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CV students fight for agriculture program's future
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Article RatingStudents in Cumberland Valley's Future Farmers of America club and those who enjoy taking the high school's agriculture courses plan to submit a petition at the school board meeting tonight. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. at the administration office.
They are concerned about the number of agriculture classes being offered in the 2007-08 school year, and they think there should be two agriculture teachers instead of just one.
"It is not fair to be limited to only certain classes and possibly not even the ones we were planning to take," reads the petition statement, which was signed by about 200 CV students and 100 parents.
Before the break, students had to sign up for next year's classes, but they were surprised to find 12 classes excluded from this year's program of studies booklet. That's a drop from 22 ag courses listed last year.
What's more, the FFA students recently learned that Bob Leib, the FFA faculty adviser and the sole remaining teacher of the agriculture classes, suddenly retired a week before the winter break.
Leib, who had taught at the school for 33 years, said he was initially planning to retire in May but decided to retire sooner.
"I just had a change of plans," said Leib, adding he doesn't want to comment further.
Leib said he was aware of the students' petition, which they began circulating several weeks ago, after receiving the 2007-08 program of studies booklet at school.
Teacher to be replaced
Lack of communication between students and faculty over the changes in ag courses, plus the Leib's retirement, has caused some confusion, says ag student and FFA member Ryan Brown, a senior.
Brown and Andrea Little, a sophomore ag student who serves as the FFA photographer and historian, said it was a bit of a surprise when Leib didn't show up at school.
Because they always keep in close touch with Leib, they called to find out where he was. His wife told them he wasn't coming back.
Lynette Snyder, Cumberland Valley director of secondary education, learned of Leib's retirement just before the winter break and said he is retiring for "personal reasons."
Leib's last day was Dec. 15 and he did not come into school the entire week before Christmas break, she said, adding that a substitute was filling in.
The school has already posted the position and hopes to find a replacement, but it does not plan to hire more than one ag teacher, she says.
"In terms of his experience, he will be hard to replace," she said, but she says the school is looking for someone with a state certificate in agriculture to replace him.
"Our greatest hope would be someone who's recently graduated," she said.
But she added it will be a challenge to find someone, because there are "not a lot of certified ag teachers out there. This is a tough time right now."
Plan to rotate classes
Commenting on the new course listing, Snyder said the only change is a decrease in ag class choices in a given school year.
The classes have not been cut, she added, just "reorganized."
That's because the school district is rotating the ag classes-- some will be offered every year, some every other year, and some every two, three or four years.
Snyder said the school has not finalized how the rotation will work, but that the more popular classes and those most important to students going into agricultural-related careers will be offered most frequently.
Typically, six ag classes are offered each semester, but two of the ag courses last an entire year. That means there are four separate ag classes in the first semester and then four new ag classes the next semester.
Therefore, a total of 10 ag courses are offered in one year-- that's why only 10 are in the 2007-2008 Program of Studies, Snyder explained.
Rotation concerns
But the lack of choices for this coming year is still a concern for students, say Brown and Little, because some students signed up for classes in their junior and senior years that now may not be offered because of the rotation.
Right now, there is just a lot of confusion, the students say.
"I do not know what is going on," says Brown.
"It would be better to plan and give us one or two years to adapt," Little says. "They won't communicate with us."
When students sought an explanation from the administration, they say they did not receive a straight answer. Administrators told them to take any concerns to the school board, so, with petition in hand, that's what the students are doing.
"This really affects me," says Little. "I had my ag classes planned out."
She says she wanted to take several of the cut courses, including veterinary science, a popular course many of the students who signed the petition wanted to take.
But Snyder says popular courses like the veterinary science course will be offered every other year and, unless subscription goes down, the FFA leadership and small pet and animal courses will be offered every year.
Some courses that haven't been offered for a while such as advanced agricultural mechanics and engine and machine technology, which will be offered every other year.
And less popular courses like soil conservation might be offered every "three or four years," she said. "So you could get it, but need to wait."
Students will be able to work with "counselors who would have the long-range plan," Snyder explains. That way they still get to take the classes they would like some time over their high school career.
She added the school may be able to work with students, especially juniors who were planning to take certain classes their senior year who are now upset their course isn't being offered.
If there are "say 15 (students) who want veterinary science," she says, a class period could possibly be arranged to accommodate them.
Dedicated teacher
News of Leib's retirement has made the students reflect on all that he did for them.
He was a dedicated teacher and spent hours far beyond his duties, helping FFA students with fundraisers, Brown and Little say.
"He definitely had a lot on his shoulders," says Brown, who adds Leib worked all hours of the day, far past the time require of him. He also helped FFA students with activities over the weekends, Brown says.
Since Leib left, Brown has spent hours the week before winter break, handling the FFA's annual citrus fundraising sale by e-mailing and making phone calls.
He and Little also staffed the group's Christmas tree sale by the Pep Boys store on Carlisle Pike and packed up the leftover trees and sale equipment with other FFA students the Thursday before Christmas. The fundraisers are used to pay for FFA trips.
"It's just been crazy," Brown says.
"It's definitely a change, because we can't go to him and ask him questions about FFA," Little adds.
Leib says his FFA students are "good kids" and he has confidence they can handle things well in the office.
"They know what to do and how to do it," Leib said. "They're an awesome bunch of kids."
