GEPA Buget Committee Forming

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Teacher Reduction In Force Policies and Notices AGAIN

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

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!

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

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!