Author: Charlottesville Tomorrow

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors last week adopted a tax rate of 79.9 cents per $100 of assessed real estate value—a 3.3-cent increase over the previous rate of 76.6 cents—but even with the hike, the county schools are $3.9 million short of their $164.3 million funding request.

During a work session last week, the Albemarle County School Board voted to increase class size averages, reduce the salary increases it had budgeted for staff, and cut discretionary funds for all schools and departments by 5 percent. The votes taken last week were not final, and the board has until April 24 to adopt a budget.

The board voted 4-3 in favor of increasing class size averages by 0.2 students. Eric Strucko, Jason Buyaki, and Ned Gallaway voted against the motion. Albemarle Spokesman Phil Giaramita said the increase would impact between eight and nine full-time equivalent positions, but that it is unlikely any individuals would be let go immediately. “It’s more likely to impact a teacher who would go from full- to part-time,” Giaramita said. However, Giaramita added, 77 teachers have already received Reduction in Force letters, and some of those might not be called back in this summer. Historically, the division distributes about 80 RIF letters per year. As enrollment numbers firm up over the summer, most of those teachers are given contracts.

The board also voted unanimously to reduce the 2 percent raise it had budgeted for staff to 1 percent, which saves $1.1 million. Additionally, the board voted 4-3 to cut discretionary budgets for all schools and departments by 5 percent. Pam Moynihan, Kate Acuff, and Steve Koleszar voted against the motion.

Other reductions included initiatives like interpretation services, a move to paperless evaluations, and restorations to the learning resources, professional development, and athletics budgets. The board also voted to remove $289,754 for the Bright Stars pre-K program from its budget.

Another $125,000 earmarked for lab renovations for Western Albemarle High School’s new Environmental Sciences Academy survived the chopping block, as did $137,132 and two full-time equivalents to grow the world languages pilot at Cale Elementary School. The school board will meet next on April 24.

Albemarle High School to offer artistic focus

Albemarle High School will soon offer its students a new way to organize some of their courses. Beginning this fall, what school officials are calling a Fine Arts Pathway will allow incoming freshman and rising sophomores the opportunity to focus their high school electives in the fine and performing arts.

Within the pathway, students can choose from eight strands, or areas of focus: art, ceramics, photography, band, orchestra, chorus, creative writing, and theater. Each strand is composed of five traditional classroom courses, but the program will also require students to take their passions outside of the school building.

In 10th grade, students will complete 10 hours of a community learning experience, where they shadow someone in a career that relates to their focus. Albemarle is hoping these community learning projects lead to the internships students will have to complete in 11th grade. Additionally, students will have to present a 12th grade capstone project that wraps up their four years in the program.

Albemarle is estimating that next year, about 75 students will participate in the program, which will only be available to Albemarle High School students. Principal Jay Thomas said he’s shared the model with the other high schools. “I’m trying to get away from the ‘One school has this, and one has that’ idea,” he said.

Thomas said the variety of academies now being offered, and the quality of the fine and performing arts program at AHS sparked the idea. Students who simply want to take one of the courses, but not pursue the entire pathway are welcome too.

MEET YOUR EDUCATOR

David Glover, English Teacher, Monticello High School

What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

Time management and learning how to prioritize. Finding enough time during the day to complete every to-do list and agenda item is a constant battle.

What’s the most common misconception about your job?

That the majority of my day is spent delivering content. Teaching involves dozens of jobs. My role can change from minute to minute each day.

Where do you see the teaching field in five years?

Digital resources will replace textbooks and social media will continue to break down the barriers of traditional classroom walls. I imagine scenarios where teachers will be able to provide virtual tours for their students using virtual reality headsets, and the majority of all K-12 students will have access to inexpensive connected devices. We’re living in a truly amazing time.

What outside experience prepared you best to become a teacher?

When I’m not teaching English, T.V. production, and digital music, I’m at home writing lyrics, working on my videography portfolio, and recording music in a home studio. I teach what I love. I think that is vital for any educator.

Our education reporting appears thanks to a partnership with Charlottesville Tomorrow.

The funding future for an “intergenerational learning center” at Yancey Elementary is unclear after the Albemarle School Board met last week. “We need to define what the programming for an intergenerational center is to get a better vision of where we take this,” school board chair Ned Galloway said.

Dr. Bernard Hairston, the Yancey Advisory Workgroup’s liaison between the school board and the Board of Supervisors, presented a recommendation that the school board fund an estimated $40,000 for a director of the future center.

