School board notebook

The following are notes from the Nov. 1 Orange County School Board meeting.

Posting items for public comment
At last Tuesday night's meeting, school board members adopted several draft plans for public comment. Board members unanimously approved posting drafts of the strategic plan, technology plan and capital improvement plan for public comment. The strategic plan defines the single purpose of all employees, while the technology plan includes goals that guide the evolution of technology usage in the school system. Likewise, the capital improvement plan identifies and prioritizes possible projects for the next five years.
The public can make comments on the three plans by visiting www.ocss-va.org/schoolboard/plans/Invite_Public_Comment.pdf through Nov. 28 at 4 p.m. or by attending a public hearing Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 6 p.m. at the Taylor Education Administration Complex. The plans will be considered for action at the board's on Tuesday, Dec. 6 meeting.

ADM established
In order to develop next year's budget, the school board must first establish an average daily membership (ADM) figure, which dictates the school budget. ADM represents a total number of school days within a given term that a student's name is on the current roll of a class, regardless of the number of days that students is absent or present. The sum of the number of membership days for all students is then divided by the number of school days in the term. State funding is then based on that number.
For the 2012-2013 school year, school board members unanimously agreed upon an ADM of 5,010. That is a decrease from this year's ADM of 5,020. Currently, according to Sept. 30 enrollment figures, the actual ADM is 5,023.

Program of studies changes
Orange County High School Principal Doug Duncan and Orange County Public Schools Director of Secondary Instruction Linda Carlton presented changes to the program of studies at Orange County High School. The changes, which will be effective beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, include realigning the health and physical education courses for ninth and 10th grade to match state standards and to correspond with a more rigorous health program. Also, a two-year dual enrollment licensed practical nursing (LPN) course is being added with Germanna and a CompTIA Security+ course is being added to Hornet Technologies.
School board members unanimously approved the changes.

Next meeting
The board will meet Nov. 29 in a work session.