001I'll I'd like to call the uh Shad County school board meeting to order at this time uh and uh I would call on the superintendent uh for a recommendation thank you I recommend the school board of shanadoa County 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 of several employees of the shanadoa County Public Schools under Virginia code 2.2 3711 A14 I recommend the school board of shanid County conen a closed meeting under the virin Freedom of Information Act for the purposes of discussing and considering several student matters involving the admission discipline or disclosure of information contained in a Scholastic record of students in the shanor County Public Schools under Virginia code 22-
0023711 A2 and I recommend that School Board of shin County a meeting under the provisions of Virginia code 22- 3711 a29 to discuss the award of a public contract involving the expenditures of public funds including interviews of biders or offerers and discussion of the terms or sces of such contracts or discussion in an open session would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body do I hear a motion that we conv in close session to consider that suggest I move that the Shino County School Board convene a closed meeting under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act in order to discuss and consider consider several Personnel matters including the assignments the appointment promotion performance demotion salary discipline and resignation under Virginia code 22- 3711 814 and to discuss and consider several student
003matters involving the addition discipline or disclosure of information contained in a Scholastic record of students in the Shino County Public Schools under Virginia code 22371 A2 and pursuant to the provisions of number one Virginia code 2.2 2- 3711 a29 to discuss the award of a public contract involving the expenditure of public funds including interviews of ads or authors and discussion of the terms or scope of such contract for discussion and an open session would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body I second we have motion by Mr G and second by consider session all those in favor is our in an open session [Music] 7:00 e e e expect we have a lot of personel matters so we're sorry about that but we're here now so we're ready to get
004going so I would like to uh reconvene and Open Session um so we have a motion to do exactly motion I move to reconvene an open session second thank you Mr duta thank you um Mr Street for seconding all in favor of our reconvening in open section please say I I oppos no none okay thank you um like to read the uh following statement from our Clos meeting certification K shinida County School Board hereby certified by roll call vote my 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 La were discussed in the closed meeting to which this certification resolution applies and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion for meeting the closed meeting were heard
005discussed considered by the sheno County School Board each member responds ISO certifi and call roll call V please Mr stre ISO certifi m careno i so certify Mr gsha I so certifi M Ro ISO certified Mr rer ISO certified Mr bar ISO certified and now I would uh like to call on Mrs rutz for the invocation and the pledge please bow your head compassionate and gra gracious God all tribes and tongues will one day acknowledge Jesus as Lord alongside as we know the truth proclaimed in your word that we are all cre created in your image too easily we allow division based culture language and or race change our Behavior please change our behavior and make us United let us focus on our shared status as your creation and unite together over what we have
006in common not fracture over how we differ to you creator of all people I pray in Jesus name amen [Music] to the flag of the United States of America and to the for stands Nation God indivisible withy and justice for all [Music] this this point that I have a motion to approve the agenda as it is has been presented I move to approve the agenda as presented thank you we have a second second second by Miss Carino uh all in favor please signify by saying I I post no uh at this point I'd like to uh turn the uham over to superintendent for recognition thank you this evening I'd like to recognize Mr Scott schner from Sig KN Middle School good evening Mr chairman members of the board Dr shephard I do want to thank
007you for for having this opportunity to come before you again to talk about one of my staff members but before I turn the mic over to him because he is one being recognized I do want to thank you for as we come to a close for national teacher we that the support that you give is vital for us every day to work with the students that we work with and have the pleasure of working with every day so I personally want to say thank you to each and every one of them at this time I have the great opportunity of introducing Dakota stoud and the accom one of the accomplishments you'll be hearing about more later on but for this moment I turn it over to Mr stra thank you Mr schner and good evening
008uh shimo County Public School school board Dr jeer and C Al the staff um thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today and I want to express my gratitude for the continued support you provide to our Educators in our district particularly in the area of professional development your commitment to our growth as teachers and leaders is truly invaluable as many of you are already aware I was recently awarded the 2024 Virginia Association of agricultural Educators teachers turn the key professional development scholarship award this recognition from the Virginia Association of agricultural Educators means a great deal to me as it validates the hard work we' put into our agricultural education program at signal middle school with this award I will have the privilege of attending the National Association of agricultural education conference in San
009Antonio Texas this December this conference offers a fantastic opportunity to engage in professional development activities with other early career teachers from across the country I'm looking forward to bringing back new insights and strategies to benefit our students and our program this accomplishment would not have been possible without the support of our school community and your belief in the value of quality agricultural education thank you for your continued encouragement and providing the resources we need to excel I am grateful to represent our division at this National Conference and I look forward to sharing what I learned with you and our school Community once again thank you for your continued [Applause] support all right the next um yeah the next thing that we're going to do is uh something we value very highly which is to hear
010public and staff comments on agenda items and non-agenda items uh so I'm going to read what I always read about the way we conduct this and I'm going to make a few extra comments because we made some slight variations so I want to indicate that the Shino County School Board does welcome comment public comment during most regular meetings and during public hearings school board members do not respond to public comments during the meeting or hearing each speaker may speak up to two minutes tonight usually do three we had to follow back to because of the number of speakers we have know we regret it but it's necessary uh the board uh generally allows up to 30 minutes but we're going to I'm sure go well beyond that tonight and that's just fine um there are
011a lunch number of speakers um as I said we have reduced total number of minutes can speak too um I'll be kind of uh very legalistic about that but a few extra seconds to finish up but I hope you stay on time so I don't have to do that um all comments should address a matter related to the shendo County Public Schools complaints regarding division of BU should be directed to the school principal or an appropriate School Division official the school board expects that each speaker will be courteous modeling for our students how one can respectfully disagree with other fears speakers will address our comments to the entire school board and not to one IND indidual School Board member uh to the superintendent to a staff member nor to the audience speakers will not engage
012in personal attacks uh speakers uh May sign up still um to speak at the school board meeting tonight uh and the document has been provided by the clerk of the school board we've asked that you fill out that information as precisely as you can since uh it goes as part of public public record and your name may be forwarded with your comments to journalists or whoever else want wants wants to use them um at the end of that time I'm not going to allow any further uh people will sign up but along the way if you would like to do so uh you can continue to go over there I see that uh the U that the sheets have been filled out looks like very properly that's good if you don't have specific information on
013there please put that on there between now and then it looks like we have a good uh a good number of speakers and U You' all signed up very well so thank you for that um I'm asking you um not to um make comments or any kind of uh public display uh while the speaker speak I think that's that's only courtesy the matter who's speaking and uh I think follow that it would be F was good deor and speech of f so I hope that's where we go um if a speaker would like to Present written comments school board he copy should be provided to school board clerk as it's necessary so um with that we go down the list in the order that they were given to us so when I call your name
014I'll please move to the podium and uh you will have your two minutes uh the first name I have is Bo Dickinson good evening chairman Barlo superintendent Shephard members of the board my name is Bo Dickinson and I'm speaking as a private citizen on behalf of no one other than myself I actually started my career in education over 20 years ago at Stonewall Jackson high school as an American history teacher I realized that most students thought of Stonewall Jackson as a place and as a building as much as they thought about him as a person and this may be the case for many Who Remain attached to the Stonewall name former graduates are likely proud of their own high SCH accomplishments and the memories they formed at sjhs that feeling is quite natural and partially
015why this debate is so emotional and difficult however it is also history itself that makes this difficult very difficult snowall Jackson high school was named on January 12th 1959 over 95 years after Stonewall Jackson's death in 1863 so why did it take nearly a century to suddenly discover this so-called Heritage in the mid 20th century in 1959 the national news Spotlight was centered on Virginia as federal courts issued the first court orders to desegregate public schools in response Senator Harry bird declared massive resistance to racial integration and Governor Lindsay Alman forcibly closed schools that attempted to integrate in fact the very first school closed by the governor was just a few miles away from here in neighboring Warren County and I'm actually honored to be here with some of those former student plist it was
016precisely at this very moment that the shanadoo County School Board chose to name its new high school after a confederate general who fought in the defense of slavery and State's rights if you vote to restore the name of snowall Jackson in 2024 you will be resurrecting an act of 195 n that is forever rooted in massive resistance and Jim Crow segregation time is [Applause] over Hanah Keen I'll begin with pointing out the irony and why a lot of us are here tonight some people in the county feel that the initial name change strip them of their Democratic processes while advocating for the honoring of an individual that stripped African-Americans of their Democratic rights 133% of the surveys sent out by the Coalition for better schools were returned that hardly sounds like the majority to me
017not even the entire 133% that were returned pushed for the names to be restored that's about 7,347 opinions that are completely unaccounted for let's go back to 1954 Brown versus Board of Education where it was ruled that separate is not equal 1956 Virginia adopts the massive resistance policy to block the integration of public schools in 1959 scps constructed the southern campus and conveniently in 1960 and the height of massive resistance in Virginia it was formerly dedicated as Stonewall Jackson high School shanada County Public Schools didn't fully integrate until 1964 10 years after Brown versus Board in two years after the NAACP filed a lawsuit for an African-American student to attend Central High School this was the historical climate when these schools were named and this is what that name represents in the times when this
018school was named it would have been illegal for my husband and I to get married my husband who works tirelessly to ensure the safety of this County's people as a deputy of the the Sheriff's Office regardless of the decision that's made history will be made in this building tonight and the fact that we are here having this conversation is an absolute travesty to shanoa County the restoration of this name is going to set us back 70 years and my heart breaks for the children that are going to have to walk into schools named after people that wanted them and their families enslaved by the white man I urge the school board to make the choice and uphold these [Applause] names thank you Mr chairman and board members my name is Carol Kidwell and I am
019a concerned Virginia resident and member of the NAACP of Winchester City Frederick Warren and Clark counties in 1954 our courts gave us the landmark ground versus Board of Education decision which said maintaining racial segregated schools was unconstitutional almost immediately our federal government began supporting black students integrated the segregated schools and give gave a voice to civil rights leaders and in response to that white supremacists across the South were not about to let our beautiful little black children ever forget their place so between 1954 and 1970 at least 45 new schools from Virginia to Florida were named after Confederate generals and soldiers in 1959 shanoa County Virginia built their own reminder to black students St W Jackson high school and that preserved bigotry over history when those of us who believe in equality of all here
020your excuses that you have attachments to the school because you attended that school because your children attended that school it's not that we don't understand how you feel about your mama Mo it's because it pales in comparison to what it means to a black American to have a daily reminder that this school honors a man who fought to enforce the pain and suffering of an entire race of Americans who were hunted down taken from their native lands and culture torn from their families and forced into to the inhumane enslavement as school board members you have a duty to do what is right and choose school names that all children can be proud of Jean Kilby good evening my name is Jean Kilby I'm the last surviving son of James Wilson Kilby one of the individuals
021that was very instrumental in in desegregating schools in Virginia I stand before you tonight to continue to fight the same battle that has been fought repeatedly over and over again I stand before you tonight on the shoulders of those who came before me I stand before you tonight on the pledge of this County that this County made in 1964 to support civil rights I stand before you tonight on the resolution Against Racism adopted by shanor County School Board in June of 2020 were these just gestures at that time or did the school board really mean it why are we here tonight to go back to a time in history that was very cruel where hatred and racism continue throughout this County and throughout the United States my experience with the Confederate super sympathizers was in
