Author: Charlottesville Tomorrow

Legislation to change the state funding formula for Charlottesville and Albemarle’s education budgets has been introduced again before the General Assembly in Richmond. The proposed budget amendment, known as the “Bell Amendment” and named after its patron, local Republican Delegate Rob Bell, would take the two communities’ 1982 revenue sharing agreement into account when calculating each locality’s ability to pay for schools. At stake is about $3 million per year that would be taken from schools in Charlottesville and handed to Albemarle County.

Adopted in 1982, 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. Albemarle officials believe the state should take into account the fact that it paid the city almost $17 million last year. The state’s funding formula for public schools is blind to that transfer, thus the county appears to have more revenues and the city less. But Charlottesville argues that the County is going behind a contractual agreement.

To prevent its adoption, Charlottesville City Schools has hired Anne Leigh Kerr of Richmond-based law firm Troutman Sanders to lobby the General Assembly. Kerr said the first phase of her work is to speak with the House Appropriations Subcommittee.

Albemarle School Board questions hiring

During a budget work session last week, some members of the Albemarle County School Board expressed concern over the division’s hiring of highly paid new staff.

Board members Jason Buyaki, Pam Moynihan, and Eric Strucko asked if the division could place more emphasis on hiring employees at lower levels within pay scales. Director of Human Resources Lorna Gerome said that the division does start classified employees at the minimum salary if he or she meets the minimum job requirements, but that the division is frequently able to hire more experienced candidates.

For teachers, Superintendent Pam Moran said salary depends on education levels and experience. Currently, the division budgets teachers at six years of experience and a Master’s Degree, but Moran said that is an average used for budgeting purposes, and that new hires may come in at more or less than the $68,581 figure used.

The proposed budget includes funding for 14.9 new full-time employees: 11.4 to account for enrollment growth; two teachers to continue an elementary world language pilot program; the restoration of one professional development coordinator; and a part-time media studies instructor.

The Board will hold a public hearing on the budget on Thursday, January 30 at the County Office Building on McIntire Road.

Agnor-Hurt addition to begin this summer

The Albemarle County School Board last week approved final design plans for an addition at Agnor-Hurt Elementary School. The project will add 132 seats, increasing the school’s capacity to 598.

The work will be divided into two portions: a core instruction pavilion at the rear of the school and an art pavilion and modifications made to the main office at the front of the building. The approximately 8,000-square-foot core instruction pavilion adds space for six new classrooms and features cutting-edge design elements, like flexible learning spaces for instruction. The nearly 3,500-square-foot art pavilion will feature natural daylighting and will connect to the cafeteria. The administrative addition will create a secure entrance to the building. Bus traffic will be rerouted to enter the school from Woodburn Drive, and about 30 parking spots will be added.

Board members Steve Koleszar and Eric Strucko were worried that the addition didn’t add six more traditional classrooms, but Superintendent Pam Moran said the learning spaces in the design will “absolutely address the capacity issues.”

Construction is slated to begin this summer, and the construction is expected to be complete for the start of the 2015-16 school year.

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

Albemarle County Public Schools Superintendent Pam Moran presented the School Board with a $164.28 million budget proposal Thursday. The needs-based plan represents a nearly six percent increase from last year’s $155.3 million budget.

However, with revenues projected to grow by only one percent, to $157.3 million, Albemarle is predicting a deficit of nearly $7 million. Among the factors contributing to the projected deficit, Moran said, are mandates, enrollment increases, and a slashing of the division’s fund balance.

The division is responsible for an additional $2.3 million to meet new Virginia Retirement System requirements, and, as directed by the School Board, another $3.2 million for a two percent raise in employee pay and to support projected increases in health insurance premiums.

Enrollment is projected to jump 130 students next year, which translates to a 669 student increase since the 2008-09 school year.

Moran also said that the division’s fund balance has been slashed in recent years, citing a $1.7 million transfer as directed by the Board of Supervisors, and a $1.5 million loss in savings due to a 75 percent drop in employee turnover. Employee turnover and retirements can create payroll savings since new staff are often hired at a lower position on the pay scale.

