February Minutes

Staff Advisory Minutes

Central Elementary

Good news: Thank you for letting us know early about school closings.  Shout out to Ravitsky and Gifford for great performances.  🙂

Thank you for the calendar update from Gemma Soares. 

This is great, encouraging feedback - thank you!

Staff Concerns:

1. Why is adult lunch so expensive and we only receive the same amount of food as the students? 

Prices for adult meals are $3.75 (breakfast) and $5.50 (lunch).

The adult meals are priced to sufficiently cover the costs of those meals exactly. FCPS does not get reimbursed for adult meals and there is no profit from the sale of any adult meals. 

The portions (sizes) of meals are associated with the ages of students, per state regulation, but adults in all schools should receive the same size that older students do. We will make sure this is being administered properly.

2. Why are students that hit a teacher (multiple times) allowed to come back to the room, but if they hit another student, they are OSS?

Each situation is handled within the context of its individual circumstances. If this has happened, or appears to have happened, the best way to address it and determine if something was/wasn’t handled appropriately would be for those involved to sit down and meet with the principal, special education director (if there is an IEP involved), behavioral specialist, and possibly others who would be appropriate to participate. There is not a divisionwide policy or disposition that indicates any one, specific consequence for these situations. 

3. Is there any chance that long term subs for IAs could receive a pay increase after day 10  just as the long term subs for teachers get? 

The short answer is yes, this is certainly possible, but not next year. It would need to be brought forward during the solicitation of budget needs that happens each year in October/November so it could be considered during the development of the request for the following year’s budget. Next year’s FY26 school budget was approved by the school board on February 12, 2025, so this would need to be part of the FY27 budget considerations and prioritized among all of the needs. 

There’s no question in my mind that our subs - all of them - should receive better compensation. While we did increase teacher sub pay last year slightly, ours still lags behind regional neighbors and IA sub pay was not increased. I will be sure to include sub pay again - and IA sub pay, specifically - in the budget meetings next fall.

4. Is there a debit card  that we will receive as a reward card?  Can it be used anywhere, or is it more like a flexible benefits card that can only be used for medical expenses?

Yes, the Wellness Program includes a debit card which can be used on any expenses (not just medical ones). You can find more details in this program flyer and this email from Michelle Field.

5. Why, due to one issue, are we required to turn off comments?  We are all being punished because of one parent? Can we not just remove that parent from the FB page?

I don’t know what the one issue is that’s referenced here, so I can’t tailor a response for that specific scenario (although I’m happy to investigate and respond if the persons involved initiate communication with me). Generally speaking, most school divisions struggle a little bit to strike the right balance when it comes to public, school-managed social media vehicles (Facebook, Youtube, etc). On one hand we want to leverage a tool that many people are using to communicate and celebrate with our stakeholders, and allowing interaction in the form of comments is a great way to encourage that dialogue.

On the other hand, we want to ensure that any spaces we operate and control maintain a level of professionalism, conduct and decorum that reflects what we expect of ourselves and our students in schools. Our ability to control that pretty much goes right out the window when we open up these forums to public comment. Here’s why:

“Classroom” or “school” social media pages effectively create public records with each post that then are subject to FOIA. Case Law has shown that if schools (really any public officials) create a public page, they have created what the law calls a "limited public forum."  Once they do, they cannot censor/eliminate posts based on viewpoint.  They may "police" the posts for vulgarity and other content that is inconsistent with law and school board policy. Policing and ultimately censoring comments based on a subjective determination of what is thoughtful, kind, respectful, etc. has been proven to be very difficult to defend when it has been argued in court.

I’m not anticipating court by any means - but legally speaking, once we enable a page with comments, we can’t censor or remove the comments if things turn ugly - unless they clearly violate board policy. Experience has shown that adults don’t always hold themselves to the same standards we expect of our students when interacting on social media. Oftentimes the very behaviors we are struggling to mediate among students in our schools are on full display by adults in the open forums of Facebook and other avenues - and sometimes on pages associated with our schools.

The decision to not enable comments is related to all I’ve said here, rather than a response to a singular event.Fluvanna doesn’t currently have a policy to address this, and we are in the process of evaluating the need for one - for all of the reasons above.

6. Can the school board appeal to the state to excuse some of our snow days since we were in a “state of emergency”?  Does it affect our funding?

We can appeal to the state superintendent for a waiver, but only after many conditions have been met:

• We’ve dipped below the required minimum days/ours

• We’ve exhausted other avenues to make up time

• We’ve exhausted our ability to offer remote learning days

There is no specific provision in state code regarding funding associated with this scenario, although failure to comply with all above could certainly result in the state withholding funding (since state funding is based on per pupil enrollment and attendance).

