January 28, 2013

Ruth Taylor

This particular meeting was held in the auditorium at Massaponax High School due to the number of people anticipated to attend.

This meeting was a regular meeting in which the calendar for school year 2013-2014 and the budget for fiscal year 2014 were presented.

Mrs. Amanda Blalock – School Board Chair – Lee Hill District

Dr. James A. Meyer – School Board Assistant Chair – Courtland District

Mr. J. Gilbert Seaux – School Board Member – Berkeley District

Mrs. Dawn Shelley – School Board Member – Chancellor District

Mrs. Linda Wieland – School Board Member – Battlefield District

Mr. Ray Lora – School Board Member – Livingston District

Mr. William M. Blaine, Jr. – School Board Member – Salem District

Dr. S. Scott Baker – Superintendent

Mrs. Carol Flenard – Assistant Superintendent of Instruction

Mrs. LaShahn Gaines – Chief Financial Officer

Initial attendance was approximately 250-300 members of the community.

After a performance by the Fourth Grade Choir from Robert E. Lee Elementary School, Recognitions for County-wide Artwork and Recognition of the FY 2014 Budget Advisory Committee, there were approximately 50-75 members of the community in attendance.

Pledge of Allegiance

Approval of Agenda

Presentation: Use of iPads at Thornburg Middle School to enhance Math Learning

Musical Performance by Fourth Grade Choir from Robert E. Lee Elementary School

Recognition and Superintendent’s Award for Artwork (Certificates presented to students from all of the County Schools)

Recognition and presentation of Certificates to all members of the FY 2014 Budget Advisory Committee

Public Comments

Board Member Comments

Presentation of 2013-2014 Instructional Calendar

Presentation of Superintendent’s FY 2014 Recommended Budget

Approval of Minutes from previous School Board Meeting

Approval of Donations

Review of Board Member’s Committee Appointments and Assignments

Head Start Items – Presentation of Monthly Report from the Director of Head Start

Tentative schedule for February 11th School Board Meeting (which is to include a public hearing on the FY 2014 Budget and School Board Policies)

Closed Meeting to discuss Personnel Matters

Certification of Closed Meeting

Adjournment

Four members of the community expressed their concerns about the proposed racetrack in the Thornburg area. Although each of these speakers mentioned the concerns of the noise from the racetrack causing possible disruption of classroom instruction, their main concerns seemed to be the amount of traffic and noise in their neighborhood. I felt that their concerns would have been better addressed at a Board of Supervisors meeting rather than a School Board meeting.

Three members of the Spotsylvania Education Association spoke

Charlene Dougherty – Reading Specialist at Post Oak Middle School spoke about the buttons that the members of the SEA were wearing. The buttons have a number “4” on them. This is her explanation of the buttons:

What are you for?1. For Community – Strong Quality School System2. For Students – Smaller Class Sizes3. For Education – 21st Century Technology, Safe and

Secure Schools4. For Teachers – Pay Raises, Basic School Supplies,

Quality Teachers The other two members of the SEA that spoke, reiterated

Mrs. Dougherty’s comments

All of the School Board Member’s thank the members of the community for their comments. It is not the practice of the Spotsylvania County School Board to make direct comments or ask questions about the public comments.

Three proposed calendar’s where presented to the School Board

Calendar’s were presented by the Principal of Courthouse Road Elementary, Jennifer Belako; Principal of Battlefield Middle, Sheila Smith; and Principal of Riverbend High, Troy Wright

Several Board members asked questions about each proposed calendar and which on the Committee believed would be the most appropriate

Superintendent Scott Baker presented his recommended budget for FY 2014

Baker stated that he was presenting a budget that he believed was necessary to maintain a quality school system

Baker also stated that his recommended budget may not be necessarily what the School Board wanted to hear, but it what is needed for Spotsylvania County Schools

Each School Board member had multiple questions regarding the proposed FY 2014 Budget

There were no major decisions made at this particular School Board meeting

School Board member’s unanimously agreed to have a work session on February 1, 2013 to discuss the proposed calendar’s for the 2013-14 school year and the proposed budget

This meeting lasted almost 3 hours longer than scheduled; however, the meeting was productive in the presentation of the proposed calendar’s and proposed budget

The School Board approved the 2013-14 school year calendar recommended by the Calendar Committee at the February 11, 2013 meeting

As of the April 8, 2013 Board meeting, the FY 2014 Budget had not yet been approved because the Board of Supervisor’s has not approved their FY 2014 Budget

The presentation on the importance of iPads in Math Instruction was very informative

The performance by the 4th Grade Choir was very entertaining

The recognitions of Artwork and the Budget Committee was very time consuming and caused the meeting to run extremely long

Although I understand the importance of the recognitions, I feel that this part of the meeting took away from the importance of the Calendar and Budget presentations.

“local school boards have been delegated and assume significant decision-making responsibility.”

“Despite state and federal aid, some school districts have greater difficulty supporting education than others do.”

Ornstein, A. C., Levine, D. U., Gutek, G. L., & Vocke, D. E. (2011). Foundations of education. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.