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THIS
WALL
at
J.M.
Bevins
Elementary
failed
recently
and
as
a
result,
school
officials
are
eyeing
the
cost
and
the
best
way
to
repair
the
wall.
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J.M.
Bevins
Wall
Fails
School
Board
Eyes
Options
for
Repairs |
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by
Cathy
St.
Clair
News
Editor
A
recent
spate
of
“renegade
rain
storms”
has
created
a
problem
with
a
retaining
wall
at
J.M.
Bevins
Elementary
School,
Superintendent
Tommy
P.
Justus
told
members
of
the
Buchanan
County
School
Board
last
Thursday.
Justus
noted
a
section
of
the
retaining
wall
along
the
creek
bed
which
runs
in
front
of
the
school
has
failed
and
as
a
result,
he
said
the
school
property
has
suffered
some
significant
erosion
damage.
Additionally,
he
expressed
concern,
along
with
Maintenance
Supervisor
Gerald
Collins,
that
the
remaining
section
of
wall
has
also
been
eroded
as
a
result
of
the
rains
and
subsequent
high
water
in
the
creek.
They
asked
for
permission
and
received
it
to
make
the
necessary
repairs
to
the
wall
as
an
emergency
project
and
authorization
to
formally
approach
the
board
of
supervisors
to
fund
it.
Collins
presented
a
power
point
display
of
the
problems
with
the
wall.
Justus
said
the
wall
has
been
in
place
since
approximately
1977.
The
wall
is
12
feet
high
and
about
a
foot
think
and
it
was
estimated
about
142
feet
of
the
wall
has
fallen
into
Slate
Creek.
“It
is
an
emergency
situation
for
us,”
Justus
said,
adding,
“you’re
looking
at
a
30-year
wall.”
A
power
pole
along
the
edge
of
the
property
has
been
re-set
by
Appalachian
Power
Company
in
response
to
school
concerns
that
the
erosion
in
the
area
might
cause
the
pole
to
fail.
Terra
Tech
Engineer
Jamie
Osborne,
who
attended
the
meeting
with
Collins
to
inform
board
members
on
his
findings
related
to
the
wall,
said
the
first
thing
that
must
be
done
is
to
remove
the
failed
section
of
wall
from
the
creek
and
then
to
determine
if
the
rest
of
the
wall
still
standing
is
still
stable.
Board
members
asked
for
a
guestimated
cost
on
the
repairs;
however
Osborne
said
he
did
not
have
that
figure
available
yet.
Justus
said
he
expected
the
cost
to
be
in
excess
of
$150,000.
“I
know
it
will
be
expensive
and
ask
that
we
be
granted
permission
to
proceed
with
emergency
procurement,”
Justus
said.
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For more of the
story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at
newsstands now. To subscribe to the Mountaineer,
call 276-935-2123 today.
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7
County
Schools
Accredited
Department
of
Education
Releases
Preliminary
Results
Based
on
Tests
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by
Cathy
St.
Clair
News
Editor
Seven
out
of
10
Buchanan
County
schools
are
fully
accredited,
according
to
preliminary
information
compiled
by
the
Virginia
Department
of
Education
which
was
released
last
Thursday
at
a
meeting
of
the
Buchanan
County
School
Board.
All
four
county
high
schools
and
three
county
elementary-middle
schools
achieved
the
designation
which
was
expected
to
be
formally
released
Tuesday.
Schools
fully
accredited,
based
on
preliminary
results,
included
Council
High
School,
Grundy
High
School,
Hurley
High
School
and
Twin
Valley
High
School;
and
J.M.
Bevins
Elementary,
Council
Elementary
and
Riverview
Elementary-Middle
School.
School.
Accreditation
is
based
in
part
on
spring
SOL
testing
results.
Russell
Prater
Elementary,
which
was
warned
in
English
last
year,
was
again
warned
in
English;
Hurley
Elementary
Middle
School,
which
was
fully
accredited
last
year,
was
warned
in
English
and
math
for
the
current
year;
and
Twin
Valley
Elementary-Middle
School,
which
was
warned
in
English
last
year,
was
warned
in
math
this
year.
All
10
county
schools
met
federal
Adequate
Yearly
Progress
(AYP)
benchmarks,
meaning
they
continued
to
show
improvement
in
SOL
testing.
Accreditation
results
are
based
on
the
fact
that
at
the
high
school
level,
70
percent
of
students
passed
SOL
tests
in
the
four
core
content
areas
of
English,
math,
science
and
history.
Buchanan
County
Public
School
System
Testing
Coordinator
Linda
Duty
noted
last
year,
only
four
Buchanan
County
schools
were
fully
accredited.
"We
are
pleased,
but
our
goal
is
to
have
100
percent
accredited,"
Duty
told
school
board
members.
She
noted
that
at
the
middle
school
level,
math
scoring
was
what
hurt
several
schools.
She
noted
the
Virginia
Department
of
Education
had
recognized
there
were
problems
with
the
middle
school
math
test,
however,
she
said
they
had
opted
to
use
the
results
anyway.
A
change
in
the
test
from
a
cumulative
test
to
a
content
test
format
resulted
in
low
scoring
statewide.
"We
fared
better
than
some
of
our
neighbors,"
Duty
said.
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For more of the
story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at
newsstands now. To subscribe to the Mountaineer,
call 276-935-2123 today. |
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Mountaineer
today
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Buchanan
County
news!
Call 276-935-2123 or write: P.O. Box 2040,
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24614-2040
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