022my first experience with confederate sympathizers was in the year of 1958 I was 7 years old they poisoned the family dog shot through our home mutilated our livestock and left bloody sheeps on the mailbox is this the type of Legacy that you want to put in shanor County's Public School buildings the Civil War was fought and lost by the Confederacy do you want to continue to memorialize individuals that live in Insurrection against the United States Mr K what time is it take 5 seconds if you have we don't need to go backwards we just ask you tonight to do the right thing is it sueta Freeman is that the way it's proun good evening board members my name my name is s Freeman and I reside at 74 Michelle Road in Ro Virginia my I
023um I was one of the original 21 yeah I was one of the original 21 that walked up the hill to war County High School in front raw Virginia with pass hecklers and policemen on February the 18th 1959 this day will be forever etched in my mind time the insults hurled at us was almost unbearable this was one of the worst demonstrations of hatred and racism I have ever experienced our parents only wanted their children to get a quality education at the school in where they uh where they paid their taxes afroamerican students in one County would have to travel numerous miles out of town to locations in order to get an education we walked up that hill and War County almost 5 years after Brown versus Board of Education in topa Kansas State sanction
024segregated segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional Virginia was a state that opposed integration and did not care what the courts had mandated Massive Resistance was a teral time in the state and our communities Confederate sympathizers led the charge to to further decide to divide our communities and then it contined to raise its hateful head today Frankly Speaking slavery was wrong and we don't want to continue to be reminded of these atrocities naming public buildings after Confederate soldiers is a slap in the face for civil rights I ask you tonight for the board to vote to keep the current name of the schools thank you [Applause] good evening members of the school board good evening first of all this is one final chance to decide whether shanor
025county is going to maintain names that are non-controversial names that will remain non-controversial nobody needs to argue about the name Mountain View or Honey Run chances are at some point if these names are reversed they will be reversed again okay the basis for the Confederacy is best spelled out in the Cornerstone speech of alexand Stevens Vice President of the Confederacy he made it very clear that secession and their purpose was to maintain what they said was the view that black people were inferior and were destined to live in slavery Robert E Lee believe nothing less Stonewall Jackson we don't have too many statements from him on it but we know what he fought for turn Ashby led a mob raiding the home of a anti-slavery Plantation owner in Clark County okay this these are things
026that this Heritage as we call it are about I understand sentimental attachments I went to Central fortunately that name is never going to be argued about either but the thing is people talk about generals you can still be generals Mountain View generals okay if people are attached to that name that's already there but do we want to be remembered as the county that reverse these names to bring back this horrible history and celebrate slavery and those who fought for it or do we wish to maintain names and be in the 21st century thank you you Virginia Ro she's under the [Music] whe well here we are on July 9th 2020 there was a school board meeting the names were changed and no one was in the boardroom tonight it's kind of ironic that there's a
027school board meeting and none of us are in the boardroom to me this is fitting or what others might call Karma and you know what they say about Karma I'm fed up with people lying about how our schools were named I think it's really rich when people lecture me about morality but yet excuse the actions of the 2020 School Board I don't like the name out you it's too generic and it's boring and Honey Run sounds like the name of a moonshine operation it's so bad thank God we didn't go with the Timber Rattlers I mean can you imagine the 2020 school board was dishonest they lied about the funding and violated the rules for Zoom meetings during the plandemic of course they didn't seek re-election they should have been taking care of students instead
028of having secret meetings Yes you heard that right the 2020 school board was secretly meeting with a handful of citizens to plan the name change while the rest of us were told to mask up Social distance and stay at home rules for thee but not for me it's kind of funny hearing some of you call us Traders when we live in a country that was founded by a bunch of Traders I can't make this stuff up Schoolboard thank you for serving I know it's a thankless job and the hours are long and the pce sucks we've had two election cycles and the people have spoken when the address of the school is Stonewall Lane the names should reflect that it's time to restore the names thank [Applause] you Jerome [Music] Russell I'm sorry is it
029is it Jean yeah I'm sorry [Music] hello my name is Jean Russell and I live in edenburg four years ago the former shano County Board did the right thing and it was hard because change is hard and those members were subjected to a lot of ugliness because of their action so I commend them for taking the harder path because it was the right thing to do in my mind the school board is elected to improve the quality of Education they should work to improve things for students teachers and staff in Shand do County I'm not sure that this board has been focused on that there are real issues in the schools that need to be addressed it's getting harder to attract and retain good teachers and staff morale is low and the board seems more
030focused on division this board seemed focused on Plain politics which have nothing to do with the job which you were elected to ensure that our students get the best education and opportunities possible I think you should start focusing on how to make the schools a better place for everyone the action you're considering does not help the students of this school system it hurts them and I believe it will also hurt the county do we really want to be known Nationwide as the county that wasted so much time and energy to drag itself backwards to defiant say to our students that your future is less important than this shameful past tonight you have the opportunity to Embrace good change and move forward I implore you to please do the right thing keep the current names and
031move forward with Grace and dignity you can do it thank you [Applause] Aaron is it Walker is that right thank you board members and community members I am a strawberg graduate uh who is currently studying history at Shephard University and to follow up with what so many people uh brought up I've already said about the history I've learned a lot from my history courses the Civil War War just lasted 4 years some Southern history Buss focus on that time while they ignore the other history that followed after World War I when black servicemen returned from France they picked up on the way that they were being mistreated in the South hundreds of them were lynched and the Confederate Veterans organizations put up statues to uh to honor their white Heroes following every episode of Liberation
032for African-Americans their white neighbors had a cultural backlash this is the context that these Confederate names were chosen following Brown B board I ask that for the sake of historians teachers it's teacher appreciation week uh students and the community that you vote no and uh to keep the names thank you [Applause] isn't it wonderful to see such a huge crowd here tonight it really is half of them believe that we ought to be going back in history and the other half says we need to move forward in history what should we do my relatives came here in 1700 settled down in Bedford they went through the Civil War half from the north half from the south we are going to honor that period of of time that is going to keep us in the past
033and not let us move forward and I feel sorry for anybody whose relatives died or fought and they want to honor them I recognize that but you can't keep history forcing the Next Generation to keep having those subconscious memories of war and fighting I had a conversation here earlier and as I started talking about what I thought oh you're this and I said I don't want to talk about it anymore it was a dismissiveness and that was what was going on back in 1865 as well I haven't heard anybody here say we need to change the name of the school to Abraham Lincoln School how many here would like to see it be Abraham Lincoln School oh but you see no we can't do that kind of stuff that's he was with the north we
034got to keep our history here our history is more important our future is more important not our history so I urge you I urge you when I went to school it was in Chicago my school was considered in 1960s to be the most well integrated School in the entire country the mass media was in on the school for anything that went on and I learned back then that you can coexist and make sure that every human being saluting that flag that says that we the people in order to form a more perfect union we need to form a more perfect union and not rely on the back history and I urge you please don't change the names back [Applause] here you are yet again bringing Shannon County into the international Spotlight you all know the
035detailed history of these school names in particular when Stonewall Jackson was designated to be a whes only institution you all all know the detailed history of segregation in this County you all know how the Confederacy fought against the United States for the right to keep others in bondage you all know the division this is creating in our schools Community County as evidence here tonight in this larger venue collectively you have crafted a narrative to dodge personal responsibility a narrative that doesn't match the public record a narrative that doesn't mention your failed attempts of 2 how do Confederate names meet our public school's Mission does it prepare our students for the future does it ensure all members of the community are valued and respected does it Foster an environment of trust and respect where all decisions
036are in the best interest of the students your actions and yours alone have led us here tonight your actions are a permanent Testament to your person as well as the history of our County State and Nation the only chance you have to come out the good guys in this is to keep the names Mountain View and hunting run how do you want to be remembered Skipper good evening Brad Skipper from District 2 and for the very first time I speaking to you on behalf of the shinoa Democrats some 10,000 I said I'm speaking to you on behalf of the shenoa Democrats some 10,000 registered voters Mountain View High originally named Stonewall Jackson opened in 1960 built funded illegally for white students only the money set aside for integrating these schools was used to continue segregation
037and violation of brown V board in 1954 by the US Supreme Court Ashby Lee was built later on in 1975 in 2020 this board voted 6 to Zer to adopt a resolution condemning racism and in July voted 5 to1 to retired the old names there was a 90day community review process and in January of 2021 the names Mountain View and honeyrun were chosen effective July 1 the decision was first challenged in court in August of 2020 the case was heard throughout the fall of that year into 2021 ending in a dismissal in November by the Supreme Court of Virginia the letter of the law was followed despite claims to the contrary and subsequent efforts to rename the schools in 2022 failed on a 33 vote according to school Digger we ranked 68th out of 131
038districts Statewide we have schools that are not fully accredited and yet you folks feel that pursu doing transgender students and grievance based name changes is more important than actual education standards this vote if carried flies in the face of Governor Jan's executive order number one which expressly prohibits inherently divisive Concepts and we can't think of anything more inherently divisive than naming schools after men who committed treason and were responsible for killing 360,000 American your time is up name the schools after little sorl and traveler if you want to change the names again [Applause] but Karen casperson good evening I am the Reverend Karen casperson District 4 I just think it's kind of ironic that it's been 1,400 days since the decision was made the Civil War lasted 1,492 days I hope we're not Rel litigating
039it again what kind of message are you sending that if you yell loudly and longly enough you can get your name get what you want want that if you have enough money you can buy whatever influence and school name you want if you're Lily white and have an experiened racism that it doesn't exist and the few black people you happen to know haven't shared their stories with you so therefore there is no racism here what kind of message are you sending that those who are teachers I know at least three who have resigned in the last week or so because of the turmoil that's in our school what kind of are we making look at the national and international press it's been covered in Syria and East Asia Reuters is here tonight as is the
040times what kind of reputation is our County getting we've got a beautiful Valley around here why are we not why we pulled out the welcome mat and said if it's not our way you take the highway of I 81 north thank you for your time [Applause] I'm getting there see that you let me know I know mic right good evening chair Bardo board members superintendent Shephard and viewers Across the Nation and potentially around the world via this YouTube stream I am Dennis Atwood a resident of martown since 1978 I'm speaking tonight about agenda item 6.6 this meeting opened as they all do with the pledge of allegiance to our national flag quote and to the Republic for which it stands end quot the Paramount historical fact that the leaders of the Confederacy conducted a 4-year
041war against the USA killing hundreds of thousands of us and their own troops trying to preserve State's rights to keep slavery legal that constitutes the ultimate in racism and treason so how does naming a public school for any of those leaders show allegiance to our Republic or attest to quote indivisible with liberty and justice for all end quote you have followed a deeply flawed procedure in accepting the April 3rd request from the so-called Coalition for better schools this group provides no information regarding its expertise in public education and its survey conducted by mail to 8507 857 household had 1,160 return that's a mere 13.6 return rate and represents a minuscule 3.2% of 35,000 plus County residents who are voting age you better say nowhere has the CVS group explained how renaming our schools for confederate