In case new revenue doesn’t come, Board member Steve Koleszar said he’d like to see the implications of a staffing formula adjustment that would increase class sizes by about one student. Assistant Superintendent Billy Haun said that would result in one additional student in elementary classrooms, and up to three new students in some middle and high school classes, depending on the subject.

Board member Eric Strucko said he wants to see any cuts made outside the classroom.

The School Board will begin discussing the budget in detail on January 23, and there will be a public hearing on January 30.

School funding commission completes report

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainable School funding has finalized its report for Charlottesville City Council and the School Board. The report divided the findings into near- and long-term categories. Three of the five near-term possible actions include tax increases.

The Commission said that they have not prioritized any of the specific options. The near-term “action alternatives” include increasing the meals, real estate, and lodging taxes, adjusting tuition rates for out-of-district students, and finding operational savings.

A one percent meals tax increase would net the City an additional $2 million in new revenue, budget documents show. Raising the real estate tax rate one cent would fetch about $550,000 in new revenue, documents show.

The long-term options include increasing the tax base by boosting middle-income housing in City neighborhoods, sharing services with the University of Virginia and charging UVA for other services, collaboration with Albemarle schools, and the closure of an elementary school.

The report argues that, over time, increasing the amount of middle-income housing would strengthen the City’s tax base and boost enrollment. The Commission also estimates between $1.5 and $2 million per year in operational savings would be realized from closing one elementary school.

The Commission will present the report to City Council and the School Board on January 28.

New model for CATEC shared with public

Last week, Charlottesville-based consultants The Bridge, Ltd.—who are leading Charlottesville Albemarle Technical Education Center’s strategic planning process—unveiled for public comment a new model for CATEC that is based upon a close relationship with Piedmont Virginia Community College. The new design restructures the technical education center into five institutes and a “Self-development Foundations” program that aims to teach basic workforce skills.

The five institutes include skilled trades, customer service, healthcare services, manufacturing and information technology, and early childhood education. The proposed model also features a skills assessment center to align incoming students with their interests, a program design center for curriculum development and institutional research, and the potential for including distance education.

CATEC began its strategic planning process in September, when it awarded a $60,000 contract to the Bridge.

The Bridge will present the model to the CATEC Board on January 21 and will have another meeting for public input in February.

MEET YOUR EDUCATOR: Renee DeVall, Routing Analyst, Albemarle County Public Schools

How do you support student learning from outside the classroom?

We check for safe bus stops and build safe routes to and from school.  I educate the drivers and assistants on the special needs of students and the use of appropriate equipment and behavioral tools.  We try to provide transportation with in 24 hours of a family becoming homeless to help with the stability of the student’s environment.

What’s the most common misconception about your job?

That I have summers off and that the computer routing system that I use does all the routing on its own.

What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?

The most challenging aspect is also the most rewarding and that is working with my students with  special needs that ride our buses, cars, and vans.  They have taught me the most about a good sense of humor and to enjoy life no matter what comes your way.

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

Two reasons: the students of Albemarle County that keep me on my toes; and all my coworkers that do an outstanding  job every day at the Transportation Department.

Our Education Beat coverage comes thanks to a collaboration with the nonprofit local news source Charlottesville Tomorrow.

Our Education Beat coverage is the result of a partnership with Charlottesville Tomorrow.

Recent local and national changes to employer benefit systems have added another layer of planning that Charlottesville and Albemarle schools must account for as the two divisions head into budget season.

In the coming months, the two school divisions will provide greater numbers of employees with health insurance, and are being forced to adapt to alterations within the Virginia Retirement System that shift more investment responsibility to teachers and administrators.

In August, the University of Virginia announced that it would stop providing health insurance to the spouses of employees who were eligible to receive coverage through their employers. When the new rules take effect January 1, 32 employees previously covered by the University will be added to Charlottes-ville City Schools’ books, and approximately 40 to those of Albemarle County.

Despite similar numbers, the two divisions are forecasting different futures because of their health insurance benefits.

