Highland County School Board June Meeting

Out with the old and in with the new was the theme at the Highland School Board’s June meeting Monday evening, as the 2014-15 school year draws to a close, and the Board turns their eyes to next year.

The first major change will be a new high school and middle school principal. April Goff, who has served in that position since 2011, will not be returning next year. Superintendent Dr. Thomas Schott announced that a search for her replacement is currently underway.

The student body will also see a change in the grading system. Dr. Schott explained that most other schools systems in the state and nation have adopted a scale which reflects 10 points between grades, with 100-90, being an “A”, 89-80 being a “B” and so forth. This is much more lenient than the current Highland system, and puts students at a disadvantage when comparing overall grade point averages, for college admissions, scholarships, etc. Dr. Schott recommended a modified 10 point scale, with 100-90 being A, 89-80 B, 79-70 C, 69-65 D, and 64 and below being failing. The Board adopted this change.

Students will also face slightly higher prices on certain a la carte items offered by the cafeteria. These increases are being done to bring to cost of selling equal to the cost of purchasing, which has not always been the case. Full meal,prices will remain the same.

Lastly, upgrades are being made to the school’s technology infrastructure, in addition to the planned upgrades to the wired and wireless capabilities. The Board approved  IT Director Gary Lane’s request to implement a system based on virtual servers versus physical servers. This will create back-up redundancy in case a server is unavailable, and should eliminate downtime for users in such an instance. The $35,000 cost of this program will be paid for by SOL funding.

In other business, the Board heard updates from the HCEA and high school. Principal Goff noted that the majority of SOL testing had been completed, with re-takes and make-up scheduled. The senior trip will begin on Wednesday, June 3^rd, and graduation will be on June 13^th at 10:00.

In his report, Dr Schott noted that he and administrative assistant Karen Devore had attended the VSB Policy and Review Session, and changes will be made to the Highland Schools’ policies by July 1^st.

The Board approved the consent agenda and personnel matters as recommended in closed session. Their next meeting will be a joint session with the Highland Board of Supervisors on June 15th, followed by a close out meeting on June 24^th.