Gladys school closure, employee pay cut considered

RUSTBURG — Campbell County Superintendent Robert Johnson offered the school board a choice Monday between closing Gladys Elementary School and cutting school employee pay by 5 percent division wide.

Johnson brought the option of the 5-percent cut to the board in response to an earlier board suggestion that he come up with a plan that did not include the closure of Gladys Elementary.

When the superintendent asked which direction the board would like to pursue, no school board member spoke in favor of either plan. School Board member George Jones, who represents the district that includes Gladys Elementary, called for a “Plan C” and asked if the board could look at some budget-cutting recommendations made by parents.

Johnson said he would be happy to oblige, but warned that the board would have to vote on a plan at its March 29 meeting. Currently his proposals do not represent a final balanced budget, because they do not yet reflect the new state budget approved Sunday.

With no clear mandate from the board on what direction Johnson should take to create a final plan, the board members now face the possibility of creating an a la carte budget on their own on March 29.

Johnson said that in addition to cuts previously discussed in earlier presentations, his budget proposals include smaller cuts to areas such as instructional supplies and technology. He clarified after the meeting that what have been previously referred to as 65 teacher cuts could come from any licensed position.

He said they had been referred to as teaching positions because they are based on average teacher compensation in salary and benefits. Johnson said that he had not yet identified any central office positions for elimination although he is proposing the elimination of five part-time administrative positions. The Fray Educational Center would either be eliminated or significantly reduced in Johnson’s proposals.

The board discussion came after a packed public forum attended by about 350 people. Thirty-four spoke, with many school employees across the division adding their voices to those of Gladys Elementary supporters and other parents and concerned county residents.

Brookville High School teacher Misty Elmore told the board that school employees across the county go above and beyond when it comes to unpaid volunteer time.

“To ask these same employees to take a pay cut is a slap in the face,” said Elmore, who went on to suggest that the board consider a modified school calendar for next year like the one that is being proposed in Lynchburg, in addition to closing Gladys Elementary.

Vickie Mills, a teacher at Altavista Combined School, said she already works two jobs and that a 5-percent pay cut could dissuade many from teaching in Campbell County.

“Nobody wants Fray and Gladys to close,” said Mills, “but buying another year for these schools at the expense of teachers’ salaries is unconscionable.”

Bus drivers, who also could be affected, spoke out.

“You can imagine our distress when we heard we could take a five percent pay cut,” said Betty Adkins, a bus driver. “We are some of the lowest paid in the division. We cannot afford these cuts.”

Parents Joy Martin and Donna Lipphard presented the school board with a packet containing what the women said was more than $7 million in cuts. They said that could be combined with some cuts already in the superintendent’s proposal for a total of approximately $9 million in cuts that would not include a 5-percent pay decrease or the closure of Gladys.

They targeted the elimination of unfilled positions, the 20/20 program and recommended that Brookneal and Gladys elementary schools share a principal and other staff, among other cuts.

Gladys Elementary parent Kristi Whitesell said the current acrimony in the school division could mean that Gladys would lose whether or not the school closes.

“Which of you would be willing to close your school for the benefit of the whole community?” Whitesell asked. “If Gladys stays open, we will continue to suffer from the bias against the southern end of the county.”