Charlottesville fully insures its employees, which means the division pays a premium to an insurance company, which in turn processes and pays claims and assumes the risk of providing coverage for insured events. The premium fluctuates, depending on the number of people on an employee’s plan. Fully-insured plans are generally more expensive because the health insurance company is carrying more of the risk.

Albemarle self-insures, and therefore acts as its own insurance company, directly paying claims to healthcare providers. Unlike the city schools, it pays a flat contribution per employee. Self-insured entities generally bear more of the risk of extending health benefits.

Charlottesville is predicting increased costs due to new health insurance enrollees. Budget documents show that the city schools will incur about $92,000 of additional costs for the first half of 2014. The potential cost for the 2014-15 budget year is estimated at $193,000.

That number could increase to about $225,000 if employees choose expensive plans, said Carole Nelson, Charlottesville Schools’ director of human resources.

Lorna Gerome, Albemarle’s director of human resources, said that because January is a time of flux for insurance plans due to open enrollments, and because many of the new individuals coming onto the county’s plan are spouses of current employees, the impact is not expected to be significant.

What’s more, Gerome  said, the relatively large pool of insured employees at the county schools—there are roughly 6,000—will help buffer against a major cost increase there.

In addition to discussing the impacts of UVA’s decision, at its November 12 meeting, the Charlottesville School Board began discussions on whether or not the division should follow suit with UVA, and require eligible spouses to receive health insurance through their employers. Nelson said that this conversation is not uncommon in the area.

Charlottesville School Board member Ned Michie said that since the division’s health insurance was taxpayer-funded, he didn’t think it was “irresponsible” for the Board to think about it. But Charlottesville School Board member Jennifer McKeever disagreed with the move, arguing that employees’ families would lose out.

Charlottesville School Board Chair Juandiego Wade said the division isn’t planning on forcing eligible spouses from the division’s health insurance, but that the division has to “keep all of its options on the table.”

Gerome said that Albemarle is “not planning on taking that action at this time.”

Albemarle and Charlottesville are also determining the extent to which they will extend coverage under the new requirements of the Affordable Care Act. Under the ACA, employers will be required to offer health insurance to employees who average 30 or more hours of work per week during their contract periods. Officials from both divisions said that long-term and frequently used substitutes, tutors, and instructional assistants make up the positions that are most likely to qualify for insurance.

Charlottesville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Rosa S. Atkins said that while the division values all of its employees, the approximately $6,000 per person could add significant costs.

Albemarle offers part-time employees health insurance, Schools spokesman Phil Giaramita said, so the extent to which the ACA will impact the county would be seen in premiums going up or down, depending on how the market reacts, but not in new enrollees.

While health insurance changes impact teachers and administrators in the present, changes to the Virginia Retirement System are impacting how they might spend their golden years.

Currently, five percent of each paycheck goes into VRS. Once the changes take effect, all new employees and all existing employees who chose to opt in will see four percent contributed to the VRS’s traditional pension plan, and will have to choose how to invest the remaining one percent.

School divisions across the state are also expecting a nearly three percent increase in mandatory VRS payments, from 11.66 percent of full-time payroll going into the system, to 14.5 percent. This would result in about an additional $2.4 million in expenditures for Albemarle and $900,000 for Charlottesville.

“We certainly support fully funding the retirement system,” City School Finance Director Ed Gillaspie said. “It’s regrettable that the General Assembly did not fully fund the system all along, since now we are in the position of playing catch-up with costs that significantly impact our budgets.”

Meet your educator

Pat Cuomo, Assistant Principal, Jackson-Via Elementary

What has been the most challenging aspect of becoming an administrator?

When I became an administrator, I quickly realized that my decisions and actions impacted a large group of stakeholders. I make every effort to ensure that each decision I make is seen through the eyes of the different groups I interact with on a regular basis.

In what new ways do you support student learning?

Prior to becoming an administrator, I was an elementary school teacher and also spent a few years supporting instructional technology in the classroom. I enjoy bringing 21st century technology and classroom applications to the teachers, staff, and students at school.

What are you doing to engage the community at your school?

