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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-07-06 adj25O July 6, 1983 (Adjou~d from June 15, 1983) An adjourned meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Albemarle County, Virginia, was held on July 6, 1983, at 4:00 P.M. in Meeting Room #~ County Office Building, Charlottesville, Virginia; said meeting being adjourned from June 15, 1983. Present: Mrs. Patricia H. Cooke, Messrs. Gerald E. Fisher, J~ T. Henley, Jr., C. Timothy Lindstrom (arrived at 4:08 P.M.), and Miss Ellen V. Nash. Absent: Mr. James R. Butler. Officers Present: St. John. County Executive, Guy B. Agnor, Jr., and County Attorney, George R. Also Present were School Board members: Dean Strong, Vice-Chairman, and Charles Armstrong, Englar Feggans, David Sutton, Sally Thomas, and Charles Tolbert. Agenda Item No. 1. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 4:10 P.M. by the Chairman, Mr. Fisher, who immediately turned the meeting over to Mr. Strong. Agenda Item No. 2. Discussion: Consolidated School Programs. Mr. Strong asked for a report from Dr. Carlos Gutierrez, School Superintendent. Dr. Gutierrez said the committee has held four meetings. At the first meeting, four major areas regarding shared services between the City and County school systems were discussed: 1) administration; 2) pupil personnel services; 3) specialized instructional programs; and 4) related and support services. Within these categories, many subareas were delineated for consideration. The following areas have also been discussed: alternative education; gifted and talented programs; salary structure; transportation; and selected curriculum planning. One other item which was dis~usse at length was the selection of a basal reading series. Beginning in September, 1983, for the first time, all children in the City and County will be using the same basal reading series. Beginning in August, the former alternative education programs which were housed in the County's M¢Intire School and the City's Jefferson School, will merge into one program and be located in a city facility. The County will contribute $100,000 toward the program. There will be a different pupil-teacher ratio. The County will provide some guidance services, some job skill and job placement services. There are about forty students from the County and twenty from the City involved in the program. Dr. Gutierrez said there have b~en discussions between the coordinators of the "gifted and talented programs". Gifted and talented children comprise between five and ten percent of the total school-aged population and have special needs based on the degree of giftedness or talentedness. The committee has also discussed a uniform salary structure for administrators and teachers of the two school systems. The committee will be discussing in the future the possibility of having a joint transportation system. The City only has seventeen buses, while the County is running 137 buses. It might be possible for the City to contract with the County for transportation services and the buses might be able to pick up both County and City children in some neighborhoods cutting down on some expenses. There have been a number of meetings with guidance counselors from both systems to see if they can work together on in-service and staff development activities. Mr. Fisher asked what criteria is being used to decide whether there should be a jointly operated program. Dr. Gutierrez said there is no identified set of criteria available for use at this time; these programs are being operated on a trial and error basis. Mrs. Sally Thomas said the Advisory Committee will not recommend the joining of any services unless those services result in better or equal services to the students. The plans must not create any costs higher than those now being paid, and hopefully, teachers and facilities will be used more efficiently. Mr. Fisher inquired about the Summer School Program which has been the subject of some controversy. Dr. Gutierrez said that in the past the City took six weeks to get a child through remedial classes. It was decided this year that most of the course material had already been learned, there was just not enough retention for the child to pass the class. Therefore, it was decided that the remedial classes would be conducted in one-half the time or three intensive weeks of full day classes. This concept has proved to be very successful. The cost of the remedial program this year was the same as the cost of the City's program last year, but it took only one-half the time to complete. Last year County students paid twice as high a fee as City students, and this year the same fee was charged to all students. The c~iticism was mostly based on this higher fee for City students. Mr. Fisher asked how many students were involved in the Summer School Program. Dr. Gutierrez said there were over 400, with a two to one ratio in favor of the County and with ten percent coming from surrounding counties. Enrollment was twice as high as anticipated. Mr. Fisher asked the reason. Dr. Gutierrez said it was because of conservative planning on the part of the principal. Dr. Charles Tolbert said the School Board had told the principal that this had to be a self-sustaining operation. Also, a questionnaire was sent to all students in the early Spring asking how many anticipated attending Summer School. Positive