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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-10-05 adj384 October 5, 1983 (Afternoon Meeting-Adjourned from September 21, 1983) An adjourned meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Albemarle County, Virginia was held on October 5, 1983, at 4:00 P.M. in Meeting Rooms 5 and 6, County Office Building, 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, Virginia; said meeting adjourned from September 21, 1983, and being held for a joint meeting with the Albemarle County School Board. Present: Mrs. Patricia H. Cooke (Arrived at 4'07 P.M.), Messrs. Gerald E. Fisher and C. Timothy Lindstrom and Miss Ellen V. Nash. Absent: Messrs. James R. Butler and J. T. Henley, Jr. School Board Members Present: Messrs. Charles S. Armstrong and Englar M. Feggans, Mrs. Jessie C. Haden, Mr. Dean A. Strong, Mrs. Sally Thomas and Mr. Charles R. Tolbert. Officers Present: Carlos Gutierrez. Acting County Executive, Ray B. Jones; Superintendent of Education, T. he meeting was called to order at 4:05 P.M. by the Chairman, Mr. Fisher. Mrs. Jessie Haden, Chairman of the School Board, said before the discussion begins, she would like to make a few comments. The 1983-84 school year started off well despite changes in the State's immunization regulations which necessitated long hours being spent by staff members researching records. Also, some teachers had to be relocated due to some overcrowded conditions which developed. Mrs. Haden also noted that the School Board is involved in a law suit and the Deputy County Attorney, Mr. James Bowling, IV, the School Board's attorney, is party to the suit. Therefore, she would urge the Board of Supervisor members to consult Mr. George St. John, County Attorney, about this matter since he will personally be handling the suit. Mrs. Haden then introduced Dr. Elizabeth Morie, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction. (Mrs. Cooke arrived at 4:07 P.M.) Dr. Morie said Mr. Richard Glowinski, Director of Vocational Education, and Mr. Ray Clark, Director of Special Education, will make presentation~ at this time. Mr. Richard Glowinski distributed a report entitled "Albemarle County Public Schools-- An Overview of Vocational Education" dated October 5, 1983, which will be the subject of his presentation (Copy of this report is on file in the Clerk's Office.). Mr. Glowinski said Albemarle County has vocational programs in agriculture, business, consumer and homemaking, distributive education, health, industrial arts, trade and industrial education. Mr. Glowinski summarized by saying vocational education began with parents passing their skills to their children. The Mcr'ill Act of 1862 was the beginning of vocational education as a recognized segment of the educational process. The Smith Hughes Act of 1917 was the first federal involvement with secondary education. At that time, Congress budgeted seven million dollars to be distributed among the secondary schools and that money is still distributed each year. As the appropriateness of vocational education became more evident, the Vocational Education Act of 1963 supplemented the Smith Hughes ~Qt~and Dro¥ided-financial aid to institute certain vocational programs. In the next federal budget there is proposed for vocational education about seventy-eight million dollars. Mr. Glowinski said the purpose of conducting vocational education classes is to try and meet the. e~conomic and industrial needs of society. This is more important, today than ever before. Mr. Glowinski said vocational programs fall into three general classifications; "Orientation and Exploration", "Consumer and Homemaking", and "Occupational". The "Orientatiol and Exploration" programs are provided in all four middle schools as well as the industrial arts curriculum at both high schools. The industrial arts program is considered exploratory because the purpose of industrial arts is to train or give students experience in a particular area with the realization that additional training will be required after graduation from high school. Exploratory classes in agriculture, business, consumer and homemaking, and industrial arts are provided for all sixth, seventh and eighth graders. The programs are designed to familiarize the students with careers, programs of studies and skills necessary to be successful in these areas. The intent is for students to identify an interest and aptitude in these areas so their decisions can be well-rounded before entering high school. The second classification is "Consumer and Homemaking" which has been retit!ed this year as Contemporary Living. The reason is that students were stigmatized by the previous title and the curriculum has been changed to reflect what is actually happening in society today. One item in particular is called Independent Living which is a course primarily for seniors. The idea of this course is to provide assistance to students for the transition from living at home to living on their own. The third classification, "Occupational", has the most impact on the community and is a diverse and intensive program. The idea of this program is to provide students entering the work world with an entry level skill and proper attitudinal behaviors necessary to maintain that job. Mr. Glowinski said the general