Warren County School Board OKs new transportation slot, Bradd scholarship

The Warren County School Board on Wednesday unanimously approved both a new special transportation route assistant position and the forthcoming Dr. Tripp Bradd Memorial Scholarship, which will be awarded to local high school students in honor of one of the area’s most well-known physicians.

WCPS Personnel Director George “Bucky” Smith asked board members to approve the new Special Transportation Route Assistant position for Warren County Public Schools (WCPS) to meet the significantly increased demand for special transportation services in the school district.

Currently, transportation department staff must attend Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings for students with disabilities; coordinate special transportation routes that also include students experiencing homelessness; and accommodate additional daily changes as they arise, among other functions, Smith explained.

At the same time, transportation staff also has been and will be expected this school year to transport students during the COVID-19 pandemic, including by utilizing social distancing and re-organizing staff, placing even heavier workloads on them.

The new position will include fulfilling those duties, as well as creating transportation plans for students with special needs; building positive relationships with parents and students with special needs; analyzing special needs routes and schedules and making recommendations for changes to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the special transportation program; assisting in the interviewing and hiring recommendations of special transportation drivers and aides; driving a school vehicle as needed, transporting students to and from school; observing safety precautions while loading and discharging students and while the bus is in motion; inspecting equipment and reporting defects to shop foreman or director; completing trip logs, reports, and timesheets; and complying with and supporting school and division regulations and policies, among other tasks, according to Smith.

“This position will greatly assist the department in covering their 11 to 12 hours of operation, which they are currently doing with a staff of three,” Smith told School Board members during their July 1 regular meeting.

Separate from general transportation routes, WCPS special transportation routes go in all different directions, Smith said. For instance, to Stanton, Va., West Virginia, and Manassas, Va., as WCPS works out routes with other school divisions, meeting them halfway to pick up or drop off students from both districts that may be attending the same school program or facility, for example. It’s a complicated system.

“We have had multiple situations over the last year or so where there have been a lot of communication issues between our division and a particular facility,” said Smith. “Just imagine that you have a child with special needs. If that child isn’t on time or doesn’t get home on time, it creates a lot of stress” for both the student, the family, and the district.

And while WCPS has tried during the last five years to get ahead of this situation, Smith said budget constraints have put the school district “two steps behind where we need to be.”

Now, however, the position is more urgently needed as the COVID-19 pandemic could mean that WCPS will be transporting even higher numbers of medically vulnerable and fragile students, he said.

The position also will ensure consistent services for students with special needs and does not create an additional cost as the funds for the position are included within the 2020-21 school year transportation budget, Smith said.

School Board members Arnold Williams, Jr., Catherine Bower, James Wells, Ralph Rinaldi, and Kristen Pence voted unanimously to approve the new position. Advertisements for the position will begin immediately so that the new hire may assist with the demands of the upcoming school year, said Smith.

In the other notable action agenda item, Mr. Smith presented the School Board members with a request from Jan Bradd, wife of local physician Dr. Floyd “Tripp” Bradd III, who died on May 3 following a long illness.

“My family and friends would like to honor a graduating senior student-athlete pursuing a career in the healthcare field,” said Jan Bradd. The Dr. Tripp Bradd Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to one male or female Warren County High School student, and one male or female Skyline High School student, according to Jan Bradd, who said the scholarships will be awarded beginning with the 2021 graduating class. 

On behalf of their family, Jan Bradd in a May 13 letter to the School Board requested that members approve the establishment of a memorial scholarship at both WCPS high schools in her husband’s name.

“My family and friends would like to honor a graduating senior student-athlete pursuing a career in the healthcare field,” wrote Jan Bradd, who lives in Lake Frederick, Va.

The Dr. Tripp Bradd Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to one male or female Warren County High School student, and one male or female Skyline High School student, according to Jan Bradd, who said the scholarships will be awarded beginning with the 2021 graduating class. The amount and the longevity of each scholarship will be determined, she said.