042generals will make them quote better further I have seen no information on the scps website about how cbs's proposal would impact the school system's Vision goals and strategic plan I submit that the CBS proposal is contrary to Governor Yan's executive order number one ending the use of inherently divisive Concepts nothing is as divisive as naming schools for comp leaders and not because of but being aware of extensive media coverage I urge you to go the right way cause that information that's out there is going to be out there tomorrow attitud thank you attitudes and reputation about shandu County be positive so please keep the names [Applause] [Music] you hear me hello my name is Beth and I'm the parent of students who attend Honey Run in northp on May 29th 1963 my grandparents had to
043make a formal request asking the superintendent of shinano County Schools not to discriminate against their children and to provide them the dignity and respect of an equal Educational Opportunity 61 years and here I stand formally making the same request for their great bran what's even more disgusting than this lack of progress is the fact that this current board save one has offered no empathy discussions thoughts or consideration of how restoring these names would affect minority students faculty and staff so in fact the only acknowledgement has been to say that they've never witnessed racism and so there is none a fact that when contradicted by this sharing of personal experiences has been toly ignored instead you have chosen to label yourselves Avengers of a flaw process a fake narrative that was litigated on multiple levels for
044balls you have vilified the 2020 board and used them as a scapegoat to justify and feel comfortable with discrimination a yes vote to restore the names of Stonewall Jackson and Ash Lee is a statement to the world that you do not value the digity and respect of your minority students faculty and staff and it will make it abundantly clear that you are here for a political agenda not not for the care and consideration of our children our schools and our community will suffer as a result do better be better thank [Applause] you hello my name is oal and I am currently an eighth grade student at North pork Middle School this year I play three Sports at Mountain View and I take algebra one there I a black student and if the names are restored
045I would have to represent a man that fought for my ancestors to be slaves that makes me feel like I'm disrespecting my ancestors and going against what my family and I believe which is that we should all be treated equally and that slavery was cool and an awful thing I think it is unfair to me that restoring the names is up for discussion people don't take the time to think about students like me who would not be proud to graduate from a school with the name storl Jackson he f for slavery to be a constitutional right that would be carried out forever swell Jackson was passionate in his belief and that the black student that the black race was inferior to the right white race he fought and died for that belief and have and
046had he won I wouldn't be allowed to attend public school and I would not be here speaking to you today it is your job to make decisions that are in the best interest of all your students you can do not ignore the Heritage and feelings of your black and brown students just because we are the minority it is your job to make our schools a place where all students are valued valued and respected the names Mountain View and Honey Run do not devalue and disrespect an entire race of people but the names Ashby Lee and St Jackson do they honor men who believe that I have less value and worth because I'm black if this board decides to restore the names I would not feel like I was valued and was respected and she would
047not be doing your job thank [Applause] [Music] you I really don't know much to say after that but I'm not going to Min words here racism and discrimin it's hard to understand those two things until you've actually lived them and fortunately I have and I have in this County this this decision is rooted in both racism and discrimination the media is not here tonight because you all are about to make a decision that will put you on the right side of History the media is here to witness a truly embarrassing racist and discriminatory decision to change the names back to Confederate JNS I never thought a board of elected officials responsible for all children no matter what race no matter what color but consider a decision that is based in racism and discrimination it's a
048loud and clear message to me as a parent and to any students of color that our will being is none of your concern please leave the school names Mountain View and Honey Run let's move forward into a more positive inclusive future this decision rest on you all this is nobody else's decision this is you six that make this decision and I've got 35 seconds to sit here and let you all look at me [Applause] [Music] who is telling you that this decision is based in racism and discrimination no other way to say it we still got time Mr B [Applause] Carolyn chilon fellow citizens and school board members thank you for welcome welcom the public here tonight my name is Carolyn chelton and I was born and raised in shanidar county and live in District
0491 I am a 1972 graduate of Mountain View High School then named Stonewall Jackson I spent all five of my high school years there and all of my elementary school years at triplet Elementary in Mount Jackson I went on to college and graduate schools and felt well prepared for those by our count schools I stand before you tonight in my general letter jacket as a member of the ston wall Jackson Community opposed to the name change why am I opposed to this because of the kind of choice we are facing here tonight it is presented as an either or question either change the school names again and upset some people or don't change them and upset other people either way the county remains in [Music] Conflict why do we only have this choice where is
050the leadership to help us find other Solutions and answers I believe this county has a God's plenty of good and faithful people to help figure this out and who are willing to work together to solve this issue I am asking tonight that you let stand the names of Mountain View and Honey Run and that in the future we look for a way to find compromise so that we can get on with the task of making this AET better County for all where all get some of what they want and we all get something that we don't want and none of us have a stomach ache anymore your time is up I'm not finished quite yet tonight the six of you will vote on whether to leave people in this County divided and in conflict or
051whether to lead us in conversation and compromise which Legacy do you want attach to [Applause] Matt [Music] Murphy hi thank you for being here I'm sure it's not a fun job for everybody right um I do want to say I appreciate the fact that most of the people in the back are not making comments or laughing like they did the last time we were speaking so I appreciate that there's just a few people who continue to keep making comments after people speak You're supposed to be addressing us please yeah I'm sorry sorry about that um I did make the sign keep the new names not slave owners names I know we're not all going to agree on this I know you're all good people I believe that firmly I told uh you last time I
052was here that there was a teacher at ww Robinson where I worked who had a sticker on her desk it said give a norner a ticket home and there were many people who laughed at that they thought that was so funny yeah go home northerner okay well I've been in Virginia for 35 years I worked at ww Robinson for 23 I pay taxes in shanoa county and I can speak as a southerner Okay I accept that that's not a bad thing schools in this area in the South were named for white students only that was their premise now we have students who are not white they're not going to feel encouraged by changing the names back for all the people that are so upset about the name changes I encourage them to talk to Mr
053Holzman possibly and say let's build some memorials some museums for these generals so there's not hatred it's just a special place for those who want to honor the J thank you very much law my name is sorry hopefully this not taking my time um my name is Kelsey Lawrence and here we stand at the crossroads of History facing a serious challenge that demands our attention in Warren County we've stared adversity in the eye before coming together to protect our Public Library from The Chopping Block and let me tell you we didn't Flinch then and we sure are back backing down now I've seen the power of community coming together raising their voices and refusing to accept defeat we've halted Madness before and we'll do it again and again and again it's downright ludicrous that we're
054even debating whether to name schools after villains of a bygone era we've learn these lessons and it's high time we apply them not repeat the mistakes of the past you can't say you care about history and B on books so let's cut through the nonsense stand firm and show the world that decency isn't up for negotiation we're not just fighting against the Shadows of the past we're fighting for the future of our children today I stand before you today just not just as a concerned citizen but as a voice for future Generations I've had it with divisive policies and outdated ideologies creeping into our schools no one is taking your memories your old yearbooks or your letter jackets we're simply asking to leave the past in the past our children deserve better they deserve schools
055that nurture their potential Embrace diversity and provide safe spaces where every child feels valued and respected if some of our children are not safe then none of our children are as parents it's our responsibility to speak up stand tall and demand change we cannot afford to stay silent while our children's education is at State and we must unite demand action and demand it now together we can reclaim The Narrative of our schools so let's choose names that Inspire pride and unity not Division and fear let's build a future where every child has the opportunity to thrive where diversity is celebrated and where history is learned from not repeated let's roll up our sleeves raise our voices and get to work because together United we're Unstoppable yeah [Applause] [Music] evening my name is Mark Pierce um
056I I would like to congratulate you all for the recognition that you have brought to yourselves and to shanor County um your vote tonight has been covered by usat tv9 Royers USA Today AOL Microsoft Straits times NBC BBC CNN US News NBD um just to name a few um so I wonder what what is the spotlight that is now shining upon you and Shannon do County going to reveal to the rest of the world J thank [Applause] [Music] you thank you for allowing me this chance to speak to you my name is Laura Fogel I live in Fort Valley I'm I'm a lifelong resident of Shand County born and raised in Woodstock my husband and I raised our daughters here and owned and operated a small business here for over years I am ashamed to
057say that my full awareness of the offensiveness of the former school names and what they represent did not happen until after the Neo-Nazi white supremacist rally in Charlottesville that resulted in the death of a young woman and the injury of 35 others that that horrific event became a catalyst which sparked the movement of change across our entire country to remove Civil War statues from public spaces and change the names of public buildings including Stonewall Jackson high school and Ashby Lee Elementary School I supported those changes once I truly understood how important it was for all of our students and their families to feel welcomed in our schools and our community the name changes did not and do not erase any of our civil war history which is alive and well at New Market Fishers Hill
058and numerous battlefields up and down this Valley where that history belongs Nostalgia over the former names not liking the process by which they were changed are not valid reasons for changing them back our students education should be the only consideration of this board the old names will not make the schools better but will instead teach our children that we value names and symbols of a painful past more than we value their education in the present needs of their schools which are many and I know you understand that if you vote to change them back the question is what next do you honestly think this is this issue will go away you have a chance here tonight to put it to rest the old names of these schools represented a war over the right to own
059and ens slave other human beings and the segregation era of Jim Crow and the KKK that followed time is up voting to return them does not deserve history makes back your legacy dolphin is Dophin [Music] and the gold of God's own son our colors wave majestically face what will with courage true grateful Hearts we leave with you I am an French DOL I live in Wakeland Grove Edinburg District 2 I grew up here when I graduated from Central in 1968 I sang our school song as the proud member of a family who first arrived in this County eight Generations ago tonight I am not proud after working for 35 years as an English teacher I now volunteer two days a week as an English language tutor here at Peter mbberg I know a lot about
060what our school children need and I know that many of their needs are not being met due to inadequate funding and Staffing I beg you to turn your attention to these pressing challenges you are wasting our time replaying the eras of slavery and massive resistance as well as more recent perceived slights and insults four years ago all of us were free to join in the deliberations over the school names and many of us did if you really believe however that the process was flow then you certainly are obligated to create a better one now don't rely on questionable surveys with low return rates postpone your vote tonight sponsor a countywide referendum conducted by a reputable company if you are unwilling or unable to create a fair and Democratic process then please please at the very
061least look to a future more inclusive than our past has been retain the names of Mountain View and Honey Run take a step in declaring that all children not just those of my ancestors are welcome is nurt here thank you Stuart did we Well you certainly don't want me to sing my name is Stuart dwick I live in Edinburg which for the record is in either Frederick County or Warren County on my father's side of the family Johan Steven dwick received a land grant outside of strawsburg in 1766 on my mother's side of the family Jacob Penny received a land grant west of Mount Jackson in 1753 my family has lived worked and paid taxes in this County for 271 years when you vote on the name Restorations will you listen to the opinions of
062woke Outsiders who have for the most part no ties to the land the history or the culture of this County or will you listen to the voices of the people who elected you to represent them the people whose families built and have sustained this County for Generations the people who are the majority in every petition every poll every survey and The Best Is Yet To Come every school board meeting we are the majority that's the way government works by majority we were elected by majority vote this board has a moral and ethical obligation to the citizens you represent to undo the dirtiest most underhanded political stunt in the history of shandor County politics we' made we've made this easy for you there should be nothing other than a 60 vote to restore the names unless
