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Community members urge continued EL support, valedictorian recognition and bus pay review
Summary
Four public commenters asked the board to sustain EL services for migrant families, restore formal valedictorian/salutatorian recognition, and examine bus driver pay and bonus distributions; speakers described program benefits, student success stories and household impacts.
During public comment the board heard from a family-education specialist and family members, a graduating senior and a bus driver.
Bernardo, who said he is a family-education specialist with the Shenandoah Valley migrant education program, and Mariel, a family member, described services the program offers — tutoring (including with James Madison University students), liaison support and translation — and asked the board to continue funding and support for EL services that help newly arrived families navigate language barriers and local resources.
Ava Breeden, a senior at East Rockingham High School and the district’s current class rank No. 1, urged the board to reconsider a change that removes formal valedictorian and salutatorian recognition countywide, saying those distinctions reward years of sustained academic effort and a brief acknowledgment at graduation is reasonable and important.
Marlon Carr, a bus driver with more than 14 years of service, described reduced take-home pay and questioned the distribution and total of state/board bonuses; he asked the board to review bus driver salaries to avoid further retention problems.
Board members thanked speakers for their comments; no formal action was taken on these topics at the meeting, though the issues (EL funding, graduation recognition, transportation pay) were clearly flagged for board awareness.
