; Gerber, Finn, Achilles, & Boyd-Zaharias, 2001; Grissmer, 1999; Nye, Hedges, & Konstantopoulos, 2002; Finn & Achilles, 1999; Miller, 2002). Cutting teaching positions while enrollment projections continue to increase would inevitably increase the number of students per teacher, which is contrary to the express wishes of the public, and appears incompatible with the School Board goal of maintaining high achievement in the GCPS system.

3. Preserve a balanced, full service curriculum of programs and services to fulfill the needs of every child in the GCPS system. The stated mission of the Goochland County Public Schools is to meet, “the intellectual, personal, social and career preparation needs of all students”. To fulfill this mission, and avoid becoming “a system of averages” it is important to cater for the needs of all the individuals within the system, not just to the majority, or the average, or the lowest common denominator. GEPA does not feel that the Superintendent’s stated budget goal of maintaining mandated programs and functions and core instructional programs for the majority of students, is any justification for eliminating or phasing out those programs required by a minority of students. Examples that have arisen during this budget cycle include middle school athletics, high school scrimmages, the elementary gifted center and the TenderTots program.

4. Reduce administrative costs and other non-teaching overheads. The School Board has a $920,166 budget for Administration, but there are hundreds of thousands of dollars in Administration expenses included within the Instruction budget category, some legitimate, others questionable. The public has repeatedly emphasized that cuts made in higher level administrative positions, rather than in low level clerical positions and teaching staff, would have a greater impact on the budget and less direct impact on the quality of our children’s education than eliminating programs and teaching positions. Questions have also been raised about the costs of Maintenance and Transportation in Goochland, relative to other like-sized counties, and the need for a Technology budget of $1.5 millon. GEPA believe it is in the best interests of the children within the GCPS system to make cost savings in these areas.

5. Operate the GCPS system in the best interests of ALL the children ALL the time. The Superintendent’s proposed elimination of TenderTots and the Goochland County Center for the Gifted (GCCG) is damaging to a student population with special needs. The TenderTots program is part of the Free And Public Education (FAPE) for children with disabilities that fills the gap between Birth to Three and elementary school. The GCCG offers center-based gifted education in Grades 3-5 for children who have been identified as having special educational needs.

6. Maintain Goochland property values. Investing in a quality educational system supports property values, which offers an immediate, direct benefit to every resident of the County. The prospect of quality education also helps attract professional residents to the area, supports the development of higher value housing, and attracts businesses looking for qualified employees into the locality, all of which has a positive effect on the growth of the tax revenue base for the county. Many GCPS students will eventually return and settle in Goochland County, bringing home their skills and experience a generation from now, to help support and enrich our community. Cutting our educational system down to the bare bones minimum mandated by the law, and narrowing the range of educational opportunities available to the children in the GCPS system, is a short term saving, which will cost Goochland County dearly over the long term.

Executive Overview of the GEPA Budget Proposal, as Compared to the Superintendent’s Budget Proposal:

Areas Increased
Reinstatement of 10 teaching positions cut by the Superintendent’s Proposed budget
Textbooks
Equipment (e.g musical instruments, arts)
Reinstatement of the Tender Tots pre-school Program
Reinstatement of the GCCG center-based gifted program

Areas Eliminated or Reduced
Administrative positions (8)
Efficiencies throughout the Transportation category
Efficiencies throughout the Maintenance category
Technology position (1)

Possible Areas for Reduction
Potential savings could also be made throughout this budget by introducing a Health Savings Account health insurance plan for the school system.