classification of programs such as business and agriculture are based at the high schools. The more intensive classes such as electronics and nursing are offered at the Charlottesville-Albemarle Technical Education Center and Albemarle County students participate in sixty-four percent of the programs at the Tech Center. Mr. Glowinski then discussed funding of the vocational education program. Funds are awarded by the State in two categories, Basic Grant and Categorical. Mr. Glowinski said the Basic Grant fund's are commonly called additional cost funds and are provided on a per pupil basis. This is done to assist school divisions in maintaining vocational teaching positions where enrollments are usually lower than general education classes. Mr. Glowinski said the Categorical funding is provided in seven different categories. This insures that financial support is directed to the school divisions providing those services and activities necessary for building quality vocational programs. The seven categories are extended contracts, travel, local administration and supervision, construction, equipment, special programs and activities, and adult education. Mr. Glowinski noted that part of his salary is paid by federal funds. Mr. Glowinski said Albemarle County is eligible for October 5, 1983 (Afternoon Meeting-Adjourned from September 21, 1983) 385 fifty percent funding of each category, but this is based on the availability of funding. In addition, the locality is expected to provide the necessary operational expenses and support services needed by all facets of education. Mr. Glowinski summarized the operation of the vocational education program and said there are three alternatives. One is the "Block" program which is a two to three hour class. Most of these ctasses are held at the Technical Center. Mr. Glowinski said there is a new format this year for the business course which is only a normal classroom time of fifty-five minutes. In the block program a student must complete a predetermined number of hours in order to be considered able to function within a particular occupation. The second alternative, "Simulation", is basically the Distributive Education program which is a work environment created to provide skill training and experience. Students are able to operate a school store as well as work in a model office in order to receive work experience within an actual business. The last and most popular alternative is "Cooperative Education". The students are given a one hour class in which relevant instruction is received and then are released from school for one-half a day or less to work in a business or industry within the community. The students are paid entry level wages and supervised by their instructor. Mr. Glowinski said that at present there are one hundred and twenty-five students participating in this program. Mr. Glowinski said that as the needs in vocational education, shifts from manual or practical arts training to more advanced technological needs, the offerings in this program need to be examined closely to insure their relevancy. Mr. Glowinski said that students also need to realize that additional training or education will be needed after graduation and employment. Mr. Glowinski said bricklaying is one program that is being examined; it has already been deleted by a lot of school divisions. This program may be replaced by computer assisted design or what is commonly called drafting. Mr. Glowinski said the time is approaching when industries will be looked upon to provide the sophisticated training that is necessary, as well as to community colleges to facilitiate additional training rather than retraining. This approach will require more on the job training. Mr. Glowinski then summarized the areas which need more emphasis. The areas are health services, information processing and management, and child care services. Mr. Glowinski said there is also an increase in adult participation of vocational offerings. Mr. Glowinski concluded by stating that it is expected that there will be more.participation by college bound individuals as job opportunities for technically trained individuals increase. Mr. Glowinski noted that a job forecast for the next five years has been compiled by the Virginia Employment Commission. Local needs will be for such things as assemblers, machinists, welders, clerical, data processing, and registered nurses or other related health services. Mr. Glowinski said a survey of County 8th and 9th graders was conducted in the spring in order to identify programs that should be considered in the future such as health and child care. Mrs. Haden asked the reason for the statement about bricklayers. Mr, Glowinski said that according to statistics it appears that there are enough bricklayers unemployed at this time to do that type of work for the next thirty years. Therefore, it is not fruitful to train more people for that occupation. He said this area needs to be examined regarding its actual need in this community. Mrs. Cooke asked if there is anyway to determine if a student with a particular interest truly has the aptitude to do the desired job. She said her reason for asking'is that according to the survey there were 142 students interested in data processing and She questioned how many are capable of handling