replies were fewer than the actual number of participants. Mrs. Thomas said the idea of doing the remedial programs in three weeks instead of six was an idea of the participating teachers. Dr. Gutierrez said there was also an enrichment component available that was very popular. There were eighteen elementary-aged students who covered the computer logo program in three weeks; what would normally take a complete school year. Dr. Gutierrez said he took three of these fourth grade students to Fredericksburg to the Secondary Principals Conference and they were the hit of the show. Miss Nash asked the definition of "enrichment program". Dr. Gutierrez said this is an extension of the gifted and talented program and is for those students with high ability; advanced courses above and beyond anything that is taught in the regular schools in language arts, literature, computer courses, math, etc. 251 July 6, 1983 (Adjourned from June 15, 1983) Mrs. Cooke asked if the schools still offer short courses in arts and crafts, guitar, and similar subjects. Dr. Gutierrez said yes; that is part of the middle school model. It will be one of the duties of the new director of instruction to review that model to see if changes should be made. People are demanding that more academic subjects be taught in the schools. Senior high school programs were reviewed in 1981 and 1982, and based on that review, it may be necessary to make some major changes in the next feW years. For example, it has been found that typing, which has traditionally been taught in the high schools, can be taught faster in the fourth and fifth grades. Also, with the addition of computers in the elementary grades, there will probably be skilled typists in high schools, so it will not be necessary to teach typing in the same manner. Dr. Gutierrez handed out a memorandum dated July 6, 1983, listing some of the projects taking place in the Albemarle County Schools today; namely, effective schools, gifted and talented, computers, improving teaching effectiveness, and secondary school improvement. Mr. Lindstrom asked about the "teaching effectiveness" program. Dr. Gutierrez said this is the County's own version of the Madeline Hunter program which takes the teaching act and dissects it into parts. The evaluator, who can be a principal or another teacher, goes into the classroom and watches a teacher in the act of teaching. Then, the evaluator uses a point scale to decide how well a teacher has done in teaching. There are three persons trained for this evaluation process; a science coordinator, an assistant principal, and an elementary principal. Some people feel the teaching act is an art act and cannot be dissected like this, so the system has critics. However, the participants are highly in favor of the program. Dr. Gutierrez went on the explain how this program is being used at the Scottsville School. Mr. Lindstrom asked if it is a voluntary participation program. Dr. Gutierrez said yes and there has been no negative feedback thus far. Dr. Gutierrez said there has been a lot of literature in recent years on "effective schooling." At least five to seven items have been identified to show what makes an effective school. This effective school literature is being used in all of the staff development activities. Every principal is being told that he/she is responsible for what the children in his/her school learns, and also that he/she must be hard-nosed about teachers who are not doing well. It is a slow process, but has some strong advocates. Mr. Fisher asked what happens to teachers who are not doing well in the system, and in past years, were transferred from school to school. Dr. Gutierrez said it has always been believed that the teacher should get the benefit of the doubt in the beginning, but after a certain length of time, incompetence must be documented. Then that person must be told that it would probably be better if he/she worked somewhere else or left teaching. The principals are being told that this is his/her responsibility. Dr. Gutierrez said he has tried to create a situation where high expectations are set, and anyone not meeting those expectations should find another place to work. Whenever such a concept is introduced into an organization, it creates a fair amount of negative reaction so to an extent there are morale problems. Dr. Gutierrez said he has twenty-five years of experience working in an unionized state. He has modified his approach somewhat, but has been willing to deny tenure to people who don't deserve it, and instead of trnasferring people, to ask them to leave the system. That has been done in twenty-nine cases. Now, it is time to start building trust and some warmer feelings. A more supportive tone needs to be set to bridge the gaps that exist between the field and central office personnel. Mr. Lindstrom asked if there is anyway for the principals to document the amount of time they spend in evaluating teachers. Dr. Gutierrez said he sits down with each principal at the beginning of the school year and tries to help each person determine the needs of his school. At the end of the year, a check will be made to see how well that person has attained these goals, and a summary placed in that person's personnel folder. The trend nationally has been for evaluators to say only good things in order to keep an operation running smoothly. Mr. Lindstrom asked if there is any