Account 61: Instructional

Areas Increased
Special Education teaching positions (2)
Classroom teachers (7)
Center-based elementary gifted program teacher (1)
Textbooks
Equipment (e.g musical instruments, arts)
Reinstatement of the Tender Tots pre-school Program
Reinstatement of the GCCG center-based gifted program

Areas Eliminated or Reduced
Assistant Superintendent (1)
Research and Information Services Analyst (1)
Teacher Induction Specialist (1)
Central Office Human Resources Clerk (1)
Psychologist (1)
Assistant High School Principal (1)
Testing Coordinator (1)

Tender Tots Program
This fee-based program offers a classroom for disabled children ages 3-6 to learn and prepare for kindergarten alongside their typically-developing peers, without which, their opportunity to learn
from typically-developing children would be compromised at a critical age. This would negatively impact their school readiness when it comes time for them to join up with their peers in kindergarten. Families with children with disabilities receive services from Early Intervention from birth to age 3, when they are transferred into the care of the school system. The lack of an appropriate preschool environment represents a gap in educational services for children who need it the most. F.A.P.E. calls for the "least restrictive environment" and "inclusive" classrooms where children with special needs learn beside their typically-developing peers. This model of education mirrors the real world, in which we all live and work together for the common good, and no one group of people is left behind based on race, religion, disability, etc. Children with special needs have legal rights that are protected under federal law, and schools and institutions in violation of their Civil Rights risk losing federal funding.

GCCG Center-Based Gifted Program

The center-based elementary gifted program is a core program for children identified as having special educational needs. This program was established by the School Board and the previous Superintendent, based on extensive research, which supports pooling as (a) the best practice method for educating these special needs students, and (b) the most cost-efficient use of resources in rural counties like Goochland. The Superintendent and School Board are required to consult with the Gifted Advisory Committee when making changes to the 5 year plan, but no consultation ever took place prior to the Superintendent’s budget proposal to eliminate this program. There are currently approximately 120 gifted students in Goochland County and 5 gifted teachers, so reducing the number of gifted teachers to 4, would result in a pupil/teacher ratio of 30:1 for these special needs students, which is unacceptable. The only remaining budget savings from eliminating (or “phasing out”) the GCCG is the cost of transporting the students to the center from their home schools. This unnecessary cost could be eliminated, by reserving these students seats at the front of the high school/middle school and GES buses, and making one extra stop at the GCCG en route. This also has the potential to increase the amount of instructional time for each 3-5 grade gifted student by about 1 hour per day.

In accordance with Section 22.1-94 of the Code of Virginia, the Goochland County Board of Supervisors appropriates tax revenue to the School Board by categories, as prescribed by the Board of Education per section 22.1-115 of the Code. Funds appropriated to a given budget category, cannot be spent in a different category, without the express permission of the Board of Supervisors. The total FY09-10 budget for Instruction is $19,977,724. The Department of Education designates an Account Code of 61000 for the instruction budget category, and describes the positions that may be classified under this legal category when the school board files their annual report of expenditures. There appear to be a number of positions included in the Instruction budget category, which, according to Attachment C to Memo No. 215-09 from the Department of Education to the Superintendents, dated August 7, 2009 (and available on the DOE website), should be included within the Administration budget category.

For purposes of comparison ONLY, the financial information contained in this budget proposal is based upon the figures supplied in the Superintendent’s Proposed Budget for FY2011, dated January 12, 2010. While we disagree with, and question the legality of, the budget allocations of a number of the positions in the Administration and Instruction budget categories, GEPA feels this is an issue to be addressed separately, to avoid clouding the financial information presented in this budget. In our line-by-line budget, we have left these positions in the categories allocated by the Superintendent in her Proposed budget, and limited our action to comments in the narrative sections. While we have identified a number of positions that we believe have been the misallocated in the Superintendent’s Proposed Budget, this does not represent a complete and exhaustive list, as we are limited by the information that has been provided to us. The * information below contains more detailed references for each position mentioned.

GEPA still stands behind the proposals we make for the elimination or combination of positions in this budget, regardless of their current or future budget category allocations.

1. Elimination of the Assistant Superintendent position, to save $107,279 in basic salary, a total savings of $142,681.07 (assuming 33% benefits).* Goochland County Schools can no longer cost-justify this additional level of Administration, in addition to a full time Superintendent of schools, earning $121,808.96 in basic salary, ($162,005.91 assuming 33% benefits), plus three directors of Education, earning a combined total of $270,302 ($359,501.66 assuming 33% benefits). Another budget alternative might be to eliminate the Director level of administration, which would save considerably more from the budget, but would most likely cause more disruption to the school system.