School board member Pam Moynihan was uncertain how the school division could find extra funding with this year’s budget likely facing a deficit of over $2.5 million. She suggested the center’s funding may come from the Board of Supervisors in the future.

“Because the center happens to be in a school does not make it our budget responsibility,” Moynihan said.

Hairston said that what’s most important at this point is for the advisory group to have clear and consistent support from the school board to continue developing plans for the Yancey center. Moynihan and the rest of the board agreed.

“We are happy to endorse the project and allow the group to move forward with the charter,” said Moynihan. Yancey will host a community expo at 5pm on Wednesday, April 16 for organizations providing programming at the school.

Charlottesville Schools undecided on start time

The Charlottesville School Board wasn’t sold on the latest school day scenario presented last week. The proposal, in which all students would have begun school after 8am, was the fifth scenario the board has reviewed during its month-long consideration of the start of the school day.

The board ultimately rejected the plan because it would have forced Charlottesville High School to dismiss its students at 4:15pm, which school officials said is too late, citing afternoon traffic and after-school activities as obstacles.

Some board members said they supported scenario two, which would see the elementary day run from 8am to 2:30pm, the middle school day from 8:30am to 3:15pm, and the high school day from 9:05am to 3:45pm. The school board expects to vote on this issue in May.

Educators stress entrepreneurial thinking during Tom Tom

Last weekend’s Tom Tom Founders Festival offered local teachers, students, and administrators the chance to publicly discuss a new push in education: fostering an entrepreneurial mindset in schools.

In a panel discussion at The Haven on Saturday, Ira Socol, Albemarle’s design program manager, said one way of innovating is to arrange content around student interests and give them choices. While a teacher would continue choosing the books a class might read, Socol said, he or she would stop expecting all students to express their learning in the same way.

Charlottesville High School physics teacher Matt Shields said he no longer thinks it’s his job to “send out knowledge,” but to help students navigate, and make sense of, the “deluge of information that they live in.”

The panelists agreed that the emphasis on standardized test scores isn’t promoting innovation. “It’s pretty explicit to the kids that the reason they’re here is to take a standardized test,” Shields said. “It’s good that schools in Charlottesville and around the country are trying to figure out another way to do this.”

Eric Siegel, the director and chief content cfficer at the New York Hall of Science, said going forward, educators could help reinforce the notion that great innovations aren’t plucked from thin air. “New ideas come from the periphery of where old endeavors were,” Siegel said. “The exemplar of entrepreneurial thinking is looking at the resources around you…and understanding what’s already been done.”

MEET YOUR EDUCATOR: Joan Ackroyd, Librarian, Monticello High School

What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

Providing equity of access for all students. While many of our students bring their own devices to school, we have far too many students whose families cannot afford the luxury of mobile technology or even Internet access at home. Until we can become a 1:1 school for all grades, an almost daily challenge is either working late to give students computer access after school or loaning out used laptops for students to successfully work on projects at home.

What’s the most common misconception about your job?

That librarians sit around and read books all day long. If only! The popularity of our Library Learning Commons translates into spending every minute helping students and teachers with research, book selection and [entrepreneurial] activities.

What outside experience prepared you best for your position?

It may seem strange, but the outside experience that prepared me best for my job is being a mom. My own children have taught me patience, kindness and how much fun learning can be.

Albemarle County Public Schools parents and teachers spoke out in support of the school board’s $164.3 million funding request last week before the Albemarle Board of Supervisors. The division is $5.8 million short of what the school board says it needs.

Cale Elementary principal Lisa Jones said failing to fully fund the schools could put innovative programming like early Spanish instruction at risk. Anne Geraty, who teaches at Meriwether Lewis Elementary, also advocated for full funding, and warned against upping class sizes to save money—a move the division is considering to save money.

“It boils down to teachers who are, child by child, building relationships,” Geraty said. “That is simply not possible with large class sizes.”

Not all were in favor of funding the schools’ request in full. County resident Robert Hogue said the county should make cuts, arguing that neighboring localities envy Albemarle’s pay rates.

The School Board is expected to adopt a budget, based upon input from the Board of Supervisors, in April.

