Linden bus stop, more pandemic-relief funds top School Board agenda

During the work session portion of their meeting, Denisa Scott, who lives on Mountain Lake and has a five-year-old, urged School Board members against approving a bus stop at the forthcoming Sheetz location. Photos by Kim Riley. Video by Mark Williams, Royal Examiner.

Warren County School Board members unanimously approved an online academic learning and remediation site and 15 additional temperature scanners for Warren County Public Schools (WCPS) totaling nearly $70,000 in pandemic-relief funds during their Tuesday, November 17 meeting and work session.

Board members also heard from a concerned citizen about a bus stop on Apple Mountain Road in Linden, Va., that would end up sharing space with a proposed Sheetz gas station and convenience store, which the resident said could be easily used by child sex traffickers, child sex offenders, and illegal drug dealers due to its close proximity to Interstate 66.

During the work session portion of their meeting, Denisa Scott, who lives on Mountain Lake and has a five-year-old, urged School Board members against approving a bus stop at the forthcoming Sheetz location.

“Drug dealers and gas stations are an absolute correlated fact,” Scott said, citing various data from an academic publication and showing headlines from local news outlets during her PowerPoint presentation to the School Board.

Gas stations, among others, also have been shown to be regularly frequented by child sex traffickers and those who commit stranger abductions, Scott said, specifically those that are located near highway interchanges like I-66, which connects with other interstate highways in the state.

Additionally, Scott said a February 2019 study of U.S. gas stations published in the international journal, Science of the Total Environment, found that toxic benzene emissions vented from underground gasoline storage tanks were “sufficiently high to constitute a health concern at a distance of up to 518 feet,” posing more potential problems for children standing at a nearby bus stop.

“These would all be things we would be exposing our children to,” said Scott. “I’m not being dramatic; these are the facts. And I really don’t think you want our children’s body bags on your conscience.”

The School Board members thanked Scott for her presentation but made no comments.

Funding approvals
During its action agenda portion of the meeting, the School Board approved $35,423 to purchase the online IXL Learning site for both high schools and middle schools in Warren County for 18 months, and to award a $33,737 contract to Geek Land USA, LLC for the purchase of 15 additional BIOS03 Multi-Person Walk-through Temperature Scanners. Funding for both will come from the county’s designated portion of federal funds allocated in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

IXL Learning offers personalized skill recommendations based on what each student has been practicing, said WCPS Director of Secondary Instruction Alan Fox, who described IXL’s skills as being aligned with both the Virginia Curriculum Framework and the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs).

IXL Learning offers personalized skill recommendations based on what each student has been practicing, said WCPS Director of Secondary Instruction Alan Fox, who described IXL’s skills as being aligned with both the Virginia Curriculum Framework and the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs).

“IXL’s state standards alignments allow students and teachers to easily find unlimited practice questions specifically tailored to each required standard,” Fox said, adding that the site also meets federal education law requirements for instructional intervention.

For instance, if an SOL question is successfully answered by a student using the program, then the subsequent questions become more difficult, said Fox. And if a student isn’t having success with a particular question, then the program “takes you backward until you can find success,” he said. Teachers at the same time can track a student’s progress and can see how much time a student is spending on a standard, how much practice time is put in, and whether a student is being successful.

“Warren County Middle School has been using this program for some time now,” Fox said, “and I was approached by [Skyline Middle School Principal] Bobby Johnston recently about the program and how we could possibly pay for it.”

WCPS Superintendent Chris Ballenger, who had experience with the program during his employment in Smith County, Va., called IXL “a great remote program” that teachers use with daily instruction, in addition to the SOLs practice because it’s not just for remediation but also “enhances student learning.”

WCPS Superintendent Chris Ballenger, who had experience with the program during his employment in Smith County, Va., called IXL “a great remote program” that teachers use with daily instruction, in addition to the SOLs practice because it’s not just for remediation but also “enhances student learning.”

Fox said WCPS also has spoken with colleagues in Shenandoah County, Va., who “seem to be very pleased with their results.”

All School Board members voted “yea” to purchase the IXL Learning site with Chairman Arnold Williams, Jr., Vice Chairwoman Catherine Bower, and members Kristen Pence, James Wells, and Ralph Rinaldi present.

The board members also voted unanimously to award a $33,737 contract to Geek Land USA for the purchase of 15 additional temperature scanners.

WCPS Director of Special Services Michael Hirsch said the school division already has tried the temperature scanners in various locations. “We feel that it can meet our needs,” he said.

The scanners can track temperatures of multiple people in flowing traffic at a distance of 10 to 15 feet in .7 seconds, said Hirsch, reminding board members that the original scanner purchased was previewed at the School Board’s November 4 meeting. The scanners are particularly useful at door entry points for schools and hospitals, for instance, Hirsch added and can decipher between false positives, such as a hot cup of coffee.

WCPS Director of Special Services Michael Hirsch said the school division already has tried the temperature scanners in various locations. “We feel that it can meet our needs,” he said.

Each BIOS03 Multi-Person Walk-through Temperature Scanner costs $2,499, bringing the estimated amount to $37,485. But Geek Land provided WCPS with a 10-percent educational discount that brings down the total cost to $33,737.

Superintendent Ballenger said the temperature scanners will continue to be used even after the current pandemic is under control and could be useful during flu season.

The School Board also unanimously approved a new fuel oil contract for the school division.

Greg Livesay, WCPS director of maintenance, said the WCPS existing heating fuel oil services contract expired in June 2020 with no renewal options remaining. Staff solicited Invitations for Bid from four regional providers and two responses were received on November 9, with Fannon Petroleum Services being the low bidder at just more than $1.27 per gallon, said Livesay, adding that the estimated annual cost is $39,315.16 per year.

“This initial contract period, like most others, would be for one year with four one-year renewable options when we agree upon the pricing,” Livesay said.

Greg Livesay, WCPS director of maintenance, said the WCPS existing heating fuel oil services contract expired in June 2020 with no renewal options remaining.

Additionally, Livesay said the current contract price is significantly lower compared to prices roughly five years ago, largely due to the COVID-19 school shutdowns, last year’s mild winter, and overall decreased consumption due to some WCPS buildings being converted from fuel oil to gas.

“So, we still have quite a bit of inventory of fuel oil sitting in our tanks this year,” he said.

Watch the entire Warren County School Board meeting on this exclusive Royal Examiner video.