Reminders & Minutes from 6/29 GEPA Meeting

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

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

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

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

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/

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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

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

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!

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."