The Charlottesville City School Board last week adopted its funding request of $73.2 million—about a four percent jump from last year’s overall budget. The Board hopes $45.8 million of that will come from City Council, which represents about a $1.7 million increase from last year’s ask. The budget proposes a net increase of 5.44 new full-time employees. About one percent of the budget—approximately $500,000—is for new initiatives.

The most significant of those revamps professional development by relocating curriculum and teaching specialists from central office to the schools. The move, which comes with a $93,000 price tag, would cut 6.8 administrative coordinators and add 10 instructional coaches who would work with teachers across the division.

Charlottesville High School teacher Margaret Thornton said the structural change could lead to a lack of continuity. Her own research on the coaching model showed most coaches had 20 to 30 teachers under their purview.

“At CHS, if you assigned two coaches to this school of one-hundred ninety-something teachers, we’d have almost 100 teachers to a coordinator,” Thornton said, “and I think it would become very difficult to have that continuity between grade levels, and we certainly wouldn’t have that continuity between schools.”

School Board member Jennifer McKeever—the budget’s only ‘no’ vote on the professional development move—also expressed concern about the change.

“If we could have everything we want, we could have both,” Superintendent Rosa Atkins said. “But the reality is that the funds and resources we have today don’t allow us to do both.” Charlottesville presented their funding request to City Council on Monday, March 3. City Council is expected to adopt a finalized budget in April.

CHS students stay active during class

Students at Charlottesville High School are walking on treadmills, pedaling small exercise bikes, and sitting on yoga balls while completing coursework. The equipment, awarded to marketing teacher Megan Maynard’s classroom by a grant from the school’s PTO, is aimed at promoting health inside the school day. “It can help with cognition, it can help with focus and concentration, not to mention students who are active learners and like to be moving,” Maynard said.

Eleventh grader Tianna Washington is one of those students. “I like having the pedals because we sit down all day,” Washington said. Eleventh grader Alejandra Cole said she likes using the equipment in class, but also comes to Maynard’s room during lunch. “It’s fun because of the different things you can do,” Cole said. “You’re basically working out when you’re in class.”

Maynard said adults nag youth for only playing video games, but when given opportunities, students jump at chances to be active. “They’ve asked important questions like ‘How many calories have I burned?’ and ‘What does it means that my heart rate is a certain level?’” Maynard said. “Important questions for health.”

MEET YOUR EDUCATOR: Nikki Franklin, Kindergarten teacher, Jackson Via Elementary School

What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

My most amazing task is meeting standards (local/state/federal), while still maintaining high expectations, cultivating a nurturing yet individualized classroom and helping students develop a lifelong love of learning.

What’s the most common misconception about your job?

To the casual observer this may seem like an effortless job. Yet, I analyze student performance and address specific learning needs daily, hourly, and minute-to-minute.  My decisions directly impact students’ preparedness for future learning experiences.  I serve as a role model, mediator, tutor, cheerleader and sometimes counselor.  I enjoy my job, so difficulties aren’t always apparent.  Few recognize the finely honed skills that are required in the classroom.

Where do you see the teaching field in five years?

The outlook is positive.  As long as all dialog is focused on student success, the future of education is secure.

What outside experience prepared you best to become a teacher?

I’ve been a teacher since I was a young girl.  As the eldest, my performance was the household benchmark.  I helped siblings meet performance goals as their “Big Sister.”  I helped with homework, re-taught skills that I had mastered and provided encouragement.  The challenge was to ensure my siblings’ academic success. Being a “Big Sister” prepared me for teaching.

Our education beat coverage appears thanks to a partnership with Charlottesville Tomorrow.

Legislation to change the state’s funding formula for Charlottesville and Albemarle’s education budgets has failed in Richmond.

Known locally as the “Bell Amendment,” for local sponsor and Albemarle Republican Delegate Rob Bell, the budget amendment would have taken into account the two communities’ 1982 revenue sharing agreement when calculating each locality’s ability to pay for schools. If passed, the legislation would have transferred $3 million from Charlottesville City Schools to Albemarle County Public Schools. This is the third time the budget amendment has failed.

The revenue sharing agreement is a contract between the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County that prohibits Charlottesville from annexing parts of Albemarle in exchange for yearly payments from the county to the city. This year, Albemarle sent Charlottesville nearly $17 million. As it stands, the state’s funding formula for public schools is blind to the transfer, so in the state’s eyes, the county appears to have more revenue, and the city less.

