Wrapping up the Mar. 15 SBDM meeting

By: Kennedy Foreman and Lauren Pennington

This month’s meeting began with a good news report regarding the success of many HC clubs. Especially that of Speech and Debate, which has won many competitions across the state. With the absence of HC academy facilitator Catherine Stephens, AP Committee Update was put to a delay until the next meeting.

The ending of class rank went through a second reading, passing unanimously. The class of 2021 will not be ranked based on GPA or classes taken.

Discussing budget plans included an explanation of the process of budgeting from HC librarian Amanda Hurley. The budget was approved for the activities in the month of Jan and Feb. HC has a surplus of $3,000 this year, in contrast to the $30,000 last year that HC owed to Central Office. Members read teacher requests for different uses of the surplus, however the council reached no decision to how the money will be managed.

The loss of three HC faculty positions came to rise at the meeting. HC principle Paul Little explained his discussion with FCPS superintendent Manny Caulk about retaining those positions until next year. With HC’s numbers for the 2017-2018 year standing at 2,304 students, high class size is concerning to teachers as individual teaching may be difficult, especially with the anticipated loss of three teachers. Little expressed want for an increase in associate principles at HC as, currently, HC is allotted the same amount of funding for this position as schools with lower student populations.

A review of electives and classes with numbers of allotted sections and class size was given to council members and viewers. Individual class numbers exceeding 40 students were included on the class size projections and teacher worry was brought to light.

Student report from SBDM student representative Zachariah Sippy included students’ problems with parking at HC.

The Mar 22 SBDM meeting has been cancelled and the next meeting is scheduled for Apr 12.