By Anita Firebaugh
Contributing Writer
Craig County Public Schools are preparing to face two significant challenges over the next six years: lack of students, and an inability to maintain staff.
The School Board earlier this year approved a comprehensive six-year plan that attempts to address these concerns.
“CCPS has experienced a high rate of turnover in administration, instructional staff, and maintenance personnel. Faculty retention should be a priority for continuity and planning purposes,” the plan, which is available on the public schools’ website, reads.
Declining student enrollment affects funding, as state funding is based on the total student enrollment on March 31 of each year, and the locality’s ability to pay. Enrollment in the public school system has dropped annually since 2010 and is expected to continue to slide. Current enrollment is just over 450 students; in six years, that number is expected to be about 310.
The student decline matches the declining population figures from the U.S. Census, which shows that the median age of county residents is 46.1. Trace Bellasai, chairman of the school board, noted in a recent phone conversation that, “the largest drop in our population was both school-age children, 5 to18, as well as the demographic that would be having children, 18 to 30.”
Keeping staff has long been a problem for the county’s largest employer. While Bellasai estimated that more than half of the school staff lives in Craig County, others commute from nearby localities. “It’s difficult for us to remain competitive from a salary standpoint,” he said. “It’s more expense for them in terms of gas and what not.”
In order to combat the staffing issue, the schools have joined with Botetourt County in a “grow your own” program at Botetourt’s BTech. The program is designed to guide young people towards becoming teachers, Bellasai said. “So we send some kids over there for that.”
School Board Member Faye Powers said that the schools also have not completely recovered from the pandemic that began in 2020. Some students stayed home and never returned, she said.
Others have joined a new private religious school that recently opened in the county, though Bellasai said he felt like most of those students were already homeschooled and therefore not counted in the public school system anyway.
The schools are working on its budget for fiscal year 2024. Funding comes from three sources: federal, state, and local. Federal funds include Title IA, Title IIA, Title IVA, and special education funding, as well as assistance based on the federal forest acreage.
State Funds are based on average daily membership and standards of quality. Local funds are what the county is required to contribute. Craig County has not given much above its required local effort since 2019.
The school board has set the following as its goals for the next six years:
- Present high and clear expectations for all students and include a consistent guide for the evaluation of student work.
- Provide necessary and appropriate student support.
- Strengthen professional development and evaluation.
- Create challenging and supported learning environments.
- Maintain high quality programs as enrollment declines.
- Create a general education preschool.
Other goals include improving instructional programming by providing effective and dynamic classroom instruction, developing programming to provide multi-tiered systems of support based on student needs, and creating engaging and motivating program choices that prepare students to achieve college and career aspirations.
Additionally, the school board hopes to strengthen STEM and STEAM programs in all grade levels, increase classroom technology, and continue to strengthen and maintain an interactive land lab and greenhouse.
Other objectives include strengthening recruitment and retention of staff, strengthening professional learning communities and promoting the values of kindness, compassion, empathy and respect within the school community, along with providing clean, safe and energy efficient learning environments.
The school board would also like to strengthen community relations by improving family engagement with the school system and developing and implementing a plan of positive messaging to the community to improve community perception of the school system.
Courtesy images