plan for the teachers to evaluate the evaluators. Dr. Guiterrez said that is already being done, and the principal should use that as a way to help himself grow. Dr. Gutierrez said he does not become involved in that evaluation. Miss Nash asked how complaints and appeals are taken. Dr. Gutierrez said there is a formal appeals procedure in place for school personnel. An attempt is made to solve all grievances before they become grievances. With the addition of a new personnel operations, he hopes that there will be a much better handling of what could become grievances. Agenda Item No. 3. Discussion: Redistricting. Dr. Charles Tolbert handed out the following memorandum along with maps on which the various school districts had been colored in: "As school-age populations change both in size and in location in the county, it becomes necessary to redistrict some, or all, of the attendance zones. How often this needs to happen depends on the rapidity of the population shifts, but it was clear that the time had come for Albemarle County to review its attendance zones. We had some schools which were able to handle their enrollments only through the use of trailers, while other schools near-by had several vacant classrooms. We had situations where we bussed some students past one school to reach a more distant school. Some schools located in the areas of highest potential growth were nearly full (Greer at 86 percent, Hollymead at 93 percent, and Meriwether Lewis at 103 percent of capacity). We had two schools located in old physical plants where renovation and modern- ization is very costly (Greenwood and Meriwether Lewis). "In addition to the effects of population shifts, there was the clear requirement to review our classroom needs relative to future capital outlay projects. We have not had a good history of site selection for new buildings and renovation in this County. Before we ask the taxpayers to financially support future projects for the school system, we must be able to show that we are using our current plants efficiently. To do otherwise would undermine our credibility even more and could easily lead to a period when capital outlay for our schools might be frozen. 252 July 6, 1983 (Adjourned from June 15, 1983) "We realized that parents and children were, in general, happy with their current schools and the level of education they were receiving. This is a tribute to our teachers and school administrators who delivered quality education in less than ideal environments. Why disrupt this system when it seems to be working alright? We were convinced that it would work better, at lower cost, and with more long-range stability after redistricting than it was before. We all tend to resist change, but change is occasionally necessary. We believe that children can adjust well to change, especially if they receive the support of the school staff and of their parents. "The redistricting planned for the Fall of 1984 will involve school shifts for about one-fifth of the current elementary school population (about 770 pupils). It will raise our average percent of capacity enrollment to 77 percent rather than the current 73 percent. It will place all elementary schools at between 59 percent and 89 percent of capacity (the current situation has a range of 52 percent to 103 percent). It will lower the enrollments of the high growth schools to about 78 percent of capacity. It will greatly reduce the busing of children past one school to fill another (only the Four Seasons area will still be so bused). It will allow more schools in our system to offer two sections per grade level (eight under this plan rather than six currently). It will allow us to close Greenwood completely (at an annual savings of about $100,000) and to dispense with the need for trailers at all elementary schools except Broadus Wood which is awaiting renovation. "Because of the real uncertainties of population projections in the County, we have chosen to try to balance our enrollments at about eighty percent of capacity to allow for future growth. We have achieved this goal in all but two cases (Brownsville at 89 percent and Woodbrook at 85 percent). At Brownsville, the enrollment will be 82 percent if the extra Special Education classroom is not needed." SOME COMMENTS ON INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS "Broadus Wood still needs to use trailers, but this is only a short'term solution until the renovation is completed. (Note, this use is exactly how trailers should be used.) Brownsville will not be crowded, but is no longer underutilized. There is room for expansion of the Special Education classes in a school with few barriers for handicapped, and in a school with good transportation access since all Western High School buses come by there. It will have a nice rural, small town mix of kids (i.e. not a shock to the rural Greenwood children). Crozet becomes slightly more of a true Crozet town school. It is not forced by this redistricting to use any of its marginal rooms, but with these rooms, it has the potential for expansion and is nicely uncrowded. Plans to make these rooms usable should be made soon. Greer has an ideal capacity anticipating growth, and Hollymead has a good enrollment figure in a high growth area. "The overcrowding at Meriwether Lewis is relieved. Unlike Broadus Wood, the trailers would not have an immediate chance of being replaced. The core