“Charlottesville City Schools are very happy the Bell Bill did not move forward,” said Charlottesville School Board Chair Juandiego Wade. It would have been difficult to find an additional $3 million dollars of cuts in our budget. CCS will continue to work with ACPS to collaborate where we can.”

“While the School Board is disappointed an item we supported failed to move forward,” Albemarle School Board Chair Ned Gallaway said, “we remain very encouraged by the progress of several other items we prioritized, such as SOL reform and opposition to A-F grading of school divisions.”

Charlottesville schools dial in on funding request

The Charlottesville City School Board last week decided to plan for a total operating budget of about $73.7 million—a nearly $3 million jump from last years’ budget. During the work session, the Board trimmed $369,000 from staff’s proposal by identifying cuts and new revenues. The Board plans to ask City Council for about $45.8 million in local support, school officials said.

Charlottesville is expecting an additional $192,000 from the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI). Due to the federal sequestration program last year, Charlottesville absorbed about $500,000 in cuts to its Title I and other preschool funding. But Charlottesville invested more local money in preschool last year, and is now eligible for matching funds from VPI. The board also said it’s saving an additional $191,000 by opting to keep kindergarten and first grade class sizes at Greenbrier and Burnley-Moran elementary schools at their current levels.

CATEC Board undecided on strategic plan

The Charlottesville Albemarle Technical Education Center Board left last week’s strategic plan update with as many questions as answers.

As proposed, CATEC’s strategic plan redesigns the school over the next three to four years into a set of five institutes based on local job demand. The institutes, which would more closely align CATEC with PVCC, include skilled trades, early childhood education, healthcare, and manufacturing and information technology.

But Albemarle School Board member Pam Moynihan questioned whether or not students will be interested in the institutes. Tom Smith, a former Fluvanna County Public Schools superintendent and one of the consultants mapping CATEC’s future, said students will come if they are presented with a clear path to a job. Grant Tate, another consultant, said CATEC’s current inability to attract new students is an image problem. The CATEC Board is expected to make a final decision at its March meeting.

MEET YOUR EDUCATOR: Trudy Carter, Front Office, Greenbrier Elementary School

How do you support student learning from outside the classroom?

When students first enter the office, I try to give them a good start to the day by giving them a friendly smile and a warm welcome. People, including students, associate the school office with getting in trouble, so I want to show students that they are welcome in the office and that if they need assistance or need to talk to someone, that I’m there to give them support. Teaching a child how to communicate their thoughts and needs is very important, and so is teaching them who to trust in a time of need. Also when teachers send students to the office for copies, for the clinic, or for a behavior issue, we teach the students to be patient and wait their turn. I try to set an example of how to treat people, and I encourage students to be the best they can be and to demonstrate a positive attitude. When they bring things to me in the office, I thank them, and before they leave the office, I wish them a great day!

What’s the most common misconception about your job?

In my opinion, people think my job consists of answering the telephone, doing general office tasks, and greeting the students, staff, and general public. All this is true, but my job is also the center of all the actions that transpire in the building. There are parts of my job that some people won’t see, such as keeping time or keeping the books. And there are other jobs that come up. For instance, when the nurse is out helping students and teachers in the building, then I become the assistant to the nurse.

What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?

Multi-tasking! It’s very challenging to be perceptive and efficient while juggling many tasks at one time, such as answering the telephone or emails; responding to the P.A. system; greeting visitors; answering questions for staff, students, and the general public; putting up mail; doing bookkeeping and other tasks that come up. Collaborating with others on these many tasks in a timely manner is challenging.

Why did you choose to perform your job in the schools and not in another industry?

I love children and communicating with people from different cultures. Also I like what I do, and every day is a new experience and a learning moment for me. Working for the school system also gives me time to be off with my family and friends during the holidays so that I can take a break (and juggle all the needs at home, as well!).

Our Education Beat coverage appears thanks to a partnership with Charlottesville Tomorrow.

Students in Charlottesville-Albemarle are one step closer to taking fewer Standards of Learning exams during their academic careers. House Bill 930, which proposes a 23 percent reduction in the amount of state SOL tests students take between grades three through eight, passed the Virginia House of Delegates last week.

“This measure is not only good policy,” said Charlottesville Delegate and House Minority Leader David Toscano, “but will save localities and the Commonwealth money.”

The Virginia Department of Education estimates that the reduction in tests will save the Commonwealth $3 million a year, starting in FY 2015.

