001[Music] All right, it is uh 5:30 on July 10th. Shendo County School Board meeting is called to order. Uh and we um are going to contemplate convening in closed session. Do we have a motion to that effect? Madam superintendent, I recommend the Shannidoa County School Board convene a closed meeting under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act in order to discuss and consider several personnel matters involving the assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salary, discipline, or resignation under Virginia Code 2.2-3711A14 -3711A14 and to have a briefing by staff members or consultants pertaining to actual probable litigation where such consultation or briefing an open meeting would adversely affect the in negotiating or litigating posture Shannidoa County Public Schools under Virginia code 2.2-3711 A7 and pursuant to the provisions of Virginia code 2.2-3711 3711 A29 to discuss the award
002of a public contract involving the expenditure of public funds including interviews of bidderers or offerers and discussion of the terms or scope of such contract where discussion in an open session would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body. Thank you. Um a motion to that effect. I move that the Shannidoa County School Board in a closed meeting under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act in order to discuss and consider several personnel matters involving the assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salary, discipline, or resignation under Virginia code 2.2-3711A14 2-3711A14 and to have a briefing by staff members or consultants pertaining to actual or probable litigation where such consultation or briefing and open meeting would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of Shido County Public Schools under Virginia code 2.2-3711 A7 and
003pursuant to the provisions of one Virginia code 2.2-3711829 2-3711829 to discuss the award of a public contract involving the expenditure of public funds including interviews of biders or offerers and discussion of the terms or scope of such contract for discussion in an open session sess session would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body. Thank you Mr. Gaw. I'll second second Mr. Rickard. Thank you. All in favor of meeting in close session to discuss those matters, please signify by saying I. Any opposed? None opposed. We will uh meet in close session and reconvene in open session approximately 1 hour. 30 minutes. Oh, that's right. It's even better. Uh we like to recon reconvene in open session. Uh do we have a motion to that effect? Move to reconvene in open session.
004Okay, Mr. Gutshaw. Second. Second. Second. Uh thank you, Mike. And uh all in favor of reconvening in open session, please indicate by saying I. I. Any opposed? No opposed. Um, and so, um, we're going to move into our open session. And I would like to read the following statement regarding our closed session. The Shannidoa County School Board hereby certifies by roll call vote that to the best of each member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia law or discussed in the closed meeting to which this certification resolution applies and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard discussed or considered by the Shannidoa County School Board. Each member responds as certified when called. And Cheryl, would you call a roll
005call vote please? Mr. Street, I so certify. Miss Carinia, I so certify. Mr. Gutshaw, I so certify. Mr. Vance, IO certify. Mr. Rick, I so certify. Mr. Barber, I so certify. And uh I will give the invocation tonight. This will be my last invocation here, I just realized. So I'm trying to make it a good one. Let's pray together. Father, we do thank you for this wonderful school system and so many good people who are striving to do well to serve our children. We pray that tonight we would be um discerning. We would be courageous. We would be wise and we would use the best possible motives and our our intelligence and our spirituality to come to the best solutions for you. We pray for all of our school uh employees. We we pray for
006our students for great coming year. We pray for those across our country, especially in Texas who are undergoing terrible problems, especially young people. We pray for those in our midst of our school system who are also under undergoing health problems. We pray that you would strengthen, comfort, and heal. Uh we're in great need of your healing spiritually, emotionally, uh for our school system, as well as individually. We pray that you be with us tonight as we make decisions that will glorify you. It's in your name we pray. Jesus name we pray. Amen. Please join me in saying our pledge to the flag to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Um, do we have a
007um motion to approve the approve the agenda as it has been presented? Move to approve the agenda as presented. Thank you, Mr. Kutchaw. A second. Second. Thank you, Mr. Rickard. Uh, all those in favor of approving the agenda, please indicate by saying I. I. Any opposed? None opposed. Recognitions. Dr. Shepard. Thank you. I'd like to introduce Miss Elizabeth Barretty who's going to talk about our um softball girls who went to the state championship. Ladies and gentlemen of the board, thank you so much for having us here. I would like to um say how proud I am of our girls varsity softball team. Um they are state champions. Um it's our first championship that we've had in 22 years. Um super exciting. And this is our very first softball state championship. So I'm very proud of
008these girls. Not all of them could be here today. I'm going to introduce um Mr. Carrie Keys to He's our new athletic director to speak more. Thank you for allowing us to come in. Uh I was starting my new role as AD as this was happening. So um to see the school spirit um and the performance by these young ladies um definitely verified the decision I made to come to Central. So um just a little recap, they they won the region championship with a win at Page County. Um and then hosted a first round quarterfinal game and beat Central with Lunenburgg. Um and then followed that with a thrilling comeback win versus uh Central Wise. Um and then finally winning the state championship down in Salem um against King Williams. So very proud uh of
009of the program and to be a part of this. Um I'd like to uh recognize uh Coach Wakeman here. Uh he was uh group or class two state coach of the year. So he's going to say a couple things about his players. Yes. This year was a good year. Um, I have three seniors that I say farewell to. I had them all four years that I've been here. They're my first group. Kiana, Kristen Hogman, and uh, Serenity Burns. Uh, so they're leaving us, but we're going to We have a good group. Good. Uh, as you can see, we only have one of them here cuz the rest of them are planned travel in Georgia, uh, Virginia Beach, and Richmond. That's why they couldn't be here. For the most part, we're stuck with just me and
