Highland School Board Asks Supervisors To Approve School Employee Bonuses

Monterey, VA – The Highland County School Board has a new proposal for the Board of Supervisors to consider at their meeting this week. At its meeting Monday evening, the School Board approved a motion requesting that the Supervisors appropriate just over $32,000 from the Federal Education Jobs Funding for a 1 and percent bonus for all eligible school faculty and staff. If possible, the School Board would like to get this money in the hands of the school employees before Christmas.

Superintendent Nowlin will appear before the Board of Supervisors to speak to this request at their Tuesday evening meeting. In other business, the School Board approved several personnel additions including Chad Lightner as bus driver, Betty Wagner as substitute cook, Connie White as substitute teacher, and Kim West as cheerleading coach.

Superintendent Nowlin and the School Board members attended the Virginia School Boards Association meeting November 17th through 19th in Williamsburg.Superintendent Nowlin noted that several of the meeting sessions had very interesting speakers. He found the presentation of Diane Ravitch especially informative. Ms. Ravitch was a Department of Education administrator under the first President Bush and has written a best-selling book titled “The Death and Life of the Great American School System.” She was a supporter of the “No Child Left Behind” legislation but has now changed her view.

“Now she is saying that there is absolutely no way that you can achieve 100 % by 2014” says Nowlin “and that making part of the teacher evaluation pertaining to student achievement and student growth is alright if it’s kept in perspective. But to make it the major portion of teacher merit pay hasn’t worked for forty years.”

Superintendent Nowlin goes on to talk about another speaker, Cathleen Richardson, the Apple Distinguished Educator Award winner, who is an expert in learning technology.

“The last speaker was really tremendous” he says. “She displayed hundreds of technology and computer programs that were available for public education. And [she] re-emphasized the fact that if we are going to individualize instruction for students, it can only be done through technology.”