Albemarle County Public Schools

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Albemarle County Public Schools are governed by the Albemarle County School Board. There were 13,532 students enrolled at the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, down from 14,435 at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year. [1]

The Superintendent is Matthew Haas. In June 2021, the School Board extended his contract to 2025. [2]

The system anticipates hiring at least 30 new teachers for the fall of 2020 to accommodate a projected increase of 200 students. [3]

The division's budget in FY2020 is $195.7 million. [4]



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Organizational structure

Building Services Department has a mission to "clean, maintain and create learning environments." This department also works with around 90 community groups to provide space.

The Extended Day Enrichment Programs (EDEP) provides after-school and school holiday programs for over 1,100 students at county elementary schools. This program is self-sustaining.

The Fiscal Services Department tracks the system's finances and is responsible for long-range planning. As such, this department prepares and oversees development of the school system's Capital Improvement Program requests.

The Special Education department provides services to individuals with special needs up to the age of 21.

The Office of Strategic Communications provides information to the media as well as to parents.

The division of Student Services: Truancy and Safety is "to serve as resource for ACPS schools by supporting efforts to provide an inviting, safe and secure environment where all students can reach their learning goals."

The Department of Technology is to "ensure quality use of technological tools" including efforts to help teachers measure their performance against state standards.

The Transportation Services Department is "to provide safe, efficient, and customer-friendly transportation for our students to and from school." One identified issue in the department is staffing, an issue faced by other transit facilities. [5] The director is Jim Foley. [6]

Desegregation

In the fall of 1963, 26 African-American students were the first to attend white schools, several years after the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court Decision. [7]


Teacher pay

In June 2017, the School Board was presented with a study from the Arthur J. Gallagher & Company consulting firm on teacher salary. The report found the salaries of the county’s teachers fared well in comparison to some of Virginia’s highest-performing school divisions. The study also identified areas for improvement related to the selection of peer communities for salary comparisons and the amounts paid in stipends for work outside the classroom. The company was paid $32,325 for their work which consisted of a months-long review of teacher compensation by facilitating teacher and administrator focus groups and gathering external data.

In 2016-2017, salaries of county teachers with a bachelor’s degree ranged from $45,400 in the first year of teaching to $68,000 after 31 years. [8]

Collective bargaining

Efforts are underway to persuade the Albemarle County School Board to allow for school employees to enter into collective bargaining. [9]


School attendance zones

As of December 2012, the school division is considering changing its attendance boundaries.[10]

ACPS Personnel

Link to ACPS personnel with pages in cvillepedia

Elementary Schools

The school board voted in the spring of 2017 to close Yancey Elementary School and later transferred it to the Albemarle County general government. [11]

Middle Schools

High Schools

Funding

In 2016, Albemarle voters approved a $35 million bond referendum.

Future capacity

Ambox notice.png This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

Centers

With a growing population in Albemarle County, the School Board and Board of Supervisors are trying to be more efficient with dollars. Rather than build a fourth high school, the school has embarked on an initiative where smaller Centers are built throughout the county.

The first of these centers opened up in Seminole Place, the former Comdial building, in the fall of 2018.

The second of these is planned to be in the Mill Creek area and has the planning name of Center II. The School Board will ask the Board of Supervisors to transfer 15 acres of county-owned land near Monticello High School for this purpose. [12] [13] The School Board voted on November 14, 2019 to formally ask Supervisors. [14]

Elementary school overcrowding

As the COVID-19 Emergency neared its end, parents of Mountain View Elementary School were told that some 5th grade students might need to be transferred to Walton Middle School in the fall to alleviate overcrowding as an expansion of Mountain View is underway. The alternative is trailers. [15] The idea was later discarded. [citation needed]

Transportation

Pupil transportation is provided by an internal division. In August 2021 it was announced the Commonwealth of Virginia would use $530,000 from the Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Fund to purchase two electric buses for the fleet. [16]

External Links

References

  1. Web. Albemarle County Public Schools, School Quality Profile, Virginia Department of Education, retrieved February 4, 2022.
  2. Web. Albemarle schools Superintendent Haas’ contract extended for another four years, Katherine Knott, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, June 13, 2021, retrieved June 14, 2021.
  3. Web. County schools projecting significant increase in student enrollment, Katherine Knott and Allison Wrabel, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, November 13, 2019, retrieved November 15, 2019. Print. November 13, 2019 page A1.
  4. Web. Albemarle School Board members assess the state of the division, Katherine Knott, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, November 16, 2019, retrieved November 17, 2019. Print. November 16, 2019 page A1.
  5. Web. State of the Division: A Work In Progress, Office of Strategic Communications, Annual Report, Albemarle County Public Schools, retrieved November 17, 2019.
  6. Web. Local school officials, legislators work to address bus driver shortage, Katherine Knott, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, December 27, 2019, retrieved December 28, 2019. Print. December 27, 2019 page A1.
  7. Web. Albemarle 26, who desegregated county schools in 1963, honored, Katherine Knott, News Article, Daily Progress, May 19, 2019, retrieved May 19, 2019.
  8. Web. Albemarle School Board considering new competitive market for teacher pay, Josh Mandell, News Article, Charlottesville Tomorrow, June 16, 2017, retrieved June 26, 2017.
  9. Web. Albemarle County forced to reconsider allowing school workers to collective bargain after more than 100 people descend on meeting, Tamica Jean-Charles, News Article, Charlottesville, Virginia, February 24, 2023, retrieved February 25, 2023.
  10. Web. Albemarle school redistricting panels to lay out options, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, 9 Dec 2012, retrieved 10 Dec 2012.
  11. Web. Albemarle School Board votes to consolidate Yancey Elementary into Red Hill, Scottsville, Josh Mandell, News Article, Charlottesville Tomorrow, May 25, 2017, retrieved March 5, 2018.
  12. Web. Albemarle School Board ready to settle Center II location, Katherine Knott and Allison Wrabel, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, November 12, 2019, retrieved November 14, 2019. Print. November 13, 2019 page A1.
  13. Print: , , Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises , Page .
  14. Web. Albemarle School Board to pursue site near Monticello High School for Center II, Katherine Knott, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, November 14, 2019, retrieved November 17, 2019. Print. November 15, 2019 page A2.
  15. Web. Albemarle eyes moving Mountain View fifth-graders to Walton to ease capacity crunch, Katherine Knott, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, May 23, 2021, retrieved May 27, 2021.
  16. Web. August 19, 2021: Charlottesville Council agrees to pursue collective bargaining for city employees; Albemarle gets $530K for two electric school buses, Sean Tubbs, Charlottesville Community Engagement, Town Crier Productions, August 19, 2021, retrieved August 28, 2021.