010her. But, uh, we had a great year, great season. Um, Vanessa Gordon, she was the class 2 player of the year, which is very, since I've been doing this, that's usually it goes to a pitcher and she's not a pitcher, she's a shortstop, and she got class two player of the year. Uh, and then we had uh let's see, Lexi B uh Burkholder. She was a she was a sophomore, first team all district, all region, all state. Uh Kristen Hotman was first team all district, first team region, second team all state. Veronica Gordon, first team district, first team region, second team all state. And Vanessa, of course, was player of the year and first team all state. Um, but yes, we had a great year. The girls, uh, you could not tell in the dugout
011whether you were winning or losing. They just stayed even. Ke sometimes it kind of made me worried a little bit cuz I'm like, they're not taking this too serious. But they never they always battled. We were down against Central as Mr. Keys said. We were down three to one. We won that game four to three. Uh, just kudos is I enjoy what I do. I do. Although I don't have hair for you. Thank you all for having us. We truly appreciate it. I'm just sorry that more of the girls couldn't make it today, but they're out of town. Coach, you when you said that when the girls weren't here, I thought you were going to say they're all out signing letters of intent. Well, I I was fortunate enough to coach this one one more
012game after the state title. Uh I coached in the All-Star game with a friend of mine from James Wood. She played in that game and had a coach come up to her right after and now she's decided to go play college at the next level or softball at the next level. So, it worked out for us. But I appreciate you all having us. Thank you. Congratulations. [Applause] That is all for recognitions this evening. Thank you. We're going to move into the public and staff comment on the agenda and non-aggenda items. Um, there's a whole list of things I'm supposed to read, but I'm not going to read because right now, we've got one person who's going to speak, and he's heard this several times before. Um, Mike Shy signed up, although I don't know if
013I should let him speak because I can't read his address. Anyway, Mr. my license. You need to get the auto. Indeed. You shouldn't be saying that running for board of supervisors today. All right. Good evening everyone. Um Dr. Shepard, school board, thank you for letting me speak. I know there's a long line, so I'll make it brief. Um so accountability, accountability doesn't end when the headlines fade. uh it begins when we commit to action. So that's why I really feel that following up on the forensic audit of the 2020 21 uh school board and the funding for the name changes isn't just about looking back. It's about restoring public trust, ensuring transparency, um, and building a foundation where integrity guides every decision. Our families, educators, and students, um, deserve a school system that operates with
014honesty and responsibility. Um, now as we look forward to some more current um, issues, overcrowding, um, a challenge that affects every corner of our classrooms, um, I still firmly believe that, uh, relocating preK kids to appropriate sites outside of our elementary schools is a forward-thinking solution that not only eases physical space, but will it also improve the learning environment overall. Um, and that goes to every grade level, preK through five, even through, um, I think that would even spin up to um, more improvements in in our already um, overachieving middle schools. Um, but so when classrooms are balanced and teachers have, you know, intentional time and space, uh, learning will thrive. So um and teachers, they're the heartbeat of our schools. Supporting them isn't optional. It's really essential. So the support must come from both
015administration, community um and even the uh you know families and parents alike. But we all have to work as allies to elevate educators rather than exhaust them. So it means listening, advocating and providing real resources, not just rhetoric. So transparency, equity, support, these are more than buzzwords. I think that they are the blueprints for our our progress moving forward. So thank you everyone and enjoy your evening. Is there anybody else who would like to um to speak? All right. Uh we're moving on to the consent agenda. We have a motion to approve the consent agenda items. Move to approve the consent agenda as presented. All right. Um okay. So um is there a second to the recommendation to approve the consent agenda? Second. Thank you, Mr. record. All in favor of approving the consent agenda,
016please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? None opposed. And we're moving on to theformational agenda. Uh let's see. The first one is on all community college workforce solutions. So we're ready. Um Dr. Shepard, did you want to do any introductions or we just have a Thank you. So, good evening, Chairman Barlo, Dr. Chevron, members of the school board. It is absolutely my pleasure to introduce to you Miss Lisa Heiser. Uh to my right here, she is the fast forward career coach at Laurel Ridge Community College. Uh Chando County Public Schools started a partnership with workforce solutions back in 2022 um offering value add stackable credentials to our students. uh those credentials have primarily been in phabbotomy and heavy equipment operator. At the early onset, we were able to get two students in a in
017a welding program and have not been able to get uh more students in that because they have their own waiting list to get those students in there. So, uh without further ado, I'm going to let Lisa talk to you more about the workforce solutions programs uh that they offer to everybody. Um but this has been a great partnership and Lisa has been very instrumental along with the entire workforce solutions um in providing these opportunities for our students. Lisa, thanks for having me tonight. Um, so I am Lisa Heiser. I'm the Workforce Solutions coach and that's a pretty big role. Uh, workforce solutions is a separate division of Laura Ridge and as the coach, I was hired in 2023. I handle recruitment, um outreach, coaching as far as um resume, resume interview skills, and then following
