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Education

  • Grayson school budget short $172K

    INDEPENDENCE – The Grayson County School Board approved its 2013-14 budget on March 11 with a more than $172,000 shortfall on the revenue side.
    Board members will hold a joint budget work session with county supervisors on March 18 to try and close the gap.
    The budget, with revenues totaling $20.7 million, includes a 3 percent raise for all staff and will likely be tweaked in the coming months as the board looks at replacing old vehicles and cost savings associated with an early retirement plan.

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  • Galax Elementary receives $10K grand prize check

    By SHAINA STOCKTON, Staff
    City officials, school faculty, staff and students gathered in the auditorium of Galax Elementary School on March 8 to celebrate the school’s Cooperative Center for Exceptional Children’s victory in the UCT Gives Back Contest.
    Several representatives of United Commercial Travelers, including CEO Joe Hoffman, arrived at the school to present the class with its $10,000 prize.
    The school won the national contest, in which supporters voted for the class’ entry online.

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  • Affordable Care Act unhealthy for schools?

    HILLSVILLE — Even as Carroll County schools struggle with implementation of the Affordable Care Act in the 2014 budget year, they also fear a decrease in the quality of health care coverage over the long term.
    Effects of the new health care law championed by President Barack Obama dominated the March 7 school board budget meeting as Carroll officials discussed how they as a large employer can keep from running afoul of the fines and fees coming down the pike.

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  • Tablet opens world for autistic teen

    HILLSVILLE — Having autism is kind of like being in a foreign country and not speaking the language, but one parent has found that an iPad can help bridge the communication gap.
    Jennifer Dobbs hopes that www.thepuzzlingpiece.com can provide an iPad that son Tyler can use at home, after seeing a benefit from using one in Carroll County Public Schools.
    The website was created by Melissa Winter, a mother of an autistic child who wanted to raise and funds to help children and families affected by autism.

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  • Raises top priority in school budget

    INDEPENDENCE — Raises are the top priority for Grayson County Public Schools Superintendent Kevin Chalfant as the school board begins work on the 2013-14 budget.
    Chalfant, who is going through his first budget season as the division’s head administrator, reiterated at the Feb. 25 work session that he remains committed to increasing pay for the division’s personnel.
    Grayson teachers and support staff have gone more than four years with their pay scales frozen and Chalfant said he had hoped to buy back at least two of those salary steps.

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  • Scholarship named for beloved teacher

    HILLSVILLE — Growing up during the Great Depression, Velma Bowman Horton worked hard to get the dimes and nickels to go school and become an educator.
    As a teacher and guidance counselor, Horton did her utmost — working constantly and tirelessly — to help Carroll County students get they best education they could, too.
    That’s why friends and family believe that the Velma B. Horton Memorial Scholarship is the perfect way to honor the woman who helped countless people during her 40 years in education.

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  • Carroll schools expect tough year ahead

    HILLSVILLE — Population trends in Carroll probably mean decreasing school enrollment and a drop in education funding, school board members learned at their Feb. 12 meeting.
    School board members discussed budget goals and outlook for the upcoming 2013 fiscal year and didn’t find much hope in the numbers.
    Tammy Quesenberry, finances manager and school board clerk, said the “average daily membership” for the schools is expected to decline in future years.

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  • Home school sports bill sacked in Senate

    Landmark News Service and Staff Reports

    RICHMOND – Down goes Tebow.
    The bill, that is.
    Legislation to let home schooled students join public school sports teams was defeated Feb. 14 in the Senate Education and Health Committee, where similar bills have failed in previous years.
    The perennial proposal from Del. Rob Bell (R-Albemarle County) would achieve that by prohibiting public schools from joining an interscholastic governing body, such as the Virginia High School League, that bars home schoolers from public school sports.

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  • GES wins $10,000 for special needs class

    Galax Elementary School has officially won this year’s UCT Gives Back contest. The school’s Cooperative Care Center for Exceptional Children will receive a $10,000 prize, which will be used to buy materials for the students.
    “It has been a whole community event... one of the most uniting things I’ve seen in Galax in a long time,” said GES Assistant Principal Sonia Truitt, noting that an outpouring of support came in from the Galax, Carroll County and Grayson County communities.

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  • Educators react to state's school grading plans

    By SHAINA STOCKTON and CHRISTOPHER BROOKE, Staff
    and Landmark News Service

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