INSIDE School board approves Goochland’s new gifted plan. > page 4
Volume 57, Number 33 • August 19, 2010
Dickson’s first year in office AYP report a mixed bag for Goochland’s top administrator local schools discusses her role in the county By Amy Condra acondra@goochlandgazette.com
It has been about a year since Rebecca T. Dickson left her position as Deputy County Administrator for Human Services of Chesterfield County and accepted the job of Goochland’s County Administrator. Dickson, who had also served as Chesterfield’s budget director, brought her fiscal acumen to Goochland at a time when it was sorely needed: The county was still reeling from an audit of the public utilities department that revealed mismanagement and $200,000 in undeposited checks. The county then witnessed the departures of its utilities director, county attorney and former county administrator; Goochland was suffering from a severe lack of leadership. Then the Board of Supervisors unanimously
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appointed Dickson to take over the county’s top administrative role. Dickson’s approach to government is pragmatic: She regularly presents the board and the public with wellresearched solutions to proposed problems, and has elicited unanimous praise, even from supervisors and citizens who, on other matters, tend to disagree. Last week The Gazette met with Dickson to discuss her initial impressions of Goochland and her plans for the county’s future.
System fails to make newly defined adequate yearly progress By Ken Odor jodor@goochlandgazette.com
Do you feel that your first year in Goochland has been a success? The first year has been getting to know the lay of the land: The boards have been very supportive, the citizens are very engaged and thoughtful, and the staff is very dedicated and hard-working. I would see the year as a success if the people I work with – the board (Goochland County Board of Supervisors), citizens, staff—if, at the end of the year, they were believing that I was competent, straightforward, open to feedback and fair, I would view the year as a success.
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Goochland County Administrator Rebecca T. Dickson assumed the county’s top administrative role ln July, 2009.
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What were your greatest ourselves more internally in challenges as you stepped terms of our procedures, our into your new role? protocol, our documentation, Well, none of the challenges were unanticipated-the budget was a challenge, that was certainly anticipated! And the FY 12 budget will be so even more. So that was a challenge coming in.
SPORTS A classic Duramed Classic. > page 8
and that will allow us to serve the board and the citizens more efficiently. Really, the challenges were all, in a way, opportunities. see Dickson> page 2
In a year which saw a large drop in the number of school divisions in Virginia meeting federal No Child Left Behind targets, Goochland Schools also failed to make the grade, according to a report released last week by the Virginia Department of Education. Only 12 of the state’s 132 school divisions made adequate yearly progress, or AYP, in 2009-2010, versus 60 the year before. Goochland failed to meet the newly added graduation requirements. And the performance of students with disabilities failed to achieve AYP in the school division as a
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School Superintendent Linda Underwood said at a recent school board meeting that educators are trying to narrow achievement gaps.
whole. However, four of five county schools did make AYP, defined as scoring at least 79 percent on pass rates for math and 81 percent for reading. In addition, students in several subgroups — white, black, Hispanic, limited English proficient (LEP), students with dissee AYP> page 5
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