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By lceaprez, February 19, 2010 10:40 pm

I am sure everyone has heard about the education cuts that have been proposed in our state budget. Many groups have been to the capitol rallying for funding for their cause, and education is going to be doing the same. Next Saturday February 27, 2010 educators from across the state will converge on the Capitol hoping to bring attention to the k-12 shortfall proposed in the next budget. The event is open to all educators, their families, friends and neighbors who are concerned about the situation.

The Louisa County Education Association will be providing bus transportation for anyone who is interested. Those who want to ride should meet at the Central Office building no later than 9:00 on Saturday. Estimated time of return is around 2, so you might want to bring a bag lunch. If you are interested in riding please RSVP and let me know. If not, then you can certainly drive separately.

I know this is short notice, but the snow has hampered our organizational efforts. Please consider attending. We need everyone!

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By lceaprez, February 3, 2010 2:27 pm

There was a remarkable turnout at the School Board meeting.  The snow came down, and the public came out.  There were LCEA members, teachers, and parents in the audiance.

 The first discussion was on student transportation.  There seems to be a safety issue at the bus stop at Spring Creek.  There are 26 elementary students loading in a traffic circle.  The Board decided to look into this and look at the transportation policy.

The second discussion was on the proposed move of TJES to MNES.  There was a passionate mother sharing with the Board that she lives in the Trevilians district one mile from MNES.  Her remarks to the Board put a face on the issue.  One of the points of the discussion was if we go forward with this proposal, we might want to look at redistricting.  The Board went around and shared their feelings about the proposal.  Hal Schaffer started off and shared that he feels that if we go forward with the proposal it would be like pulling a fast one on the parents.  He reminded everyone that there was a $1.5 million excess revenue from last year’s taxes, and that the Board of Supervisors has a contengency fund with a large reserve.  Sherman Shifflett shared next by stating that he wants to open MNES and keep TJES open.  Steven Harris is open to what the Board of Supervisors offers, reminding everyone that they hold the funding.  He commented that these are tight times and that the trailers at all the elementary schools are a necessity, not a choice.  In the end, he did stated that he wante ot open both schools.  Billy Seay stated that the Board of Supervisors and the School Board are in this together.  He hopes for all four elementary schools, but he wants to make the best of any situation that we may end up with.  Brian Huffman said that we have to have a Plan B. He feels that they cannot make up their minds at this time.  He also feels that we do need to move on the $500,000 in stimulus funds for TJES.  Hal Schaffer reminded the Board that there were two engeneers, Billy Seay and Willie Gentry, and proposed having them head a committe to try to fix the moisture issues at TJES.  The Board agreed and voated to do so.  Greg Strickland stepped out of the role of Chair to give his thoughts on the proposal to move TJES.  He feels that if the Board made changes now that it would fly in the face of all of their hard work.  He stated that this is more of a budget issue than a moisture issue.  By moving TJES to MNES, the Board will save $1 million this coming school year.  He agrees that if the Board does go forward with this proposal, there needs to be redistricting.  He did bring to light if the School Board does not get the $2.6 million that they are asking for, then we are looking at 30 teaching positions being eliminated.  He has a hard decision to make and is looking forward to the Town Hall meetings on February 3 and 4 to hear from the constituents.  Gail Proffitt was not in attendance.

The next item that was discussed was the possibility for LCPS to charge an activity fee for extra curricular activitites.  There are approximately 1,000 LCMS and LCHS students that would be affected.  Central office is currently working to develop a cost, and there will be more information coming at the March meeting.

The last item that was discussed was the snow make up days.  Currently, we have missed 3 days of school.  We have 3 days of banked time at the end of January.  The next snow day would elimate the March 12 workday and make that into a regular school day.  Any additional snow days would add on to the end of the school year in May.  Dr.Pettit did remind the School Board that the calendar had a disclaimer that they could change the calendar at any time.

