Powhatan staff propose alternative education classrooms at all schools; $25,000 start-up and SmartPass hall-pass pilot recommended

Powhatan County School Board members on Feb. 6 heard a multi-part student-services budget presentation that included a new alternative-education classroom proposal for each school, increases to counseling and nursing support lines, and a $15,000 request for an electronic hall-pass system.

Miss Anthony, the staff presenter for student services and counseling, said counseling instructional materials would rise by $3,600 to support new counselors. She said coding corrections moved some travel costs from conference accounts into local mileage; attendance services increased materials and supplies by $1,800 to fund a program-management position that would coordinate homebound, homeschool and alternative-education administrative functions.

On the alternative-education proposal Miss Anthony described a model that would place one small alternative classroom at each of Powhatan's five schools with a full-time teacher and an instructional assistant in each room. "The $25,000 increase for this would just be for, again, their supplies to get them started, their furniture, their classroom materials," she said, explaining the staff estimate of roughly $5,000 per classroom for start-up materials. She said the rooms would be small ("no more than 4 or 5" students at a time), use restorative practices and social-skills instruction, and be an option when the disciplinary hearing officer or staff concluded the program would better serve a student than a long-term suspension. Staff said the plan would require three additional teaching positions, five instructional assistants and two behavioral specialists at full build-out.

School nursing and health services requests include clinic supplies and funds to create a high-school clinic assistant position; staff said the assistant would help maintain student health records and notifications. The presentation also proposed a $15,000 equipment/supplies increase for "SmartPass," an electronic hall-pass application staff said would let teachers and administrators track student hall usage, place guardrails (for example, preventing two specific students being out of class at the same time) and produce data on out-of-classroom time.

Why it matters: Staff said the alternative classrooms are intended to reduce suspensions, support students with challenging behaviors, and keep students engaged academically while receiving more intensive behavioral instruction. Board members emphasized process safeguards to avoid the rooms becoming a "dumping ground" for students who only temporarily misbehave; staff described referral criteria that would include functional behavior assessments, existing student-behavior plans, student success team review and involvement from the disciplinary hearing officer.

What was not decided: The board discussed the proposal at length and expressed support in principle, but did not take a formal vote to commit funding or positions; members asked staff to tighten referral processes, include parent engagement, and develop exact FTE and budget offsets for the FY26 proposal. Staff said they would return with refined numbers as part of the continuing budget process.

Next steps: Staff will refine the program description, include clearer referral criteria and parent-involvement plans, and produce a line-by-line cost and staffing proposal for board review during the next budget meetings.