063of course my opponents find some Schoolboard votes in Georgia at 3:00 a.m. [Applause] [Music] good evening my name is Jessica Kelly I live in Mount Jackson and I have two children at Mountain View High School first I am here today representing a group called claim the names to emphasize that the school names should remain Mountain View High School and honeyrun Elementary these are names that bring forth images of our scenery and are non-controversial second from me personally I want to say thank you to all of those students parents teachers staff and community members p and present that have raised the issue and stood in opposition to the previous things of Stow Mall Jackson High School in Ashby Lee Elementary whether that was in the 50s and you were taught in schools without heat or retired
064to move away or be bust outside the county for high school since there was no High School for non-white students in shenoa County even after Brown versus Board of Education was decided and reaffirmed I am in awe of your persistence if or if it was later in the 20th century and you objected to the Confederate flag in the school seal or being displayed as sporting events or you objected to the name of the building I am sure that it has been exhausting hearing that the only people who complain must be were outside agitators I know that you have been here your whole lives thank you for your voices or if you have just come to these things more recently I am glad that you are here to all of you who continue to question why
065it is that this community you live in love and know is full of good people holds on to these vestiges of the past regardless of if you are third generation and your parents and grandparents are walking this path with you or if you're the only one in your family or friend group who is speaking out thank you no matter what happens here tonight do what you need do what you need to do to stay healthy and safe know that you are not [Applause] alone Stephie bullet Smith good evening everyone my name is B Smith I am a 1983 graduate of ston Jackson high school I am here for many reasons to ask you please do not go back in in history um we don't need that our children don't need that either we all know
066that much has been said and heard about the situation that we're facing this evening times change it's time to move on from so many hurtful situations we you and I must move on and support the change of our public schools and future residents the names as they are today are much more inviting to anyone who wishes to visit or who chooses to live here shador County I prayerfully encourage the school board to please please please members to make a heartfelt decision to keep the current school names I want to add another thing or two um when my brother was in high school Stone Jackson football team M he was spit in the face and called a about a schoolb member today top Street and people need to know that because someone like that should not
067be serving in public office I don't care where it is they should not be serving in public office you never apologized to my brother you never even thought about apologizing to my brother it went to Administration and no one did anything have a seat please she's got time that's right she's got time she's got time all I said to him was he never apologized to my brother heard you thank [Music] [Applause] you I hope like La folks I'll tell you what we're going to have some theorum here we're going to have a recess and I don't know how long it's going to last but when that recess is over we're going to continue so if you want to continue to have history onics one get the other go forward have a recess I'd rather stay
068here the first part of this has been honorable and good it's starting to deteriorate I don't like it I don't think you like it let's try to keep it on the up and up and let's try to keep it on the Square and if you don't we'll just declare a recess until things calm down the next speaker is Pria is it daa I'm sorry car car I'm sorry almost got we'll get to you next Carol thank you Carolyn Long district one I'm tired just so tired I remember watching my children who attended sternal Jackson high school when they would have a function in the gym I stood at the door I would not under any condition enter the gym where hung the Confederate CL fortunately that emblem that horrible emblem of the past was removed
069and I was able to enjoy functions and concerts and volleyball games once again in the gym I've had many good teachers in my lifetime in shannond county in college as I have met and new people and learned from um those I've known for a long time but my greatest teacher was my mother Maran B and this woman taught me above all else that we tackle our lives and those circumstances that we have along the way with empathy and compassion empathy and compassion those are lessons that should be taught always and in this decision if you are using empathy and compassion you will not change the names [Applause] chairman Barlo and members of the board my name is k Dua and I'm a senior attending mass and Regional Governor school which is located at Mountain View
070High School for two years I've researched Virginia's Massive Resistance policies in a non-political fact-based manner resulting in the production of a 30-minute documentary entitled knocking down walls the documentary has received State and National recognition for bringing attention to the pivotal battle over Public School integration in Warren County Virginia understanding and evaluating this past is essential to making choices that impact our present and future I stand before you to voice my informed and heartfelt opinion representing the views of many of my classmates at Mountainville as students we walked through the doors of Mountain View High School a name chosen to signify inclusivity and progress school board minutes from 1959 revealed that the decision to name our school after Stonewall Jackson was a product of massive resistance the following statement appeared in the Northern Virginia Daily not
071long after Stonewall Jackson high school was named quote there are organizations of citizens dedicated to the cause of racial Purity which are doing Splendid educational work in this field end quote many think of Stonewall Jackson high school as a place a place where they made fond High School memories like my classmates and I have made however this quote shows us that the school's name was meant to convey a message rooted in a far different context turning back to this name is a symbolic regression disregarding truths of our past I acknowledge that the community has been left divided and unhappy over the initial name change but how can we see a brighter future when we're afraid of the changes that confront our past by taking this step backward in 2024 what foot are we putting forward
072what Legacy are you leaving behind for my generation to inherit thank you Mary Kate [Music] Manning good evening members of the board my name is Mary Kate Manning and I'm a current student at both Mountain View High School and mass Regal Governor school I have attended Mountain views since age grade I would like to affirm my classmates's message and encourage you to consider the the perspective of the students the shannona county public school's documented mission is to quote prepare each student for a future of lifelong learning end quote additionally one of your belief statements says quote all decisions are based on the best interest of our students end quote both of these indicate a primary focus on current and future students keeping the name Mountain View High School does not have any negative impact on
073current or future students however changing the name back to stall Jackson high school has potential to negatively impact current or future students aligning with the mission and beliefs of shano County Public Schools important decisions like this one must consider the voices of the students the students would be most affected by this change as a current student it is hard to imagine a scenario where reverting the name back to Sall Jackson would improve the education received by any student attending the school I hope you consider the best interest of current and future students as our voices should be a top prior and your decision I appreciate your time thank you even sh shell hmer good evening everyone my name is Eden Shellhammer and though I'm a senior at Central High School I also attend massan Regional
074Governor School located at M View High School where I spend the majority of my school day I affirmed the statements of my classmates priu and Mary Kate Manning and would like to offer a brief extension of their arguments in the two and a half hours I spent at Mountain View I've observed many aspects of the school that need attention is the board aware that in the Mountain View High School girls bathrooms there was no hand soap for the entire first semester of this school year good Lord after a while they took down the dispensers oh my God while I understand that there's always room for Progress Within These institutions lack of access to something as simple as basic hygienic resources is not something to be overlooked my experiences at Mountain View revealed to me that
075there are many aspects of the school in need of Reform and attention the name displayed above the entryway is not one of these issues the students perspective in this in this discussion is one I find often to be overlooked and as a student I urge the board as well as the county to redirect this passion and attention to the learning environment of the students this board is organized to serve by by continuing to resurface this clearly divisive argument the county poises itself to enter a vicious cycle which not only continues to detract attention from other issues in campuses but also sustains the polarization we are observing today I hope as a community we can work together to remediate issues in our schools as well as celebrate and draw attention to their successes the fact that
076this discussion is receiving a dis is receiving a disproportionately vast amount of attention from the county deeply disappoints me and leads me to wonder whether we are operating in the interest of our students or the preservation of our parents Pride amen thank youer [Applause] evening my name is an Waller I'm Seventh Generation resident of Mount Jackson I attended Ash triplet and Stonewall Jackson High School many of my ancestors fought for the Confederacy and died for the Confederacy some also fought and died for the union I have a great passion for family and local history I volunteer my time at the mount Jackson Museum where I help keep the doors open so that anyone wants to learn more about our Town's history or Stonewall Jackson can come in any time that said I believe that the
077discomfort that a black student is subjected to in attending a school named after a Confederate Leader outweighs any personal feelings any of us should have on this topic I'd like to share with you the response from Pat Pendleton a black student who made our school proud when I was there by placing All State in no less than three Sports he went on to serve in the US Navy and he's now the HR Director for the City of Atlanta when asked if he would like to sign the petition to keep the current names he responded my high school memories are bad except for Mr croll and it is because of the Confederate name the kids and parents identify their personalities behaviors and expectations around minorities assuming we are supposed to be lower class Sports became My
078Sanctuary to escape the hate the name calling and the bully but acting dumb is what kept me out of trouble I will sign anything to give the Next Generation a chance at diversity inclusion so I'm here today asking the board to adhere to your mission that states that all members of a learning community are valued and respected I'm asking you to value and respect our black students Educators staff and Neighbors it's your responsibility not to do what the largest number of people tell you to do but to use your power and discretion to protect protect the best interest of the education of all of our students especially those are going to be most impacted by this decision thank you [Applause] [Music] good evening my name is Joe lini I'm a registered voter in district one
079and I want to talk about my sister-in-law who was one of the first black students to attend stonell Jackson once integration finally took place in sheno County she entered the school as a junior and may have been one of the first black students to earn a diploma from Jackson in the two years she attended the school only one or two other students ever spoke to her she went into the cafeteria once and said that the smirks and the Snickers made her so uncomfortable she just packed a lunch and ate at a desk by herself for two years just imagine that isolation to this day the pain of that discrimination and racism stays with her I spoke at the April school board meeting and heard there and read since that stone Jackson graduates who Express that
080they did not see any issues with racism or discrimination when they were students there that may have been a different had they been a person of color the fact is just because you did not experience or recognize racism does not mean that it didn't happen my grandmother taught me to be a critical thinker regarding the freedom press if you're not willing to put your name on an article and list sources my granny would call that propaganda would you accept funding for a political campaign from folks who have a vested interest in your vote my granny would call that corruption I remind this board that your responsibility is to represent all students and stakeholders in the district this name change issue is not student or stakeholder driven it was initiated by a relatively small group time
081is up who are largely Anonymous who have not clearly stated any policy that will benefit benefit our students or students your time is up thank you in actuality bying the names that were given these schools during a Time massive to integration laws ing have a SE before I to recating se before I have Supremacy please have a [Applause] seat you know we we've given some latitude here and then get stretched and stretched so either going to have to follow the rules or Corum or again we'll have to recess and just say later but we have to do it it's just common C Elizabeth proper my name is Elizabeth craer and I am a graduate of St Jackson in 2004 and I currently have a junior there now y'all know what you were doing stop pretending
082we know it y'all know it but here's the reality of the situation you guys are nuking our children's future when my husband got stationed in Washington state from which he deployed to Iraq and never came home from I had to find my way to find employment and even though I was incredibly qualified and not just qualified but have received Awards of I'd received Awards when I had gotten my qualifications but as soon as they would get to the name of my school Stonewall Jackson High School the interview would cease the tone would shift and I was suddenly no longer a fit to the culture I have friends who graduated with me who are having the same problems in DC Baltimore and Pennsylvania this is easily googleable news our children will not be able to get
083jobs I will no longer be able to get a job because now everyone is going to think that we're racist redne and that's not okay you're you're nuking our children's future because what your feelings are hurt that's not a good enough reason think I'm sorry to be all like Simpsons on you but think of the children you're nuking their Futures you're kneecapping them before they even make it out of elementary school this has longlasting effects yes it does thank you [Applause] yeah Don [Music] hman good evening m close good evening Mr chairman members of the board my name is Don Hinman um I live at Woodstock I'm a retired emergency room physician I retired here at sheno Memorial I'm here tonight to respectfully request that you vote no on changing the name of Honey Run