018up with students and sometimes helping them find jobs. So, that's I have a a lot of different uh things going on. But today, I'm here to talk to you about what workforce solutions is and just kind of separate it from the college. All right. So Laura region itself has campuses on the Faulio campus in Warrington, the Middletown campus up the road, and the Laray Page Center. We also offer classes that are online through the BCCS. Uh Lauraidge as a whole is part of the 23 community college system through the Virginia Community College Network. And so we're we're sister colleges. So Blige is down towards Bridgewater area, Where's Cave, and then there's us. And then there Nova a little up in Northern Virginia. So for workforce solutions we have a comprehensive mission. They consider the four
019C's to be the most important things that we do. So careers courses, career training, credentials and corporate training. Corporate training is where we'll come to you or you can send your corporate your adults to us and we'll train them up. We have uh working relationships with thermopisher right now and through uh we're doing things at Prince County School Systems. So courses are um courses are two two months to six hours every six months two to six months. Uh they're continuing education there for people looking to hone their skills. Uh career training we're looking at a six-month or less program. Um and credentials is where we will tie things into an uh industry certified credential, industry standard credential that they can carry with them. And what we found is that students are stu people with credentials
020earn 35% more by having that piece of paper and saying that they are certified to do welding or um are credentialed in electrician. So, Workforce Solutions, it's the continuing education unit for the college. Our primary focus is career and professional training. We're sometimes referred to as the nonredit classes, but we like to be called workforce, but it goes back and forth. We have two catalog cycles per year, and I believe catalog each of your spots. Um, our classes are open enrollment. Um in the fall we the fall catalog that goes out in May gets um mass mailed to our community and then the winter spring one goes out in November. Um a little tidbit about our catalog oftent times by the time the catalog reaches the house my classes are full. I have a very
021long waiting line. Weight list for electricians, welding, big ones. Um, HVAC, plumbing, all of those have weight list. Uh, classes do not align with semesters. It's not like the academic side where you have a spring, a fall, and a summer semester. We have classes, new classes beginning every week. Uh, there's no application or enrollment process. So, you don't have to write your essays or anything like that. We use the term registration. So you log in online, you give us your personal information and you register for the class and pay for it. And then corporate training is separate. Um with workforce solutions, everything's covered in the cost, books, class materials, everything is all part of the one price deal. And then the credentials are also included in the cost. And those credentials, sometimes they're earned in
022our classrooms, sometimes they are done by examination at the testing center at Bidge. Sometimes we provide vouchers to the students to go and get their IT certificates. So benefits of credentiing uh for the job seeker, it's an affordable and cost-effective way to upskill. Uh it's obtained in months and not years. Things are stackable. So you can with your CompTIA, what I'll get to in a minute, you can earn three different credentials in CompTIA via computer user support. Start making $61,000 a year. It's what we consider to be the fastest way out of poverty. Um, we tailor most of our classes to the Alice population and the Alice is um, oh, I always have to look at that Alice asset limited income constraint but employed and that that segment of our community. They have jobs but
023they're just not making ends meet. They they make too much to get federal help, but they don't make enough to get out of their situation. And so that's where our credentials come in handy from an employer standpoint. Uh they consider our having credentials to be agile, relevant, responsive. They're industry approved and trustworthy. So when they receive a credential through NCC, then they know that it's it's it's true. It's not just someone giving them a certificate of completion. It's an actual says it it tells that they know what they're doing and then it for the employer it also reduces the search for cost in their talent. So our workforce programs at lower ridge and across the VCCs they mirror the regional economic demand and for us we have healthcare programs, trades, information technology, industry and manufacturing
024and then business and development. But that's different for other community colleges. So considering Tidewater, they're in the ship building world in Norfolk. So Tidewater, they they give classes in welding and ship building. The classes at Germana and NOVA, they do um it support cyber security and defense, federal defense classes. So let's jump ahead to what we actually offer. So information technology u all of our certifications are done through comp um and they're all stackable. So you start with you wants to be a computer user support person or do you want to be a network administrator? It really doesn't matter. You start with the lowest level cont and you build. So it's 10 plus A+ network plus and you keep on building until you get to where you want to be. um information technology classes. After
025three classes takes about four or five months, you can start making $61,000. A couple more credentials on top of that, you're up to 119,000. Healthcare industry, that's where we've partnered with Todd here, phabbotomy, medical assistant, pharmacy assistant, so excuse me, pharmacy technician, dental assistant, and then patient service representative. Those are all things that Valley Health wants, Valley Health needs. And so we're turning out students that have the ability to take care of those jobs and fill those needs. From a healthcare perspective, students that end our program, they start making between 42 and $46,000. And here's where it's really stackable. If you have your medical assisting certification and then you have thorough phbotomy on top of that, then you get paid more working at whatever your employee employer is. We find that a lot of those
026students, the phabotamist and the medical assistants, they're using us as a gateway into the healthc care field. They get a job and start working. So then they can go back to school and pick up their RN. So that's a really great segue into from credential to degree manufacturing and mechatronics. This program was launched in 2023 right as I was coming on board. And it's because there are 40 manufacturers from Winchester down to New Market and they're losing their workforce. So in six classes in about 8 months, you can get your maintenance technician certifications and you can start making $61,000 a year. So this was where the region kind of dictated what kind of classes they wanted and this is where we're filling the gap. Then we have those skilled trades, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. In
