The Gloucester County School Board has agreed to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the Three Rivers Health District to allow two school properties to be added to the list of local potential COVID-19 vaccination sites.
The board was unanimous in agreeing to the MOA during its Feb. 9 meeting at the T.C. Walker Education Center. This will allow the health district to utilize the former Page Middle School site on Route 17 and Gloucester High School parking areas for drive-thru vaccination clinics.
School division operations director Bryan Hartley said GHS would only be used as a clinic site when school is not in session. He also said that, due to a vaccination shortage, no dates were yet provided for possible clinics.
In an update on school employee COVID-19 vaccinations, school division nursing director Lisa Jones told the board that 474 division employees have taken advantage of 475 vaccines made available to them over the course of four recent clinics at Riverside Walter Reed Hospital.
Jones said that 153 professional staff members, 206 support staff members and administrators, and 164 coaches and substitute staffers have not been vaccinated. She said all of these persons would be surveyed again to see if they wanted the vaccine. Jones said it has been her goal to get a vaccine to every GCPS employee that desires one.
One-time bonuses
The board also voted unanimously to give a one-time bonus of $900 to full-time employees and $450 to those who work fewer than 30 hours per week. The bonuses will be included with employees’ March 31 paychecks.
Employees did not receive a raise in the current fiscal year and school division superintendent Walter Clemons said supervisors recently gave a similar bonus to county employees. He said school employees should be shown the appreciation for their work while dealing with the pandemic.
School division chief financial officer Heather Lucas said the $732,370 necessary to provide the school division bonuses will come out of money budgeted for 12 positions that the school division did not fill due to COVID-19. She emphasized that the 12 positions would likely need to be filled for the upcoming school year.
In other business, the board heard about plans to combine the school division’s two preschool programs for the 2021-2022 school year in keeping with state recommendations.
The move would combine the Inclusive Placement Opportunities for Preschoolers programs with the divisions’ preschools offered under the Virginia Preschool Initiative. The board insisted that those designing the local plan utilize all avenues available to make the upcoming changes known to parents.
Following a closed session during the meeting, the board appointed Abigail Lucas of Gloucester, to a support services position, effective Jan. 21, and appointed Michelle Jacobson of Yorktown, and Mary Smith of Gloucester, to support services positions, both effective Feb. 1.
The board also promoted school nurse coordinator Lisa Jones to director of nursing and acting special education director Jennifer Tingley to director of special education, both effective Jan. 1.
Also, the board accepted resignations from GHS math teacher Jami Weidmann, effective Feb. 16, teacher assistant Sarah Dines, effective June 17, and support services employee Justin Ashberry, effective Jan. 29.
Retirement was approved for GHS science teacher Donna Brownlee, effective Feb. 1, and Peasley Middle School science teacher Robert Banach and GHS history teacher Michael Cecere, both effective July 1. Retirement was also approved for support employee Michelle Campbell, effective March 1.
Appointed to teaching positions for the 2021-2022 school year were Jeremy Bouis of Williamsburg, Samantha Galloway of Palmyra, Thomas Hendrickson of Saluda, Kathryn Richardson of Opelika, Alabama, and Jody Payne of Gloucester. Constance Bryan of Hampton, was appointed as a speech pathologist.