GEPA Meeting Notes 9/27 & New Board

Meeting 9/27 at 6:30 at Rocco’s

Meeting was called to order at 6:48 PM by Kristin McNaron, Secretary

Introductions: All in attendance made brief introductions.

Informational Items: We discussed the fact that the GEPA constitution was created in a hasty manner when the group first formed, and that it is in much need of a major revision. The outgoing board, led by Mr. Adeeb Hamzey, worked on draft of a new constitution, but we strongly encourage the new board to complete this work to build a better foundation for the organization.

Nominations: The following nominations were made and accepted:

Chair – Penny Palen

Vice Chair – JD Wright

Treasurer – Jenn Hefner

Secretary – none

Being uncontested, votes were taken by a show of hands, and the new board is accepted. Kristin McNaron has already indicated her term of Secretary will end after September 30, so the organization is in search of nominations for the Secretary position.

Other business: We discussed goals for GEPA in the coming year. These include:

• More proactively presenting our ideas to both boards before budgets are set
• Improving internal communications processes
• Improving our ability to educate public on educational issues
• Working more closely with PTAs
• 
  

Next Meeting: Tentatively Monday, October 18^th at the library – Adeeb took the action item to try to reserve the library

The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 PM.

GEPA Election, Monday, Sept 27 at 6:30 pm

Parents --- It's TIME . . . time to elect a new board for GEPA. Please plan to attend Monday, September 27 at 6:30 PM at Rocco's.

Thanks,
Kristin

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to all Goochland students, teachers, and school staff! We hope that today marks the start of a stellar school year for everyone.

Note that there is a School Board workshop tomorrow (Tuesday, August 24) at 6:30 at the High School. The agenda is here: http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/agendas/

Next GEPA Meeting, Tuesday, July 20, 7 PM at Goochland Library

The monthly open GEPA meeting will be held at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday 20, July 2010, in the Goochland Library Meeting Room. Please mark the date in your calendar! (The library is closed, but the meeting room is available.)

Our goal is to hold regularly scheduled GEPA meetings on the 3rd Tuesday of each month.

We'll be following up with an agenda, but wanted to make sure you saved this date.

There's a lot going on in our schools right now, and parents need to keep working together for the benefit of all of our children, and to support quality public education in this County.

On a side note, your blog moderator/Secretary Kristin was on vacation during the July 6th BoS meeting and July 13th SB meeting, so I am trying to pull together notes from several sources to post for you. I will post them as soon as I can. The excellent blog "Goochland on My Mind" does have a post about the BoS meeting here. Ms. Warwick noted that GEPA's comments (delivered by Mr. JD Wright) appear about 58 minutes into the audio recording of the afternoon BoS meeting. The recordings are available here.

July 13 School Board meeting

On Tuesday there will be a regularly scheduled School Board meeting at 7 PM in the GHS Auditorium. It's important to continue to attend SB meetings throughout the summer. Please try to be there! The agenda can be found online here:

http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/index/schoolboard/agendas/

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.