The Shadow
Members of the Covington School Board Monday night learned that the city’s Composite Index decreased, which could enable the school division to receive additional state revenues.
During their regular November meeting, the board learned that the Composite Index has dropped from .3053 to .2597. The decreased index reflects that the state will pay 75 cents for every dollar spent for education.
The index is calculated every two years using various factors including a locality’s true value of property, adjusted gross incomes and taxable sales. While the property values and gross incomes increased in Covington, taxable sales went down, causing the decrease in the Composite Index.
The index will be in effect for the biennium 2010-2011 although the state utilized 2007 data to calculate the index.
“This should certainly increase the amount of state revenue,” Covington School Superintendent Tom Long said.
In other action, the board unanimously voted to donate Native American artifacts unearthed at the new school site to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
Dr. Thomas Klatka, archaeologist from the department of historic resources, and members of the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research, performed three days of field work at the school site prior to construction of the new Edgemont Primary and Jeter-Watson Intermediate schools.
Klatka said the field work consisted of verifying the site, establishing boundaries and removing a small sample of artifacts.
Radio carbon dating indicated that the village situated on what is known as the Hercules Site was occupied during two time periods.
Klatka said the site was inhabitated during the first half of the 1300’s and again around 1460. Charcoaled plant remains found at the size determined the Native Americans were growing maize, or corn, at the site. Four intact burial sites were also located.
“This is the first evidence of prehistoric agriculture in the area,” Klatka noted.
“This really contributed a lot toward our understanding of early agriculture in Virginia,” Klatka said and added that inhabitants in the western areas of Virginia were more advanced in agriculture than inhabitants in the coastal areas of the commonwealth.
While the artifacts, which include shards of pottery, stone tools and bone fragments, are not museum quality, they will be stored in Richmond and used for research and public education.
Klatka said the site was significant since very little archaeological research has been done in the western region of the state.
The site was capped with three feet of soil to preserve the 500-foot by 700-foot area.
Melinda Snead-Johnson announced that the H1N1 flu immunization clinic held Nov. 6 at Edgemont Primary School was a success.
A total of 214 vaccinations were given. Of that amount, 127 were mist vaccines and 87 were injections. Eleven volunteers assisted with the clinic held in conjunction with the Alleghany County-Covington Health Department. Members of the Covington Rescue Squad also stood by at the clinic.
Sixty-eight percent of the students were immunized.
In other action, the board:
– added Jackson River Governor’s School Director Eddie Graham to the Gifted Advisory Committee;
– revised the handling of funds from the Child Nutrition account for payroll and expenses. The new process will be cost-neutral and will increase efficiency of payment;
– adopted four policy revisions to the school division’s policy manual. One policy remains to be revised and the manual will be complete, Long said;
– heard a report from the School Calendar Committee;
– passed a resolution honoring BB&T of Covington for a donation of funding to purchase a laptop computer through its Lighthouse Project;
– recognized the Covington High School Cross Country team for wining the Pioneer District Championship;
– recognized Shentel cable for its donation in support of the Cougar Pride positive discipline program;
– accepted the resignation of Dylan Boone as co-sponsor of the Student Council Association and Dianne Garcia as a teacher in the PALS and SCOPE after-school program;
– the board made the following appointments: Linda Lewis and Lisa Richards, co-coaches for junior varsity softball; Dianne Garcia as a substitute teacher; Susan Sizemore and Angela Poague as substitute food service workers; Joseph Rose Sr. as a substitute bus driver and volunteer girls and boys basketball coaches Tony Miller, Vance Gibson Gene Peters and Tara Saylor.
The board will meet again Monday at 3:15 p.m. in closed session to discuss a pupil disciplinary matter.