084Elementary and Mountain View High School anything I say is going to pale in comparison to what some of the folks that you tonight but first thank you for being here I really do appreciate U you and the many of Volunteers in our County that are working tirelessly passionately and talented me to make our community better I respect the Democratic process that has brought us here tonight um although I don't expect to improve your decision um we homo sapiens which is ironic because that's Latin for smart humans but we're socially and biologically a a complex species how else can we explain how our country has had the original sin of slavery and racism and that's been perpetuated even after we settled the slavery issue over 150 years ago um the Confederate General's names given to these
085two schools as you've heard tonight um that was done by an all-h board just like we have here tonight and that was that was a that was an unethical decision then it was politically smart and as I suspect tonight if you vote to change the names that's politically Smart in the short rine but it's still une ethical and long term I always worry about the the thank you very much 5 Seconds 5 Seconds 5 Seconds the law of unintended consequences that's why word yeah [Applause] [Music] Ed he Dean John [Music] Lawrence good evening my name is John LS District 3 I have three children in our school system and I'm a registered nurse I was born less than a mile away here at the hospital Woodstock and our family's roots go back hundreds of years
086in the valley I'm here because I love this place and I want you all to know I'm committed to respecting each of you and working with you to serve our kids and Community thank you for what I've heard you all say I think you are framing the decision wrongly I've heard a lot of talk about process procedure about right and freedom like many of you I grew up being taught from the Bible the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians said we should use our freedom not as an opportunity to get what we want but to serve one another in love amen Freedom that that's a radical statement freedom is something that should be used not to get what I want or even what I deserve but to love my neighbor as myself there
087are times when we lay aside our rights to prefer someone else just be just because we can do something doesn't mean that we should do something I think we're framing the question here wrongly I don't think we should adjudicate how the names were changed in 2020 we have before us a present decision about what is best and most loving for our community we need to look at this through a moral lens and a lens of love I'm so glad that chairman Barlo uh a couple weeks ago said if I were to look at this from the eyes of someone who is black a student or parent I would be unsettled why are we not talking about that because all throughout the South leading up to and in the wake of integration there was a surge
088of naming and renaming schools the message was clear it was exclusionary why should we give up our rights because again as Paul said if one member of the body suffers the whole body suffers and that's why we should act um not just for ourselves and I would actually say no do this for yourself because what happens to one happens to all of us and we're in this together so do what reason and conscience dictates tonight thank [Music] [Applause] you hello wallinger [Music] I'm Ros W generation Shand County Virginia and I'm going to read it so I your time on February the 4th this year the Museum of the shenel valley held a presentation exploring what decreation look like here in the valley the program included citizens from our African-American Community who live through the experience
089near child Tom Dixon Betty Gil Fisher baldman Mar Mitchell and Gwen Toler Nickson Marita one of the first African-Americans to attend strawsburg high school continues to live in strawsburg and worked to bring the story of the Sunset Hill School into our public Consciousness when toer nickens the first to attend Central is the daughter of Jane toer who lived in Woodstock and who many of you properly remember the program was an accounting and celebration of courage and resilience through difficult times I grew up in Mount Jackson where I was fortunate to call the bullet Carter and green Families my friends very few weeks go by that I don't miss Elizabeth bu Elizabeth buet was a particular hero of mine from my mother's generation Elizabeth in her lifetime petitioned the school board twice one to acquire decent
090books for her Children's School in Creekside in Woodstock and again for their transfer to our all white school 10 years after Brown had been decided she managed the demeaning process with Grace as did Juanita durett the mother of Teresa the first to graduate from stoneball Jackson High School the duret still live in New Market Wan is in her 90s to my knowledge the labs of the bullets gettes ters Mitchells deis Ranken have never been celebrated in shanor County the program on desegregation that I intended in Winchester is but one of many occuring all over the country that's where I'm almost through all over the country in which the history of contemporary African-Americans is acknowledged instead of honoring those who fought for the right to enslave their ancestors we should be honoring cting have a seat
091what they thank [Applause] you Denise Stallings so Brian Nuri [Music] good members of the board my name is Brian Nur I'm a resident of Steven City Howard where my family comes from Rockingham County mostly Broadway Timberville New Market so I since the 1735 the whol singer family has been a member of this community as a historian as a former reenactor uh I've even worked at Stonewall Jackson's headquarters where managed in the uh '90s um history has been a very important part of my life preserving history not whitewashing it not faking it I hear the motion from this Coalition for better schools better what what what is the educational value in this if they want to say true history well let let's talk about true history Stow Jackson we could teach that he was a brilliant
092tactic tactician that used the valley uh to his advantage and produced the best maps of the valley that had ever been produced up to that point however we can also remember why he was fighting that war in the valley to begin with to uphold system that seceded from the United States purely to protect the institution of slavery we we can talk about the true history of Harry bird who helped reinvigorate uh un Virginia economy building our roads and so forth however we also have to remember his lasting effect of massive resistance and effect on the electoral system in Virginia today to the point where Winchester has even had to separate itself from his legacy let's talk about dunore County how many people in this room can name where dunore county is in Virginia you're sitting
093in it we took that name off in 1775 to take the name of a royal governor out of this County so why are we commemorating this if we want to look at one more piece of History I would like to refer to General Robert Lee's statement in 1870 when he said that it is wiser not to keep open the sores of War but to follow follow the example of those Nations who Endeavor to obliterate the marks of civil Strife to commit to Oblivion the the feelings in engendered there vote no on 6.6 thank [Applause] you good evening thank you for this opportunity my name is Denise Stallings and I cannot believe that I'm about to read these words uh as the I was raised by the author of the 13th Amendment the great granddaughter I'm
094sorry I was raised by the great grandson of the author of the 13th Amendment James Ashley I know my stepfather and my beloved granddad are just going to be rolling over when they hear me say these words but these are the words that Stonewall Jackson was fighting for they are the Declaration of Independence was fundamentally wrong it rested upon the Assumption of the equality of races the Confederate states are founded upon exactly the opposite ideas its foundations are laid its Cornerstone St rests upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and moral condition that is what is known as the Cornerstone speech given by Alexander Stevens vice president of Confederate states March 21st 1861 why you go ahead and
095put that right outside your door when you put that name up above those doors yeah come on said I cannot believe I am standing here I am not from here but you know what my fifth great grandmother was I was born and raised in the north but I found my way back and that does not make me any less in fact I'm sure that many of the people here in the valley are glad to see people come home and stand up for that y [Applause] Elizabeth Michael Mr chairman speak board members my name is Elizabeth Michaelson and uh I want to speak to you as a mother and grandmother who has uh brought up my family on three different continents under different school systems and I've never encountered issue 6.6 before uh I also want
096to say that I speak to you as a naturalized US citizen so I should be first the past 30 years I've lived in Virginia that's longer than I've lived in my home country how can a name of a building even matter well it can impact the people using that building in that it symbolizes and represents something very important the names of the two schools are talking about that we are talking about here were changed in 2020 to be inclusive and More in tune with the times we have a diverse student body now and all students and staff deserve to feel included and respected as parents we need to model love and not hate for our children I call upon the school board to cast their votes for love diversity and inclusion not hate vote no
097on the roll back of the [Applause] names Fred nce board members thanks for having us here again this evening thanks thanks for letting the voice of the sh of the Southern campus being heard tonight I'm sorry that you are the ones that have to correct the wrong that have been done in the past some people say they take offense to the school names well I'm offended the dirt scurrying the good names of our ancestors I'm offended at my precious my previous board was right straight forward with the people of the southern district about the name change and doing a poll regarding the name change because they knew the outcome would not give the results they wanted we the people of shano County don't appreciate underhanded government officials we respect our elders we respect our ancestors
098we take care of our families our neighbors and our community the very ideals promoted by Stonewall Jackson Robert El Lee and turn R please do what's right for Sen All County to restore Our Heritage our history in our school names may God bless shod do [Applause] County Becky [Music] Scott hello my name is Becky Scott I'm from edinberg Virginia where I was born and raised I'm a veteran of the United States Navy and I retired from the shanoa county sheriff's office as a lieutenant I have a one daughter Captain Whitney Mo she is here tonight and folks I couldn't ask with better daughter also have four stepchildren one step granddaughter who I love with all my heart they are all biracial my stepson shared with me once many years ago before these name changes even
099took place that he always felt uneasy going into stall Jackson as a black student athlete from Central he recalls a time where the Confederate flag was rolling up and down the sidelines at football and it made him uneasy I stand before you tonight my community friends co-workers school board members to deliver one simple message love as God said in the most important commandment you shall love the Lord God with all your heart with your soul with your mind and with all your strength but God then said in a new commandment I give to you that you love one another just as I have loved you you are to love one another it is really quite simple isn't it just to love and folks this doesn't feel like love to me let us keep that simple
100yet so powerful commandment in the Forefront of our minds as a decision is made tonight that could take away all of that uneasy anxiety that my step Sunbelt and so many other students like aah feels it really is simple just to love and anyone in this room who knows me and there are lots I respect that's where I come from I come from a place of love and respect I have loved your children I've worked in this County and I'm just asking that you consider the black and brown children of this community with love thank you now we have reached the halfway point according to other sheets uh so we completed three we have three more to go uh I am going to suggest to the board that we take a 10-minute recess and then
101reconvene in 10 minutes I have a motion that effect I move to reconvene at 9:30 5 Seconds all those in favor please say I I we can in e e e ladies and Gentlemen please have your seats we're going to begin momentarily all right ladies and Gentlemen please have your seats you want to conduct conversation call that's fine but if you want to listen up have a seat and we're going to begin public comments immediately uh next speaker GB [Music] folz [Music] FS do this really fast car yeah uh dog withlock do here [Music] good afternoon good afternoon one second please um this microphone keeps dropping down we have somebody can kind of keep it up so people can be heard you as well [Music] well good afternoon School Board I'm honored to have helped
102many of your campaigns in the most Way by voting no talk about the Democratic process by previous School Bo the names with no Democratic process liberals could not even get enough to fund the code names all these lels are just the HS we must do the right thing for our taxpayers who had to fill this fix what was done behind closed doors and do the right thing and remove these current names the names have not helped the community if we even change the names back it will never help the community we are at a loss at this point there will be no help in the future it's done there's one side and the other side please confirm what our Senor County majority have elected you to do by voting yes it's we the people not
103we the look and I find it quite humorous that our other side can't even tell the time and they keep talking over have a great [Applause] day Luther sful [Music] Mr chairman and other board members my name is Ruth sful and I reside in District 2 at 758 Lance Road in Edinburg anybody who has objective knows the naming of a school after a Confederate leader in 1959 was a racist act among other wrong reasons in 2020 the then School board saw wrong and they tried to fix it in 2022 the new names were affirmed but with some controversy this is 2024 and if you rename the schools for conf confederate leaders again after 65 or so years your actions will be doubly racist and wrong y that will be the stained Legacy of you and
104your financial benefactors if you insist on doing this I I can assure you that there are enough citizens in this County who will not allow you to take us back to the 1959 mentality and further destroy the positive attributes of this of shinedor County these citizens include come here and Ben although we understand the fear of some of the Ben heers to voice their opinion today we know they are here they're just afraid to say anything we will continue to pursue our agenda through factual intelligence love and kindness I truly hope you leave the names as they are thank you yeah R [Applause] Richard good evening Dr Shephard chairman Barlo and board member my name is Ronda Richard I also live in shanid County thank you for allowing me to speak and give all of