facilities have suffered from the overcrowding. No extensive remodeling is anticipated. It will be paired with Murray which has the same capacity and is only a few miles away. Red Hill is a beautiful, underutilized school which will be brought up to 80 percent of capacity without unreasonable bus trips. "Rose Hill is our most convenient school for parents who work in Charlottes- ville, and will be of a good size to offer two to four sections per grade level. Scottsville remains a nice, new school which is underutilized. The gerry- mandering of the past is undone. Stony Point with its pod, provides an open classroom setting that the Greer students will recognize - only the kindergarten and first grade Greer students will move from open to closed setting. Woodbrook will provide a school for the Berkeley and other students closer to their homes than Hollymead. The artificial boundary lines between Scottsville and Yancey are removed and there is no cross busing." ACCOMPLISHMENTS "We have achieved a yearly savings of approximately $100,000 from the closing of Greenwood. We have determined, on a county-wide basis, that our current elementary classroom pool (after the Broadus Wood addition) will carry us through to 1987. We have balanced the enrollments at all of our schools so that the need for further changes before 1987 is unlikely. We have dispensed with the need for trailers at any of the elementary schools (Note: the trailers at Woodbrook are specially designed for handicapped children and will remain in use). We have, with one exception, done away with the need to bus children past one school on the way to another. We have straightened the boundary line between Scottsville and Yancey. We have found a compromise that has the potential for improving the education for both the Meriwether Lewis and the Murray students." PROBLEMS UNRESOLVED "The bus trips in the Meriwether Lewis/Murray district remain very long. We will use our classroom capacity at only 76 percent on a county-wide basis on the average. The Four Seasons area is still being bused all the way to Holly- mead. Feeder patters for middle schools have been split. Scottsville remains significantly undercapacity. The Meriwether Lewis building continues to be required in the system." 253 July 6, 1983 (Adjourned from June 16, 1983) Dr. Tolbert said the whole redistricting plan has gone to public hearing and the School Board has voted to implement the elementary school plan in 1984 with the exception of the Yancey/Scottsville change which will occur in 1983. The redistricting plan for the middle and high schools has been presented to the School Board, but has not yet gone to public hearing. The Committee is recommending that the middle school districts remain essentially the same with one exception. The children in the Four Seasons area who would have gone to Jouett will go to Burley in order to improve the enrollment structure of Burley. It is also recommended that the children from the old Woodbrook district who would have gone to Rose Hill Elementary, go to Burley rather than Walton. Also, children ~n the Batesville area who have attended Greenwood and Brownsville and will now attend Red Hill, will go to Henley Middle School rather than Walton. No recommendations are made for changes in the high school boundaries. The principal at Albemarle High School feels the school can be managed with the 1,800 students who are enrolled there. The principal at Western Albemarle feels that school can be operated with only 1,100 students, so the Committee could see no reason to change the boundaries for an increase of only 200 at Western Albemarle. Mr. Lindstrom asked if the proposed redistricting will create any savings in operational costs. Dr. Tolbert said there is a benefit which will be achieved by the closing of Greenwood School because the positions of principal, secretary and custodian will be eliminated. The teaching staff will be absorbed in other schools. The situation at Meriwether Lewis and Murray is somewhat different. Originally citizens had recommended as a solution to the overcrowdedness at Meriwether Lewis and the underutilization at Murray, to add a major addition to Murray School and when the addition was completed, to close down Meriwether Lewis. Instead, the School Board agreed to pair the two schools. This means that grades K - 2 will attend one school, and grades 3 - 5 will attend the other school. This process of pairing may require the addition of a bus to the transportation system. There may be an educational advantage in having the schools closer to being balanced in size and closer to capacity. It would have been nice if the committee Could have achieved a more equally balanced population in the schools, but it is difficult to accurately predict where growth will occur. With this uncertainty, the School Board was reluctant to close down a school and then have to reopen same at a later date. It was suggested that Stony Point School be closed, but that would have added very long bus rides into the system for those children. Population was kept at about seventy-six percent of capacity because the Committee was afraid to make it tighter. Mr. Fisher said he has been asked many times what will happen if the Community of Crozet grows as anticipated in the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Tolbert said there is some room for expansion in the Crozet Elementary