If adopted in its current form, third graders would skip science and social studies SOLs, and would focus only on reading and math tests. Fifth graders would take reading, math, and science SOLS, but not writing or two history tests that are usually given in either fifth or sixth grade.

The bill would still require local school divisions to administer alternative assessments in those courses, a move for which both divisions have been preparing.

Gertrude Ivory, Assistant Superintendent of Charlottesville City Schools, said a goal of the division’s strategic plan includes creating one project-based assessment for each grade level or course by August 2014. “We will continue the efforts we have already started in this area,” Ivory said. “We will research best practices in alternative assessment, provide professional development to our staff, work collaboratively with teachers and administrators to design assessments that give us the best information to guide instruction and gauge the progress of our students.”

While the bill would not make any changes to tests at the high school level, the county school division has been piloting an alternative assessment—the College and Workforce Readiness Assessment, a task-based test that measures students’ critical, analytical, and creative thinking skills—since the spring of 2012.

The bill is now headed to the Senate.

Mentoring group addresses academics socially

In partnership with Albemarle County Public Schools and State Farm Insurance, 100 Black Men of Central Virginia—a non-profit mentoring organization in Charlottesville-Albemarle—is working to bolster the amount of African-American males who complete algebra in middle school. To that end, the group has started M-Cubed, which stands for “math, men, and mission.”

While the program hopes to improve math achievement, it also addresses the overlap between social and academic skills. Bernard Hairston, Albemarle’s Executive Director of Community Engagement, said the mentoring and social experiences M-Cubed provides—such as college visits, films, and dining experiences—fuels student confidence, and ultimately closes the achievement gap.

And it’s working. In 2008, the year before M-Cubed began, 80 points separated African-American males from white males on middle school math Standards of Learning exams. Within two years, African-American males’ scores jumped 24 points. Additionally, M-Cubed participants are consistently out-performing their peers who are not enrolled in the program. Two out of three participants are enrolled in advanced and honors level math courses, whereas one out of four non-participants are enrolled in these courses. What’s more is that the academic improvement holds over time. According to Measures of Academic Performance test scores, 90 percent of program participants show year-to-year growth, compared to 68 percent of their peers.

In addition to group outings, each student meets individually with his mentor. Wendell Green, a mentor and special education teacher at Albemarle High School, said building personal relationships with the students leads to academic growth.

Jack Jouett Middle School 7th grader Marquan Jones said the program has helped him develop into a better listener and set high expectations for himself. Burley parent Kim Washington said she’d like to see the positive male role models help her son become more outgoing.

As her son matures, Crozet Elementary parent Monica Brooks plans to raise her expectations too. “They do go up, and as they do he’ll get better,” Brooks said. “That’s the only way he’s going to get better.”

MEET YOUR EDUCATOR: William Morse, Training Director, Albemarle County Public Schools

How do you support student learning from outside the classroom?

I oversee the training of new bus drivers and provide professional development opportunities for the transportation department. In addition to getting our students safely to and from school, we also emphasize student management training opportunities. Working with Safe Schools/Healthy Students and school administrators, transportation has made a concerted effort to improve the behavior of students on the school bus, envisioning their ride home as an extension of their school day.

What’s the most common misconception about your job?

As a state-certified trainer, I have personally trained new bus drivers. I don’t just sit in the office working on the computer.

What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?

Scheduling. Bus drivers and assistants have a narrow window in the middle of their day to attend classes. Our trainers are mostly lead bus drivers with a number of competing draws on their time, and the weather in the wintertime always plays havoc.

Why did you choose to perform your job in the schools and not in another industry?

I started out as a bus driver and have a sense of loyalty to my colleagues. This is an excellent opportunity to give back to those that helped me as a rookie.

The Albemarle County School Board last week voted 6-1 to send a $164.28 million funding request to the Board of Supervisors. This funding request exceeds anticipated revenues by $6.76 million. Despite the decision to forward the request to the Board of Supervisors, the school board is expecting to make cuts and will now begin to debate where they could reduce expenditures that will have the smallest impact on classroom instruction.

School Board Chair Ned Gallaway said it’s hard to prioritize what cuts the division could make until the revenue picture is clearer. Board member Jason Buyaki voted against the motion, arguing that the division is educating students well during tough economic times, and that “the budget should reflect the times that we live in.”

One potential cost-saving area the division examined is increasing average class sizes. The largest concern, Albemarle Assistant Superintendent Billy Haun said, is that as class sizes rise at the elementary level, there are fewer teachers available to provide intervention and remediation instruction for struggling students.