105all of us a voice tonight and congratulations all the upcoming 20 24 graduates I am happy to see everyone here this evening I only wish you all care about all aspects of the school and not just the name change with all those that speak of the racism inside s Jackson high school during their school years here's what Mr Wilmer Sunny bullet classes 1967 had to say quote my fondest High School memory was being a poor little black boy one of the first to enter the doors of stall Jackson high school during the time the school was transitioning from segregation to ing integration and I experienced no major setbacks Jim and I were treated with pride and dignity by our fellow classmates other students faculty and staff 25 years later I thank all of you for
106understanding and giving us a chance end quote this was taken from Mr bullet's own pamphlet that he supplied at his 25th class reunion in 1992 a few more fun facts did you all know that all I didn't talk when you all were talking did you all know that out of all three County high schools stall Jackson had the first black quartered back his name was Jim L another fun fact Tom Street was 9 years old in 1980 did you know that some of those that spoke in front of you about racism inside of the schools while they were here have been back for every single class reunion if it was so bad glad would they come back that's a lot I asked this Bo to restore the names of St Jackson high school and as
107and also maybe if we wouldn't have wasted 300 plus th000 on a main change we could buy soap the girls [Music] [Applause] [Music] by good afternoon and thank you very much for allowing me to speak you all seen we've talked a lot we've heard a lot about racism we've heard a lot about the Roes and everything all the way through and I'm not here to change anyone's mind because I think everybody's mind's probably just about made up but let's talk about the man named Jon Thomas Jonathan Jackson I don't have any notes or anything made up so I'm just speaking from the heart did you know that he was a well renowned veteran of the Mexican American War he was a veteran he came back he became a professor at VMI in Lexington at that
108time if you wanted to learn artillery anywhere in the country maybe the world he was the guy to go to he had a lot of forky WS and believe it or not most historians feel that he actually had autism okay so he was a special needs boy himself oh my okay that's a fact so I didn't say anything when you were talking so do what you want to do okay also did you know excuse me Mr fer folks in the front conon chattery is very distracting and and inflite please he Sil I'm sorry I'm [Applause] very not if you want to continue to speak I'm going to ask you to leave I heard you thank you I'm expecting you to comply thank you okay did you know that when he was in Lexington as a
109professor he taught Sunday school to Slaves which was against the law he was teaching them to read which was completely against the law okay one more thing after the first battle of Manasses where he got his name Stonewall Jackson he pinned a letter and sent it to his Pastor they wanted to make sure they were getting the information the Pastor said oh we're going to get the fine information now this is from Stonewall Jackson when they opened it he did not talk about the Battle it was his check to the black Sunday school we need to teach people about the man you're done thank you so much thank [Applause] [Music] you good evening I hope everyone is well elect the school board members Dr Melody Shepard thank you for allowing me to speak tonight first
110I would like to recognize all the teachers during the teacher appreciation week thank you and also to congratulate all all the 2024 graduates second I would like to wish all the athletes good luck in the postseason four years ago the previous School Board divided this whole County towns classmates and even families this whole County was upset and it's still upset today about the name change it is interesting that people often comment without knowing all the facts the facts are Dr Mark Johnson sent an email on June 10th 2020 stating the positive accolades of Stonewall Jackson High School quote it's a warm and welcoming school because students teachers Administration and parents have made it so on July 3rd the agenda was set the vote was changed on names at the July 9th meeting at this time
111the previous board said it was raise the Monies if it was asked by a board member what happens if the money's not raised then the names will not be changed it was also in a minute stating lastly that the budget should not be used for funding the name change now comes the amendments to FY 2020 budget because only $36,000 have been raised 135,000 came from the budget Frozen teach positions 134,000 came from budgeted svrp fund so when people say more money should be used for education teachers please remember the facts the previous board spent almost $270,000 of budget Monies to fund a name change that could have been used to get students back in school and for the education teachers and supplies instead the previous board was making a decision on half of the community
112while the community County was mad and are still mad now the process was wrongfully done and it been left up to the people maybe everyone had been okay with it thank you very much for your time proud graduate Stonewall Jacks [Applause] 19982 Mike shiny good evening everyone it's no longer afternoon I've at least figured that out so um board members chairman Barlo Dr Shephard um thank you for the opportunity to speak um most of what I would have said um I've said already and has been said on uh by other people here this evening um Stark difference between now and 2020 keep talking about the past and history and things and the the big difference to me tonight is that there's been a lot of opinions been able to be given in this room by
113both sides okay I've heard talks of surveys speeches and everything um our Republic well and Cornerstone I've used it heard that used several times well the right of people to take part in their government is the Cornerstone of our Republic and I applaud you this school board for giving us the opportunity to exercise that that was overlooked and that was not done in 2020 and I applaud you all for doing it thank you thank you for your [Music] time rosin [Music] honesty good evening and thank you so much for allowing us to the public to come in and speak I'm not a resident of chano County however I do stand and here as one of the co- facilitators for a National Organization called coming to the table a table being the acronym for taking America
114Beyond The Legacy ofl and so with that being said um I think it was Brandy that prayed in her prayer for God to unite us he already has we his problem is not about the name is we've forgotten who we are and who we are and when we can finally come to understand that peace then we can treat each other with dignant respect 400 years of making a pledge to the flag to be one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all is just prophecy it's almost um you say an insult to our intelligence that we haven't quite figured out that we've lost our way country was founded on a crack you can't build anything on a crack and so my prayer is that [Music] we see each other as each others we
115belong to one another and all the rest of it it's just a bunch of wasted time I have relatives who fought in the Civil War recently I've been taken back seven generations to understand that I have you know why I'm like because I'm part white but we're children of God and that's really what I want to say it's not really about the name the change name is that we're children of god let's let's just name the school children of and then everybody thank you War I'm sorry it's dois in war [Music] hello thank you for hearing me I've been here before I it was the first person of college to step foot inside St Jackson High School in 1964 that day I walked in it scar me for life right now I'm trying to deal
116with it I was fine in the last two years when the names went to nice names but now I have two grandchildren on that end of the county one is at North one is at Honey R it's going to hurt me again if they have to go what I do I do not want their lives to SC I try to get my granddaughter to not put them in that school but because she said the border the boundary line they have to go there but I am not happy if my grand kids has to go through when I'm here thank you [Music] J [Music] Jared so the school board thank you for listening to the actual residence of Sho County we know that in 2020 that school board ignored petitions with 3,000 signatures to keep the
117original names and they continued with their fastpaced plan to change the names they even tried to keep it secret from one of their own board members in 2022 that school board had the opportunity to survey residents concerning restoring the names but you know the motion died on 33 vote now in 2024 independent surveys were sent to All households in districts one and two critics suggest that the results would have been different if the entire County had been surveyed but I believe shandor County would vote overwhelmingly in favor of restoring the names those 3,000 petitions from 2000 had names from New Market to strawsburg and from Cedar Creek to Fort valy a referendum if needed would allow all registered voters in sheno County to decide I remind you that no taxpayer money is needed to restore
118the name names unlike when the names were changed and that Bo magically discovered $300,000 supposedly not needed in the special education account I thank you for listening to County residents and I ask that you restore the names and respect and honor the rich history of Shor County [Applause] baller hi thanks for the opportunity to speak um I live in Chen County District 3 I had a bunch of awards plan that I've just decided to scrap because I've been so moved by what we've heard tonight especially from our students and our black community members um and I just want to reflect on their words I I really respect all of you and I've had some wonderful exchanges of some of you over email that I I really appreciated um and I really believe you when you
119say that if you're interested in changing the names that but it's not about racism for all of you I think you're good people who really want the best interest of our community um but but tonight we have her from a number of our black community members and folks with black relatives and friends and we've heard their stories and their experience with these names and you may not have believed before that these names were racist but if you've heard our community members you know and you understand that they are actually racist names and they are harmful and when you know better you need to do better and some people have suggested that you all came here tonight knowing how you were going to vote and that might have been true but that doesn't mean you have
120to stick with what you were thinking you would do even if you talk to the media or email people you have the ability right now to really demonstrate the importance of Education which is that when you learn things you can grow and you can change your minds and I hope that all of you will reflect on what you've heard tonight and make a decision that's going to really benefit our community and demonstrate to the community and to our students that you can listen to people and act with compassion and love and make decisions that are going to help our students and our community so I ask that you please reflect on what you've heard tonight and keep the current names and if you feel that out of respect for the members of the community that
121want to change names back that you can't vote against this I would ask that you also respect our black residents and perhaps consider just abstaining from voting tonight out of a sign of respect for everyone thank you [Applause] with spoon Dane whoer that right good evening I'm Dane and I'm a lifelong actual resident of Shino County and I'm here tonight to speak in paper of keeping the current names Mountain View and Honey Run and I hope I'm not the only person excuse me who sees the irony in starting this meeting the pledge of allegiance that says we're one nation that's indivisible while we discuss whether or not to honor men who sought to teror Nation apart in a failed effort to keep our black brothers and sisters in Chains we remember our history by studying
122it not by naming public buildings after racist traitors to our nation we wouldn't name a school after Benedict Arnold and he was responsible for far less death and hardship than those Confederate pigs who killed American soldiers right here in sheno C you know what the right decision is please I implore you do not embarrass our community in front of the world tonight keep the current name as Mountain View and honey run thank you [Applause] Bild [Music] lne Marvin is it black or block it's black uh is this okay hello my name is mar black um I graduated GMU with a history degree and I'm going back in the fall for a master's degree now I was going to uh read something from the Cornerstone speech but someone already beat me to that so I'm going
123to just uh add on to that that um the people that were're trying were debating about we're soring the names to they weren't just average uh soldiers that were enlisted to defend their Farms or whatever reason they had these were officers and the Confederate Army defending the government based upon the Cornerstone speeches Foundation which again was stated by Alexander Stevens the vice presidency of the Confederates the Confederate Nation I would also like to say that history is not remember through names and statues and all that by say saying getting rid of them removes history that's not the case it is how we glorify people so by if we vote to restore the names you're saying we're going to glorify the people who was trying to keep a government that wanted the permanent codification of slavery
124for Generations in power so we should instead continue on the path of reconciliation and facing the path in its lessons no matter how painful and difficult it may be the lessons of the Civil War you know and everything that came beyond that thank youman [Music] [Applause] good evening school board board of members Dr Mary sheer I'd like to thank you for take for letting me take the time here to speak about the name Chang my name is Trey Allen Heisman I'm currently a member of Mountain View uh Mountain View FCCLA and I also live in District 2 my last name goes back six generations of conern started farmers in this County who paid taxes to this County and for as long as I and I also pay taxes now on I file for them so
125I'd like to see hopefully that we can put the name back the way it is and back in this County and I'm notc graduate of Mountain View as a tomorrow I'm hoping that my fellow friends who are Juniors at the at the school can see that the has been changed and that they can graduate under sghs and not have to pay extra money to get on their diploma thank [Applause] you Ry drafting people is that possible I'm sorry say say that again I'd like to give my um all right if if you give your name and address sure so that you can be recorded hi hello my name is JY hob I at 336 doson Road Jackson Virginia I a taxpayer in sheno county and I married to a farmer with four children and three