We currently are not in such a dire position as to warrant a request for a waiver, but we are prepared to pursue this should we exhaust all other possibilities and still find ourselves unable to meet minimum required instructional hours this year. 

Carysbrook Elementary

Good news: 

1. Thank you for the very timely communication regarding snow days.  

2. We appreciate Mrs. Soares's email explaining how we could/would make up the time we missed—it was very helpful and reassuring!

3. Jessie Stringer and Hillary Pleasants are so important to the success of our students. Thank you for advocating for their continued positions. Hopefully, we can expand upon them one day and have more help in this area.

Thank you for the wonderful encouragement and recognition of some stellar FLUCOs!

Staff Concerns:

1. Would the district be willing to offer family sick days for a staff member to take off to care for a sick child?

This is already provided per School Board Policy GCBDB:

Sick leave shall be allowed for personal illness, injury, pregnancy, adoption of a child, temporary physical or mental incapacity, or illness in the immediate family requiring the attendance of the employee. The term "immediate family" of an employee shall be regarded to include mother, father, foster parents, adoptive parents, stepmother, stepfather, grandparents, grandchildren, wife, husband, children, brother, sister, father – In – law, mother – in – law, brother – in – law, sister – in – law, son – in – law, daughter – in – law, and any other relative living in the household of the employee.

2. The portions for an adult meal in the cafeteria are the same as those for a child’s meal. Perhaps more staff would be willing to pay if the portion was a little larger. I have heard that some schools give a larger portion than the child’s, so why aren’t we receiving that?

There is an answer to a similar question above. It may be helpful to review this response with that one. Mrs. Jones is not aware of any schools providing larger portions to any adults without charging a la carte pricing for extra items, but will confirm.  

FCPS does not get reimbursed for adult meals and there is no profit from the sale of any adult meals. The adult meals are priced to sufficiently cover the costs of those meals. 

That said, we are asking Ms. Jones to investigate any opportunities to better meet adult needs with our meals program.

3. I am bothered by the whole breakfast in the classroom. From listening to the school board meeting last week they make it sound as if the teachers are ok with it, but from my conversations, we are not. I feel that there needs to be more help in this area. We don't have enough wipes or paper towels to clean up the daily messes in our classrooms from milk, syrup, and such. It is a huge distraction from our morning work time. I also think that they should be providing each of us with a broom and dustpan to clean up. Supplies are crucial and we don't have the money to purchase these items ourselves. I don't know how many people feel this way but I know I have heard it from enough to know that something needs to be said.

4. I am concerned about teachers not having a say in anything anymore. We seem to have more and more stuff thrust upon us without even being consulted.  For example, we had our panels mounted to the front of the whiteboards without any input from the people who are actually using the technology on a day-to-day basis.  No regard was given to those of us in the classroom and how it would impact us.  The same can be said with the sudden switch to having breakfast in the classrooms at Carysbrook.  It doesn't matter what the other schools are doing, we were fine with the way things were.  

Now suddenly teachers are having to deal with sticky desks, sticky computers, spills on the floors, and morning work that isn't happening because students are having leisure breakfast time through announcements.  There is no reason the students can't eat in the cafeteria and there's no reason that teachers couldn't have been looped into the decision-making process on either of these issues. 

This response will consider both of the previous two comments:

Regarding breakfast, we will continue to work with Mr. Lucas to monitor how the breakfast on-the-go in the classroom program develops and the extent to which continuing is untenable for teachers. 

Regarding placement of promethean boards, the response is multifaceted. Placement of any mounted equipment has to be considered in light of the fact that teachers do not always remain in a specific classroom, and different teachers have different preferences. Our division always seeks to personalize solutions like these, but it isn’t always possible or feasible.

FCPS used to allow teachers to specify any location in the room for promethean panels to be mounted. Some had very unique preferences and reasons for a certain location, and when the room was vacated for an incoming new teacher who didn't share those preferences, the request was to mount the equipment in a new location. A decision was made at some point to standardize the location of the panels in the front of the classroom, unless there were extenuating circumstances.

There was a request for flexibility for Kindergarten installs (taking a panel off a cart and installing it on the wall) since they have “carpet time” when the panels are frequently used. That flexibility was provided as long as the location of the carpet was such that the wall where installation occurred was centrally located.

