School Board updated on required student vaccinations; OKs specific salary increases, van purchases, CTE funding uses

Requests by Warren County Public Schools (WCPS) to increase hourly pay rates for extended school year positions, purchase two vehicles, and approve the 2021-2022 local Perkins Career and Technical Education Plan received approval from the Warren County School Board during its Wednesday, April 21 meeting, and received a state update on required immunizations during the work session portion of its meeting.

The first action agenda item for the School Board was a request by WCPS to increase the hourly pay rates for extended school year (ESY) positions, which provide services to qualified WCPS students throughout the county, most often held during summer school, but also during evening classes or courses held during school breaks, said WCPS Director of Special Services Michael Hirsch.

This year’s short summer break has accented the need to recruit qualified staff, Hirsch said, and it has been increasingly difficult to secure staff. He recommended that the board increase the hourly pay rates for the ESY administrator from $35 per hour to $45 per hour; the speech pathologist and physical and occupational specialists from $35 to $45 per hour; the ESY teachers from $25 an hour to $35 per hour; the Summer School and the ESY school nurse from $25 to $35 per hour; and the ESY instructional assistants from $10 to $15 per hour.

Such increases, he said, would keep WCPS competitive with surrounding school districts, other service providers in the area, and with the school division’s own summer school program.

Following a motion by School Board member James Wells and a second by board Vice Chairwoman Catherine Bower, members voted to approve the request with School Board Chairman Arnold Williams Jr. and board members Bower, Wells, Ralph Rinaldi, and Kristen Pence voting yea.

The second action agenda item considered by the School Board was the 2021-2022 Local Plan for Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) Funds, which allow WCPS to support CTE programs. WCPS Career and Technical Education Principal Jane Baker presented the board with a draft of what WCPS would use the federal funds for because the exact funding amount to be allotted hasn’t yet been released. “What you see is written with the $96,000 plus amount that came to Warren County for the 2021 school year,” Baker explained.

Some of the CTE funding uses for WCPS include professional development for CTE teachers; activities for special populations, such as program visits; and regional program participation, including 50 percent of the salary for a Career Coach to provide information on post-secondary education and career options, as well as lease fees for welding tanks, and increasing student awareness of post-secondary opportunities through participation in a regional consortium partnership, among others, according to the draft plan.

Baker also drew the board’s attention to the plan’s performance assessment, which she said are the standards by which all school districts are judged and include required CTE programming benchmarks. WCPS has met these standards, she said.

Following a motion by Wells that the School Board accept the plan as presented, with the knowledge that amendments will occur as information becomes available, and a second by Pence, the request was unanimously approved.

The last action agenda item receiving unanimous School Board approval was a WCPS request to purchase two used Dodge Caravans from G&M Auto Sales in Front Royal, Va., that will be used primarily for student transport in and out of Warren County.

WCPS Transportation Director Aaron Mitchell said that WCPS seeks to maintain a quality vehicle fleet that is safe. WCPS plans to trade in four vehicles for the two Caravans, he said.

Work session highlights
During the work session portion of the School Board’s Wednesday night meeting, Hirsch provided an update on the state’s required immunizations for students based on changes approved earlier this month by the Virginia General Assembly, which amended the minimum vaccination requirements for all public and private elementary, middle, and secondary school students in the state. This also includes childcare centers, nursery schools, family-home daycare sites, and developmental centers, said Hirsch.

“We wanted to get information out as fast as possible to the families and citizens of Warren County, so that’s [the reason for] the quick informational session here,” Hirsch told board members. “We also posted the information on our websites.” Photos/video by Mike McCool, Royal Examiner.

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Hirsch said that it’s more important than ever to be immunizing children for different illnesses. “Immunizations are required for enrollment in school, regardless of whether classes are in-person or virtual,” he said.

For example, in highlighting the immunization changes for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year that go into effect on July 1, Hirsch said all incoming kindergarteners must receive two doses of the hepatitis A vaccine. A meningococcal vaccine is now also required for rising 7th-grade and 12th-grade students.

Additionally, there is a new optional Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine listed for rising 7th graders that parents may decline.

Hirsch said WCPS is working with the health department and local clinics to set up vaccination sites in the schools sometime this spring and summer.

Board vice-chair Bower said she thinks students are required to get too many vaccines already, “but that’s just my personal opinion,” she said.

Hirsch noted that if a vaccine goes against the religious convictions of a person or family, then they may receive a vaccine exemption.

In other work session business, WCPS Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Melody Sheppard provided a second reading and further discussion on the Virginia School Board Association’s School Board Policy updates. The first reading of the proposed changes was during the board’s April 7 meeting. Final approval of the changes is scheduled for the School Board’s May 5 meeting.

WCPS Superintendent Christopher Ballenger provided board members with an update on the secondary class schedules for the 2021-2022 school year, as well as testing schedules for elementary and middle schools.

For example, regarding secondary class schedules, Ballenger and Sheppard reported that a recently conducted survey of 90 teachers concluded that 36.7 percent think a 4×4 block schedule would be most beneficial for WCPS students; 33.3 percent opted for an A/B alternating block schedule; 16.7 percent chose a modified 4×4 block schedule with designated blocks split into year-long classes, and 13.3 percent think a 7-period day would be most beneficial for students.

Conversely, a survey of 290 students, representing about 20 percent of all WCPS high schoolers, found that 44.8 percent of them opted for a 4×4 block; 23 percent of students chose a modified 4×4 block; about 18 percent are interested in a 7-period day, and nearly 14 percent chose an A/B alternating block schedule.

Sheppard said WCPS central office staff plans to meet soon with administrative staff at the schools to work out the high school scheduling plan as soon as possible.

Watch the Royal Examiner video of the entire School Board meeting below.