that field. Mr. Glowinski said an attempt is made in the middle school exploratory program to provide as much experience as possible in programs so that students who are interested and have the aptitude can select the proper programs when entering high school. He also noted that the Vocational Education Advisory Council has an interest inventory, but he was not sure how this is applied. Mrs. Cooke then asked if there is any type of mechanism used to monitor a student after a course has been completed and the student is in the job market to determine how effective the program has been. Mr. Glowinski said no. There is not enough manpower to have that type of follow-up at this time. He further noted that the only mechanism used at this time is feed-back from the students. Mrs. Cooke said her concern is based on comments heard at a forum of area business people in which she recently participated. There were discussions about various needs of businesses. Some needs mentioned were construction, fast food and retail persons. She said this group did not give the local job market very high marks in basic skills and that is her concern. Many of the people capable of doing "job type jobs" rather than jobs requiring further education are needed immediately upon graduation. She said she would hate to see these people "drop through cracks" because they were not advised of needs at the secondary level. Mrs. Cooke related her personal experience, which was not good, when trying to hire an employee through the home economics department. Mrs. Haden said it is hoped that the vocational education section can develop a better working relationship between businesses in the community and the staff. She felt that if business needs are not being met, then these businesses should so inform the staff. 38'$ October 5, 1983 (Afternoon Meeting-Adjourned fromm September 21, 191 Dr. Morie then introduced Mr. Ray Clark, Director of Special Education. Mr. Clark said there are three areas to address under "Shared Special Education Services". These are special education services for certain handicapped students, the Piedmont Regional Education Program (PREP), and the McIntire Day School which has recently been renamed Ragged Mountain School. Mr. Clark distributed a memo dated October 5, 1983, regarding the services (Copy of this memo is on file in the Clerk's Office.). Mr. Clark then reviewed the shared special education services between the City and County Schools in 1982-83. He noted that there were five trainable mentally retarded City students served in the County at a total cost of $53,671.96. Mr. Clark noted that there were three severely ~andicapped students, one educable mentally retarded student, two hearing impaired students, eight vocational assessment students, and six "Stork Club" County students who were served in the City during 1982-83 at a total cost of $25,379.78. The total cost to the County in 1982-83 for the City students was $28,292.18. Mr. Clark then reviewed the services and projected costs for the 1983-84 school year in which the projected cost to be paid to the County from the City is $48,339.95. Mr. Clark said the sharing of services has resulted in a significant cost savings to both school divisions. Mr. Fisher asked how many students were enrolled in the various programs. Mr. Clark said according to a December 1, 1982, total there were 1,272 children receiving 1,400 services or approximately 13.9 percent of the total student population. Mr. Clark then continued his presentation~by reviewing the Piedmont Regional Education Program (PREP) which is a regional program providing services for preschool handicapped students. Mr. Clark said this program was initiated by the City and County about seven years ago with federal funds. Two years later, four other localities in Planning District l0 became a part of PREP and some federal funding was lost. Therefore, local and state funds were used to supplement the program. Mr. Clark said the program was then expanded to serve the visually impaired, autistic, emotionally disturbed, and to also provide occupational and physical therapy. Mr. Clark said the City School Board is the fiscal agent for the PREP program and the program is governed by a board comprised of a school board member and the superintendent of schools from each locality. Mr. Clark said the County's participation in PREP is montiored very closely because the cost-effectiveness of the program for the County is very slight. He said that virtually all of the students served by PREP are housed in County schools. Mr. Clark said PREP currently has a budget of $516,967.00 of which 91.6 percent is expended for personnel. Revenue is derived as follows: 59 percent local funds; 25 percent State funds; and 16 percent from Federal funds. Local funds from the County for 1983-84 will be $62,485.00. If the County were to assume provision of the services, the County would be eligible for state reimbursement. Mr. Clark summarized services provided for County students by the PREP program such as a preschool classroom for eleven students, and physical therapy for nineteen students. Mr. Clark said a decision must be made by December as to the County's continued participation in the PREP program. Mr. Fisher asked what the~-~ cost would be if the County took over administration