Education

INDEPENDENCE – All seven of Grayson County’s schools were accredited for the 2013-14 school year – though four received warning in at least one subject.

Grayson’s Director of Instruction and Assessment Stephen Cornett provided the school board with an update on the accreditation status during the board’s regular meeting last week.

“All schools are accredited,” Cornett told the board. “Although some are with warning.”

INDEPENDENCE – Students in Grayson County may soon be excluded from extra-curricular activities and offered an alternative lunch if school cafeteria debts are paid up after administrators discussed a growing debt with school board members this month.

Grayson County Public Schools’ Director of Personnel Judy Greear approached the board during its regular meeting this month to discuss what she called a “spiraling problem” over the last few years – debt in the cafeterias.

Galax City Schools are fully accredited this year (2013-2014), according to the Virginia State Department of Education.

In order to achieve accreditation, each school must achieve a passing rate of at least 75 percent in English Standards of Learning (SOL) tests and 70 percent in math, science, history and social science SOLs.

High schools, additionally, must hit an 85 percent mark on the Graduation and Completion Index, meaning that 85 percent of the students must graduate, get a GED or achieve a certification of completion.

INDEPENDENCE – Grayson County will roll out its digital conversion this week, as the pilot program kicks off at four division schools.

Speaking about the new initiative – which will put laptop computers in the hands of students in various grade levels throughout the county – Division Superintendent Kevin Chalfant said everything is moving ahead as planned.