N. Grundy Supervisor Filing Deadline Slated

by JoBeth Wampler
Staff Reporter
      Democrats interested in seeking the North Grundy nomination for supervisor in November's special election have until Friday to do so.
       The Buchanan County Democrat Party set an April 28 deadline at 5 p.m. for the filing. Candidates interested must file their declaration of candidacy and pay a $150 filing fee to the Buchanan County Democratic Committee by the deadline.
       A convention is planned in May to nominate a candidate to represent the North Grundy District of the Board of Supervisors.
       Carroll Branham is currently serving in that post, following his appointment to the position  in the wake of the death of Joe Keene.
      The Democrat convention has been scheduled for May 27, 2006, at 10 a.m. at Grundy High School.

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'Highly Qualified' Teacher Rate Benchmark Met at Two Schools

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor
         (Editor’s Note: This is the second installment in a two-part series on the recently released state department of education report examining the percentage of "highly qualified" teachers teaching in the Buchanan County School System. This week focuses on the results at county elementary-middle schools. Last week focused on county high schools and the career and technology center.)

         Two of six elementary-middle schools in Buchanan County met the federal mark this year showing 100 percent of teachers working there are "highly qualified."
        The two schools which met the mark -- Council Elementary-Middle and J.M. Bevins Elementary -- had teachers in all areas teaching subjects, or grades, for which they were endorsed.
       The other four schools -- Riverview Elementary-Middle School, Russell Prater Elementary, Twin Valley Elementary-Middle, and Hurley Elementary-Middle School -- missed the mark by less than 3 percent each. In each of those instances, the designation shortfall was mainly due to teachers assigned to teach out of their endorsed areas.
         The Virginia Department of Education released the instructional personnel report for Buchanan County last month. It showed division-wide that Buchanan had some 98.31 percent of its 328 teachers meeting the federal No Child Left Behind designation as to the percent of "highly qualified" teachers.
        The report lists, by name, instructional personnel not properly licensed or endorsed for their assignments. It does not assess ability to teach a particular subject, only the paper qualifications of that instructor.
        In some cases, Superintendent Tommy P. Justus said the only thing a teacher lacks to receive the federal designation is taking the Praxis exam, a test required by the state for certification. In other cases, especially in the area of special education, he said, teachers are completing classes which will convert their licensure from provisional to conditional, required for special education teachers receiving the "highly qualified" designation.
        The federal designation is based in part on a teacher’s endorsements and a school division’s use of that personnel in his or her endorsed areas.

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Town Council Revisits 19-Year-Old Watkins Branch Flood Control Plan

by Scotty Wampler
Staff Reporter
       Grundy Town Council is reconsidering a flood-control plan for the Watkins Branch area originally proposed 19 years ago.
        The Watkins Branch Watershed plan, brought to the table in 1987 as a joint project between Grundy, the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors, the Lonesome Pine Soil and Water Conservation District and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, called for a single-purpose flood water retarding structure to be constructed on the land.
        “It’s been out there for a long time,” Grundy Town Manager Chuck Crabtree said of the plan.
         Watkins Branch was flooded in 1977, along with other various areas of Buchanan County. Following the disaster, the agencies took steps, under the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act, to devise a plan that would reduce flooding for the people living or working along and adjacent to the stream, according to the original document detailing the proposal.
         Though the plan didn’t come to fruition following the 1987 proposal, Crabtree said the department recently re-inquired about the town’s interest in a flood control plan for the area, which Crabtree estimated is 4-5 acres in size.
         “They’re going through these and seeing if we want it done,” Crabtree said, adding that a developed Watkins Branch watershed “would be nice for recreation.”
          “Homeowners and business operators have been continually plagued by flooding along Watkins Branch in and adjacent to Royal City,” the original document reads. “Major damages have occurred due to stream blockages and the sequential release of the impounded water during storm events.”
          The report estimated annual flooding damages for Watkins Branch at $369,900, with total project costs eclipsing $2,760,000.
           However, with those estimations now almost 20 years old, Town Council, at its regular April meeting, opted to pursue an update on the various costs associated with renewing the plan. Once new, up-to-date estimations have been obtained, Town Council agreed to further explore the project’s possibilities.

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