Bath School Board gets update on Millboro Elementary preschool

Hot Springs, Va. – A preschool class may be in place at Millboro Elementary in mid February. At Tuesday night’s Bath School Board meeting, the Board heard an update on the progress of starting a preschool class at Millboro during this school year. Recruitment is underway to identify children who will attend, with a firm number of students to be finalized in early January. Head Start, which provides some funding, has given approval for the attempt to develop another preschool class. There are currently two preschool classes at Valley Elementary and there are students from Millboro traveling there for preschool. School Superintendent Sue Hirsh said the cost of materials and transportation needs to be worked up. And she also said there needs to be more confidence in the number of students that may attend next year, because they would like to be sure that the Millboro class will continue next school year. The School Board has said it does not want to put a preschool class in at Millboro Elementary and have to take it away next year if there aren’t enough students. The board authorized the advertising of a possible vacancy for a preschool teacher at Millboro.

The Board also discussed items for the Capital Improvement Plan, or CIP. Items that may be included on the CIP for next year are two new buses, door replacements at Valley Elementary, paving and lining of the high school parking lot, a generator at the high school and high school auditorium improvements including carpet, a new stage curtain and humidity control. And other projects that may be included are fuel pumps equipped with card readers and two new vehicles. The CIP must be prioritized and approved at the January meeting. The Board asked to have more options on costs for the door replacements at Valley Elementary, before approving the CIP. The doors must be replaced because they do not open and close properly and the fire marshal has requested that repairs be made.

School Board Student Representative Laura Haney reported that during the Beta Club induction ceremony at the high school, Saul Pasco was awarded the John W. Harris Leadership Award. Pasco was one of 25 students in the country to receive this award.

The Board also approved replacement of the school zone signs at Valley Elementary. The solar powered flashing signs will be replaced with traditional school zone signs similar to those at the high school. The switch is being made because the expense of maintaining the flashing signs so far has equaled about half of what they cost to begin with and more repairs were still needed.

And the Board voted to rotate the location of its monthly meetings among the three schools in the county. The January meeting will be held at Millboro Elementary, February’s meeting at Valley Elementary and the March meeting will be held at the high school.