Highland County School Board Meeting Brings Discussion of Stricter Cell Phone and Media Policies for Students

The October 10 meeting of the Highland County School Board ran longer than usual as several different presentations were made to lead to the betterment of the schools as a whole.

Third grade teacher Jennifer Gardner and reading specialist Lynne Botkin reviewed the Literacy Plan, the Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System. This requires a lot of extra time from a teacher perspective, especially for children aged three to third grade. Both instructors reported that many of the assessments had already been completed and that the school would be leaning on parents for support, especially for those students identified as needing extra instruction.

Kristi Perry of the Shenandoah Valley Head Start program also gave a presentation showing the efficacy of the program and outlining funding. School board member Kenny Hodges questioned the funding the school receives from Head Start, noting the school’s overall support of the program. 

School superintendent Dr. Drew Maerz then gave a full update on Virginia’s new Accountability Model that measures mastery, growth, and readiness at all grade levels. This model also takes chronic absenteeism into account as well as a 5C performance score and six-year extended graduation rate score for high school.

Given the increasing evidence of the impact of cell phone and social media usage on education and youth mental health, Governor Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Order 33 in July, which directs the Virginia Department of Education to draft guidance for public school divisions to adopt local policies and procedures establishing cell phone-free education. Highland already has a strict cell phone policy while children are in class, but the new policy would be bell-to-bell, meaning that students could not have their phones during lunch or free times.

Maerz said the policy, which is now up for parental review on the website, would go into effect when approved, likely on November 15 even though the governor’s order does not go into effect until January 1, 2025.

In response to parent questions following an article in The Recorder giving information about teachers in Highland County Public Schools who do not have licenses, the board discussed the efficacy of having incentives in place for teachers who were willing to hold dual licensure. The school’s policy GC states, “No teacher is regularly employed by the School Board or paid from public funds unless such teacher

• holds a license or provisional license issued by the Board of Education, superintendent or school Board
• holds a three-year license to teach high school career and technical education courses in specified subject area; or
• is hired to teach in a trade and industrial education program and for whom the teacher licensure requirements have been waived by the Virginia Department of Education.”

Asked what that means for teachers without a provisional license, Maerz responded, “Since my arrival, the school board has been aware of the licensure status of candidates recommended for hiring.  Each year since my arrival in July 2022, HCPS has had elementary school teaching vacancies. With four elementary vacancies over the past three years, we have only found one fully licensed teacher who applied and met the standards to serve our students. 

With the instruction of our students of the utmost concern for our families and the school board, Highland County Public Schools has been required to consider teachers who are not fully licensed in Virginia to meet the needs of our students.  As a division, we strive to find fully licensed teachers to fill our vacancies.  However, our families and students deserve consistent instruction from the best candidates available. Upon hiring a teacher, HCPS will support them in gaining a provisional teaching license and, ultimately, a full teaching license.

As with all our staff, the monies to pay their salaries come from local, state, and federal funds.  At this point, non-licensed staff in teaching positions are paid on the teacher pay scale. However, this is an item open for discussion with the board as we face an increasing shortage of teachers.

All newly hired staff are required to complete a background check before beginning employment.  We also have access to the Virginia Department of Education licensure database showing any revoked or suspended license.  We also complete reference checks with former employers before hiring.  We are currently exploring the possibility of requiring updated background checks when certified staff members submit license/renewal applications and every five years for classified staff members.”

There is at least one teacher at the school without even a provisional license and no past licensure from any state. Maerz did not respond to a direct question on how this teacher was being paid if public funds could not be used.