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June 29, 2010 Page 1Special Session

June 29, 2010

The Montgomery County School Board met on the above date at theMontgomery County Government Center in the Board of SupervisorsMeeting Room at 7:30 p.m. for the purpose of a special session.

Board Members PresentB. Wendell Jones, Chair Penny J. FranklinPhyllis T. Albritton W. Wat HopkinsJamie M. Bond Joseph T. Ivers, Jr.Drema B. Foster

Staff Members PresentBrenda B. Blackburn, SuperintendentJudith K. Barylske Katherine MianoDaniel A. Berenato Diane R. NaffChristina T. Gilley Lisa R. RadfordHarvey C. Goodwin Walter L. ShannonLois T. Graham Donald SimpkinsRoger L. Hartless Roberta A. Snelling

Call to OrderMr. Jones called the meeting to order with the pledge of allegiance tothe flag at 7:30 p.m.

Adoption of AgendaOn motion by Ms. Franklin, seconded by Mr. Ivers, the Board votedunanimously to adopt the agenda as presented.

Work SessionMs. Franklin moved, seconded by Mrs. Bond, and the Board votedunanimously to enter a work session at 7:31 p.m.

Item 06/10-114 Blacksburg Strand Student Accommodation Options for6 th 12 th Grade Students for 2010-2011: SuperintendentBrenda Blackburn said as a best case scenarioBlacksburg High School could be repaired and available

in August or September 2011. She reviewed the followingas a proposed timeline with the School Board as itrelates to the situation at Blacksburg High School(BHS):

June 25, 2010 Community input posted on MCPSwebsite

June 29, 2010 Board meeting to review optionsand community input

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July 1, 2010 Estimated date of receipt of secondreport from Oliver, Webb, Pappas, and Rhudy (OWPR)

July 2, 2010 Post additional community input onMCPS website

July 6, 2010 Board meeting to review 7/1/10 OWPRreport recommendations and finding with Board;consider/adopt a modified calendar for 2010-2011;select housing plan for Blacksburg Strand

July 7, 2010 Press Release; Begin implementationof housing plan for Blacksburg Strand

July 15, 2010 Estimated date of receipt ofsecond report from FORCON

July 20, 2010 Board meeting to review status ofFORCON findings; status of implementation ofBlacksburg Strand housing plan

August 3, 2010 Board meeting; review status onprogress of all school year housing plans for 2010

August 17, 2010 Board meeting; work sessiondiscussion of long-range planning process for BHS

Ms. Blackburn also shared major themes from communityinput provided at the meetings on June 21 and 22, 2010,as shown below:

Keep students in Blacksburg Move the least number of students Do not disrupt the middle school Keep grades 9-12 and 6-8 together Maintain extracurricular programs for all students Provide a traditional schedule for the high school Provide quality instructional programs

Other facts about the BHS facility and specialconsiderations presented to the Board are outlinedbelow:

BHS is not available for the 2010-2011 school year

The old Blacksburg Middle School building is not aviable option

Space is not available at Virginia Tech Transportation to take significant number of

students to Eastern Montgomery or to the Auburnarea is problematic

There is 24,746 total square feet in the BHS

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CMS operates on a unified schedule withgrades 6-8 from Christiansburg and grades 6-7from Blacksburg (Option 2 presented atcommunity meetings)

BMS houses grades 8-12 and OCMS housesBlacksburg students in grades 6-7 (Option 3presented at community meetings)

OCMS provides housing for BHS students ingrades 9-12; Blacksburg students in grades 6-8 attend BMS (Option 4 presented at community meetings)

The Board discussed possible cost savings if

mobile units are leased rather than purchased.Walt Shannon, Assistant Superintendent, relayedthat the school division already has 8 mobileunits that may be used and has identified 40additional mobile units that are available at thistime in the event that this is the option theBoard selects. Ms. Blackburn stated that the BHSvocational wing is being evaluated to see if thatportion of the building is useable. She noted thata response concerning this issue should beavailable in the next few days. Mr. Shannon sharedthat the lab programs are the most challenging toprovide via way of the mobile units. Some Boardmembers voiced concern regarding potentiallydisrupting the middle school model by separatingthis particular group of students. Other Boardmembers also noted possible concerns regardingsafety in the event that a school campus is filledwith mobile units. In addition, the School Boarddiscussed the fact that the former BlacksburgMiddle School annex is useable (12 classrooms).However, it was noted that the OBMS facility ingeneral is being scheduled for demolition due tothe overall poor condition of the building. Aftercontinued discussion, the following three optionsreceived support by the Board.

1) Some configuration of a mobile campusadjacent to Blacksburg Middle School (four Board members in favor of this plan)

2) Some configuration of moving BlacksburgMiddle School students to the formerChristiansburg Middle School (four Board

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members in favor of this plan)3) Move BHS students to the former

Christiansburg Middle School (three Board members in favor of this plan)

Item 06/10-115 Revised Calendar for the 2010-2011 School Year: Inview of issues at BHS, Ms. Blackburn presented a revisedschool calendar and a revised 12-month employee calendarfor the 2010-2011 school year for the Boardsconsideration. Mrs. Foster voiced concern aboutpotentially delaying the start of school three weeks andpublicizing a new calendar six weeks prior to the startof school. She said parents have already made plansusing the previous calendar they received. Ms. Franklinalso shared that when CHS was being built, there was atwo-week delay which was accommodated within thecalendar. Therefore, she said the delay did not impactevery student in the school system. Mrs. Fosterquestioned whether something like this could be done inthis situation. The Board agreed that the optionselected could ultimately impact the calendar. Asuggestion was made for the administration to present acalendar with an August 25 start date at the July 6meeting.

Return to Regular SessionDr. Hopkins moved, seconded by Mrs. Albritton, and the Board votedunanimously to return to regular session at 10:00 p.m.

Unfinished Business by School Board Members School Board Retreat (July 9-10, 2010): The School Board decided

to start the retreat on Friday, July 9, at 1 p.m. and then havedinner together later that evening.

New Business by School Board MembersThere was no new business.

Agenda PreparationJuly 6, 2010 Regular Session School Board Meeting

July 9-10, 2010 School Board Retreat

July 20, 2010 Work Session School Board Meeting

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AdjournmentThe meeting was adjourned at 10:01 p.m. on motion by Ms. Franklin,seconded by Mrs. Albritton, and passed unanimously.

School Board Chair Clerk of the School Board

sb minutes june 29 2010 (2)

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