A raft of program reports will dominate the Tuesday, March 17, Montgomery County School Board regular monthly meeting, including updates on building projects, staffing levels, the gifted student program, special education and a student project on the dangers of vaping.
The board will convene a closed meeting at 6 p.m. to discuss student matters and personnel. The regular open meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the county government center, 755 Roanoke St., Christiansburg.
Administrators, teachers, special ed positions among vacant roles
The board will get a report indicating that staff vacancies as of March 6 include three administrators; two certified secondary teachers; a Section 504 coordinator for students with disabilities; 7.5 special education positions; and 24 classified positions.
The report also states that the school division has 423 substitute teachers; 43 student teachers who can substitute for their cooperating teachers; and another eight people who are scheduled for the next substitute teacher orientation. It recommends boosting the substitute roster by expanding community-based recruitment; recruiting education and college students; beginning the hiring of substitutes earlier, in May; and recognizing the efforts of substitutes with events, certificates and other activities.
Progress report on over a dozen capital projects
The board will get a presentation on building upgrade projects that should be addressed in fiscal 2026-27, but agenda packet documents do not list them.
Board members also will get a report on capital project spending over the last decade, totaling $183.1 million.
That number includes: $1.81 million at Auburn Elementary School, with some work still in process; more than $227,500 at Auburn Middle School; more than $285,700 at Auburn High School, with some work still in process; more than $613,900 at Blacksburg Middle; $1.67 million at Blacksburg High; $585,000 at Gilbert Linkous Elementary; $2.44 million at Harding Avenue Elementary; nearly $3.28 million at Kipps Elementary; $719,000 at Margaret Beeks Elementary; nearly $63,700 at Prices Fork Elementary; $1.12 million at Christiansburg Middle; $105.2 million budgeted for Christiansburg High, with $102.1 million spent so far; nearly $10.64 million at Belview Elementary; $13.3 million at Christiansburg Elementary, with work still in process; $16.9 million at Christiansburg Primary, with some work still in process; $11.4 million at Falling Branch Elementary; nearly $412,400 at Eastern Montgomery Elementary; about $2 million at Eastern Montgomery High; nearly $819,700 at Shawsville Middle; $1.6 million at Montgomery Central, with some work still in process; and nearly $7.86 million at the schools operations center.
Overview of special education funding
The board will receive a recommendation to add one more full-time special education teacher in the 2026-27 school year and to maintain other current aspects of the program.
The report states that special education funding in the current year includes about $2.5 million in federal dollars, about $5.6 million from the state and nearly $11.2 million of local funds.
The program currently includes 24 full time teaching positions; 40 full- and part-time paraprofessionals; three preschool paraprofessionals; contracted services such as physical therapy, music therapy, occupational therapy, speech and vision; and instructional materials and assistive technology.
Report will recommend expanding Discovery program for gifted students
A report from the gifted student program advisory committee will recommend expanding the Discovery program, which provides twice-monthly gifted education activities for all first graders, whether they are identified as gifted students or not. It is taught by gifted resource teachers.
The report notes that based on family survey results, the gifted program staff highlights learning opportunities for community and family members in newsletters, in person, and in virtual seminars and workshops. It recommends creating a “road map” to detail information about gifted service delivery and experiences; this would be included in family newsletters at the beginning and end of the school year and would be communicated at family onboarding sessions.
Student-driven vaping analysis to be presented
The board will get a presentation on a vaping analysis project conducted by a Blacksburg High student and a New River Community College student. Their activities have included producing public service informational materials on the dangers of vaping, and their next goals include chemical analysis of liquids in vaping products.
You can find meeting documents at https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/mcps/Board.nsf/Public.