027these, they used to be called apprenticeship programs, but the way we run it is that Laura Ridge handles the book part portion. We handle the education. You have to go find a job. So, with four levels of any one of those and 8,000 man hours in the field, you can sit for your journeyman's license. So, and they're running all the time. Um, we have levels 1, two, three, and four every cycle. And we're they're we're pushing from level one to level two to level three and then out the door. So, median salaries are up there. They make good livingings. And, uh, our electrical program is our most popular one right now out of all of those. And let's see. I already have enough students on the wait list to fill the January, February class. So,
028that's where the book becomes obsolete, the catalog. I just can't we can't keep up with the demand. This is new and very exciting. Power line is coming this fall. We have a partnership with Dominion Energy, Rapahanic Electric, Novak, probably the one here, too. I think they weren't on the call the other day. Um we're going to teach power line. We're going to train out um power line workers to our local communities. It's a 12, excuse me, 14week class, 12 students involved each semester or each each cohort. They're going to receive seven industry credentials. So they're gonna over that 14 week there's they're going to get their CBL their heavy equipment operator's license OSHA 10 CPR missing two power line worker one power line fundamentals and it's it's it's a very robust program after 14 weeks
029the power companies are want to hire them and the start salary is right at $70,000. So, take your 18-year-old, um, send them off to boot camp, so to speak, and then 14 weeks later, they're going to be making pretty decent living. Oh, this uh this round and the spring round, we are partnering with Southside Community College. We have um our permitting is in play right now. We're building a pole yard and a facility to teach all of it at Lower Ridge. But right now we're teaching the CDL Ho V flagger. That was my other one. All at Laura Ridge and we're sending them down to Southside Community College in Blackstone, Virginia for three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas and they're learn to climb the poles there. CDL is a big a very very popular program.
030Um, and Kora teaches that for us. It's a four-week program, but you go to class every single day. Um, in the trades, typically you go to class one night a week so that you can have a job from plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. You can have a job and yet come to class once a week. For commercial driver's license, it's four days a week for four weeks. And um, we have a lot of community partners ready to hire those guys right out of class as well. You have to be 18 to be a CDL driver. And I ran into trouble with high schoolers wanting to have their CDL, but they barely had their license and have a problem putting them in a big truck at the age 18 and even at the age 18. So, um,
031you have to get your learner's permit from VOTE, your physical drug test. There are hoops to jump through for the CDL. So, it's not just a easy process to make sure that they're serious about it. Heavy equipment operator has been very, very popular. Um, it's one of the easiest ways to get a student in and engaged and then out the door. It's an 11week long program and the we have guaranteed interviews. We have partnerships with the heavy construction contractors association out of Northern Virginia. They send their representatives, their companies representatives down to the end the last night of class and they interview the kids. Um, adults too. I had to talk about kids because I'm usually pushing this um or selling this to high schoolers, but they often times can walk away that night with
032a job. Welding, our welding options have expanded. Todd, we opened up a welding lab in Faulier, which has taken off some of the pressure in Middletown. So, um middle welding in general is very limited to booth space. In little town we have nine booths. In Faulier we have 12 booths. But everybody needs their own space to weld. So we do start them all off with stick. Bring in flux me and TIG off all four credentials. Fiber optic installer. It's a very quick program and it's only taught at the Faulier campus. It's u the median salary is $77,000. in five weeks, a total of 11 classes, they can learn to run and splice cable and Chintel Glow Fiber, there's like six different companies that are waiting to hire them as soon as they finish. So, our
033instructors, our instructors are adjunct instructors except for two. We have two full-time instructors, but everyone else that teaches, they teach kind of moonlighting for us. They work in the field in a full-time capacity and then um they are credentialed. They many of them are not college graduates but they teach evenings and weekends. Then the other piece that Laura Ridge offers is some online classes and some of them are taught well there some of them are synchronous some of them are asynchronous. um the internal online classes, you get your SER sherm certification and your um patient service representative. That's the front office at a doctor's office. And then we also have a couple of third-party online course providers. They're called uh you've got class, protran, and world education. And you can pick up Excel skills, Quickbook
034Skills, uh data analysis, little things. They aren't really credentials, but they are skill classes. So now the funding part. The state of Virginia has this wonderful thing called the fast forward grant. And the fast forward grant will take anything that has a credential tied to it. All of my trades in my healthcare classes and the IT classes as well that they'll pay twothirds of the tuition. So um that leaves onethird of the tuition for the student. After that, we have G3 funding and G3 funding is also by the state and it's it's a limited number of courses or curriculum that that's included in this, but it's also academic and workforce and G3 will pick up the final third. So oftent times or pretty much all the time for me, I was offering all of these
035classes for free. So to become G3 certified, it's 400% of the poverty level. So a single person making less than $62,000 qualifies for G3 funding. Family of four making less. Mom and dad combined making less than 128,000 classes are free or at least G3 comes into play. And it's been a wonderful thing from the from the state for many many years. But right now, oh, and so my funding example is the commercial driver's license. It's a $6,000 program. G3 picks up, excuse me, fastport picks up 4,000. G3 picks up the other 2,000 and you go to and you get your truck driver's license for free as long as the student passes the class and meets the attendance requirements. Attendance is tied to the funding. If they don't show up to class, they're going to have
