Grayson County 1A appeal
- Thread starter Triple Opt
- Start date
Thats a key indicator that realignment is needed in groups 1a and 2a. 1a cutoff should be at 375 the smaller schools will suffer with the schools in the 425 and up range.
VHSL should add a classification for the smaller schools and label it “1/2 A”! LOL
Numbers used in March of 2018 for alignment by VHSL had them at 489. I guess they had to prove declining enrollment going forward. Others based on March 2018 were as follows just fyi:
Northampton 453
Riverheads 447
W&L 444
George Wythe 436
Essex 428
If Grayson is now 447 they are probably second biggest in 1A as RH is also down I believe.
That makes sense. Just saw where the poster said they were at 447 and going down, figured he meant last adm was 447
Shew, I hate it for Grayson. What are the numbers like for Galax? Carroll is also going down. Those schools are all close to one another, so I was wondering if one of the others is picking them up. If not, that is a bad sign for the area economically anyway.
Galax's enrollment is increasing but not at the level Grayson's is decreasing. Grayson is also paying a heavy price for decisions made a decade ago by leaders who are no longer around. Unfortunately, those decisions have handcuffed the school system.
March 2018 ADM figures were 495 and I haven't heard they were dropping. If they do drop, the MED would be one hell of a Class 1 district!
Fort may as well join Three Rivers. They're closer to every other team than Carroll is.
Even better add a ( I cant win in 2a division)
Google "Grayson County Public Schools budget shortfall." That will take you back to 2015 and run through this past summer.
The root problem, however, is the decision to build a new school in a remote part of the county to serve a community of roughly 50 kids, if that many. With winding mountain roads and highly unpredictable weather patterns due to the extreme change in elevation, it makes access difficult at best. It's the highest peak in Virginia. And they are forced to bus roughly 100 kids up the mountain to meet requirements agreed upon to build the school. Look the school up on Google Maps (Grayson Highlands School) and keep in mind, the county buses kids living west of US-21 near Independence and Elk Creek to the new school.
The debt associated with building this school and expense of busing kids up that mountain is a noose around the county's neck. It was a terrible decision made by administrators who are long gone, leaving those in charge now to find ways of dealing with an impossible situation.
This is the school that replaced the old Mt. Rogers, right? Do they field teams in any sports? Mt. Rogers had basketball back in the day. They had the state's longest losing streak at one time. I believe the streak was broken against Bland (pre-consolidation).
The school is K-7. Grades 8-12 are bused down the mountain to Grayson. It would have made much more sense to have the new school completely replace Mount Rogers as a K-12 school.
I thought Galax numbers had decreased from 380 something to the 360's from what the VHSL had them at????
I get what you're saying and technically, you're right. We both are, just in different ways, I guess.
Enrollments in small, rural communities fluctuates in cycles. In 2002, Galax was at 346, 363 in 2008, 383 in 2012 and down to 360 in 2018. The trend down seen between 2012 and 2018 will be short-lived. The current senior class is the biggest in school history, yet most enrollment figures for grades below 9th grade are larger than the current senior class. The current 4th grade group is larger by more than 20%. It stands to reason, if almost every grade level below high school is larger than the current senior class, and the current senior class is the largest in school history, enrollment is trending up.
The school system as a whole (not just the high school ADM) gained something like 77 kids just this school year. I don't recall the official increase but it was printed in the local newspaper in one of the articles covering the Baywood closure. I assume that article was implying most of that increase was due to Grayson closing Baywood. More will come if/when Grayson closes Fairview I would think.
I spoke to a school board member who told me alot of Grayson Counties student decline has been from kids being home schooled. Add that into the fact that they closed Baywood a central elementary school in the county, plus the kids that Live in the Fairview community has to drive right by Galax High school then travel another 20 to 25 minutes to get to GC. Both communities in the county , Baywood and Fairview are closer to Galax than they are independence.
Some of Grayson's decline can be attributed to an increase in home school but I wouldn't classify it as "alot." As the link provided clearly shows, the total number of kids being home schooled in Grayson County has remained steady around 75 total kids for a decade. That number increased two years ago to 84 and last year to 93. It is trending up but not near the level to which kids are transferring to Galax from Grayson. An increase of home schooled kids of 18 over a 2 year period versus Galax gaining some 77 kids, presumably from Grayson according to the newspaper article, in 1 year.
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/statistics_reports/enrollment/home_school_religious_exempt/index.shtml
The way it was explained to me that people do not realise that if a kid is enrolled in 9th grade at a public school and decides half way through the year decides to home school the school has to count for that kid a s student until they would have graduated because the school has already received Money for said student. The school board member said alot of those cycled out this year and attributed to the drop.. As well as I stated in my previous post it's closer to Galax for the kids in the lower end of the county.. Not to mention Galax is credited of having better all around sports programs and school scores
A kid who attends 9th grade for a month before choosing the home-school route would have to be counted toward ADM figures until that kids remaining classmates graduate is a bit much for me to believe without seeing something noteworthy from an official source. I don't want to argue with you but that would have to be proven before I would believe it!