2. Elimination of the Research and Information Services Analyst position, to save $50,570 in basic salary, a total savings of $67,258.10 (assuming 33% benefits).*

3. Elimination of the part-time Teacher Induction Specialist position, to save $32,533 in basic salary, a total savings of $43,268.89 (assuming 33% benefits). * If the school system does not have the resources to hire any new teachers, the necessity of this position is in doubt.

4. Elimination of the head office Human Resources Clerk/Substitute Coordinator to save $33,011 in basic salary, a total savings of $43,904.63.*

5. Combination of the three psychologist positions currently listed under the Instructional Category with a total basic salary of $120,231, ($159,907.23 including 33% benefits) into two psychologist positions with a total basic salary of $77,320, ($102,835.60 including 33% benefits), offering a total cost saving of $57,071.63. *

6. Elimination of one Assistant Principal position at the high school, to save an average cost of $70,800.50 in basic salary, or a total of $96,824.67, (assuming 33% benefits). According to The Code of Virginia, 22.1-253.13.2 H 2, the School Board is required to have one full-time assistant principal in high schools for each 600 students. According to the GCPS website, GHS enrollment is 770. GCPS needs one full time assistant principal for the first 600 students, but the second full-time assistant principal position does not appear to be required until GHS enrollment reaches 1200.

7. Elimination of the GED Testing Coordinator, to save $50,172 in basic salary, a total savings of $65,223.60, with the reallocation of these position functions to the guidance counselors.

* Assistant Superintendent: This position is listed under the Instructional budget category as school administration, when the DOE clearly indicates it should be classified within the Administrative category, under Account Code 62120, Executive Administrative Services. Account code 62120 encompasses: “Activities associated with the overall general administration of, or executive responsibility for, the LEA, including the Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent and other staff who report directly to the Superintendent”.

* Research and Information Services Analyst: This position is listed under the Instructional budget category as school administration, when communications from the DOE indicate it should be classified within the Administrative category, under Account Code 62130, Information Services. Account code 62130 encompasses: “Activities concerned with writing, editing, and other preparation necessary to disseminate educational and administrative information to students, staff, managers, and the public, through direct mailing, the various news media, or personal contact”.

* Human Resources Specialist: The DOE classifies this position as an Administration expense, with an Account Code of 62140, Personnel Services. Reclassifying this position in Administration would deduct $60,654.66 in basic salary, a total savings of $80,670.70 (assuming 33% benefits), but this budget does NOT include that deduction. Account Code 62140 encompasses: “Activities concerned with maintaining the school system’s staff. This includes such activities as recruiting and placement, staff transfers, in-service training, health services and staff accounting”.

* Nurse: The DOE classifies this position as an Administration expense, with an Account Code of 62220, Health Services. Reclassifying this position as Administrative would deduct $43,874.00 in basic salary, a total savings of $58,352.42 (assuming 33% benefits), but this budget does NOT include that deduction. Account Code 62220 encompasses, “Activities associated with physical and mental health services that are not related to direct instruction. Included are activities that provide students with appropriate medical, dental and nursing services.

* Teacher Induction Specialist: The DOE classifies this position as an Administrative expense, with an Account Code of 62140, Personnel Services. Account Code 62140 encompasses: “Activities concerned with maintaining the school system’s staff. This includes such activities as recruiting and placement, staff transfers, in-service training, health services and staff accounting”.

* Human Resources Clerk / Substitute Coordinator: The DOE classifies this position as an Administrative expense, with an Account Code of 62140, Personnel Services. Account Code 62140 encompasses: “Activities concerned with maintaining the school system’s staff. This includes such activities as recruiting and placement, staff transfers, in-service training, health services and staff accounting”.

