The Shadow
On Monday, July 15, the Alleghany School Board met in regular session. Of special interest were comments made by former student Rylee Reynolds. She stated that on June 15, former board chairman Jacob Wright made inappropriate comments towards her while out at a local restaurant. She went on to say some of her family was present but Wright didn’t seem to be aware of that. According to Reynolds, Wright said things like “Where’s Rylee Reynolds?” “Has anyone seen Rylee Reynolds?” “She’s so touchy feely,” and so on. Reynolds feels this was highly inappropriate and reiterated she hasn’t seen Wright since graduating in June of 2022.
Reynolds said her family had reached out to Wright 10 days later and he claimed he had lost his phone while kayaking. According to Reynolds, he didn’t accept responsibility for what happened and claimed he hit a friend’s vape twice and didn’t really remember what happened. Reynolds said she brought this matter before the board to show his ongoing misconduct before the community.
Jacob Wright did respond at the meeting and said that first and foremost he wanted to apologize to Rylee Reynolds. He explained that he didn’t see touchy feely as a physical thing but a mental one. He went on to state that he hadn’t been around Reynolds for years. He further explained that eleven years ago Reynolds’ father was on the board with him and they pushed for public comments such as Reynolds’ being allowed at the meetings. Up to that point, citizens couldn’t make public comments. Wright told Reynolds he appreciated her coming out and calling it like it was. He then apologized for offending her.
In other matters, John Littleton was elected school board chairman and Gerald Franson was named vice chairman.
Comments were made by various board members congratulating the newly elected chairman and vice chairman.
Rebecca Irvine provided a brief financial update.
The AHS athletic director presented several awards but few of those being honored were able to attend. There were awards given in outdoor track, baseball, softball and soccer. A student was also named to the All Virginia Choir.
Ginni Phillips AHHA grants coordinator spoke on increased health care grants available to students. She spoke of the Advanced Pathways Healthcare mentorship program. She explained that it’s in its third year at Randolph Macon. Phillips went on to explain that 33 students had monthly zooms with healthcare providers 4-5 times a year. For the final meeting, students went to Randolph Macon Stem lab to experience ultrasounds.
Ginni told the board that an externship had been added and that each student had to complete 40 hours in areas such as job shadowing, field trips, etc. to gain work-based experience. A total of 6 students completed 40 or more hours.
Phillips explained that Mountain Gateway students go to Mountain Gateway half of the day to study courses such as medical assistant, phlebotomy and LPN. They get their certificate if they pass state boards.
Phillips told about a new program called the Natomash tournament. There were 12 regional and state and 4 students at the national level in Vegas. They placed in the top 2% nationwide.
For a special program for stem day in Roanoke 127 participated in a luncheon at Lewis Gale. They got to talk with doctors in the community.
Ginni announced that the Blueridge Partnership for Health Science student ambassador had been Oregon Tucker. She explained that through this program students have a voice in Healthcare and the future of health care. Ms Phillips explained that Oregon got to speak at the Healthcare Summit Cariilion – Virginia Tech School of Medicine. Ms Tucker got to conduct a video for the BBOE and that video started the State conference.
Cindy Fox told the board that it’s necessary to get our kids back in school. She said surveys were sent out and approximately 434 parents responded. Fox told the board that the biggest misconception parents have is that of truancy versus chronic absenteeism but at the end of the day, it didn’t matter because an absence is an absence. She went on to explain that absences had to be kept below 10% and that being truant meant missing 10% or more of the school year. She said referrals were made at 5 days absent and some elementary schools 3 days. Making phone calls begins at 5 days again at 7 days then having the parents come in and meet with the administrator and the student. If that doesn’t fix the problem then a meeting with Fox, Williams, Ross and the administrator is called, which is the last thing before juvenile court. It was noted attendance has improved in several of the elementary schools. They hope this trend continues.”