I think they may count for the year, not until graduation. You have kids move in/out of places all the time. If it were for their entire high school then a school like Riverheads wouldn't have had the drop. They dropped because of new lines being drawn around Augusta county. The ADM changes every year, and the money they receive changes every year.
It's completely understandable for a student in this scenario to count for the remainder of the school year in which he/she began in the public school system. It's absurd to believe that same kid would count until his/her class graduates!
Hahah you guys have opened a can of worms. This may help you out Sixcat. Triple Opt is partially right I believe what the school board member was talking to is included in what is part of a huge debate, known as the Tim Tebow clause. It has to do with home school students being allowed to play on a public school sports team because the public schools can claim money for home school students in their District. Thus the parents of home school students believe since the schools are receiving money that comes from their tax dollars then their kids should be allowed to play on public school teams. And yes it does count toward the Schools ADM count. The below excerpt from VHSL will help. SS22.1-253.32n
"Students enrolled in a public school on a less than full-time basis shall be counted in average daily membership (ADM) in the relevant school division. Students who are either (i) enrolled in a nonpublic school or (ii) receiving home instruction pursuant to §22.1-254.1, and who are enrolled in public school on a less than full-time basis in any mathematics, science, English, history, social science, vocational education, fine arts, foreign language course, or health and physical education shall be counted in the average daily membership (ADM) in the relevant school division on a pro rata basis as provided in the appropriation act"
Alot of schools encourage this to help receive funds.
Thanks for the info Triple Opt.
https://heav.org/virginia-homeschool-laws/access-to-public-school-systems/page/9/
Excerpt..The Bona Fide Student and Enrollment Rule—The student shall be a regular bona fide student in good standing of the school which he/she represents. There is an obvious problem for homeschoolers with this rule: according to VHSL policy, a “regular” student is considered a full-time student who is in regular attendance.
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title22.1/chapter13.2/section22.1-253.13:2/
Excerpt...N. Students enrolled in a public school on a less than full-time basis shall be counted in ADM in the relevant school division. Students who are either (i) enrolled in a nonpublic school or (ii) receiving home instruction pursuant to § 22.1-254.1, and who are enrolled in public school on a less than full-time basis in any mathematics, science, English, history, social science, career and technical education, fine arts, foreign language, or health education or physical education course shall be counted in the ADM in the relevant school division on a pro rata basis as provided in the appropriation act. Each such course enrollment by such students shall be counted as 0.25 in the ADM; however, no such nonpublic or home school student shall be counted as more than one-half a student for purposes of such pro rata calculation. Such calculation shall not include enrollments of such students in any other public school courses.
It would seem the state doesn't want to pay for them even if they are part-time since they only allow them to count as a portion related to the number of classes they are taking. And the VHSL won't consider them eligible unless they are a "regular" full-time student. So, if the home schooled student isn't taking any classes at the public school in their district then the VHSL nor the VDOE will consider them for ADM/Eligibility purposes.
So they do count toward the ADM as stated. Even if they only count as 1/4 toward the ADM it would greatly influence the number if there is 90 plus of them as stated by threecat. If half of those students counted as 1/2 credit that would be 40 plus students.
Is "threecat" supposed to be an insult of some kind? Way to maintain a level of maturity in what has otherwise been a civil conversation.
Home-school students only count toward VHSL ADM figures if the home-school students use public school facilities. Which no local school system allows!
First of all I did not realise It put three cat in there.. I apologise so calm down there hero.... You are going have to break it down Barney style for us. As I can find nowhere in the statement that they have to use a facility to be counted toward the ADM only getting credits of. 25 per each subject but no more than . 50 according to the article home school students count toward . I would hope that a school board member of said school and is also on the coaching staff know what he is talking about. Again if I am wrong I am wrong.
Haha "hold on there Hero and Break it down Barney style for us" you sir have won the internet today.
https://heav.org/virginia-homeschool-laws/access-to-public-school-systems/
The Bona Fide Student and Enrollment Rule—The student shall be a regular bona fide student in good standing of the school which he/she represents. There is an obvious problem for homeschoolers with this rule: according to VHSL policy, a “regular” student is considered a full-time student who is in regular attendance.
The Bona Fide Student and Enrollment Rule—The student shall be a regular bona fide student in good standing of the school which he/she represents. There is an obvious problem for homeschoolers with this rule: according to VHSL policy, a “regular” student is considered a full-time student who is in regular attendance.
The way bona fide student and enrollment rule reads to me it is addressing wether or not a student can participate in VHSL sports. The Tim Tebow rule that Alabama and other states have passed a law allowing home school students to play on public school teams. It is not addressing ot wether or not they count toward the ADM that is addressed early in the article. Stating that a kid enrolled through a virtual class or taking college credit through that school district counts a certain percentage toward their ADM. Alot of schools allow this to get funding they desperately need. Grayson County certainly needed it a couple of years ago when they couldn't afford to pay their teachers.
I could be wrong though it seems to be annoying habit lately haha.
I could be wrong though it seems to be annoying habit lately haha.
I think they all understand that Grayson is 1C, they are arguing or I should say talking about how homeschool kids are counted or not counted in public schools and why Graysons numbers have dropped so much.