* Psychologist : This position is described as an Administration category expense, under DOE Account Code 62230, Psychological Services. Account Code 62230 encompasses, “Activities concerned with administering psychological tests and interpreting the results, gathering and interpreting information about student behavior, working with other staff members in planning school programs that meet the special needs of students as indicated by psychological tests and behavioral evaluation, and planning and managing programs provided by psychological services, including psychological counseling for students, staff, and parents”.

Account 62: Administration

Areas Eliminated or Reduced
Accounts Payable Specialist (1)

In accordance with Section 22.1-94 of the Code of Virginia, the Goochland County Board of Supervisors appropriates tax revenue to the School Board by categories, as prescribed by the Board of Education per section 22.1-115 of the Code. These categories include (i) instruction, and (ii) administration, attendance and health. Funds appropriated to a given budget category, cannot be spent in a different category, without the express permission of the Board of Supervisors. The total FY09-10 budget for Administration is $920,166. The Department of Education designates an Account Code of 62000 for the administration, attendance and health budget category, and describes the positions that may be classified under this legal category when the school board files their annual report of expenditures. There appear to be a number of positions included in the Instruction budget category, which, according to Attachment C to Memo No. 215-09 from the Department of Education to the Superintendents, dated August 7, 2009 (and available on the DOE website), should be included within the Administration budget category.

For purposes of comparison ONLY, the financial information contained in this budget proposal is based upon the figures supplied in the Superintendent’s Proposed Budget for FY2011, dated January 12, 2010. While we disagree with, and question the legality of, the budget allocations of a number of the positions in the Administration and Instruction budget categories, GEPA feels this is an issue to be addressed separately, to avoid clouding the financial information presented in this budget. In our line-by-line budget, we have left these positions in the categories allocated by the Superintendent in her Proposed budget, and limited our action to comments in the narrative sections. While we have identified a number of positions that we believe have been the misallocated in the Superintendent’s Proposed Budget, this does not represent a complete and exhaustive list, as we are limited by the information that has been provided to us. The * information below contains more detailed references for each position mentioned.

GEPA still stands behind the proposals we make for the elimination or combination of positions in this budget, regardless of their current or future budget category allocations.

1. Combination of the Director of Finance and Operations position with the Accounts Payable Specialist position, for a savings of $45,869 in basic salary, a total savings of $61,005.77 (assuming 33% benefits).

* Human Resources Specialist: Reclassification of this position, currently listed under Instruction, as an Administrative category expense, would add $60,654.66 in basic salary, a total addition of $80,670.70 (assuming 33% benefits). This budget does NOT include that addition. The DOE classifies this position as an Administrative expense, with a Function Code of 62140, Personnel services. Function code 62140 encompasses: “Activities concerned with maintaining the school system’s staff. This includes such activities as recruiting and placement, staff transfers, in-service training, health services and staff accounting”.

* Psychologist: Reclassificiation of these two remaining positions, currently appearing as 3 psychologist positions under Instruction, as an Administration category expense, would add a total of $77,320 in base salary, ($102,835.60 including 33% benefits). This budget does NOT include that addition. The DOE classifies these positions as an Administration expense, under DOE Account Code 62230, Psychological Services. Account Code 62230 encompasses, “Activities concerned with administering psychological tests and interpreting the results, gathering and interpreting information about student behavior, working with other staff members in planning school programs that meet the special needs of students as indicated by psychological tests and behavioral evaluation, and planning and managing programs provided by psychological services, including psychological counseling for students, staff, and parents”.

* Nurse: Reclassification of this position, currently listed under Instruction, as an Administration category expense, would add $43,874.00 in basic salary, a total of $58,352.42 (assuming 33% benefits). This budget does NOT include that addition. The DOE classifies this position as an Administration expense, with an Account Code of 62220, Health Services. Account Code 62220 encompasses, “Activities associated with physical and mental health services that are not related to direct instruction. Included are activities that provide students with appropriate medical, dental and nursing services.

