Waynesboro School Board received multiple updates at its regular meeting Tuesday night regarding the first week of school, the Waynesboro Education Farm and the 2024 Back to School Bash.
“We’re well staffed. We don’t have every position filled but we’re in a very, very good place right now with a plan for instruction,” said Waynesboro Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeff Cassell.
Cassell said he thinks that many returning teachers and administrators for the 2024-2025 school year has helped the school system have a great start.
“I think the other thing that really contributed to an outstanding first day was transportation, which I’ve given credit to Mr. Moore and his department previously, but all of our bus routes were filled and we actually had additional routes added this year,” Cassell said.
The first day of school brought a bomb threat by a teen boy at Waynesboro High School.
Day three of the new school year brought power outages and extreme wind and rain thanks to Hurricane Debby. Some buildings in the school system experienced leaks because of how hard the wind was blowing and rain was coming down. When power went out in Waynesboro, Cassell said that some chillers in schools did not immediately restart as expected.
“I think we had a quite good opening. About as good as it can get,” Cassell said.
Enrollment is 15 more students than the school system planned.
“Enrollment is up a bit, but not anything that’s going to cause us any issues,” Cassell said.
Waynesboro Education Farm Educator Ryan Blosser shared with the board that the farm was provided 6,400 pounds of food so far in 2024, including 4,000 pounds donated to RiverCity Collective. In 2023, 6,300 pounds were provided, 4,000 pounds in 2022 and 2,000 pounds in 2021.
“We’re going to blow past our 8,000 pounds of food [in 2024]. I think our capacity is going to be 10 to 12,000 pounds,” Blosser said.
The goal of the farm is not donating food within the community.
“This is a byproduct of our goal, which is instruction,” Blosser said.
The farm provides an outdoor learning lab of opportunities for Waynesboro students to learn how to grow vegetables, including lettuce, kale and onions. Blosser said students from each grade level pre-K through 12th grade have visited the farm at Berkeley Glenn Elementary School and “engaged in learning.”
On the first day of school, food served in Waynesboro Schools’ cafeterias included mashed potatoes from potatoes grown at the Waynesboro Education Farm and squash.
“The food goal is secondary. The instruction is primary,” Blosser said.
The community is invited to volunteer nights on the first Wednesdays of each month from 5 to 7 p.m. during which individuals can help harvest food and then eat at 6 p.m.
According to Assistant Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ryan Barber, the school system hired 42 new staff members last year and this year welcomed 70. The new staff comes mostly because of vacancies, not new positions.
Barber also provided a report on this year’s 4th annual Back to School Bash, which was held at Kate Collins Middle School the last two Sundays in July.
“The vision of the event is to allow our families to have minimal levels of stress when it comes to getting ready for school to start,” Barber said. Registration, haircuts, fresh food and community partners access are available.
Barber said that 1,441 students attended this Back to School Bash, 111 more than in July 2023
“It was kind of overwhelming, especially the first Sunday,” Barber said.
Back to School Bash is especially helpful for parents whose first language is not English.
“We’re really encouraged by the diversity that’s in our community,” Barber said.
Board Chair Debra Freeman commended Barber for signs at the event which directed parents and students to language interpreters.
Barber said that someone at this year’s Back to School Bash told him that the event destigmatizes need.
“So, everybody is there, there’s hundreds of people who are in a place where they can be vulnerable and they can ask and get what they need without having to pay anything. There’s no questions asked,” Barber said.
Thirty-five community organizations participated both Sundays, including the Boys & Girls Club of Waynesboro, Staunton and Augusta County, the Girl Scouts, the Boy Scouts, the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, On the Road Collaborative and Waynesboro Police Department.
Next year’s Back to School Bash dates are Sunday, July 20 and 27, 2025.
“I’m very excited,” Barber said.
Related stories:
Waynesboro Schools staff, volunteers prepare for Back to School Bash (augustafreepress.com)
Waynesboro Schools celebrates successful summer (augustafreepress.com)
Downed trees, power outages left in path of Debby (augustafreepress.com)
Teen arrested after bomb threat at Waynesboro High School (augustafreepress.com)
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Rebecca Barnabi