School. It was the thought of the Committee that it may be necessary in the next five years to locate a major new elementary school in the area outside of Ivy toward Crozet. However, if the growth occurs in the Garth Road area, a school might be required in that area. The School Board Committee did not feel it knew enough about the patterns of growth to predict what will be needed. Mr. Fisher questioned a statement about trailers at Meriwether Lewis School. Dr. Tolbert said that many people had said the schools were not overcrowded if the trailers were counted as part of available space, He said one of the original goals of the redistricting plan was the deletion of trailers as teaching space. Trailers will be left at Broadus Wood until after the renovations of that school are completed. That will remove all trailers from the elementary schools, with the exception of Woodbrook, where the trailers are needed for handicapped access. Dr. Gutierrez said this committee was also directed to make recommendations on facility improvements for those elementary schools using one room for both cafeteria/gym/auditorium. Mr. Lindstorm asked about Dr. Tolbert's statement that by equalizing the populations in the schools there could be an educational benefit. Dr. Tolbert said if enrollment can get to a little above 200 then there can be two sections per grade level and this allows the students to be distributed based on ability, and also one teacher does not have to teach the entire range of development. There has been a problem because some school buildings did not have a capacity where there could be two sections per grade level. The School Board must use the buildings that it has, and take into account the great travel distances in the County. Mr. Lindstrom asked about bus transportation and the computer program which was used to optimize the current bus routes. Dr. Tolbert said that program was based on the current pattern of school districts. The new patterns will have to be used to come up with a new system, and one additional bus may be required in the system. Mr. Lindstrom asked if it is possible that Greenwood School may be needed again if the community of Crozet grows as expected. Dr. Tolbert said he could only answer as an individual, and he could not envision keeping either Greenwood School or Meriwether Lewis as part of any long-range plans. He feels there may be a need to build a new school somewhere between Crozet and Ivy in the future. Mrs. Cooke said she has received comments about changing schools for students in her district who live on the south side of Rio Road between the railroad tracks and Chapel Hill Road. Dr. Tolbert said there are two reasons for the change. The Committee was trying to reduce the enrollment in the Woodbrook School District enough so that all of Berkeley and the SPCA area could attend that school and still have the school at no more than eighty percent capacity. Miss Nash asked if the Committee had considered the possible expansion of the County in the Pantops Mountain area and along Route 250 to the east and what that might do to Stone Robinson School. Dr. Tolbert said there is room for some growth in that school. Mr. Strong said he did not believe that anyone should look beyond five or six years with this plan. That is one reason why the School Board did not actively pursue the high school situation. 254 July 6, 1983 (Adjourned from June 15, 1983) Mr. Fisher said there may be some questions about specific parts of the redistricting plan, but he, for one, is glad that it has finally been done. He feels it has been needed for several years. Mr. David Sutton said that one thing that was brought out is that every parent and every in Albemarle felt that he had the best school; nobody wanted to be moved. Mr. Lindstrom said the cost benefits are a lot more miniscule than he had expected, but he believes that in a county that is growing as rapidly as this county is growing, tax must be respected by using facilities efficiently. Mr. Strong said the School Board's ultimate goal in this redistricting has been the education of children. If money could be saved, that was fine, but education was the real' goal. Agenda Item No. 4. Other Matters Not on the Agenda. Dr. Gutierrez said he and Mr. Agnor have discussed for over a year, the merger of the School and General Government personnel sections. Mr. Agnor recently participated in the screening of candidates for a Personnel Director. Dr. Gutierrez said he has felt that this new section might begin with the schools and then expand to the general government next year'. Mr. Agnor felt it should all start at the same time, so that is the plan at this time. Dr. Carole Hastings has been employed for this new position and he is happy to have a person of her caliber. Dr. Hastings will begi~~ work the first of August. She has been a personnel director in New Hampshire for five separate school systems. Prior to that she worked for a county government in Maryland, and prior to that worked for DuPont. Mr. Fisher said he appreciated meeting with the School Board today. He hopes that these meetings can be held every three months or so. Mr. Strong said that at some future meeting the School Board would hope to bring some school children to make presentations on what they are doing in the schools. Agenda Item No. 5. meeting was adjourned. Adjourn. At 5:40 P.M., with no other business to conduct, the