Last year, specifically, there were some promethean panels that were too low for students in the rear of the classroom. Those teachers did submit maintenance tickets and the panels were raised, though none were moved to different parts of the classroom.

5. Why do we need to turn in the old fobs? Some of us are still using them to make copies. Could we keep them for this?

The Canon copiers have a secured print queue, meaning when a staff member prints something to Canon's secure print, the job is queued but not released/printed. This is intentional since before having secure print, staff would print confidential information and the printer would immediately print it out. However, someone else would also print something and grab both print jobs not knowing they did. Now we have a confidentiality issue, especially when it's an IEP or discipline item. That's part of the reason we partnered with Canon, so that we could eliminate this confidentiality issue. Currently, in order for an employee to release their print queue, they have to authenticate (log in) to the copier using their pin code and then release the job. 

Many years after rolling out secure print, the division moved to issuing fobs rather than keys to staff. The copiers offered the ability to authenticate using a fob and the tech team taught staff how to set this up. However, what we have learned since, is a couple of issues related to logging into the copiers using fobs.

1. The schools collected the fobs each year and gave them out to staff randomly when they returned. That meant that one staff member could authenticate with the copier with someone else's fob and that person's account. That creates the confidentiality issue if they release someone else's print queue. Each fob had to be reconfigured for the new person using it.

2. Staff like to give their fob to an aide or another staff member to have them retrieve their print queue items. This is both a security and confidentiality issue. 

FCPS has moved to a new door reader system that leverages smart keys. Smart keys are more secure because staff are less likely to lose or share them. Staff are still able to log into the copiers using their pin codes. The new fobs will work with the copiers in the same way the old one's did and the Tech team is in contact with Canon to see about a smart key authentication option. The old fobs are tied to the old door reader system and need to be collected and reprogrammed. As a result, staff cannot keep the old fobs. New physical fobs can be requested for the new system and used for the copiers. However, new fobs are never to be shared.

In summary, collecting the old fobs is making authenticating to the copiers simpler and more efficient but is not impacting one's ability to log in to the copiers.

Fluvanna Middle School

Good news:

Thank you for the clear and timely communication about school closures.

Also - thanks for everyone's time who serves on this committee.

Agreed! This committee is wonderful to work with!

Staff Concerns:

1. I have seen a lot of conversation about the cafeteria losing money. I also notice that the cafeteria staff often (once a month or so) have new matching shirts. Are these shirts necessary? It seems to be a waste of money if they are being paid for out of the cafeteria budget.

The cafeteria staff were provided two shirts this year. This is a common practice in school cafeterias, since staff wear them daily and meal preparation can require clothing to be washed daily. It is being evaluated given the current financial state of the program, however, and a valid point of consideration.

2. I also feel that students should be limited in how many "extras" they can buy each day. I am noticing one student buying A LOT of extra's only to give them away. In some situations it appears to be other students convincing students to buy them things. This is not okay and honestly, no student needs 4 ice creams and 4 bags of chips in one day!

If a staff member sees something of concern it is appropriate to bring it to the principal’s attention, but the school is not able to “screen” what offered items students buy or who they give them to after they’ve bought them. Unless there is a safety concern or rule being violated, students are able to share the items they buy. If students are being pressured or bullied to purchase items for others, that is absolutely something that should be reported and pursued.

High School

Good news:

• Thank you for the early announcements of school closures.

• The students are wonderful. I love them.

• It was nice for some of the school closings to be announced in advance. I also loved the video Dr. Gretz made.

Thank you for the encouraging comments and helpful feedback - and especially the hopeful recognition of our amazing students!

Staff Concerns:

• Last year (2023 - 2024) we had a science teacher leave, a foreign language teacher leave, and two math teachers leave. They were able to fill one of the two math positions, the other three positions were left unfilled. At this time on the fluco.org website they are hiring for the science and foreign language but not the math position. In other words, why is the math department the only one to lose a teacher and that position is not listed as a job opening on the website? In other words, why is the math department the only one to lose a teacher and that position is not listed as a job opening on the website? So again, the question is why are they trying to keep all other departments at the same staffing levels as the 2023 - 2024 school year except the math department? The math department at FCHS has a higher student to teacher ratio than many other departments and this will ultimately affect student success and teacher morale.

