Staunton School leaders support 4% employee raise
Staunton School leaders support 4% employee raise By Tara Todd | March 8, 2021 at 10:56 PM EST - Updated March 9 at 8:42 AM
STAUNTON, Va. (WVIR) - Staunton school leaders passed a budget Monday night that includes employee raises and several new hires.
Also, a couple of parents are asking for students to return to school full time.
The Staunton School Board unanimously passed a $40.5 million budget for the 2022 school year. It includes a 4% raise for all school employees, plus an additional 2% for operations staff.
The budget also contains 19 new positions to meet special education and ESL demands, custodial and maintenance needs for the bigger high school, and critical positions cut from last year’s budget.
New Waynesboro treatment center helping people with opioid addiction
New Waynesboro treatment center helping people with opioid addiction By Tara Todd | March 4, 2021 at 7:49 PM EST - Updated March 5 at 2:48 PM
WAYNESBORO, Va. (WVIR) - Thereâs a new opioid treatment center in the Shenandoah Valley hoping to help people overcome their substance abuse disorder, and it just opened up this week.
The director says the phones are already ringing. After three solid years of hard work to get there, MARC (Mid-Atlantic Recovery Center) is now seeing patients.
âIf you canât function in your daily life without the drug then you are dependent,â MARC Director Natalie Broadnax said.
A fire at the Habitat for Humanity Restore in Staunton, determined to be arson, has really shaken the people who work there. But Habitat’s Executive Director is finding the upside to a terrible situation, and it’s coming in many forms.
Project Grows barn construction kicks off
Project Grows barn construction kicks off By Tara Todd | February 26, 2021 at 8:13 PM EST - Updated March 2 at 10:05 PM
VERONA, Va. (WVIR) - A farm committed to improving the health of children in the Shenandoah Valley is getting a barn. It comes after 10 years of connecting kids to where their food comes from both in schools and at the farm.
It’s taken two years of planning and fundraising, but construction crews are getting the ground ready at Project Grows in Verona to begin work next week.
“Really since day one of Project Grows we’ve been working with really minimal infrastructure on the farm,” said Farm Operations Director Laura Faircloth.
Staunton Council asking Governor for more time to move May elections
Staunton Council asking Governor for more time to move May elections By Tara Todd | February 25, 2021 at 9:51 PM EST - Updated February 26 at 2:01 PM
STAUNTON, Va. (WVIR) - Anticipating new legislation, several Staunton City Council members want more time to move May elections to November.
The proposed bill passed the House and Senate and is now sitting on Governor Northam’s desk awaiting his signature.
City leaders voted Thursday night to send a letter to the Governor, asking for more time to make the change than the current 2022 implementation date.