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By lceaprez, February 1, 2010 10:02 pm

Snow could not keep us from meeting with our elected representatives.

http://www.veanea.org/top-stories/lobby-day-2010-02-01.html

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By lceaprez, January 22, 2010 4:30 pm

The School Board and the Board of Supervisors met in a joint session Thursday evening. The big thing to come out of the meeting was a debate on whether or not to open Moss-Nuckols. The proposal on the table is to move Thomas Jefferson over to Moss-Nuckols, leaving TJES empty, and keep 3 elementary schools. It is not a done deal, but the Board of Supervisors are in favor of this proposal and if you listen to P.T. Spencer, the school division will not recieve any additional funds from the county. Dan Byers want to look at how far we are from the SOQ funding. The county administrator is looking at a $5 million budget shortfall for the county as a whole, and not opening Moss-Nuckols will drop that to $3.6 million.

What does that mean for us? If we do not get any additional funds from the county and the state cuts deeper into the education funds, we are looking at people losing their jobs. What can we do about this? Let the Board of Supervisors know how you feel. Contact Delegate Janis or Delegate Toscano and voice your opinions on school funding. Senator Houck is already on board with protecting the schools. Here is the contact information for all of them. Even if you do not live in the county, you can contact the supervisor for your school district. We will be discussing this in more detail at the meeting on January 27th at 3:45 in the LCMS library. I look forward to seeing you all there.

Willie Gentry, Chairman 540-894-4751 (home)
Cuckoo District 540-894-6437 (cell)
LCBS_CD@louisa.org

Richard Havasy, Vice Chairman 540-967-2393 (home)
Green Springs District 540-894-1023 (cell)
LCBS_GSD@louisa.org

Fitzgerald Barnes 434-244-3131 (work)
Patrick Henry District 540-967-1967 (home)
434-996-8534 (cell)
LCBS_PHD@louisa.org

Dan Byers 540-872-3539 (home)
Jackson District 804-687-1143 (cell)
LCBS_JD@louisa.org

Willie Harper 540-894-4763 (home)
Mineral District 540-894-6877 (cell)
LCBS_MD@louisa.org

P.T. Spencer 540-967-2575 (home)
Louisa District 540-872-6193 (cell)
LCBS_LD@louisa.org

Tommy Barlow 804-556-4656 (home)
Mountain Road District 804-310-4130 (cell)
804-556-4666 (work)
LCBS_MRD@louisa.org

Bill Janis (804) 698-1056
DelBJanis@house.virginia.gov

David Toscano (804) 698-1057
DelDToscano@house.virginia.gov

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By lceaprez, January 19, 2010 8:10 pm

Dr. Pettit presented a budget to the School Board this evening. Here are some of the details:

Budget Objectives:
Deal with decreasing state recenues
Maintain high quality classroom instruction
Open Moss-Nuckols Elementary School
Minimize reduction of positions

Change in Budget from FY 2010 – FY 2011
Revenue shortfall from state – $1276579
Cost to open Moss-Nuckols – $1388650
Increase in fringe benefits – $936127
total change – $3601356

Reductions for FY 2011 Budget
No Salary Increases
Textbooks – $100000
Professional Development – $50000
Unemployment – $150000
3 Central Office Instructional Specialists – $240000
5 custodians – $150000
1 middle school teacher – $60000
printing – $10000
technology – $2000000
grants match – $40000
total reductions – $1000000

Revenue Loss to the School Budget – $985261
Shortfall from the state $1276579
Loss of local funds – $17309
Addition of federal funds – $308627 (This is a positive amount coming in. This money is not guarenteed.)

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By lceaprez, January 18, 2010 4:31 pm

LCEA now has a Facebook page. Become a fan for up to date information.

http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Louisa-County-Education-Association/256769163534?ref=nf

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By lceaprez, January 9, 2010 4:21 pm

An article in January 7th’s Central Virginian speaks about the impact of budget cuts to Louisa County Public Schools.

http://www.thecentralvirginian.com/news/view_sections.asp?idcategory=47&idarticle=3183

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By lceaprez, November 20, 2009 10:28 am

Our next meeting date is Tuesday, November 24th. Items on the agenda include: Pre-legislative meetings, Scholarship Fundraiser, and a guest speaker, Princess Moss.