036to owe the state back money. And I think that's only fair. So, um, and our classes are not graded ABC. They're pass fail. So, you just have to show up and do your best, and you owe nothing back. But here's the bad news. It's very, very sad. So, the general assembly determines the amount of fastport funding for the 23 community colleges in 2025. The BCC BCCS exceeded the $20 million budget, and we dipped ahead into the 2026 budget. All the money's gone. We've spent it all. How did we spend it all? We had a 25% growth just at Laura Ridge alone between all the colleges, we spent $3 million of the fast forward money. And that's kind of greedy, but we just kept working remotely people. So, for right now, we are in a standstill
037until the general assembly grants us more money. That's where it's off the table. But G3 still exists. So, um, it's good news, it's bad news. We're hoping that the faucet will get turned back on in the spring, fingers crossed, because that's how we help fund the Shannon County kids through our programs. So, we fast forward takes up the two/3s and then the school system picks up the final third. But there are local foundation scholarships available and there some of them are listed here. Those are for people that don't qualify for Fantic or our Fantic G3 or Fast Forward. and um some of our company providers such as Micron and Exalta, they've been very very generous in giving us pots of money to help fund the students. So if you're interested about any particular program cataloges
038in front of you, you can inquire about the program by going to our website using the QR code. You can fill out this cute little form that gives me name, email, and your mobile number and someone will be in touch. I have a whole office full of helpers and I go out and talk about it. You send your form and they they follow up and give you the information that you want. So if you want fiber information, you'll get an email specific to fiber, start dates, end dates, cost, the whole shebang. That's me in in a very quick nutshell. Anybody have questions? I felt like I there's a lot of information I didn't know. It's all important. Are are most of your classes open to juniors and seniors in high school? We can uh Fast
039Forward only allow a senior in the spring semester. So approaching graduation to take the class. The goal behind Fast Forward is that they take a class and they get to work and they start paying taxes which then fuels our economy. So juniors are not a part of it. G3 is only available if they have their high school diploma. So, and G3 is based on mom and dad's income. So, I have a I have an 18-year-old that's finished with high school. They want to take the heavy equipment class. I need to see mom and dad's tax records or the financial aid people need to see mom dad's tax records to see if they fall within the bracket to qualify. Gotcha. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay. Okay. Um because you could say that especially for the health
040care some of the students can go on uh for the degrees. How do they do that? Do they accept the classes as credits or No, ours are just credentials. They'll apply to the college and get into the academic side. They'll take the degree program. So in for nursing there's a probably 16 to 19 credit prerequisites required. So they they decide they want to be a nurse after they start a phabbotomy class. So they have to pick up they'll do a semester or semester and a half just to get the credits they need to apply to the RN program. Okay. So then they work off both sides of the college. So Mina like a lay that works for our kids like a specific example a lot of our nurse aid students will then take the phabbotomy
041class. So, they're in nurse aid for us. In the spring, they'll add phabbotomy, take that in the evening through workforce. Then they'll go get a job working at Valley Health, working at one of the long-term care facilities. Then the long-term care facility after six months, a lot of them will then give them a stipen to go back to school. Oh, okay. To work towards their RN, their LPN, get another workforce credential. And now they're stacking those without a whole lot of out of pocket expense. Does that make sense? That's how that's how that works with our specifically with our kids. Okay. Right. So we talk about stackable credentials. They're taking advantage of what we're doing at the high school level at triplet or at the high schools and then we add this. They get paid
042more. Then they're finding out, hey, my employer does tuition assistance. Yes. Okay. Use that to your advantage and then they go back. Does that make sense? Yeah. No, that sounds great. Thank you. Yeah. One more question. So, our CTE is getting the news out to students. Oh, yeah. At triplet to go take advantage of across the division, right? I mean, we obviously our students at Triplet have a little bit more of an advantage because they're already in a healthcare class, but I've had um kids that are in our biomed program have taken phabbotomy before. Um they've taken pharmacy tech. pharmacy tech went offline because of the rule change and now it's back online. Um so it's not just a triplet thing. We we we share it with our biomet kids. We share it with um
043some of our a kids that were interested in welding and that's the two welding kids were agg. So yes, it's the majority triplet kids, but it's not just confined to triplet and it's only open to seniors in the spring semester. including like welding. Correct. Yes, sir. Gotcha. Welding now with the new upgrade on the welding systems, you have to be 18. Okay. You have to be 18. Phabbotomy to work you before you credential and take the test, you have to be 18. Okay. But you can start your electricians program early. You can start the plumbing program early. Um the power line program, you have to be 18. There's certain things that you have to be 18 for. Understand? Um, back to sharing this countywide, we have high school career coaches at each of your schools
044and some of them are extremely active. So, Stonewall, I work with Amber Walker. And so, she brings me in, I talk to the seniors back in the in the fall. So, not and the ones that aren't at triplet because they're already, you know, Todd has those. But then I do a presentation with the high schoolers with the high school seniors. And then we have this event called Freshman Focus between March and the 1 of May where if you're interested, we come to you and we help you do the registration. We line we sign them all up and get all the funding stacked and ready to roll. So after graduation, they have a plan. Awesome. And that's Yeah, I probably signed up six kids from Stonewall and three kids from Strawburg this this spring and they're