Jackson-Via has a supportive community with a committed Parent Teacher Organization. We plan community events such as parent/teacher conferences at a local church, host community events such as Rocktoberfest, and also encourage local businesses and organizations to get involved at our school.

How will you respect your school’s history and culture while making the decisions necessary to educate young people for their future?

Jackson-Via Elementary School has a rich history. Each year, we honor that history at our end of year ceremony by giving out the Betty Davis Via Award and the Nannie Cox Jackson Award. Both awards are presented to outstanding fourth grade students. As we look to the future of our school, we remember our beginnings and hold true to our motto: We do whatever it takes!

Our Education Beat coverage is the result of a partnership with Charlottesville Tomorrow.

A year after elected officials charged a citizen work group to find additional uses for the chronically under-enrolled Yancey Elementary School, the group has proposed transforming the Esmont school into an “intergenerational learning center.”

On Thursday, the Yancey Workgroup recommended that the school building play home to a host of public-private partnerships to deliver increased services to southern Albemarle. The plan suggests growing programming to serve multiple age groups and adding two county staff positions, and requests a funding commitment from the Board of Supervisors to be used in order to leverage additional money.

Over the last 10 years, Yancey’s enrollment has remained steadily below 200. According to the Virginia Department of Education, Yancey is serving 163 students this year, including 19 preschool students, which is up from 131 students last year. Albemarle’s largest elementary school is Brownsville, which is serving 680 students this year.

Albemarle completed a $625,000 heating, ventilation, and air conditioning upgrade on the building this summer, and next year Albemarle has plans for a $412,000 roof renovation, county schools spokesman Phil Giaramita said. It is also in the process of purchasing seven acres of land on either side of the school to upgrade the septic system. The septic work will be completed by October 2014, Giaramita said.

Since April, the workgroup has collected nearly 200 surveys from the public on the future use of the building. Respondents identified child care and programming for school children and seniors, as well as workforce training, technology access, and health care facilities as community needs. Over 80 percent of respondents said the community needs workforce skills and youth programming, and about 60 percent identified health care as a need, the report shows.

The workgroup first presented the idea of growing Yancey into a community center to the Board of Supervisors in August, at which time it was urged to identify potential sources of private funding. Thursday’s plan presented a list of 16 potential sources. Workgroup coordinator Charlotte Brody emphasized the need for the public and private sectors to work together, and suggested creating a “dynamic fundraising committee that finds other sources of funds.”

School Board Chair Steve Koleszar complimented the workgroup’s presentation last week. “They’re not waiting to design a perfect project,” Koleszar said. “They’re going ahead with some things that they can do now, using the existing space more, and creating more interaction between the community and the school.”

Giaramita said that the upcoming budget year will be tough for the schools, but that the intergenerational center could pay serious dividends to southern Albemarle. “It’s an attempt to look at a multi-generational concept and use that as a catalyst to improve the quality of life in an underserved community,” Giaramita added.

Albemarle County Supervisor Dennis Rooker agreed. “This is an area of the county that needs some additional services, and I think it is important to find a way to get those services off the ground,” he said. Rooker said that the project would get “looked at more seriously” in the budgeting process because it would be largely grant-funded.

But his county board colleague Ken Boyd said the plan would create “hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses, and maybe millions if we’re talking about expanding the school,” and noted that the capital budget currently includes no money for the project. More local government investments could result in an additional tax burden on citizens, Boyd said.

Diantha McKeel, an Albemarle County school board member and supervisor-elect of Rooker’s Jouett district, thinks the plan needs more discussion. She suggested county and school officials hold a retreat to discuss the captial improvement and priorities. “We have a growing county, an urbanizing county, and I think that would be beneficial,” McKeel said.—Tim Shea

Our Education Beat coverage is the result of a partnership with Charlottesville Tomorrow. 

Two days before Thanksgiving, Bob Bressan was in the throes of organizing the Charlottesville Albemarle Technical Education Center’s 12th annual Thanksgiving fundraiser, rattling off orders for walnut stuffing and ham biscuits, reminding students to take turkey gravy off the stove, and running pots and pans through the dishwasher.

