Letter to the School Board

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