The Goochland County School Board is seeking volunteers to serve on the four advisory committees:
- Energy Conservation Committee
- Grant Writing Committee
- Minority Advisory Committee
- Community Advisory Committee.
Please see http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/news/advisory_committees/ for more info.
Marc Maier -- GEPA Chairman
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
GEPA Annual Meeting Sat. 8/18 at 3 PM
All --
GEPA will be hosting this year's annual meeting on Saturday August 18th, 3:00 PM at the Goochland County Library meeting room.
The current agenda for this meeting:
1 - Review of this year - stated goals versus accomplishments.
2 - Nominations / elections for new board members.
3 - Planning goals for the upcoming year.
4 - Discussion / long range plan for email list / websites.
5 - Open discussion (if needed).
If anyone is interested in serving on the GEPA board and you have any questions, you can contact any of the outgoing board members:
Marc Maier, Chairman
Rebecca Herrera, Vice-Chairman
Kristin Emery, Secretary
Nicole Melton, Treasurer
You can contact me directly if you need a phone number or address.
Marc Maier
GEPA will be hosting this year's annual meeting on Saturday August 18th, 3:00 PM at the Goochland County Library meeting room.
The current agenda for this meeting:
1 - Review of this year - stated goals versus accomplishments.
2 - Nominations / elections for new board members.
3 - Planning goals for the upcoming year.
4 - Discussion / long range plan for email list / websites.
5 - Open discussion (if needed).
If anyone is interested in serving on the GEPA board and you have any questions, you can contact any of the outgoing board members:
Marc Maier, Chairman
Rebecca Herrera, Vice-Chairman
Kristin Emery, Secretary
Nicole Melton, Treasurer
You can contact me directly if you need a phone number or address.
Marc Maier
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Superintendent Search Survey - Goochland County Schools
For those unable to attend the Superintendent Search forum last night, a survey has been posted to collect data that BWP will use for the search:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MQ7KBRX
(It is also available from the main GCPS home page at http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/)
Please take a few minutes and complete this survey as soon as you can, it will only be open until 15 June.
I'll be sending out notes from the search forum meeting and school board meeting last night sometime in the next few days.
Marc Maier -- GEPA Chairman
Thursday, January 19, 2012
GCSB Meeting 1/17
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
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
Monday, January 16, 2012
A message to the public from the GCPS School Board:
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.
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.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
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
Marc Maier -- GEPA Chairman
Thursday, November 17, 2011
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
The agenda has not been posted at the GCPS site yet, we'll add a link once it has.
Marc Maier -- GEPA Chairman
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
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
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
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
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
Goochland Recreation Center
2415 Sandy Hook Road
Goochland VA 23063
Marc Maier -- GEPA Chair
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
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
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
Sunday, September 11, 2011
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
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
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
Thursday, September 8, 2011
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
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
Thursday, September 1, 2011
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
Sunday, August 21, 2011
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
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
Monday, August 8, 2011
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
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
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
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
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
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
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:
GEPA Chairman
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
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
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
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.
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.
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