School year extended to make up snow days

Alleghany County's school year will be extended two days to make up for days missed due to snow and ice.

Superintendent Duane Davis announced the school calendar amendments during the Jan. 8 meeting of the Alleghany County Board of Education. The last day of the 2002-03 school year for pupils is therefore changed from May 21 to May 23.

Pupils missed three days of school in early December (2002) due to snow and ice; another day was missed Jan. 7.

The school system made up two of those days by delaying the beginning of the break for the Christmas/New Year holiday period. Pupils thus attended school Dec. 19 and Dec. 20, which were originally scheduled as optional teacher workdays.

"School will be extended two days at the end of the year," said Davis. "If we don't have any more interruptions, that's all that happens....(but) it's just Jan. 8, after all."

One of the days missed will be considered an annual leave day for school staff. The calendar has 10 total annual leave days in the school year; four of those were initially scheduled after the year is over for pupils.

Davis explained that the calendar has built-in potential for adjustments; most days scheduled as breaks — that is, no-school days for pupils — can be used for make-up days if needed.

The exception is March 19-21. Spring break is scheduled for that entire week, and the board previously agreed to make three days of spring break "non-touchable," that is, guaranteed to be days school will not be in session. March 17 and 18, however, while currently scheduled as part of spring break, could potentially be used as make-up days.

Personnel

Following a one-hour closed session, the board approved a slate of personnel actions. It thereby hired Annetta Moxley for Alleghany High School's cafeteria; substitute teachers Mary Beth Harris at Glade Creek, Piney Creek and Sparta schools; Beverly K. Brown, Erora Hash and Melissa Cook at Piney Creek; Glenn Wing, Richard Saucier and Patricia Shupe at all schools; Kristina Galyen at Glade Creek and Sparta; and Carlene Brewer at Sparta School; and tutor Erin Atwood at Piney Creek (Atwood is also a senior at AHS); approved volunteers Julie F. Hincher and Lane Weatherman at Glade Creek; approved teacher Kendall Hamm's maternity leave to begin April 1; accepted Donna Sigmon's resignation as a teacher at Sparta and Joan Kennedy's retirement as media coordinator at Sparta.

The closed session was taken to discuss personnel as well as the board's pending lawsuit versus T. Greene Plumbing. The suit, in which James R. Vannoy & Sons Construction and Orkan Architecture are named as third-party defendants, concerns damage to the floor of the new AHS gym which necessitated the floor's replacement.

Judge Michael E. Helms last month ordered the suit into mediation.

Recognition

In other discussion, the board applauded Jim Hale, Derrick Murphy and Lillis Ward, Alleghany's three teachers who achieved certification by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards in November 2002. All three are employed at AHS. Hale and Murphy teach mathematics; Ward is the school's media coordinator and teaches library science.

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