GEPA Annouces New Board

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

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

“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

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

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!

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

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