Last year, due to decreased FCHS enrollment we were asked to decrease staffing at FCHS by three teaching positions. We sought to do this through attrition to the greatest extent possible. We were able to accomplish that accordingly:

• Science Dual Enrollment Chem - eliminated due to a resignation

• Math - eliminated due to a resignation

• EMT - eliminated due to low numbers (currently offering this via CATEC instead)

Later during the summer and prior to this school year, there was another resignation which opened up a World Language position. We attempted to find either (a) two part-time teachers who could pick up sections of World Language and Chemistry, or (b) one uniquely qualified individual who could teach both. Either scenario was a longshot given the two distinct certifications and content areas.

To be clear, there was one budgeted position available to us (created by the World Language resignation) and it has remained open in the (current) FY25 budget. Because it wasn't able to be filled (lack of applicants) and French student numbers were down, we consolidated sections of French and eliminated a World Language elective class in order to enable a current World Language teacher to pick up the Spanish class sections (from the unfilled World Language position).

This World Language position has now been filled for the forthcoming year with the hiring of a Chemistry teacher. So that vacancy is no longer “open” in the budget.

Separately, there is  currently a vacant science position due to a mid-year resignation this year. This is NOT the Chemistry position that was eliminated due to resignation, referenced above. There have been two science resignations - one has been filled and another is now open. There is currently a long-term substitute temporarily filling this latter position, and a current math teacher is teaching two sections of science (Physics). If this science position is filled, that existing math teacher should be able to stop teaching Physics and return to a full load of math sections which would impact class ratios in Math. So this position remains vacant and in the budget.

So to specifically address a couple of questions in the original SAC submission:

In other words, why is the math department the only one to lose a teacher and that position is not listed as a job opening on the website? 

Math isn't the only department to lose a position. World Language also lost a position (because the decision was made to use that vacancy to fund a science position). In order to fund an additional math position, FCHS would have to decrease a position elsewhere (which could include the currently vacant science position). 

So again, the question is why are they trying to keep all other departments at the same staffing levels as the 2023 - 2024 school year except the math department? 

The intent has not necessarily been to keep any specific departments at 2023 staffing levels, but rather to accomplish the mandatory staffing decreases through attrition, if possible. If a resignation came in a certain content area, the decrease was realized there by not rehiring that position - if it could be done in a way that continued to support the needs of the school. That area wasn’t targeted, but rather the opportunity that was presented when a resignation came was leveraged to comply with the required decrease. Again, only if it were possible to do so and continue to meet the demands of the school schedule.

Currently, the following FCHS positions are vacant:

• Special Education

• Science (mid-year resignation)

• English (due to a retirement at the end of this year)

How those positions are ultimately represented in the budget will be the result of collaboration with Mrs. Bruce and her team to carefully analyze FCHS student and course needs, class sizes, and the overall flexibility within the master schedule. It is certainly possible to use funding for one of these positions to support a math position, instead.

• Concern that the sick leave bank policy was changed in such a way that now you have to miss 10 consecutive days without pay, when the spirit of the policy was to have a safety net for teachers to not miss days without pay in the event of a catastrophic event.  This change was seemingly unannounced; some feel they have been investing in the bank for years to have their investment taken from them without some input prior to such a change.   Can our investment days be returned to us or can this change be reconsidered?

The investment members made to the bank is still there and the benefit is accessible. 

FCPS used to provide employees access to a sick leave bank and the ability to transfer leave from one employee to another. The policies were redundant and the board’s legal counsel recommended offering one or the other. Because the transfer policy relied on employees making their needs known to other employees and had the propensity for unfairness, we chose to remove the transfer policy in favor of the sick leave bank policy.

We took the opportunity to evaluate the existing sick leave bank policy while both were being considered. The former sick leave bank policy language was less defined than was recommended. The policy was reviewed by the board’s legal counsel and neighboring division’s policies were reviewed. 

No other school divisions have policies like the one FCPS previously had (which required no “waiting period” or leave without pay prior to use). All other divisions either designate a period during which employees must take leave without pay OR a specified number of days that must be covered by something other than the sick leave bank (which is leave without pay once all leave is exhausted).

Initially FCPS drafted a policy that only allowed access to the bank for absences of 11 or more consecutive days, and ultimately landed on a revision that mirrored the language of the Louisa policy exactly - which requires the ten days without pay prior to access. The first revisions to the 2019 policy were presented and are included in the October 11, 2023 board meeting agenda under the “reports” section.

The final draft was approved on March 13, 2024 and is available under Item 12 of that agenda, and was also included in the February 14, 2024 meeting agenda under the “reports” section.

I’m always open to reviewing our decisions and considering feedback. I have spoken to members of the school board and plan to bring this policy for discussion to a future board meeting. Because of the timeframe, it will likely be April.