Warren County School Board increases 2020-21 school year meal prices

The Warren County School Board on April 15 unanimously voted to approve an increase in paid school meal prices for the school year 2020-2021.

Breakfast and school lunch prices will increase 10 cents to meet federal law requirements, said Interim Superintendent Melody Sheppard, with the new breakfast price set at $1.35 and the new lunch price is $2.20 for elementary students and $2.30 for middle and high school students.

“This will be the first time the breakfast price has increased since the 2014-2015 school year,” Sheppard said during the board’s regular Wednesday meeting, which was live-streamed from the Warren County Government Building in Front Royal.

All board members were present for the meeting, with School Board member Ralph Rinaldi remotely participating with Chairman Arnold Williams Jr., Vice Chairwoman Catherine Bower, and School Board members Kristen Pence and James Wells.

During her report to the School Board, Sheppard also noted that “at this time, it is too early to predict” when teaching will resume onsite at the actual school buildings, rather than via distance learning.

“Although challenged by the COVID-19 virus, our teachers and principals are reaching out to students and families in new ways,” she said, pointing out that they have checked in with most of their Warren County Public School (WCPS) students through telephone, email and Google Classroom. “Our teachers are providing new instruction and strengthening skills already taught.”

Additionally, Sheppard said that WCPS staff have assessed the number of students who do not have internet connectivity at each of the division’s schools and are providing them with printed learning materials.

Secondary teachers have office hours from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and again from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. each day, she said, with elementary teachers having office hours from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. daily and again from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

“Our teachers are working on delivering critical content to our students to help prepare them for the next school year,” said Sheppard.

Currently, WCPS staff also are planning summer school.

“We are not certain when we will be able to have summer school, but we want to be prepared and ready to move forward,” Sheppard said. “The goal of summer school will be to mitigate the learning slide from the school closure.”

For WCPS seniors, she said the division plans to schedule the graduation ceremony and other celebrations “as soon as we are able to select a date… but at this time with the current information available, we cannot predict when that will happen.”

Sheppard also said WCPS continues to deliver breakfast and lunch to students and last week delivered almost 11,000 meals.

“We are serving meals in a drive-through fashion at E. Wilson Morrison Elementary School, we are delivering meals with our food service van to 6 sites, and we are using our buses to deliver to an additional 15 sites,” said Sheppard. “We added Shenandoah Shores and Shenandoah Commons last week.”

Regarding the WCPS budget for the upcoming school year, Sheppard reported that due to the economy’s slowdown as a result of the pandemic, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has made recommendations for revisions to the state budget.

“We will receive the specific information as it relates to Warren County Public Schools after the General Assembly reconvenes on April 22,” she told School Board members. “The governor has recommended several areas to be suspended in the budget so the General Assembly can come back in the fall when they have a better idea of how the state budget will be impacted as a result of the coronavirus.”

Sheppard said that one of the items on the suspension list is the proposed 2-percent salary increase. “We will have a better idea of where we stand with the budget at the end of next week,” she added.

In other action items, School Board members unanimously adopted a resolution suspending existing School Board policies when they are found to be in conflict with state and federal laws that have been adopted or waived in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

“Many school board policies reflect state and federal laws and regulations, some of which have been waived by actions of the relevant government authority. The waivers of existing laws and regulations are designed to last for a relatively short period of time,” according to the WCPS summary of the resolution. “Thus, it would be impractical, if not impossible, for most school boards, especially those that generally adopt or amend policies after readings at two meetings, to change the policies that they currently have in place quickly enough to implement the legal and regulatory changes that have been made to address the coronavirus.”

School Board members also unanimously approved a request to be made for an additional 180-day extension on the appointment of a WCPS superintendent.

According to the WCPS summary of the action item, Warren County School Board Policy File: CBB – Appointment and Term of the Division Superintendent and Code of Virginia Section 22.1-60 require the School Board to request from the Superintendent of Public Instruction an additional 180 days within which to appoint a superintendent if the board will be unable to make such an appointment within 180 days of the vacancy.

The request for an extension is to be made within 120 days of the vacancy. As the current superintendent vacancy began on January 1, the formal request will need to be made by April 29, according to the summary.

And in order to be in compliance with the state and federal Stay at Home orders, it was decided to postpone the April 4 special meeting, as well as the candidate interviews, until such time as it is once again safe to do so.

“Because of this unavoidable and unanticipated delay, it is possible the Board may not be able to make an appointment by the original 180-day (June 28, 2020) deadline,” the summary says.

“Therefore, it is recommended that the Board take action to formally request an extension of up to 180 days.”

Following the action items on the agenda, School Board members received an overview and update on the WCPS Energy Services Performance Contract it has with Ameresco.

According to WCPS Maintenance Director Greg Livesay, the school district in December 2015 entered into the Ameresco agreement, which included numerous upgrades to WCPS facilities and performance measurements to save utility costs and enhance the operational efficiency of the school buildings.

According to a presentation by Ameresco executives Kevin Fetzer and Richard Ritter, who attended the meeting remotely, the company installed LED lighting, low-flow plumbing fixture retrofits and replacements, upgraded the energy management system, and created an alternate water source for supply to HVAC systems and sports field irrigation at both WCPS high schools, among other upgrades.

According to their project savings summary, the contract upgrades resulted in WCPS receiving $422,664 in cost savings in 2019, along with reduced emissions and additional positive environmental impacts.

The School Board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for May 6.