126grandchildren thank you Otis you and I going be friends later I have three points first of all thank you board members Dr shepher for being in a very difficult place and a very challenging evening second of all to all El Educators administrators parents thank you because it is teacher Appreciation Week the last thing that I'd like to share with you is a little bit of a perspective in 2020 a school board decided in 8 days or 9 days to make a decision they had the right to do it it has been challenged and it was upheld but voices were not heard whether the names are changed or not changed there has to be public input and watch the clock as a result we must understand that teaching and learning are obviously your job that's your
127emphasis teaching and learning helps us learn The Good the Bad and the Ugly from history and certainly tonight we've heard ex excerpts when it wasn't very good I would like to share that my family raised me to have children to participate in sports where they were the minority and and they excelled and I'm very proud of that accomplishment that took skill and it took understanding and empathy the things that we heard tonight on both sides compassion and kindness a name is very important however it's the culture and the climate of the place where that need is I'm very proud to have grown up in this environment to now work in an environment where it's highly diverse and a very High poverty area I am not working in Shad County at this moment thank you thank
128you I did good [Applause] thank do whatever you want okay Brenda's going to pass uh Brenda well hello again I was here last month and started out asking you all if you knew who Queen lilio Kanani was this time I'm going to ask you if you know who the Latin Kings are have you ever heard of them okay so and just like Paul in Scripture that was mentioned I love the Lord so with Paul I'm going to boast like he did but I'm also going to talk about some things that I think people need to know so I have a degree in historic and political studies my grandpa was a World War I V my dad was a World War II bet that fought in Germany and died not in Germany but when I was
12913 years old and if we tear down our history we lose it and we're going to be determined to repeat it and so so many people have have good and bad arguments on both sides and I was like wow that's good and I was going to say no I don't want to talk anymore but I grew up in Chicago with racism and with discrimination the Latin Kings was a game they came and took my dog threw them up in the air and I was 6 years old and watched him go on the ground then we moved out to skoki Illinois where the Nazis marched in 1977 and I came here I'm so excited that we're at John Peter Gabriel mullenberg middle school he was an American Revolutionary War hero and so if we keep tearing
130down our history we're going to repeat it so I know you all have a huge decision on your shoulders but if we don't learn from history we are going to repeat it there's good and bad about Stonewall Jackson but guess what you can learn from it and when we tear it down we're going to repeat it so thank you and I hope you make the right decision for this [Music] [Applause] County Nolan arm [Music] good evening good evening due to the time Nolan had to leave and ask if I could read this for him Al I'm reading on behalf of Nolan good evening school board members my name is Nolan Arman child I live in District 2 and I currently attend North forth middle school but next year I would be at Stonewall Jackson high
131school if the previous School Board would have asked the people none of us would be here I hope all of you make don't make the same mistake I want my FFA jacket to stay stall Jackson and my diploma to stay to stay stall Jackson the original names of the schools stal Jackson high school and ashy elementary school relate to our Rich Civil War history in our County I hope you vote for The Voice of the people to restore the original names thank you for your time this evening Max w [Music] Sarah good evening my name is Sarah I'm a descendant of soldiers that served at the Stonewall Brigade an alumni of sjhs and a parent with children attending Mountain View and North Fork thank you for an opportunity to speak on agenda item 6.6 this
132issue is being voted on during the busiest time of the year for teachers parents and especially the students they are taking s sols final assessments and prepping for exams imagine the extra stress caused because you chose to put this right before graduation none of you were voted into office by the children that you serve and yet the children should be your number one priority not anonymous groups the teachers and staff are your second priority any decision you make should draw primarily from the voices of the children the teachers the staff because they are the most impacted our country our state our County have not always done well in protecting the rights of its citizens in shinida County a received overwhelming majority led to 12.5% of the population being enslaved children bust out of County for
133their high school education and diplomas and almost a decade of operating illegally segregated primary schools and whites only high schools during anti-integration policies after Brown versus Bor this is part of the past but reverting to the names of Confederate leaders in our Public Schools claims as our common identity these injustices perpetrated under the banner of Confederate Pride none of which align with the ideals of Civic duties to which our children will one day be called Martin Luther King Jr once envisioned a Beloved Community one that transcended concepts of race tribe class and Heritage please keep the new historic names Mountain View and honeyrun places where all our children can learn how to be we the people of the United States of America together w [Applause] good evening thank you for let me take the time
134to talk to you all this evening first and foremost I am a graduate of stall Jackson 2001 uh both my parents are graduates 1969 1974 stall Jackson High School uh my brother 1996 graduated stall Jackson high school I am a father of two kids 9 and 13 both boys they are at Ash and one is in North Fork um regarding the name change on my opinion it was Heritage it was no hate in school I am from Mount Jackson 41 years I am not from a different County I am from here home this is what we call home um a lot of the kids here got a couple back here go to school with my boys um they love it so we thore the names back to Stonewall and Ash there was no problems until
135they Chang the names and we all know that there was no issues so thank you very [Applause] much Carter hman good evening Dr Shephard and Schoolboard members my name is Carter Heisman and I live in edinberg District I'm a three sport athlete who just collected into the Mountain View FFA as a sentinel for this year I stay very active and would like to wear a name that I'm proud of not only do I want to have my FFA jacket say stone wall as I enter into high school but I would also love to have my jerseys which I wear all year round say Stone if this is all directly pointed to the students then I think we should all listen to the students and listen to what they had to say and I hope that
136you all will take into consideration changing the names back to what they properly were Sten Jackson high school and Ash Le elementary school thank you for your time tonight Linda kek [Music] good evening everyone thank you again I know you've all seen my face before um I don't I'm not going to say anything new that you all haven't heard before but it what blows me away is that we're talking about because it was named Stonewall that there was nobody learned anything nobody got jobs nobody could get a job because we were name we had named a Stonewall Jackson to our diploma well I know for a fact that this county has graduated from Stonewall some successful individuals that are Educators that are major business people in the community and I have I went to school
137with a girl who is young black lady several of them that became um um major talk show people on TV so saying that the name held people back is not we can't change that history as we all know we can't change the hate the people that are hating now are going to hate regardless if it's anything else so um I look at it as I think it's wrong I think we need to go back to Stonewall and the elementary school um it's just it's a sad State of Affairs and I'm sorry that you all have to be up to this but um it isn't about the racism I know and it just because your skin is my skin is not black doesn't mean I have not had treatment of being picked on or beat up
138or anything else okay so everybody has a story to tell every one of us has some type of story and some type of racism and thank you very much and you all have a blessed [Applause] night car hman that's my I'm speaking on behalf of myself now good evening Dr Shephard and school board members my name is Carrie hman I live in District 2 and I have three children on the southern campus one in each school I I come to you this evening not to bring you a history lesson because you have had many of those tonight I come to you this evening to ask that you write the wrong of the decision of the preview board and restore the names back back to stall Jackson high school and Ash Elementary School and one other
139thing I'd like to point out as Linda just said I was able to acquire a job with the federal government with a diploma that stated I graduated from stonell Jackson High School class of 1999 and never had one issue so I don't think that diploma with stonell Jackson high school has anything to do with it thank you James Drake he had to leave sorry okay um Randy Drake she had to leave too the DRS are gone will [Music] P Mr chairman and members of the board I hope the irony isn't lost on you that several hours ago when we opened this meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance before discussing whether to name schools after leaders of a failed Rebellion against the same flag shinoa County was founded 252 years ago only four of those were
140spent as part of the Confederacy what qualities or policies from less than 2% of the life of this County stand out and make it Heritage and warrant naming schools after this school board has embarrassed the by showing more interest in scoring cheap political points in an imagined culture war and making international news than their actual responsibility which is providing the best education for children in this County the decision to rename this school will put the schools the board members and this County on the wrong side of History [Applause] Bill Mr chairman members of the MERS board Dr Shephard my name is Bill Pence life long resident shandel County we come here tonight with the suggested premise that this action is it is writing a wrong or Resto just simply restoring a name I'm sorry that's
141a false narrative your name you our schools after Confederate leaders in 2024 that's incredible that's how history will note it at the least it's insensitive at worst it's racist most importantly something you may not consider is we like Poly on our County for many years to come particularly in Economic Development if we ever want to attract new businesses to our County one of the first things businesses look for when they come is a school system and would they would be willing to relocate their employees to this area this would not look welcoming nor friendly please do not rame the schools [Applause] W chair bar members of the school board superintend shepher thank you for allowing me to speak my name is Kenny waitman I live in Whitman's Grove I have been a lifelong resident of
142sh County except for the time I spent in the Air Force in the mid late 1950s three schools were being built in this County Citizens at that time had the opportunity to name those schools strawsburg in the north central here in the central part of the county and for whatever reason so w Jackson was chosen as the name of the school in the southern campus that name stood proudly for 60 years until in 2020 due to the actions of a road police officer in Minneapolis Minnesota the knee-jerk reaction of the bo that that time chose to change the name of that school along with ashb Le citizens had no input tonight we are standing here with citizen input addressing you to see if you would restore those names or keep them as they are I
143do not in you the burning and the task that is set before you you to know it's heavy on your heart and it's heavy on your shoulders you can take that responsibility off of you and let the citizens decide for you what those names should be if they're voted to retain the names the other side would right Rumble grow but go along with if you if they would vote to restore the names the other side would do the same but the citizens would have a voice like we're doing tonight thank you for your [Applause] time Steve whever you are need a lesson in penmanship we can't figure out your name here um it looks like Steve Wick Wickham am I close looks like yeah Mount Jackson Road somebody find that man in English I'm Steve
144Weaver uh a graduate of 82 graduate of Stonewall um thank you all for letting us talk and listening and I'm like everybody else this is this a lot of lot of responsibility for everybody but for you all I know it's going to be a hard decision but uh when I'm at school there I swear I never one time thought about racism at all nothing and we had black guys we had white guys and we didn't think that way white and black we had a black quarterback Steve Brown in football and I thought he was wonderful and I didn't think of him as a black quarterback I thought him was as a a damn good quarterback not a black quarterback or white quarterback and that's how we thought then I mean that's how it was and
145uh this evening I hear nothing but racism racism racism and and I tell you what I didn't think I was racist but my God I'm starting to think I'm going to be racist now so uh thank you all for listening and and I hope you vote the right way and I'd like to see it restored back Star Jackson thank you [Applause] all Stephen kuster I'm Steve Custer I grow up in Shand County went to stall graduated in 1978 uh I never saw any racism in school I'm a firm believer if there's racism it's being Tau cuz we've over we've overcome that hurdle now we're trying to take history out of the county because because somebody has talked about racism well I got grandkids I got Sons I didn't teach them racism and they don't have
146racism in the heart but if we're talking about racism my name is Stonewall Jackson am I racist you know somebody named stall Jackson look at what the man done he did not he fought for his country you know he did what at that time what was in that part of the country that's what was called upon him you know I look at the vins I look people in World War II World War I uh did they did they go do what they had to do yes did they want to yes they wanted to serve the country don't you think Stonewall Jackson had that Pride that he wanted to serve his country too you know I think that racism is something that is in the past if you want racis you got to keep you got
147to keep stirring it up and this is what's this is what's going on you know all we hear is racism hey I have good black friends I love them death they just like Brothers to me and I don't think people byother call I think of how they present theirself to one another thank you [Applause] all J of course good afternoon School Representatives I am Joseph cour a sophomore from Mountain View High School and a future mrgs student I implore you to vote against reverting the current School M back to Stonewall Jackson as this is my third time speaking on behalf of this issue can we not move on the school name was settled when the bo when the board voted to accept the names Mountain View and honey r twice I'm exhausted the other students