Account 63 : Transportation

Areas Eliminated or Reduced

From 2004 - 2009 our school attendance grew by less than 15%. During the same period, our transportation costs for Goochland
County Schools have increased by over 50%. Although one might believe this is a result of fuel prices, fuel is less than 14% of the total budget, and thus we have some expense issues with the way in which Goochland County Schools provides transportation services for it's student population. Through some research we have determined that if the cost of fuel was removed from the 2004 budget, and an annual inflation rate of 2.75% was applied year over year, and then $300K was added back into the budget to cover the cost of fuel, the total budget should equal $2.17M dollars. This is a reduction of $220K from the current proposal of $2.39M.

With that, we also believe it is necessary once the new budget is approved to completely review both the school's and county's
transportation fleets and systems and find a more fitting and affordable means to transport our kids to and from school. When
measured by the Comparative Study of Local Governments, Goochland's per student transportation costs are some of the highest of all
the LEAs in the Commonwealth of Virginia. With a fleet of 67 buses and 63 additional vehicles, we believe there is tremendous scope for efficiencies across the school and county's fleet that will benefit all taxpayers, and free up expense dollars for more
educationally-driven expense dollars.

Our schools cannot sustain continued expense increases in non-educational activities such as transportation.

Account 64 : Maintenance

Areas Eliminated or Reduced
Recognizing the need for a decrease in wasteful spending within the Maintenance Category nominal changes have been put in effect. The budget cuts from maintenance supply costs, replacement supply costs, laundry and dry cleaning and supports Dr Underwood’s one-hour decrease for all part time employees. The total cost savings amount to a $54,000 improvement over the budget proposed by the office of the Superintendent.
These cuts reduce the Maintenance budget by 5% and we feel should be easily obtained given that the Maintenance budget has increased annually in spite of the new building complex for Middle and High School provided in 2007. These cuts should also help to move our children to creating a Green School System by implementing the duties of trash removal and recycling. Thus increasing our eligibility for Federal funding in future years.

Account 68 : Technology

Areas Eliminated or Reduced
Elimination of one of the following positions, with a combined basic salary of $215,074.31, totaling $286,048.33 (assuming 33% benefits), for a total average saving of $95,349.61:

Technical Services Coordinator
Technical Services Specialist
Information Technology Specialist

Budget counter-proposal dated 1/20/2010:
http://www.goochlandparents.com/files/GEPA_budget_counterproposal.xls

Questions submitted by GEPA for 1/19/2010 School Board Round Table

2010-01-17T16:38:00.000-08:00

General

1. How many school system employees are there that do not meet the definition of full time employment (30 hrs/wk as per the state and Anthems qualifications standards) that are receiving full time benefits (health, retirement, fringes)? Why does the budget allow for this when it is not standard business practice?

2. Is the school board/administration aware that insurance contracts can be cancelled by non-payment of premiums at any point, making a change in plan possible in the short term? Why would the school board not take advantage of this if there were an opportunity for savings in this school budget year and next?

Instructional

3. There are currently 26 administrative positions described on the GCPS website as "central office administration and support staff" earning well over $1.5 million per year in basic salary. Assuming 33% extra for benefits, this administrative overhead accounts for over $2 million of the school budget, before we even cost in the administration at the individual schools. Why does the Superintendent's budget continue to propose cutting teaching positions, while making no budget cuts in this area?

4. At the January 12th School Board Meeting, the question was raised why positions were listed as instructional in the budget, when they appeared to legally belong in the administrative budget category, in accordance with Memo. No. 215-09 from the DOE to Superintendents. Please could Dr. Underwood explain the reasons why each of those 12 listed positions, totalling over $580,000 in basic salary (assuming 33% for benefits, closer to $770k), is currently being financed out of the instructional budget category?

Position Base salary DOE code DOE description
Assistant Superintendent $107,279 62120 Executive administration services
Research & Info. Services
Analyst $50,570 62130 Information services
Elementary & Parent
Involvement Specialist $45,438 62130 Information services
Human resource specialist $60,654 62140 Personnel services
Transition specialist $43,287 62140 Personnel services
Human resources clerk $33,011 62140 Personnel services
Teacher induction specialist $32,533 62140 Personnel services
School nurse $43,874 62220 Health services
School psychologist $53,851 62230 Psychological services
School psychologist $42,911 62230 Psychological services
School psychologist $23,469 62230 Psychological services
Procedural Due Process
Specialist $47,973 62150 Planning service

Transportation

5. Bus Purchases: Why would we list capital asset purchases (such as bus purchases) as expense dollars? How does this accounting practice reconcile with the practices mandated under yellow book procedures?