of the program. Mr. Clark said the cost would be approximately $100,000 with $30,000 being received from the State. The same~ level of services could be funded at about the same cost. Mr. Fisher asked if that amount included space, utilities and transportation as well as salaries and benefits. Mr. Clark said that includes salaries, benefits and travel. Albemarle County is currently providing the space for this program. Mr. Clark also added that it would be difficult for the program to continue if Albemarle County did not remain a participant. Mr. Clark then reviewed the Ragged Mountain School which has been relocated from McIntire School to Camp Holiday Trails. This change took place just before school began on August 29, 1983. Mr. Clark said this program is for emotionally handicapped students. The program is working much better at Camp Holiday Trails because the environment is better. Mr. Clark also noted that the cost of the lease and operations for the current year totals $8,291.00. The County Executive's staff had informed him that the cost was felt to more reasonable and considerably !ess than had the program remained at McIntire School. Mr. Fisher asked the number of County students at the Ragged Mountain School. Mr. Clark said there are six. Mr. Clark noted that the "Stork Club" at the McIntire School is a program for school- aged parents. Mrs. Haden asked if there were any suggestions for items to be discussed at the next meeting between the Board of Supervisors and the School Board. Mr. Lindstrom said it would be helpful to him to have an overall discussion of curriculum; in particular, the requirements for high school graduation. He is interested in knowing what skills should be present when students go from primary to middle school and the general outline of the curriculum offered to accomplish that expectation. Dr. Morie said. that information could be submitted. Mr. Lindstrom also asked for the basic overall goals for students to graduate. Mrs. Cooke said she was also interested in knowing the general guidelines of what is expected of the vocational education students and specifically what the requirements are for receiving a diploma. Mrs. Sally Thomas said there has been some confusion differentiating between the Ragged Mountain School and the Alternative Education Center which is located in the JeffersOn Annex. She felt the difference should be noted. Mr. Clark said the Center at the JefferS6n Annex is not staffed to handle special education students, but is rather for students who:'~ are socially maladjusted. The Ragged Mountain program is for emotionally disturbed students. Mrs. Haden noted that the Alternative Education Center is also a jointly operated program. October 5,11983 (Afternoon Meeting-Adjourned from September 21, 1983) 387 Mr. Dean Strong noted that the Technical Education Center now has the vocational assessment program which is directed toward~handicapped students. This will be available to all students and adults at a later date. He urged the members of the Board to visit the Tech Center. Mrs. Cooke asked for an explanation of the vocational assessment program. Mr. Strong said it is designed to determine the interest and abilities of students in the vocational program. Mr. Fisher said the statement made by Mr. Glowinski about continuing education after receiving a high school diploma is a very important remark. He feels this aspect needs to be stressed to students because many feel that after high school,'their education is complete. He also noted that he understands high technology occupations will be only short term careers in the future and people need to pursue other occupations. Miss Nash asked how the Private Industry Council will integrate with the vocational program. Mr. Glowinski said it is difficult to know what impact the job training centers will have on public schools. Centers like the Charlottesville-Albemarle Technical Education Center will probably be more involved and meet a lot of needs for the Job Training Partner- ship Act. Dr. Gutierrez said he felt these meetings between the School Board and the Board or Supervisors valuable in developing a long-term cooperative relationship and he asked that these meetings be continued. He agreed that the 1983-84 school year started smoothly but there are a few problems. One particular problem is the timing of the textbook ordering and distribution of same to the schools. Dr. Gutierrez said the SAT scores were recently received and this is the third year that the scores have risen. Dr. Gutierrez said this is significant since over fifty percent of the students took the tests and in many localities in the nation, only six to twenty percent take the test. He felt that since there is a trend toward increased scores, appreciation should be given to the staff and the many fine teachers in the County school system. Dr. Gutierrez also noted that the test scores in Albemarle County were higher than the state and national averages and he feels that is something of which all in this County should be proud. Dr. Gutierrez said he has a great deal of confidence in his cabinent; particularly with the addition of Dr. Morie, Dr. Carole Hastings, who is both the School and General County Government Personnel Director, and Mr. David Papenfuse. He also noted that the