045ready to roll. That's great. Thank you. You're welcome. Thanks, Lisa. Thank you. Thank you. Agenda 4.2. It deals with the proposed revisions to policy JFHAB, GBA, privacy, dignity, and respect for all students and parents in Sheno County Public Schools. Dr. Shepard, are you going to give us some information? Yes, thank you. So, the school board adopted policy GF hab polic uh privacy, dignity, and respect for all students and parents in Shadow County Public Schools um on April the 11th, 2024. At the request of a schoolboard member, proposed changes to this policy are now being presented for information. Similar language is was introduced at the February 26, 2024 meeting and a revised version the same as the current proposal was brought forward for consideration at the March 14th, 2024 meeting um in advance of the policy's
046adoption in April of 2024. The current proposal recommends amending section 3H of the policy by adding the following two subsections. 3H2 For any athletic program or activity that is designated for female athletes, no biological male shall be permitted to participate except to the extent that federal law requires otherwise. 3H3 For any athletic program or activity that is designated for female athletes where biological and males are permitted to participate, no female athlete or coach for such team shall be forced to participate in such program or activity. Um, this item is being presented for information. It's a July 10th um, 2025 schoolboard meeting and there will be an opportunity for discussion and um, recommendation for approval at the April or August 14th schoolboard meeting. Thank you, Dr. Shepard. Any questions? All right. Agenda item 4.3 is the
047resolution requesting signal n middle school football field be named in honor of James Jimbo Stout. Dr. Shepard. Thank you. Policy FFA school names permits the dedication or naming of appropriate areas within a school facility such as a library, media center, comma, or gymnasium or on school ground such as a field or courtyard in honor of individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the reputation and accomplishments of a school or of the school division. Mr. Stout dedicated more than 30 years to coaching youth football in Strawburg and served as a mentor and role model for generations of students and families. Letters of support from the community members highlight his lasting impact, commitment to service, and the values he instilled in young athletes. In recognition of this lasting impact, the recommendation is to name the Signal Nom
048Middle School football field the James Jimbo Stout Field. This request was submitted forformational purposes at tonight's meeting with recommendation for approval at the August 14th meeting. And if approved, the um the football the youth football team in Strawburg would like to dedicate it at the end of September. Be happy to answer any questions. No questions. Moving to our lastformational agenda item, uh the 2025 library book materials purchase list. Thank you. policy IIIP, library material selection, requires that new library materials go through a process to ensure that selection of library materials are of the highest quality. This month, we had um books submitted for both the middle and high school. Um in June, the librarians developed a list and the principles and directors of education reviewed it. Um the information was put on our website on
049Thursday, June the 19th. Um, and the recommendation, uh, there's the library materials purchase list are presented to the school board for information at tonight's meeting. The re recommendation is for the school board to approve the, um, materials list at the August 14th schoolboard meeting. I'm happy to answer any questions. No questions. Thank you. Moving into uh action items and uh the first is the um the uh superintendent recommendation for personnel actions uh as they have been presented to us previously. Um do have a motion to approve the personal list as it was presented to us. I move to approve the personnel list as presented. Thank you, Mr. Second. Second second by Mrs. Carlinia. Uh is there uh any discussion? Those in favor of uh accepting the personal actions as have been presented to us uh
050in close session. Those uh in favor please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? None opposed. And the uh second action item is a resolution requesting that a section of the hallway at Stonewall Jackson High School be named Dorman's Corner. Um there's bit of information and background here. I think everybody in the board is quite aware of what's uh what has been proposed here. Uh, is there um is there a recommendation to approve the resolution requesting that the section at Stonewall Jackson High School be named Dorman's Corner? I move to approve the resolution requesting a section of the hallway at Stonewall Jackson High School to be named Dorman's Corner. Thank you, Mr. Street. A second. Second. Um, LV, did you chime in there? Okay. It was a tag team. Good. There we go. I like
051that. Okay. So, um Mr. Vance has seconded. Um is there any discussion? None. Then, um call for the u question. So, uh there's there's no discussion. All those in favor of accepting the motion to approve the resolution, uh please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? So it is carried unanimously. Action item 5.3 has to do with um policy adoption. Um we have over the last two months uh been reviewing the policies that have been uh reviewed and coming up for five-year renewal or other purposes. uh and we um I believe we stripped one out to require uh further uh uh uh research that was policy JECB. So that's removed from consideration, but the other uh the remaining uh board uh or policy updates have been presented uh to us for uh approval tonight. Does
052uh anybody have a motion to approve those remaining policy items? I move that the school board approve the policy at policies as presented excluding policy JCB which is removed from consideration pending further revision for clarity. Thank you Mr. Gut Charles. Is there a second? Second second by Mr. Street. Um any discussion? All those in favor of approving the policies as they have been reviewed and presented please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? None opposed. uh passes 6 and 5.4 is a request to increase the fiscal year 2026 special budget. Uh and that deals with the uh triplettech aviation program. Uh, and that uh would would increase the budget um by $150,000 which I believe Dr. Shepard has come from a specific source to fund it. Correct. So, we're not looking at additional funding here.
