School Board Maneuvers Collision Course of Issues

Skyline Middle School Principal Bobby Johnston (left) on Wednesday makes his report to the School Board while resident Virginia Cram (center, third row), whose son was attacked at the school, looks on.

The Warren County School Board, on Wednesday, October 4, unanimously approved the hiring of two more special education teachers for Skyline Middle School (SMS) and an additional district-wide maintenance position while continuing efforts to finalize pending classroom video surveillance policy for Warren County Public Schools (WCPS). 

Board Chair Kristen Pence, Board Vice Chair Ralph Rinaldi, and board members Antoinette Funk, Andrea Lo, and Melanie Salins were present during the regular meeting, which lasted almost four hours into the night.

“Data supports the need for two additional special education teachers at Skyline Middle School,” WCPS Director of Personnel Jody Lee told the board members. “These teachers would be used to support students with significant academic and behavioral needs.”

Adding two more special ed teachers also would make the department’s caseloads at SMS more equitable to other caseloads in WCPS, said Lee, noting that the funds for these positions will come from teacher turnover in Special Services and Operations.

Lee also presented the board with the proposal to add another position to the WCPS Maintenance Department, which he said asked for the additional position to help maintain county facilities.  

“We also anticipate two of our current maintenance workers will be retiring in the next two years,” Lee added.

At the same time, Lee said that with the additional maintenance position, WCPS would set up an apprenticeship program for the HVAC technician, who would attend the HVAC certification classes through Laurel Ridge Community College in the evenings and work as a WCPS employee during the day.

“Once this four-year apprenticeship is complete, we would move this HVAC-certified employee to the Grade 12 salary scale with their years of experience,” explained Lee.

In addition to those action items, the School Board also worked on its pending Policy JOAA, which, when finalized, will set forth policy guidelines for classroom video surveillance.

WCPS Assistant Superintendent of Administration George “Buck” Smith provided board members with the draft policy for its first of several readings before members take final action on it.

Specifically, Policy JOAA is being designed to protect the safety and security of WCPS students, employees, and authorized visitors in certain school division classrooms, and the School Board may require video camera surveillance in all or selected classrooms, Smith said. 

Currently, the four-page policy outlines:

1. Type of monitoring
2. Where monitoring can occur
3. Length of time that recordings should be stored
4. Custodian of the video footage
5. When video can be viewed
6. Who can video the review, and when
7. Protection of student identities
8. When Social Services and/or law enforcement may access the video footage
9. Definitions of incident, self-contained special education classroom, and classroom.

Part of the discussion during the first reading included who would have the authority to disseminate and distribute a video if, for instance, a FOIA request to see it was filed. 

The policy currently says that while principals are the custodians of the videos from their buildings, FOIA requests are handled by Smith, according to WCPS Superintendent Christopher Ballenger. Therefore, the Central Office would have the authority to disseminate and distribute a video after consultation with the district’s attorneys, he said.

“As it stands now, when we get those FOIAs, all of those FOIAs we will run through our attorneys because we need to make sure we’re giving what the FOIA is asking for and making sure that we are meeting that FOIA to the fullest extent,” Ballenger said in response to a question posed by board member Lo. 

Resident Jennifer Mulligan (above), who has three children attending WCPS, advocated for cameras in the classrooms during the School Board’s meeting on Wednesday night.

The community participation portion of the School Board’s Wednesday meeting was essentially a continuation of the board’s special meeting held on Tuesday, October 3.

During the public forum on Tuesday, speakers raised concerns about safety issues in the schools; advocated for Ballenger, who has faced criticism from board member Salins; and bemoaned social media attacks and the inappropriate influence of political agendas and national groups on the School Board’s work, among others.

On Wednesday, parents brought up those same topics, as well as some others, including an ongoing call supporting classroom video surveillance, the need for a more cohesive School Board that operates with less political posturing, and more teacher support, particularly those to help prevent bullying; and instituting a 911 policy that would dictate how school administrators respond to emergencies in their buildings.

One contentious exchange occurred when resident Virginia Cram came up to the podium. Her son was recently attacked at SMS and now faces several medical procedures to fix injuries he sustained during that attack. Some residents have called for the principal’s resignation or asked that he be fired for what they say is a mishandling of the situation following the attack.

Cram, who has several times asked the SMS principal, the superintendent, and School Board members to answer questions related to the attack, became enraged after SMS administrators earlier in the meeting presented a report on the middle school that highlighted what’s been happening at SMS, some of the school’s successes and plans, and how staff are addressing student behavioral problems.

“I am offended at this presentation taking place,” Cram told board members. “How dare you. You all should be ashamed. Stop sugar-coating it.”

Board Chair Pence apologized to Cram about SMS and Skyline High School being on the agenda, explaining that they had been placed on the docket many months prior to the Wednesday meeting. “Dr. Ballenger sets up these reports way ahead of time,” Pence said. “It’s an unfortunate timeline, but it wasn’t meant to be disrespectful,” she told Cram.

Ballenger and School Board member Funk also pointed out that they are not permitted to answer specific questions related to school personnel or students because it may be confidential information protected by law. 

In addition to the community participation segment, the reports from each School Board member also ate up a lot of time.

For example, Lo (above) took the opportunity to discuss the results of her research into Salins’ reasoning for calling for a no-confidence vote against Ballenger. Salins last month outlined several reasons supporting such a vote, though none of the other board members would second her motion. On Wednesday, Lo countered or disagreed with each item Salins had brought up against Ballenger and voiced support for the work he has done for WCPS. 

As November elections loom, several of the School Board members acknowledged that the school district still has work to do, but that along with highlighting the problems, they also want to spotlight what’s positive in WCPS. 

“We do face issues to be addressed,” said Lo. “We must build on the positive things, too, or we could lose them.”

“We have to keep children our focus, period, the end,” said Funk. “I’m not making any excuses, but change takes time.”

Pence said that a focus on just the problems can negatively impact staff morale, as well as the decisions of potential employees deciding on whether to work for WCPS. “But we want to hear about them along with the positives,” she added.

Click here to watch the School Board meeting of October 4, 2023.

Citizens Voice Frustration at Special School Board Meeting