Nearly 30 swim and dive athletes, parents, and coaches turned out to oppose cutting the $29,000 per year program that was listed as a potential area of savings. The board decided that swim and dive should not be singled out. Additionally, the board requested a breakdown of the entire athletics budget.

Albemarle School Board weighs pre-K funding
Albemarle County School Board member Pam Moynihan wants to know why the Board of Supervisors is relying on the schools to pay for a portion of Bright Stars, the county’s preschool program for at-risk youth. While Moynihan said that she supports high-quality preschool experiences for all children, she said budget constraints may mean tough choices and wants priority placed on grades K-12.

“My concern is that in a budget year in which we’re considering having to increase class sizes for the population that we are required to serve as a school division, K through 12, I’m just hesitant to continue preschool programs where that’s not necessarily that population that we are required to serve,” Moynihan said.

But Moynihan’s point was met with pushback. School board member Kate Acuff said that investments in pre-K often reduce the amount of intervention and remediation school divisions need to provide as students get older. Albemarle Assistant Superintendent Billy Haun said that investments in pre-K show up as savings in many different ways over the course of a student’s career.

Currently, the schools send about $290,000 to Albemarle’s Department of Social Services, which administers the program. The school board agreed to ask the Board of Supervisors to fully fund Bright Stars in a letter accompanying the division’s funding request. The school board will finalize its funding request on Thursday, February 13.

City school board questions budget requests
Tuition increases, a new instructional coaching model, and schoolyard gardens topped the Charlottesville City School Board’s $68 million budget discussion last week. This year’s proposed budget is about $3 million more than last year.

A major new initiative the division hopes to roll out in the coming year is a change from curriculum leads at the central office level to an instructional coaching model that embeds mentor teachers at the schools.

The board also addressed the City Schoolyard Garden’s request for an additional $25,000 to support a garden educator position at Buford Middle School. The schoolyard garden position helps teachers develop curriculum around activities in the gardens. The program has over 8,750 square feet of gardens at every Charlottesville public elementary school and Buford Middle School.

As recommended by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainable School Funding, the board also debated a tuition rate increase for out-of-district students. The proposed budget includes a 10 percent rate increase. Board members were split over raising the fee by 10 percent immediately, or staggering it over two years. The Charlottesville City School Board will meet on February 19 at CATEC.

The Blue Ribbon Commission—a 13-member citizen panel charged with tackling the city schools’ funding woes —predicted a $2 to $4 million funding gap last week during its final report to Charlottesville’s City Council and school board.

The report features near- and long-term “action alternatives” local officials could adopt to stem the division’s recent budget shortfalls. Those action alternatives range from upping the meals, real estate, or lodging taxes, to boosting the amount of middle-income housing, to closing an elementary school.

Three of the commission’s five near-term action alternatives are tax increases, but newly elected City Councilor Bob Fenwick said Charlottesville’s moderate tax rate gives the community a competitive advantage, noting that higher taxes could encourage people to move to surrounding localities, rather than Charlottesville. City Councilor Kathy Galvin said that people and business are concerned with taxes, but added that a strong local economy depends on strong public schools, which attract talent. City Councilor Dede Smith said that raising real estate taxes could impact the most vulnerable renters, and landlords pass new costs on.

One of the findings suggested growing the amount of middle-income housing in the city. City Councilor Kristin Szakos said that the new development along West Main Street might open up houses once rented by students to families.

Smith also questioned the school division’s high staffing levels, but commission members noted the school’s diverse student population, which requires numerous intervention and remediation services.

SOL reform on the table in Richmond

If Delegates Rob Krupicka (D-Alexandria) and Thomas A. “Tag” Greason (R-Loudoun) get their way, Charlottesville and Albemarle students might be taking fewer Standards of Learning exams in the coming years. The pair has introduced House Bill 498, which proposes dropping the total number of SOL tests across the Commonwealth from 34 to 26, and permitting local school divisions to use end-of-year tests other than the SOL for some subject areas.

The reduction in tests would appear mostly at the elementary and middle school levels, and would focus the remaining exams on reading and mathematics. The legislation also states that, if adopted, the Virginia Board of Education will create plans for divisions that want to implement assessments other than the SOL tests for history, science, and social science.

Our Education Beat coverage appears thanks to a partnership with Charlottesville Tomorrow.