053Is there is there a motion uh to approve the request for this aviation program at triplet? I move to approve the request to increase the fiscal year 2026 special budget by $150,000 in support of the new aviation program at triplet check. Thank you, Mr. Rickert. A second. Second. Second by Mr. Street. All in favor of approving the request for the AV aviation program, please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? None opposed. It uh again uh passes unanimously. Action item 5.5 uh legal council representation. Uh do we have a a recommended action for contracting for general legal counsel and services? Go ahead. Well, um I move I move that the school board contract with Brandon Butler for general legal counsel and services uh with the option to renegotiate the contract in six months and continue
054contracting with CN Sand Anderson for special education legal counsel and services. Thank you Mrs. Carlinia. Is there a second? Second. Second by Mr. Rickard. Is there any discussion? Dr. Shepard, does um the law firm need to be named as part of the motion? The law firm is Griffin Butler. PS Griffin Butler. I apologize for that. Griffin Butler. Should I re say? Yeah, why don't you do that? Thank you. Okay. I move that the school board contract with Griffin Butler uh for general legal counsel and services with the option to renegotiate the contract in six months and continue contracting with Sans Anderson for special education legal counsel and services. Thank you, Mrs. Cardinio. A second. Thank you, Mr. Record. All in favor of that motion, please. Hold on. Hold on. We also didn't state which format
055we were using. Do we have to in the propose? Do we have to do it in We don't have to do it in here as long as the school board agrees it's going to be an hourly. Yeah. An hourly cost. Okay. We'll make sure. Sorry. Okay. It's okay. No, no, thank you. So, all those in favor of the motion that has been made by Mrs. Carolonia, please signify by saying I. I. Any oppose? I want to commend Mr. Gutshaw seriously for oversight and making sure we get get it right. So one once again the uh that was a f final action item and um it passed unanimously. Um superintendent's report. Dr. Shepard, thank you. I cannot believe we are a little over one month away from the start of school. So, a little over four
056and a half weeks, we'll be back in school. We're excited to welcome our students and staff back, which will be before our next schoolboard meeting. So, um our open houses are scheduled for Thursday, August the 7th, and our first day of school is Tuesday, August the 12th, and our next school board meeting is Thursday, August the 14th. So, looking forward to welcome welcoming our students back to Shannidoa County Public Schools. Our summer school program wrapped up the last week of June and it was wonderful to see all the fun learning experiences and projects that our students worked on. Our elementary students enjoyed trips to the county library seven Ben State Park while our middle school students explored the world of first responders and community contributors with their program theme of hometown heroes making the community
057better. We heard um earlier tonight that the Central High School softball team um won the state championship the first time in 22 years. So congratulations to our softball team and our junior um Vanessa Gordon who was player of the year and our coach Timmy Wakeakeman who was the coach of the year. Central sophomore Lexi Burke Holder was first team. Uh central sophomore Veronica Gordon and Kristen Hawkman. Um, seniors, senior was second team. Baseball, Strawburg Junior, Ryan Reynolds was um, second team. Girls soccer, we had senior central Ava Palooi first team. Central junior Anna Bible as the second team, boys tennis, central senior Brady Bar with singles and bar and central senior Jacob Cooper doubles. and then also girls tennis uh central senior Mallerie Hutton for singles in Hutton and central sophomore Caroline I in doubles.
058And today we wrapped up our 3-day school administrator institute and we we did a lot of collaborative work over the last three days. We focused on instructional design, school climate and culture, data reflection and expectations for the upcoming school year. And we're looking forward to welcoming our students back here in a couple of weeks. So, be happy to answer any questions. Mr. Rickard, the the money that was allocated to remove carpeting at the elementary school, um, namely Sandy Hook. Do we know what on average it cost to do a classroom? I heard there were only three classrooms that were being done. The reason we are doing the the reason we are only doing three classrooms um this summer is because the limited amount of um tile replacement that we could get and I don't remember
059the exact amount but it was like 12,000 square feet that we were able to get versus um because Mr. Hensley. It was because the um manufacturer didn't have something the printing board the printing element for the for the um tile that we use. So it wasn't because we didn't have the money for it. It's because they they didn't have the supply of the stock that we use the tile that we use. So, um I know that our um maintenance supervisor is going to try to get some of that work done over winter break as well and the rest will be finished next um next summer. So, it is going to it is going to continue. Yeah, we should have enough money to replace most if not all tile at all three of our elementary schools.
