School Board Meeting Updates

May 6, 2008
 

• NOTICE: School Board meetings will be moving to Powhatan High School in July and will be held the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. See the Calendar of Events page for specific dates.
• A moment of silence was held in memory of Wanda Hagy, a long time employee of Powhatan County Schools. Mr. Danny Emory, a Powhatan resident, and his daughter, donated a picnic table for use by the central office in the name of Wanda Hagy. The table was inscribed “In memory of Wanda Hagy.”
• D. Jones requested that the Board review a revised version of public comment to the proposed Virginia Special Education Regulations. The board unanimously approved the revised version and D. Jones will present the Board's statement at Clover Hill High School on May 27, 2008, during a public meeting hosted by the Virginia Department of Education. The proposed comment can be viewed on the Board Meeting Info page.
• The Superintendent presented the Board with information gathered regarding possible grading scale changes.  This information can be found on the Board Meeting Info page for the May 6^th meeting.  The school board will vote on the grading scale matter at the June school board meeting.

Powhatan Today’s editor, Roslyn McNally, contacted me to ask my opinion about changing the grading scales.  I have reviewed all of the information provided to me and talked to dozens of community members who have contacted me to share their views.  I am appreciative of all of the input and will continue to review any new information received prior to casting my vote at the June Board meeting.

Below are the responses provided to Powhatan Today: 

1.               Are you in favor of changing the grading scale and, if yes, what type of scale do you favor changing it to?

I am in favor of changing the grading scale and support an 8 point spread between each grading level.

2.               What might be one concern you would have about changing/not changing the scale?

I have heard the concerns about changing the grading scale as lowering standards or expectations.  Expectations and standards are not developed based upon a grading scale.  They are an identified set of skills or base of knowledge that every child must learn and grades then reflect the quantity of the material that has been mastered.  Students will still have to master the skills and knowledge necessary to pass the required Standards of Learning assessments. 

I do believe that our grading scale puts our students at a disadvantage in terms of scholarship and college entrance opportunities as most institutions look at the grade and not the scale from which it was derived.  This would not lower the overall expectations of the school division.  I will be looking for ongoing increases in PSAT and SAT scores, increased enrollments in post-secondary opportunities in whatever form they take, ongoing SOL achievement, and so forth.  We want children to be successful, to want to pursue post-secondary enrollments, and to become independent citizens with a reasonable or better quality of life.

·         D. Jones asked that the Board consider moving the closed session portion of the regularly scheduled Board meetings to before the start of the public meeting.  R. Gideons suggested that the Board consider an alternate day and time for the meetings or consider the use of a Disciplinary Committee.  The Board is expected to take up this matter sometime this summer.

Whenever the people are well-informed,
they can be trusted with their own government.
-Thomas Jefferson (1789)