“It’s organized chaos,” said Bressan, CATEC’S culinary arts director. “You have to look at it in pieces. If you look at the whole thing, even for me, it’s kind of frightening.”

This year’s feast offered a 22-item menu designed to feed about 170 families. It’s also an opportunity for real-world business experience for CATEC’S students.

The school’s curriculum is competency-based, and requires students to demonstrate proficiency of one concept before moving to the next. This style of learning paired with an event like the fundraiser, Bressan said, is a good match.

Second-year student Mikala Dabney, who said her grandmother started teaching her to cook when Mikala was 4, took a break from rolling dough for biscuits and consulting with another student about the amount of egg in the pumpkin cheesecake to explain what she likes about the CATEC program: It’s active learning.

“I like being hands-on,” Dabney said. “We have catering jobs and stuff to do and lots of things to make.”

The annual Thanksgiving project has fetched the Culinary Arts program as much as $8,000 in past years, and Bressan expects another good year in 2013. The funds allow second-year students to visit culinary arts programs and cultural centers, such as New York—experiences, Bressan said, that provide more real-world learning. In March, students will travel to the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont.

Bressan, a self-taught chef, learned the industry ropes in the early 1970s by catering part-time as a graduate student at the University of Virginia. As business picked up, however, he found himself running his own catering company.

Nearly 40 years later, CATEC Director Adam Hastings said Bressan’s leadership has lead to the Culinary Arts program’s success, and to engagement with prestigious schools like the Culinary Institute of America.

Despite the emphasis on career-readiness and money, Bressan said, the event reminds him to be grateful for other things.

“I’m thankful for a great place to work, my health, and for the students, who years down the road, we will see their success,” he said.

Local classrooms receive design award

The Virginia Schools Boards Association has honored Buford Middle School and Charlottesville-based VMDO Architects with a “gold” design award for their newly renovated science labs at the middle school. The project was one of five in the Commonwealth to receive the commendation.

The renovation modernized Buford’s four existing science classrooms into state-of-the-art labs that aim to help teach science concepts through the lens of engineering and advanced manufacturing technology, such as 3-D printing. The project also marks the start of the Commonwealth Engineering Design Academies, a laboratory school partnership with the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Curry School of Education.

“The Gold Design Award testifies, not only to the innovative architectural solution, but also to the critical importance of visionary leadership and effective collaboration,” VMDO architect Steve Davis, the project’s designer, said. “With the new Design Academy, the city has established a new standard for middle school STEM education.”

“When parents come to pick up their kids, they often swing by to see the labs,” Buford Principal Eric Johnson said. “Former students have come back from the high school, too—they want to see how nice it is.”

MEET YOUR EDUCATOR

Aaron Eichorst, Coordinator of Fine & Performing Arts,
Charlottesville City Schools 

In what new ways do you support student learning?

In Charlottesville City Schools, we are enthusiastically attuned to the transformative power of the arts and how the arts connect to all areas of learning and life. My goal is to emphasize these connections where they are happening and to bring this awareness to a broader audience.

What are you doing to engage the community at your school?

In addition to student performances, we provide a well-planned schedule of professional music, theater, and dance assembly programs geared to each grade level: a carefully chosen artist-in-residence program; field trips to local museums and concerts; an annual division-wide art exhibit and much more.

How will you respect your school’s history and culture while making the decisions necessary to educate young people for their future?

We recognize the arts as a discipline essential for a complete education and our fine arts program is an example of excellence. The arts have never been viewed as “frills” but as an indispensable part of our culture and history. This philosophy is embraced by the school board, the administration, and the community
at large.

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

As Albemarle County heads into budget season, the Board of Supervisors and school board are trying to figure out which body will lead the conversation about a possible expansion of Bright Stars, the County’s pre-K program for at-risk 4-year-olds.

“The real issue here is a question about whose job it is,” Albemarle School Board Chair Steve Koleszar told the Board of Supervisors at a joint meeting last week. “From my perspective, it’s a county decision about whether you want to go ahead with it or not.”