presentations by Mr. Glowinski and Mr. Clark show that the staff has excellent people who are not always before the public eye. Dr. Gutierrez said the comments made about people needing retraining throughout their lives also applies to teachers and is a major problem. Retraining teachers to provide children training in new technology is expensive and a problem for the school system, but is a tremendous need. Dr. Gutierrez said there will be an extra effort made this year to improve compensation for the professionals in the school system. A packet of information is being prepared for the School Board and the Board of Supervisors to demonstrate the need for th±s increase. A study on pupil-teacher ratios that will also address the declining enrollment and the need for fewer teachers and administrators will be included in the packet. Dr. Gutierrez said the feeling is that the need for fewer people can be met through the attrition process without any jobs being lost. Dr. Gutierrez then invited the Board members to visit the schools. Mr. Lindstrom asked if the School Board has discussed a merit pay plan. Dr. Gutierrez said there has been a lot of discussion but a unanimous opinion of the member's cannot be reached. He then noted that the school system had the opportunity this year to have a pilot program to work on a merit pay plan. However, the opportunity was rejected because it was felt that the program is too controversial and political in nature. Dr. Gutierrez also noted that school divisions which have tried the pilot program no longer have any merit plans in effect and therefore, the idea presented a very dismal picture. Dr. Gutierrez said he has heard discussions of merit pay within this building described as "putting your wagons into a ring and then shooting at each other". This is the opposite of what is desired because teachers and administrators would then be competing against each other instead of working together. Dr. Gutierrez said he is reluctant to support a merit plan in the absence of an objective evaluation plan. The current evaluation plan is very subjective and open to favoritism. He feels that teaching effectiveness needs to be measured first, and implementing a merit plan at this time without doing that firstwould be asking for trouble. Dr. Gutierrez said the teacher evaluation system is being revised this year and when that is complete, it is the desire to perhaps provide additional money to teachers for additional responsibilities. Mr. Lindstrom felt a joint discussion of that subject would be very helpful. Mr. Fisher said a merit pay plan is a highly political concept, but support for education is also political. He felt gathering support for education is very difficult when all teachers (the best and worst) are being paid the same salary scale. Mr. Armstrong said the current evaluation system is very ineffective and perhaps that is the place to start for some type of proposal. Mr. Armstrong felt there is a need to have an evaluation system containing an elimination process which is currently not available. Mr. Lindstrom felt there is a need for an evaluation system to identify ineffective teachers because the lack of such a system is holding back any reward for the good teachers. Mr. Tolbert felt discussions of how to use a merit pay plan to reward good teachers often changes to a discussion of how to get rid of the bad teachers and he felt the two things should not be confused. He also felt that there is a mechanism to deal with the bad teachers if the evaluation process currently in effect was used well. Mr. Lindstrom felt the two tie together eventually but was interested in knowing what the school system uses for this type of matter; both reward for good teachers and dealing with the bad teachers. 388 October 5, 1983 (Afternoon Meeting-Adjourned from September 21, 1983) Mrs. Thomas said the evaluation system has worked to get rid of teachers and has been used in a way to avoid publicity in the news media. The evaluation system has changed over the last two years and principals now know that they will be supported if they want to remove teachers who are not functioning at a minimum level. Mrs. Haden said she is very supportive of some type of merit plan and felt it should be noted that there are many excellent teachers in the county school system who work hard and they are the ones she would like to see rewarded. Mr. Fisher extended appreciation for the discussion today. Mrs. Haden asked if there will be another joint meeting in the immediate future. Mr. Fisher said yes and said he would discuss that with her at a later date. At 5:30 P.M., motion was offered by Mr. Lindstrom, seconded by Miss Nash, to adjourn into executive session to discuss personnel matters, and legal matters dealing with the Benn Site Plan regarding implications of the Comprehensive Plan on same and the Starks case. Mr. St. John requested that the executive session also include the discussion about the use of property for public purposes. Both accepted that amendment to the motion and second. Roll was called and the motion carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Mrs. Cooke, Messrs. Fisher and Lindstrom and Miss Nash. NAYS: None. ABSENT: Messrs. Butler and HenleY. The Board reconvened into open session at 7:30 P.M. and immediately adjourned.