{"id":14765,"date":"2015-12-17T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/?p=14765"},"modified":"2015-12-19T00:23:26","modified_gmt":"2015-12-19T05:23:26","slug":"danville-school-board-live-121715","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2015\/12\/17\/danville-school-board-live-121715\/","title":{"rendered":"Danville School Board – LIVE! (12\/17\/15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

SouthsideCentral was LIVE! at the Danville Public Schools central office for Thursday’s Danville School Board meeting. We had some technical difficulties but we’ve got everything fixed now. Enjoy the complete recap.
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Everybody is here tonight. I have my usual fun with the board before the meeting starts, telling everybody that “Ed hasn’t hit the gavel yet.” Isn’t that right, Lori Cassada? \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

We’re underway! The second school board meeting of every month is the “work session”, so there’s no prayer or Pledge of Allegiance. We start off with Finance Director Lori Cassada’s finance & textbook fund reports. She also talks about Governor McAuliffe’s new state budget that he introduced today.<\/p>\n

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Lori Cassada knows where the money is.<\/p><\/div>\n

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We’ve got perfect attendance tonight!<\/p><\/div>\n

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They only set 24 chairs out tonight, and didn’t need that many after all.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Kathy Osborne takes the podium.<\/p><\/div>\n

Kathy Osborne is up next to update everybody on the school board meetings moving to City Council chambers. She reports that the city’s IT staff denied a request to give school board personnel guest access to the city’s secure internet system, so sensitive information could theoretically be intercepted by a third party. That’s not acceptable. I am highly pissed off that this situation has just now been addressed by the city’s IT department because this transition process has been ongoing for over four months.<\/p>\n

There is no valid reason that the school board and essential staff can’t be given access to only the secure internet system and nothing else. The city prides itself on cooperation with Pittsylvania County, yet the city can’t cooperate with its own school system for a small thing like this? Horsecrap. Total horsecrap. I’ve already started the process of notifying all city council members and City manager Ken Larking on this. This is a simple request that has turned into a bureaucratic screw-up. Gah! So the board will meet at the central office for the first meeting in January while problems are worked out. Board member Steven Gould is as frustrated as I am on this one.<\/p>\n

Jackie Rochford is up next with the update on the precision machining program for George Washington High School. The Tobacco Commission did not approve the $800K matching grant so the idea is dead for now. Dave Cochran is up next with the safety & security update.<\/p>\n

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Dave Cochran is happy tonight.<\/p><\/div>\n

Cochran has a smile on his face when he says he’s glad his office was moved to the GWHS campus. He says now he gets to see exactly what’s happening and he takes an active part in the day’s activities. The security team now has a random draw every morning and selects specific school buses and\/or students that drive to school for metal detector checking. They’re not finding much in weapons, just other things that shouldn’t be in school. Cochran also says that students are being reminded not to bring any over-the-counter medicines to school. Sigh. That’s how things have gotten.<\/p>\n

Cochran has added a temporary employee to monitor the security cameras during the entire school day. That position is being funded by the savings they have by having one employee out on long-term medical leave. They’ve also put a security officer in each wing of the school with a “Own Your Zone” philosophy. Each one has a standup desk for their belongings so that they can stay in their zone throughout the shift. Finally, he says that they system has moved one security officer from the night shift to the day shift.<\/p>\n

Well, we’re alone at the media table now. R&B reporter Trevor Metcalfe has left the meeting and he didn’t even say goodbye. I’m hurt. Robin Owens is up at the podium for her discipline statistics report. Once I get a copy of that, I’ll run it as a NumbersCentral article.<\/p>\n

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It’s Robin Owens time!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Good seats are very much still available tonight.<\/p><\/div>\n

We’re almost finished, but the star of the show is up next…<\/p>\n

\"\"

We heart Juliet Jennings! Although it may seem that Juliet has just seen a mouse, that is not the case here. Heh. She’ll yell at me for this one.<\/p><\/div>\n

She talks about the personnel recommendations and they’re all passed. Mona Whittle gets the assist for immediately knowing what subjects that a new hire will be teaching.<\/p>\n

Sadly, Stacey Emsminger has the tough job of following The Juliet Jennings Show. She explains that the school lunch system is only allowed to keep three months cash on hand in their fund accounts and anything else has to be spent on things for the foodservice system. That means that the excess funds have been used to buy cooking equipment for various school cafeterias. She also says that for the first time, GWHS served lunches during exam days, with over 3000 served in the three day period. She thanks the NJROTC class and the Gentlemen By Choice student group for delivering those lunches to the classrooms.<\/p>\n

And that’s it! We survived the technical difficulties and have brought you the most detailed recap of Thursday’s Danville School Board meeting. It’s only here on SouthsideCentral!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SouthsideCentral was LIVE! at the Danville Public Schools central office for Thursday’s Danville School Board meeting. We had some technical difficulties but we’ve got everything fixed now. Enjoy the complete recap.<\/p>\n

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(6\/26\/15)","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"June 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"We're LIVE! at the Danville School Board office at a special called meeting of the Danville School Board. The meeting starts at 3:30 PM. Be sure to refresh the page often for the latest photos, happenings and commentary. We'll clean the article up when we get home tonight. We're underway.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11840,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2015\/01\/22\/danville-school-board-live-1222015\/","url_meta":{"origin":14765,"position":1},"title":"Danville School Board – LIVE! 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Tonight's meeting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/zQtb7iC.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/zQtb7iC.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/zQtb7iC.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/zQtb7iC.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13739,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2015\/08\/20\/danville-school-board-live-82015\/","url_meta":{"origin":14765,"position":2},"title":"Danville School Board – LIVE! (8\/20\/15)","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"August 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"We're LIVE! at the Danville Public Schools central office for tonight's Danville School Board meeting. This article is now complete. We'll also be swinging by Music on Main at the Main St. Plaza and then head to Texas Steakhouse & Saloon where Matt Crowder is tonight's \"Tunes at the Saloon\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/jpzFK7y.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/jpzFK7y.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/jpzFK7y.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/jpzFK7y.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29422,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2016\/06\/02\/danville-school-board-live-6216\/","url_meta":{"origin":14765,"position":3},"title":"Danville School Board – LIVE! (6\/2\/16)","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"June 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"SouthsideCentral was LIVE! at Thursday night's Danville School Board meeting and we've got the most comprehensive coverage of it. This article is now complete, so enjoy! We're underway. Sharon Dones is out tonight (though she made it back for the end of the meeting). Since it's the first meeting of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/g38JzEB.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/g38JzEB.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/g38JzEB.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/g38JzEB.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13188,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2015\/07\/02\/danville-school-board-live-7215\/","url_meta":{"origin":14765,"position":4},"title":"Danville School Board – LIVE! (7\/2\/15)","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"July 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"SouthsideCentral was LIVE! at the Danville Public Schools office for Thursday's Danville School Board meeting. This article is now complete, so enjoy the recap. We're underway. This is the first meeting of the new school year. Dr. Stan Jones takes over as superintendent. Philip Campbell is the only board member\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/LaRYjaf.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/LaRYjaf.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/LaRYjaf.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/LaRYjaf.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12370,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2015\/04\/17\/breakdown-danville-school-board-41615-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":14765,"position":5},"title":"BreakDown: Danville School Board (4\/16\/15) – Part #1","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"April 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"You might say \"How can you have a BreakDown article when you haven't even covered Thursday night's Danville School Board work session?\" I'll answer you by saying \"Why don't we do both at once?\" This was a very interesting meeting. 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