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Bath schools fully accredited
BY CHARLES GARRATT • STAFF WRITER
WARM SPRINGS - The big news Tuesday at the Bath County School Board meeting was that it was all good news - and plenty of it.
Virginia's Department of Education has posted official results showing all three Bath schools are fully SOL accredited. In addition, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools have accredited all three Bath schools.
The high school band and band members won five top honors at a regional competition in Staunton Saturday against AA schools.
And the entire varsity cheerleading squad has been invited to participate in a half-time performance at the Capital One Bowl in Florida during the Christmas break.
Renovations on the high school building continue to progress with faculty and students adjusting well to the portable classrooms and construction.
Director of instruction and personnel Sue Hirsh told board members all three county schools were fully accredited by the state based on Standards of Learning tests. The two elementary schools are ranked on seven categories each and the high school on four, with current year and three-year average scores in each category.
In the 18 total categories, Bath schools exceeded state standards in 17 and met the standard in the remaining category. Millboro Elementary School scored a 70 percent for the current year in the history category, meeting the state standard. The three-year average in history for Millboro was 80 percent , well above the 70 percent standard.
In most categories, Bath schools were 10 percentage points or more above the state standards. Millboro Elementary scored a perfect 100 percent for third-grade history, double the 50 percent state standard. High school students scored 90 percent in the current year in science, 20 points above the state standard and no lower than 80 percent in any category.
Valley Elementary scored 80 percent or better for the current year in all seven categories, placing it 10 percent or more above standards in all current year scores. Grade 3 science students at VES scored 92 percent - 42 points above the state minimum.
"Our staff and students have worked diligently to increase achievement," superintendent of schools Dr. David Smith said Wednesday. While admitting the SOLs have some detractors, Smith said the tests have been recognized as targets that will have direct benefits to children.
"No one is teaching the test," Smith said. After each test year, the test questions are made available to anyone for review and for use in developing lesson plans and learning objectives. New test questions are developed each year, Smith said.
"SOLs are a minimum standard," Smith pointed out. There is no maximum standard, so teachers still have the flexibility to add to the basic curriculum and challenge students, Smith noted.
Bath schools suffered a bit of a surprise last month when Valley Elementary and the division as a whole failed to meet Annual Yearly Progress standards under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. While both state accreditation and AYP use SOL scores, said Hirsh, AYP uses specific demographic breakdowns while accreditation looks at the broader aggregates.
AYP, Smith noted, "points out some areas that need to have increased attention." The school division already had plans and programs scheduled to deal with some of the specifics pointed out in AYP, said Smith, and will continue to make sure all children in the system meet standards. "We are moving aggressively toward meeting this challenge," Smith said.
State accreditation, he added, "assures that students graduating have a level of core knowledge recognized statewide."
By meeting and exceeding the state accreditation standards, Smith said parents and students could be assured Bath graduates have the same basic education and skills as those in any other accredited school in the state.
In addition to state SOL accreditation, Hirsh told the board all three schools were accredited by the regional accreditation association. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools reviews schools based on many criteria, including on-site visits by education specialists.
Hirsh said the Bath school division is not eligible for district-wide accreditation to replace the school-by-school process. The Bath division is in the process of applying for the district-wide process, Hirsh said.
High school principal Pete Pitard said Wednesday that district wide accreditation "really is effective" since the on-site team will interview school board members, division level staff and parents, in addition to the school level inspection to which they are limited under the school by school process.
AdvancED, the parent company of SACS, said in a letter provided to the board that district-wide accreditation is more cost effective and supports a system-wide approach to achieving results among many benefits listed.
Student school board representative and drum major Samantha Whitson, along with band captain Laura Schneider, gave a brief review of the band's outstanding performance Saturday at the Stonewall Showcase of Bands in Staunton. Schneider brought along four of the trophies the band brought home. (See photos and story in this week's Recorder.)
Smith and all five board members congratulated the band and band director Melinda Hooker.
The board spent more time deciding whether the cheerleader trip should be treated as a private event or handled as a school sanctioned trip than it spent on any other agenda item during open session.
After much discussion about insurance and what has been done in previous years, the board voted to approve the trip by the cheerleaders to the Capital One Bowl as a private event. Each cheerleader will be responsible for raising the $1,300 required. Three adults will accompany the eight cheerleaders on the week-long trip. The cheerleaders will perform at halftime with other cheerleaders from around the country.
Smith and Pitard reported renovations at the high school are going well. Board members toured the high school last week to view the progress firsthand. Smith said the roofers had stepped up efforts to finish before the weather turned cold.
The construction plans call for the first floor of the building, including the office space, to be completed and turned over to the school by the beginning of school in January. At that time, the second floor will be closed off for renovation.
The library is located on the second floor. Instead of trying to keep the library open, Smith told the board, the plan is to close the library and move reference materials and computers to the trailer being used for administrative offices. The Bath public library and other resources will be used during the remainder of the school year, Smith said.
Smith joked with Whitson that perhaps construction could stop and the county save a lot of money after "students are perfectly content" with the high school. She meant, of course, that students were adjusting to the construction.
Pitard said staff and students were appreciating the airconditioning in the portable classrooms in the parking lot. When renovations are complete, the entire high school building will have air-conditioning for the first time.
Board member Eddie Ryder asked if contractors were being allowed to use school equipment. Director of maintenance Kirby Mottley said the contractor installing network cable used a lift. Ryder suggested the contractors be billed for use of the lift or be required to bring their own equipment. "They're being paid enough," Ryder said.
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