The criteria for winning a scholarship will be that a student must be accepted to a two-year or a four-year college; has plans to go into any healthcare profession, and is a WCPS student-athlete.

During the School Board meeting, Jan Bradd said she and her husband have always loved Warren County and were very involved with WCPS athletics and the school system, from which their four children graduated.

“I know this would make him very happy to honor our students here,” she said.

Dr. Bradd worked in emergency rooms throughout North Carolina before coming to Front Royal in 1984 and joining the Front Royal Family Practice, according to information provided by WCPS Director of Secondary Instruction Alan Fox.

Dr. Bradd then worked at Warren Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Room for two years. Because the doctor missed family medicine, he then opened Skyline Family Practice in 1994.

Since 1986, Dr. Bradd was the team physician on the sidelines for the football teams at both Warren County High School and Skyline High School. He was the original coordinator of the county-wide athletic sports physicals.

In his personal life, Dr. Bradd was an athlete and swam the Chesapeake Bay Swim and the Potomac River Swims for many years and also competed in multiple triathlons.

The School Board voted unanimously to accept the scholarship.

“This dedication is phenomenal,” said School Board Vice Chairwoman Catherine Bower. “We went to a lot of football games and always saw [Dr. Bradd] there.”

School Board member James Wells, a former colleague of Dr. Bradd at Warren Memorial, wrote a statement that he read to Jan Bradd expressing his admiration for her husband, whom Wells called “a man of integrity” who was especially supportive of WCPS.

Dr. Bradd was instrumental in assisting WCPS in addressing and creating concussion protocols and testing, Wells said, noting that the doctor’s volunteerism and support of WCPS also helped earn him induction into the Warren County High School Hall of Fame.

Donations to the scholarship fund may be sent to Mrs. Tripp Bradd, 127 Cabbage White Dr., Lake Frederick, VA, 22630.

Wells motioned to accept the scholarship request, which was seconded by Bower and then unanimously approved by the board.

In other action on Wednesday night, School Board members also unanimously approved the $45,348 purchase by WCPS of 60 Dell personal computers for staff and student use.

“These computers were bid through a state contract,” WCPS Technology Director Timothy Grant said. “The funding for these computers will come out of the WCPS technology budget,” which includes funds from a state technology grant.

The Warren County School Board also unanimously voted to approve participation by Ressie Jeffries Elementary School in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), a non-pricing meal service option for schools and school districts in low-income areas. CEP participation means all students who attend Ressie Jeffries Elementary School are eligible to receive breakfast and lunch at no charge.

The Virginia Department of Education first identified Ressie Jeffries Elementary School as CEP eligible and approved Ressie Jeffries to receive the federal funds to cover the program for a four-year cycle, according to WCPS Assistant Superintendent Melody Sheppard.

Additionally, School Board members unanimously approved another contract for the A.S. Rhodes Elementary School renovation project, this one totaling $310,100 and awarded to Lantz Construction of Winchester Inc., which will provide and install windows, marker boards, tack boards, and roller shades at the school.

During his first report to the School Board, WCPS Superintendent Chris Ballenger — who started his first day on the job yesterday — said that virtual summer school begins on Monday, July 6 for elementary and middle school students. He noted that high school summer school already is underway.

Kindergarten in-person registration also starts on July 6 at the elementary schools and “will capture a lot of those parents who may have been a little reluctant to utilize the [new] online format” or who prefer face-to-face interaction, Ballenger said, adding that he’s going to take the opportunity to visit those schools to meet staff and parents next week.

Athletic conditioning for fall sports also will begin on July 6, he said.

“Moving forward,” said Ballenger, “there are some things in process” that WCPS central office staff will continue to work on, a likely reference to the forthcoming plan for holding school this fall during the pandemic.

To watch the entire Warren County School Board July 1 meeting, click on the Royal Examiner link below.