Correspondent
The Fluvanna School Board voted unanimously in its Wednesday (April 14) meeting to give staff bonuses.
Full-time employees will get $500; permanent part-time employees will get $250. The bonuses will be issued as a separate check on April 22.
Superintendent Chuck Winkler advocated for the bonuses, saying, “The money is there.”
Winkler also suggested giving staff a 5 percent raise in the Fiscal Year 2022 budget.
The Board will vote on that change at the May 12 meeting.
Winkler said Fluvanna schools are getting $2.7 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds as part of federal coronavirus relief.
“We want to use this money to reduce class sizes,” he said. “We’ll also look at additional needs (social and emotional).”
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Correspondent
Things got a bit tense between two School Board members during budget talks at Wednesday’s (Feb. 3) meeting.
As Superintendent Chuck Winkler laid out the different scenarios of raises, salary scale adjustments and step increases, Charles Rittenhouse (Cunningham) asked what Winkler recommended.
Winkler said he preferred giving staff a 2 percent raise with a minimum of $500 and no adjustments to salary scale. Which means if 2 percent of a person’s salary is less than $500, that person would get a $500 raise.
The total cost of that proposal is $765,400.
Rittenhouse noted that was about $1 million.
Winkler said the other option – the same 2 percent raise with a $500 minimum including salary scale increases – actually did come out to $1,040,900.
It’s budget time.
Just about every meeting from the first of the year until it’s finalized is filled with budget considerations: health care, staff pay, bonuses, spending priorities and district-wide needs.
This year the Fluvanna County School Board has an additional task: searching for a new superintendent. Current Superintendent Chuck Winkler will retire in June.
The Board would like to hire his replacement as soon as possible.
At Wednesday’s (Jan. 20) seminar, besides budget priorities, they discussed what they were looking for in the next superintendent.
Chair Perrie Johnson (Fork Union) said 550 people responded to a survey on superintendent qualifications.
Correspondent
Superintendent Chuck Winkler laid out the need and plans for summer school at the Fluvanna School Board meeting Wednesday (Jan. 13).
COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on student’s education: virtual school, hybrid schedules, outbreaks, quarantines, masks and distancing all make learning harder than ever.
As a result, many students are falling behind and Fluvanna plans to help them by holding summer school.
If all goes well, the last day of school will be June 11, Winkler said.
The summer session will begin June 21.
“(It will be) extremely targeted, in-person, small group and some virtual,” Winkler said. “All strategies are being worked through now.”