Board revisits New Haven/Boston assistant principal positions, academic issues
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Friday, Feb. 3, 2017, 11 a.m. (ADDED video, 11 p.m. Feb. 3) — The Nelson County Board of Education spent part of its working session Thursday discussing the assistant principal positions for the New Haven and Boston schools, and the educational challenges being addressed at the New Haven School.
The plan for the 2017-18 school year is to have a fulltime assistant principal at New Haven, while the Boston School will have a half-time assistant principal.
Tim Hockensmith, left, district chief operating officer, and Tim Wensil, BCD vice president, review slides displaying progress on the Early Learning Center and Thomas Nelson High School construction projects.
Tim Hockensmith, the district’s chief financial officer, told the board the staffing decision wasn’t based on attendance numbers, but on the needs of both schools.
Superintendent Anthony Orr said the schools will be kept informed on the board’s final approval of the staffing plan, which will come at the board’s regular meeting Tuesday, Feb. 21.
Board member David Norman expressed his appreciation for the board’s support in keeping a fulltime assistant principal in place at the New Haven School.
NEW HAVEN DISCUSSION. A review of the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) testing data of the district’s schools led to the board’s discussion of some of the academic challenges identified at the New Haven School.
Ann Marie Williams and Kimberly Brown, the directors of the elementary and secondary schools respectively, reviewed the tests as indicators of how the schools are preparing students for the K-PREP tests later this year.
One program to help provide students with additional academic support after school hours is the Extended School Services program, which focuses.
At the New Haven School, participation in ESS activities has lagged behind other schools in parent involvement and student participation, Williams explained, and administrators are working to try to promote participation in the free ESS programs.
Left, Kimberly Brown, director of the district’s secondary schools, watches as Ann Marie Williams, director of the district’s elementary schools, reviews test data at Thursday’s Nelson County Board of Education work session.
Several board members questioned why ESS programs are not attracting more New Haven parents and students, referring to the free enrichment activities as “no-brainers.”
Board member Rebekah McGuire-Dye told the board she took her daughter to a combined New Haven/Boston math night last year, and the majority of students who attended were from Boston.
McGuire-Dye pointed to a wide range of factors that may be responsible for the lower participation level in the programs.
“I think its the world we live in,” she said. “The reality is that people are selfish and don’t put their children first. They stay home and watch reality TV and not bring their kids to math night.
“If you’re at home and you’re hammered, you can’t drive your kid back to school,” she said. “If you’ve been drinking all day or you’ve been doing drugs, you’re not going to get up and take a shower and take your child to school for extra work.”
Superintendent Anthony Orr said the schools arent’ always aware of the learning barriers students may face.
“Some families have a parent or parents working multiple jobs in order to keep food on the table and clothes in their kids’ closets.”
Meanwhile, the schools continue to push to improve the quality of daily classroom instruction, which will eventually reduce the need for interventions, Williams told the board.
“I think we’re going to see progress, but we’re also going to have barriers that are outside our control,” Orr said.
PAY DAY CHANGE. Pay day for Nelson County Schools employees is likely to change later this year in a plan discussed at Tuesday’s working session.
Finance Director Wanda Parker said the change will improve efficiency of the finance department because some of the reports they generate are based on the calendar month. The district’s monthly pay period runs from the 21st ot the 20th of each month, and paychecks are issued on the 5th of each month.
Moving to a calendar month for the pay period will mean employees will receive their pay 10 days later — on the 15th of the month instead of the 5th.
If the move is approved at the board’s regular meeting on Feb. 21, the change is expected to take place in September in order to allow employees time to change auto-payment dates or other timed payments that may be affected by the change.
To ease the transition, September’s pay will be split, and employees will be issued two separate paychecks 10 days apparent, Parker explained.
On Sept. 5 — the traditional pay date — employees will receive a check totaling approximately one-third of their monthly pay. Ten days later — on the new pay date of Sept. 15 — employees will receive the balance of their monthly pay.
The pay date after September will be the 15th of each month.
In other business, the board:
— reviewed changes to the early kindergarten entrance procedures;
— reviewed the Family Resource Centers / Youth Service Center needs assessments and goals.
— received an update on the Early Learning Center expansion and the new auditorium project at Thomas Nelson High School.
The Early Learning Center is a basically complete, Hockensmith told the board. Only minor change orders remain to be completed.
The new auditorium at Thomas Nelson will have seating installed by May and should be completed by graduation, he said. The auditorium will not be used for graduation Orr explained.
— reviewed the latest offer of technology assistance funding from the School Facilities Construction Commission (SFCC). If the offer is approved at the district’s regular board meeting Feb. 21, the district will agree to match the funding on a dollar-per-dollar basis. The money must be spent on the district’s technology needs.
NEXT UP. The board will meet next at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017, in the board meeting room at Central Office on Wildcat Lane.
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