“If you decide that you want to do it,” Koleszar added, “we’ll make it work.”

But Supervisor Ann Mallek said the body can’t make that decision until the school board provides more information about projected program costs and school capacities.

“I think I need to know how many zeros we’re talking about, and then we might know how much we might be able to accomplish,” she said.

Bright Stars, which served 155 4-year-olds at eight elementary schools last year, provides comprehensive social services for preschoolers and their families until children complete fifth grade.

In addition to the preschool program, Bright Stars provides family coordinators who address a family’s employment and financial issues. They also involve family members in the school community and teach parents how to support child learning.

The prospect of expansion arose from steady increases of waitlisted families, which recently was as high as 86.

Koleszar said that the school board supports Bright Stars, but has yet to take a position on whether or not it wants to spend more from its own budget.

“We, of course, have really embraced having those students there, and so there’s all of these in-kind kinds of things that don’t get counted in the cost of the program,” Koleszar added, citing art and music teachers, transportation, and principals. “But the actual funding for the expansion of adding the classroom teachers…has come from a different stream.”

Currently the Bright Stars program is funded by money from the schools, county government, and the Virginia Preschool Initiative.

Supervisor Dennis S. Rooker expressed concern that the school division wouldn’t have the extra space to house the students, but Koleszar said that while the division has a few capacity-constrained schools, they could handle the additional students.

“If the decision is made that we want to find seats and have classes for those 85 kids, we can work those facilities out,” Koleszar said. “It may mean that we have to put a trailer or two there.”

County executive Tom Foley said that he will meet with school officials to generate a report containing the requested information.

County schools consider $5 million Agnor-Hurt addition

Albemarle County Public Schools has awarded a contract for an addition at Agnor-Hurt Elementary School to Charlottesville-based SHW Architects. On Thursday, SHW representatives will present a design to the Albemarle School Board.

The proposed addition, which covers nearly 12,000 square feet, will add 132 seats to the school in northern Albemarle—an area of the county experiencing significant enrollment increases. Construction is slated to begin in June 2014, and be completed by the start of the 2015-16 school year.

The project also includes the renovation of another 5,000 square feet of existing art and music classrooms, and security enhancements to the school’s entrance that will resemble the entrance to Greer Elementary. As Albemarle looks at capital projects, schools spokesman Phil Giaramita said the division is focusing on both security and enhancing learning spaces.

MEET YOUR EDUCATOR: Jill Dahl, Principal, Charlottesville High School

What has been the most challenging aspect of becoming an administrator? 

Time, by far, is the most challenging aspect. There is always someone who wants to meet and share their ideas or concerns. It is important to hear what people have to say, especially being new to the school. However, it takes a lot of time out of the day to meet with everyone that wants to meet.

In what new ways do you support student learning?

While it is not new, I embrace the idea of technology in the classroom to engage students in learning. While our students “know” technology and it is a part of their everyday life, we need to redirect the purpose of what it can be used for and teach them that there is more than Twitter, Vine, and YouTube.

What are you doing to engage the community at your school?

We are partnering with various community resources like The City of Promise. They will come into the school to talk with teachers and parents to share their goals, and in return we will work with them to reach out to the community to share our goals. This year I want to begin to take the school to the community. I want to host more events at various community centers, such as parent teacher conferences and curriculum fairs.

How will you respect your school’s history and culture while making the decisions necessary to educate young people for their future?

This year it will be about observing and listening. There are many great things going on at CHS and I want to ensure they continue successfully. Decisions made will always be made with what is best for student learning.

Our Education Beat coverage is the result of a partnership with Charlottesville Tomorrow. 

For the third straight year, school enrollment in Charlottesville and Albemarle is on the rise.

Seven of Charlottesville’s nine schools grew, bringing the division total to 4,085 students—the first time the division’s enrollment has broken the 4,000-student threshold in the last six years. Charlottesville’s rebound is also reversing the downward trend experienced from 2003-4 to 2010-11, when the division lost 475 students.