060Um carpet to tile. What about the other projects? The HVAC, the trailers, where are we at on that? So the HVAC um probably will not happen until next summer because there's a lot of planning that has to be coordinated with that. And then I know we're meeting tomorrow on the modular units um and we do know that there is somebody who um is on state contract that we could um participate with. So hopefully will they be there August the 1? No. But hopefully you know sometime before winter break. Awesome. Thank you. All right, we're ready for school board member comments. Let's kick it off. I guess I'll go first. Um, I wanted to thank Dr. Shepard and staff for putting that reception together prior to this meeting. It was great to meet the new uh
061administration um that's coming on board. Um, I want to welcome all the new teachers and new students to this school year. Um, looking forward to it. Um, other than that, school board administration, keep up the great work. Um, appreciate all that you do and again, welcome to all the new hunters. Um, want to follow up on that and yeah, welcome. It was great to meet everybody. I do have a suggestion for next year if we can do some name tags because I'm a I'm a very visual person. So all those names come in one year go out the other one. But it was great meeting everybody. So um the other thing was I I do want to reiterate and and congratulations to the girls um team at Central because that that's a huge achievement and
062um I hope those girls are really proud of themselves and and realize you know that we're all proud of them as well. I'll just copy and paste everything that's been said by Mr. Rick and Miss Carino and the superintendent regarding the uh the new teammates and also the reshuffleling of duties for some of our prior teammates and um continue the success. Um yes. Um sorry I didn't get off work in time to make the the the um reception up there. Uh but anyway, looking forward to meeting the new people on staff. Congratulations to the central softball. Well well done. Uh good great job. That's exciting. Um, also want to thank the board of supervisors uh recently for working supporting us um and approving the the funds for the CIPs. Um, so I want to thank
063the board of supervisors for that and looking forward to the uh future. Um, you know, folks, they you know they support us um and we support them. Um I think there's a lot of um opportunities opportunities there to work together. Um I just asked the public to keep in mind you know they you know they they have to look we have to look at the big picture. We have to look at everything. Um so and and what makes sense and and what's the wise thing to do the efficient thing to do. So, you know, looking forward to to trying to we have to accomplish things, but what's the best way to go about it in the future? Um, also, I guess I know this is kind of uh off the record a little bit, I
064guess, but uh Mike Bocock is being recognized tonight at the Bandits game. And the reason I bring that up is he was my PE teacher at New Market Middle School and my one of my football coaches at Stonewall Jackson High School. So he's got a little bit of history in this county. So congratulations to Mr. Mike Mike Bo for his um for the things that he's done for Shadow County Public School in the past. Um anyway, that's all I have. Just reiterate the other points. Great meeting the new people today and uh looking forward to the year ahead, the school year ahead. Mine's not going to be so short, but I uh I do uh I do want to congratulate u the Central girls uh softball team. I uh I coached lacrosse. I I I
065coached wrestling and baseball, but I had the most fun coaching uh women's softball. It I I'm really It's a great sport, and I really I'm really excited for the team. Um, I have a a little bit of a I have a an article that a constituent sent me from the Wall Street Journal. I'm not a I'm not a a great fan of the Wall Street Journal, but um it's it it it's entitled School Discipline Makes a Comeback and it has to do with an effort that we started. When I say we, I say we own the school board three years ago, but I also talk about Dr. Shepherd and the fact that we this is a very willing leadership team that took on took on the concept of of um redefining uh discipline and we
066ain't there yet. Uh but we've got a good start. I just wanted to to let you know that what we've gone through isn't uh just isn't specific to us here in this article. Uh so bear with me. It's not going to take very long, but I'll read this uh this editorial report from the Wall Street Journal. The Texas legislature in May passed a bill that makes it easier for teachers to remove misbehaving students from classrooms and extends the allowable time for inschool suspensions. Some 3,300 Texas district employees were targets of student assault in 2023 24. According to the Texas Tribune, removing students for any unruly disruptive or abusive behavior, as the legislation allows, could help prevent such escalation. Arkansas lawmakers in April passed a law ensures uh that ensures that students are removed for violent
067behavior aren't returned to the same classroom. The legislature also stripped from state law a requirement that districts use positive behavioral support which focuses on conflict resolution and coping skills to address student misbehavior. Um going to skip there's a couple more examples I'm going to skip to some of the conclusions. All this marks a shift away from the progressive push for therapeutic or restorative practices before or instead of classroom removals. The Obama administration encouraged districts to emphasize positive interactions over student removal. In a 2018 guidance letter warning of racial disparities in traditional discipline, a 2023 Biden education department document advocated listening and healing and warned that suspensions and expulsions often disproportionately affect students of color. But self-discipline policies have victims of their own. Teachers are getting hit, kicked, spit on, cussed out, said one district superintendent
068in public comment on Texas bill. The fact that we cannot suspend those students and have to wait in some cases weeks until we can bring parents and team members together to create a solution is leaving both teachers and administration with a feeling of helplessness. Peers of disruptive students are also robbed of learning time. Given that uh schools struggle with most disciplinary challenges, keeping disruptive students in classrooms only widens the achievement gap. Daniel Bach, a former teacher, wrote for form Institute last year. This is hardly racial justice. Many Democratic states are still pushing therapeutic practices, but at least districts don't face the same pressure from the feds. President Trump issued an April executive order decrying equity ideology in school discipline and called on education secretary Linda McMahon McMahon to produce a report on model school discipline
069policies. So I um I do commend the superintendent and our school system for um f focusing on this. It does I think have a lot to do with perceived lack of support that some teachers feel and I think uh kind of the lynch pin for this is our is uh is our disciplinary um policies and philosophy. So I I um I suggested three years. It might take a while to turn this around. it is uh but we've seen at least one of our schools remarkable success in doing exactly that. So we know it can be done. uh and uh I um to to circle back to our to our reception earlier, I think we have a wonderful and willing group of uh professionals willing to to jump in and and work on this particular problem
070which I think feeds all the other challenges that we have uh such as re reading civics, treating people civily and some um and getting back to what I call classical education. those those kind of things which I think rise our academic um level. So so on that note that I'll um ask for move for German. Thank you Mr. Gutshaw. Second. Okay. All all in favor of adjournment please signify by saying I. Okay. We are journed at 7:44 p.m.