6. Bus Routing & Transportation Metrics: Could bus routes be restructured to be more efficient? What effect would fewer bus stops have on the budget? Would there be a higher fill rate, fewer routes (& less buses needed), quicker runs? Does our transportation director have toolsets to allow her to analyze this type of information quickly to perform an analysis of this nature? What type of metrics are used to compare our transportation services with others?

Maintenance

7. Which other of the 40 like-sized school districts (such as Lunenburg, Patrick, Floyd, Grayson, New Kent, Amelia, King William, & Charlotte ) have been contacted to find some best practices we could be employing in maintenance? What was discovered? What overheads do we have that these other school districts do not?

# of school days

8. Adding ½ hour each school day would make up for early dismissals and snow days whilst reducing transportation, cafeteria, heat, and AC costs. Has this even been considered? Why would the school board not adopt changes in the calendar to realize some cost savings?

9. Why do we need to start school the third week of August? What effect does that have on the air-conditioning costs for the schools?

Lessons Learned

10. Given that the current budget process has created a climate of distrust with the community, what specific changes will the School Board and Superintendent make to the budget process in future years to encourage two-way communication with the community? Would you continue to have all public hearings on the School Board budget in a town hall format?

Special School Board meeting Jan 19th

2010-01-17T09:39:00.000-08:00

At the last school board meeting, the board agreed to a special meeting this Tuesday at 7 PM. It will be held at Goochland Elementary. PLEASE try to spread the word as this is not well advertised due to the short notice. It is NOT on the GCPS or School Board websites.

From conversations with Dr. Underwood, the format (as far as I know -- they are still working on this) will be:

7 - 8:30: Round Table session -- Recap of where we are, answer questions submitted beforehand, allow time for Q&A from the floor (QUESTIONS ONLY)
8:30 - 9:30: Continuation of Public Hearing (COMMENTS from the public)

We are working to consolidate questions from the GEPA to send to Dr. Underwood tonight. Her goal is to consolidate questions they receive (from us and others) and answer them first.

If you have a question, either share it here & we'll consolidate with the GEPA questions, or if you prefer, email it to Dr. Underwood.

Kristin

Public Statement

2010-01-14T11:44:00.000-08:00

The Goochland Education Parents Association (GEPA) is a Chartered Parent Organization, established in January 2010. GEPA began when concerned parents, attending School Board meetings to advocate for the best interests of their own children, became increasingly frustrated with the School Board budget process. This informal group of like-minded parents started working together to protect the best interests of ALL of the children in the GCPS system. They formed a Google group for parents to share information and ideas and reached out to the PTA, only to find that the PTA could not enter into the budget process. Finally, they called an official meeting and decided that School Board issues could be most effectively addressed through a single, organized group. After hammering out the charter, and confirming JoD Hosken as Chairman, GEPA developed a comprehensive document addressing the 2010/11 School Board budget issues. This entire document was presented in nine consecutive parts by GEPA members at the January 12, 2010 School Board meeting.

According to Jane Christie, Vice Chairman of the Association, "GEPA membership is growing fast and many new members signed up after the January 12th School Board meeting. Parents are concerned that there will be a significant reduction in the quality of education offered in Goochland County if the School Board accepts the budget proposed by School Superintendent, Dr. Linda Underwood. This latest budget threatens to cut even more teaching positions than the last, but there are other areas where cuts could be made. We hope more parents will join us, to help support a quality education system in Goochland County for ALL of our children".

For more information, or to join GEPA, please contact the Secretary, Kristin McNaron via email at gepa@mcnaron.com, find us online at http://goochlandparents.blogspot.com, or look for GEPA members at any School Board meeting.