Warren County School Board approves instructor rate for Right Turn Program

Warren County Public Schools Assistant Superintendent for Administration George “Buck” Smith presents the action item to the Warren County School Board during its Wednesday, November 16 meeting. Video and photos by Mark Williams, Royal Examiner.

The Warren County School Board, during its Wednesday, November 16 work session, approved an instructor’s fee for a specific Warren County Public Schools (WCPS) drugs and alcohol education program and established a per-day rate for a certified substitute assistant principal.

School Board Chair Kristen Pence, Vice Chair Ralph Rinaldi, and board members Antoinette Funk, Andrea Lo, and Melanie Salins voted unanimously to approve the rates for both the Right Turn Program instructor and the certified substitute assistant principal position.

Specifically, the board approved adding a $150 per module instructor’s fee for the Right Turn Program, which is designed to educate students and their parents on the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

The Right Turn Program also explores the importance of goal setting and decision making, according to WCPS Assistant Superintendent for Administration George “Buck” Smith, who presented the item to the School Board for action.

“Students who are assigned to this program have received suspensions for drugs or alcohol School Board policy violations,” Smith explained, noting that WCPS previously contracted the service with a third-party vendor that is currently unable to provide it any longer.

“It is now being requested to in-house the instruction for this program and that the previously paid rate per module of $150 be approved for inclusion on the miscellaneous salary scale,” said Smith.

The complete program consists of six modules that are taught once per week — beginning at 6 p.m. at Diversified Minds — to classes of 8-10 students and their parents or guardians. Smith said WCPS had faced challenges with some previous instructors being unable to teach during the allotted time.

Students receive completion certificates that become part of their behavior file. Cohorts of the program run consecutively, he said, adding that the program “goes deeper” than what is covered in a health class, and the instructor facilitates dialogue and conversation related to the modules.

Participation in the Right Turn Program is a requirement when a student violates drugs or alcohol policy, said Smith.

WCPS Superintendent Christopher Ballenger told the School Board that the class has filled up, but no one has taught it. “We need to have a set teacher when we require that the course be taken,” Ballenger said. “It’s not fair to the families when they show up, and there’s no one there to teach the class.”

School Board members (left to right) Kristen Pence, Ralph Rinaldi, Melanie Salins, and Antoinette Funk considered action items during the board’s Wednesday, November 16 meeting. Board member Andrea Lo also attended the meeting, where four action items were considered before starting a work session.

When questioned by board members about instructor qualifications for the program, Smith answered that the instructor could be someone trained in counseling, but the person does not have to be a certified counselor. Nevertheless, he added that WCPS plans to fill the position with someone with a background in counseling.

The School Board also unanimously approved establishing a $275 per day rate for a certified substitute assistant principal.

WCPS Personnel Director Shane Goodwin explained that WCPS has a board-approved established rate for a certified substitute principal set at $350 per day, but no certified substitute assistant principal rate exists for the school division.

“In order to meet the needs of our schools during an interim time period, we ask that the board establish a certified substitute assistant principal rate set at $275 per day,” Goodwin said prior to the board’s 5-0 vote to approve it.

In another action, the School Board approved the $28,465 purchase of Mastery Connect, which WCPS Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Heather Bragg described as the assessment platform that WCPS uses to administer benchmark assessments.

“Mastery Connect is a competency-based learning platform that helps teachers identify students’ levels of understanding, target students for intervention, and inform instruction,” Bragg told board members, who approved WCPS’s purchase of the platform for the 2022-2023 school year.

The last board-approved action item also was presented by Bragg, who asked board members to pass a motion that WCPS accept the Virginia Tiered Systems of Support (VTSS) Grant Award in the amount of $24,000 for 2022-2023 and that WCPS request an increase in appropriations in the instructional category from the Warren County Board of Supervisors.

The VTTS Grant Award provides WCPS with funding to support the implementation of division initiatives related to academic achievement, attendance, positive behavior, and family/community engagement, said Bragg.

VTSS is a collective of organizations funded and led by the Virginia Department of Education to support school divisions with implementing and sustaining data-driven, evidence-based decision-making practices to meet the needs of all students. WCPS has partnered with VTSS and received a yearly grant award for over a decade.

Watch the School Board work session in its entirety in this exclusive Royal Examiner video.