School Board

Virtually learning?

By Linda Fausz on September 17, 2020 School Board, Schools

There was no wearing of new outfits and carrying a backpack full of school supplies, no running to the bus stop, no tears from parents waving their sons and daughters off to their first day of school, and no face-to-face greetings to friends and teachers they hadn’t seen all summer. The 2020-21 school year is the year of the pandemic and like many school systems, Chesterfield County Public Schools opened with online classes. More than 58,000 students in 62 schools – 38 elementary schools, 12 middle schools, 11 high schools, and a technical center – signed on to their Chromebooks…

School board approves metrics for reopening schools

By Caleb M Soptelean on August 27, 2020 Chesterfield Government, School Board

Metrics to gauge and allow a phased-in return to in-person learning for students were adopted by the Chesterfield County Public Schools Board during its Aug. 11 meeting. If health data related to COVID-19 keeps improving, all students — or those who want to — could return within a seven-week period, a Project Restart board document states. The metrics would use a seven-day average of coronavirus cases per 100,000 people, the positivity test rate and the rate of hospitalizations. In the document, superintendent Merv Daugherty said, “This is a dynamic plan that will change as guidance does.” Noting Chesterfield is one…

Teachers, parents split on re-opening

By Caleb M Soptelean on July 30, 2020 School Board

Chesterfield votes to go with virtual school opening By a 4-1 vote on July 20, the Chesterfield County Public Schools board decided school instruction will be virtual for the start of the school year on Sept. 8 and 9. The vote could be considered a win for the Chesterfield Education Association, which lobbied for the move. Parents of students, however, came up short as a survey the district conducted showed that 82 percent preferred at least some instruction in a face-to-face setting. Deputy superintendent Thomas Taylor briefed the school board prior to the vote, noting the survey got 13,006 responses…

School reopening options explored

By Caleb M Soptelean on July 15, 2020 School Board, Schools

During a June 23 work session, Chesterfield County Public Schools board members heard about six options for reopening schools on Sept. 8 and 9. The first option – a normal five-day week – can’t be accomplished, deputy superintendent Thomas Taylor said at the virtual meeting. Option 6 involves all-virtual, or online, learning. Even if the school board selects another option – the rest of which involve in-school instruction one to three days a week – parents could still decide for their student to learn online, superintendent Merv Daugherty said. Although the board typically does not have a meeting in July,…

School board moves 2021-22 start to August, delays elementary school boundary adjustment

By Caleb M Soptelean on June 25, 2020 Chesterfield Government, School Board

The June 9 meeting of the Chesterfield County Public Schools board resulted in a 2021-22 calendar with a pre-Labor Day start being unanimously approved. That school year will start Aug. 23-24, 2021. Board chairwoman Debbie Bailey said they were approving the calendar now so that parents can make vacation plans for next year. Midlothian District board member Kathryn Haines said a vote among parents in her district favored a pre-Labor Day start 65-57. The teachers she asked all favored a pre-Labor Day start because they believe it’s better for students, she said. In addition, the board halted the year-round calendar…

Pre-Labor Day start for CCPS in 2021?

By Caleb M Soptelean on May 21, 2020 Chesterfield Government, School Board

Chesterfield County Public Schools is proposing a pre-Labor Day start to the 2021-22 school year. Sharon Pope, CCPS’s chief academic officer, spoke to the school board about the proposal during the board’s May 12 work session. “It seems an odd time to talk now” about the proposal, she said, but noted that school staff is presenting it early to allow more time for preparation. The 2021 pre-Labor Day start includes a first instructional day of Aug. 23. Pope noted that state law requires school districts to give four days off for Labor Day if they start before the holiday, so…

Chesterfield School Board will review budget reduction proposals

By Press release on May 19, 2020 School Board, Schools

The Chesterfield County School Board will review staff proposals to close a $23.3 million funding gap that now exists in the Board’s approved Fiscal Year 2021 operating budget based on reductions in funding recently announced by state and local governments. The school board was scheduled to host a virtual work session on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. to discuss potential reductions to the budget that will support school division operations during the 2021-22 school year. The work session takes place electronically in accordance with the Continuity of County Government Ordinance adopted by the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors on March 25,…

Gifted programs coming to two Bermuda schools

By Caleb M Soptelean on March 26, 2020 School Board

By a 4-1 vote with Matoaca board member Ryan Harter dissenting, the Chesterfield County Public Schools board on March 10 approved an expansion of the Center-Based Gifted Program to Carver and Elizabeth Davis middle schools. Gifted middle school students in the Bermuda District currently attend Matoaca Middle School. The expansion had been put off for two years. Several parents — including Lisa Blevins, Lucas Hill and former board member Carrie Coyner — spoke during public comment in favor of the expansion, although Bermuda resident Melinda Allio and former board member Rob Thompson of Matoaca spoke against it, with Allio asking…

School Board chairperson and Dale District represenative, Debbie Bailey.

Bailey, Heffron to lead school board

By Caleb M Soptelean on January 22, 2020 School Board

The Chesterfield County Public Schools Board has new leadership. Since all five of the board members are new, it was just a matter of who would be voted in by fellow board members. At the board’s Jan. 14 meeting, Matoaca board member Ryan Harter nominated for chairman longtime Chesterfield teacher Debbie Bailey, who represents the Dale District. Her nomination was unanimously approved. For vice chair, Midlothian member Kathryn Haines nominated Clover Hill member Dot Heffron, who was also voted in unanimously. Longtime former board member James Schroeder of Midlothian was remembered. Schroeder was originally appointed in 1994 and then was…

Legionella redux: Two board members grill Health Dept. officials, Coyner apologizes for it

By Caleb M Soptelean on October 15, 2019 Chesterfield Government, School Board

Legionella was a hot topic during last week’s Chesterfield school board meeting, with board members Rob Thompson and Javaid Siddiqi asking pointed questions of two state Department of Health officials. Thirteen county residents have been diagnosed with a disease caused by Legionella bacteria this year, a state Health Department official said, and bacteria was found in cooling towers at five area schools and a number of non-school locations, including Defense Supply Center Richmond, Ice Zone, Johnston-Willis Hospital and Reynolds Metal Co., over the summer. State epidemiologist Lillian Peake and Dr. Alexander Samuel, the county’s acting health director, spoke before the…

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