Radford City Schools Superintendent Rob Graham (right) and school board members (from left) Joe Hester, Adam DeVries, Lynn Burris, Carl Mitchell and Jessie Critterton wear Bobcats for Burdette t-shirts at Tuesday’s board meeting in honor of RHS Senior Eric Burdette, who is currently undergoing cancer treatment for lymphoma. Critterton, Mitchell and Hester are holding certificates from the Virginia School Board Association for their board education and service achievements through the VSBA.
Radford High School’s Class of 2018 will be graduating a week earlier than originally scheduled, with graduation now set for Friday, May 18.
Radford City School Board members agreed to the change at the board’s Tuesday meeting. Superintendent Robert Graham explained seniors will be finished with their course work by that time, making the last five days of the school year unnecessary for them to attend. The last day of school for the remainder of Radford City School students will be Friday, May 25 with a two-hour early release.
Also at Tuesday’s board meeting, board members discussed the need for more formal parameters to deal with international trips taken by students through the school system. The trips require students to pay for them and are limited to a certain number of students.
“If we have 200 students interested in a particular trip, how are those students chosen?” asked Board Member Carl Mitchell.
“If we are going to do this, I think we need make sure some of our at-risk students have this opportunity available to them,” added Board Vice Chair Jessie Critterton.
The board plans to meet in a work session to discuss the matter further.
School board members were decked out in purple for Tuesday’s meeting, wearing shirts printed with a purple Bobcats For Burdette slogan in support of RHS Senior Eric Burdette. Burdette is battling cancer.
“Eric’s done a great job of showing courage and has served as a great role model,” said Graham. “We support him and other teachers and students who are battling cancer.”
The school board’s next meeting is set for Tuesday, November 7 at 6 p.m.