Ed Gillaspie, the schools’ finance director, said that while no single issue caused the decline in those years, the national trend of families moving into the suburbs has affected local enrollment. Gillaspie said new residential development and innovative school programs have contributed to the increase.

“In the context of these, the economy may also have had an effect by pulling in parents who may have otherwise moved in the direction of a private school placement,” he said.

In the last year, Burnley-Moran, Clark, and Greenbrier elementary schools gained the most students at 31, 38, and 27, respectively. Buford Middle School’s numbers dropped by 15, and Venable Elementary School’s by 24.

“We had an unusually large group in kindergarten last year, which caused us to open a fourth class,” Venable Principal Erin Kershner said. “But during the school year and over the summer, we also had an unusually high number of families move away.”

Division-wide, Charlottesville’s kindergarten enrollment jumped to 447, which represents a 35 percent jump in the last five years.

Thirteen of Albemarle’s 26 schools also saw enrollment rises, and Albemarle spokesman Phil Giaramita said that while the county has seen steady enrollment increases near Crozet, this year’s growth occurred mainly in northern Albemarle. Division-wide, enrollment jumped 73 students to 13,141, which marks an increase of 558 over the last five years. Greer, Baker-Butler, and Woodbrook elementary schools all exceeded projections, posting increases of 77, 40, and 51 students, respectively.

Jack Jouett Middle School grew by 38,  while Walton Middle School dipped by 46 students. Albemarle High School’s enrollment increased by 78, bringing the total number of students to 1,869—above its capacity of 1,812.

Koleszar pointed out that year-to-year enrollment numbers can change rapidly, noting that Brownsville Elementary School declined by 31, despite its previous growth. In spite of the population increase, Koleszar said the county’s schools can still absorb additional students, and that the board will remain open to redistricting in the future.

“You can’t get too excited about one year’s numbers,” Koleszar said. “You have to look at what the long-term growth trends are, and you have to know that they can change.”

There are no imminent plans to build a new northern high school, and in July, the Long Range Planning Advisory Committee recommended building additions at Western Albemarle and Monticello high schools.

“Our philosophy has been over the last 10 years or so, where possible, that we’re better off adding seats to existing schools, because it’s a more efficient use of our dollars,” Koleszar said.

“If all of our urban ring elementary schools get up to that 650 to 700 number then we would maybe have to do something,” Koleszar added.

Albemarle survey to close October 30

Albemarle parents, staff, and community members are running out of time to weigh in on next year’s school calendar. The Calendar Priorities Survey, which division staff will use when creating the 2014-15 school calendar, and which can be taken online, will close on Wednesday, October 30, at 11:59pm.

Albemarle’s Calendar Committee “works to produce a school calendar that supports our goals to engage students, improve opportunities and achievement, and get the most productivity out of our resources,” according to the division’s website.

On November 20, staff will post the calendar’s first draft to the division’s website for community feedback. A second draft will be posted on December 13, and the School Board will discuss the calendar on January 9.

Visit www.k12albemarle.org for more information.—Tim Shea

MEET YOUR EDUCATOR: Ashby Johnson, Assistant Principal, Henley Middle School

What has been the most challenging aspect of becoming an administrator?

I am learning a lot about our Teacher Performance Appraisal (TPA) system and how to help teachers set goals and measure student growth. I’m learning how to give meaningful feedback that is focused on instruction. It’s always challenging, yet rewarding, to help teachers reach their potential.

In what new ways do you support student learning?

This year, Henley is focused on developing 21st century skills, specifically the 4 Cs—communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. We have built a school-wide professional development plan in which teachers learn new strategies and share and provide feedback to others. Ultimately, the students will benefit from this work as they will be exposed to higher levels of thinking and learning in the classroom.

How will you respect your school’s history and culture while making the decisions necessary to educate young people for their future?

I’m still learning about the school’s history and culture. I think it’s important to talk to people, ask questions, and observe. Simultaneously, my main concern is student achievement, so that is always in the front of my mind. Our big emphasis is 21st century skill readiness, and my personal goal is to prepare students for college and/or careers.