148here tonight are exhausted please stop wasting time deliberating on a s problem that is inclusive to all students and faculty and instead devote your time and resources to improving the infrastructure and curriculum also on the aspect of races in the schools I've seen and heard other white kids that I can name say the nword and literally raise Fist and say white power I've seen that attract main qu someone did that by accident but it's still something that happened thank you for your [Applause] [Music] time good good evening School Board member Dr Shephard uh chairman Barlo thank you for allowing me to have my ver voice heard this evening I'm Steve hman uh District 2 conicville uh it was good to see the members of the school board and Dr Shephard recently at both of the
149FFA Banquets on the southern campus I am a graduate of 1977 from Stonewall Jackson high school and I am in great support of restoring the names of the schools on the southern campus that was aggressively and unlawfully changed according to the Virginia Supreme Court under the covid me meeting ethics at that time by the previous liberal School Board as I have asked several times at school board meetings with controversial wrongdoings like library books with adult sexual content available to minors where is the accountability a couple years ago this woke movement swept across this country like a dirty cancer this school board and the leadership of Dr Shephard has a priority of educating the students of this County and should not have to deal with gender identity pronouns Furies Furies lgbtq issues none of these issues
150should be allowed in the public schools the these issues are a large part of why 10% of the children of shannondoah County are homeschooled today and that should sound a major alarm to all of us tearing down statues and monuments and erasing history while indoctrinating children is exactly what Adolf Hitler did in the late 1930s in Germany we learned from history to become a better people in America we live in a constitutional republic that is government of by for the people you have listened to a couple dozen people that even these they remember the several thousand that you have heard thank you Jonathan hman say [Music] Jonathan hman District 2 educational facts to consider last night Wednesday while I was studying with my daughter Fiona a fourth grader now honey run we were preparing for
151the Virginia studies so that was actually taken today here on the southern campus the shinder County Schools provided a wonderful manual this study guide is work in progress over the course of the semester this curriculum was created by the convo Virginia Board of Education as the history and the social sciences standard of learning cric framework for Virginia studies 2015 and updated in 2020 during our studies fion and I re rehearsed ourselves with the settlements of Jamestown the Revolutionary War the new nation the creation of West Virginia the Civil War the Reconstruction of Virginia the Freeman Bureau and the Jim Crow LS definition terms like enslaved African-Americans freed African-Americans segregation racial segregation desegregation discrimination and civil rights were all included in the approved curriculum from the Commonwealth as history needed to be retained by our students
152to pass the so identifi through the Civil War chapter are the following Civil War leaders as listed in this material Union Northern leaders Abraham Lincoln and US Le S Grant Confederate Southern leaders Thomas Stonewall Jackson Robert Elite the provided material in front of you identified by the Commonwealth Thomas Stonewall Jackson as a confederate general that played a major role in the Battle of Bull Run where he earned his name Stonewall for bravely and couragely holding his ground the study material clearly outlines the good and bad of Virginia history with the above leaders included Thomas Stonewall Jackson as an impact and a positive example without negative impacts to their legacies the true character that they possess the Commonwealth Virginia clearly outlines the Civil War and its history as needed events in the education of our children
153and highlights the leaders of the war to include Thomas Thomas Stonewell Jackson as a positive Ro model as he was if the Commonwealth of Virginia educates our children with these standards then who are we to question the Commonwealth with the personal thank [Music] you Dorothy lamb good evening thank you all for the time and dedication that you have put forth in listening to those representing both sides of the name change issue can't hear you I am certain that no one on this board anticipated the passion that each would bring in highlighting their preference on the subject I'm afraid you're just going to have to hold it up there looks like it's okay there have been allegations made not only about the history of general Jackson and the building and naming of the schools here but
154also of an individual who not only did not say or do the actions that he has been accused of according to the mother of the alleged victim but who also was a student at New Market Elementary School and not associating with students at the high school to you sir I apologize that you have been erroneously targeted I ask that when you cast your vote you remember that Stonewall Jackson and others fighting on the side of the federacy in this area were intent on protecting and preserving the land the buildings and the lives of those under attack preservation is the focus of those wishing to restore the names of Stonewall Jackson high school and Ashby Le Elementary School please consider the leaders of those schools over the years leaders like Max Hutton Bill Smotherman William Grimley
155do you believe that any of these individuals would Toler at racist Behavior I assure you they did not for that matter do you believe racist Behavior was tolerated by Karen Wetzel during her 10y year tenure I want you to leave person it's not it's not negative it's I promise it's not negative during her 10e tenure from 1998 to 2008 during some of those years Dave Hein Gardner was the vice principal again individual who would draw a hard line where racism could have been alleged it is under their leadership and their predecessors that the first African-American quarter back in the county was chosen at ston Jackson High School it is also under their leadership that the first African American was voted in as her SCA representative I can't finish when I can't the mic isue 5
156Seconds 5 Seconds there's also under their leaders ship that the first African American was voted in as her class SCA representative at every grade level these are celebrated and we are proud of them thank you fine thank thanks [Applause] Mr Emily Scott good evening Mr chairman I can't believe that we're here again I I really am heartbroken that a room full of people that I grew up with and knew feel the way that they do I cannot understand how we can listen to a parade of white people tell us there was no racism at Stone Jackson high school the only people that we need to hear from in terms of racism are the people that suffered from racism my African-American brothers and sisters I really would like to advocate for my brothers and sisters and
157suggest that we not change the names back because it hurts people I don't think that people are taking into consideration they are hurting their friends and neighbors by sitting up here and saying the racism still doesn't exist I I suggest that even changing the names back is an active Act of racism there is no reason to even bring the issue up except to make a point that well we're not going to let liberal WS tell us what to do well I resent being told what to do I'm a shador county native I don't like people from outside coming here and telling me what to do either but I no right wrong and it's not right to be deliberately racist it's not right to make statements that are deliberately racist and it is absolutely wrong not
158to take into consideration the passionate feelings of my African-American brothers and sisters thank youman [Applause] good evening my name is Seth cman I live in quicksburg throughout the past few weeks at the board meetings each of you have talked ad AUM about the process in 2020 but next to nothing has been said about the actual name someone the schools Chang back to or the ress of Confederate general names on school buildings in the 21st century nothing has been said about the students and what is in their best interest the only person that ever mentioned students was chairman Barlo when he said he would be quote unsettled about the names going back if he were a black student or parent my guess is you probably felt unsettled tonight with some of the things you heard and
159that unsettled feeling is a little bit of empathy and compassion sneaking in it's putting yourself in someone else's shoes and try to imagine what they might be feeling and what they might be experiencing so I got a couple questions for you if shendo County were to go to new school today in 2024 would you consider naming it after a confederate general my guess is the answer would be no and so if that's the case the followup is why ask yourselves why would be because there's meaning in a name we always say strong communities come from strong School schools and the schools are Central to our community the names on the buildings mean something because they represent us all if you answer yes that you would put new schools confeder names on new schools well let's
160just go a whole Hall let's go ahead and change Central to dupal early and strawberg Jeff Stewart juble early these fought battles in chandel County had exploits and failures at Cedar Creek and Fisher Hill how can we expect the kids to know about the history if the names aren't on the buildings I mean that's the kind of rhetoric and rationale that's coming out this Coalition for better schools it's not logical it's not sound you keep talking behind the process are you going to send the message that following the process and doing the process right is more important than doing the right thing that's the message you're sending if you Chang his names back do the right thing the ends do justify the means thank you James Dellinger I'm here to addressed the board as a
161father of three children two in the southern campus that are currently attending Honey Run we are here today to discuss the controversial topic of the school names the names in my opinion were changed without parent and voter input in 2020 the close meeting forced us something the majority did not want we were forced to accept that we had no voice and input into the discussion of the public that affected my children what is more sacred than the discussion of the public in the constitutional republic the majority has spoken and we want the name changes back and the voices to put proper procedures in place that will continue to include all public voices no matter the atmosphere or the current being school nams do not cause racism that ideology is T it is one that is
162not tolerated in my home and my children will not do it I thank you for all your hard work and dedication to our students your work does not go unnoted thank you [Applause] Andrew [Music] Hamilton well thank you all for being here tonight I this is a late evening and uh I drove all the way down from Charlottesville which is an hour and a half drive just to speak here today uh but while I'm not a resident I feel I'm very passionate about this issue because I'm I'm a member of the Virginia Council our chairman is John Reed and uh he's actually running for lieutenant governor of Virginia but our organization stands firmly against the removal of monuments in Charlottesville and Richmond the renaming of our schools after the woke revolution of 2020 and as
163Thomas Jefferson once said Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty and the folks in this County stood up and they said we do not want to have our schools ring they spent over $300,000 to do this instead of spending spending money on the children's education now I come out here today for the first time since 2020 in support of a name change let's put the names back I think we must do that let's uncan Stonewall Jackson thank you [Applause] [Music] good evening um I can't believe we're doing this in 2024 all right I'm Katy frankley president of District 3 and I'm really sorry I'm I don't usually get nervous speaking up but this this makes me nervous um earlier this evening with a shaky voice I had to tell my teenage son that I would
164be home late tonight because I had to do my part um he knows why we talk about it uh we talk about why it's important for him to do his part too um we have to talk about it it's the only way to break the cycle of systemic racism it's the only way for him to know right from wrong it's the only way he'll learn that it's shameful to make excuses for unkind Behavior excuses like hiding behind a propagated faulty process as a means of justifying the continuation of systemic racism after listening and reflecting on everything I've heard tonight I think my comments are less for the board and more for the community that now includes our national and local friends I just want to say to the people Shin andoa County if this board
165chooses to move us backwards I'm begging that the community keep pushing forward don't give up don't give up fighting for what's right don't hide behind cowardly excuses do your part to break the cycle systemic racism is something we are all responsible for fighting each and every day with our individual and Collective big and small acts of kindness and empathy keep doing your part keep doing those big and small acts it matters and you have to know that it matters and just a thank you a thank you for continuing to show kindness and compassion to my fellow neighbors community members it is very much clearly needed right now thank [Applause] you Carter [Music] theth good evening hey um so I'm here talking about how I want the names to stay the same and not be changed
166back because I though I'm a student of strawberg high school I'm also a student of mass Regional Governor school which was recently moved from tripet Tech to Mountain View High School so uh We've s we've been sitting here talking about you know all this money stuff money money money so if we have all this money to change the name back why don't we use it to improve school and we're going to sit here and complain and gripe about how you know the money was used to change the names in the first place why would we do it again I don't understand that um if we don't fix this unjust name change when it happened if we didn't fix it when it happened why would we do it now it's been for years like it's been
167a long time um so uh the old board if we say the old board wasting the money why would we do it again I I don't know I'm struggling to understand why we do that again so um at strawsburg I'm a member of the dream and color Alliance which is uh colored students coming to together and talking about how we can fix our environment and talk to others and educate others on how inclusivity and diversity is an important topic so um yeah if it didn't before a diploma with the name Stonewall Jackson high school on it with all this press here I don't know if we're going to sit here and talk about how awesome it's going to sound if they realize we came from there and I don't know they just it won't sound
168great it's all I'm thinking so yeah if we're going to talk about repeating history they named the school due to racist thought processes and so we're going to rename the school back to it don't understand that either thank you je good evening school board members I'm not prepared I'm sorry it's been a long week in the concession St at the high school okay so to start out with I have one question for everybody here I know that I can't have an answer but if somebody would like to see me after I would like an answer um we are standing Ironically in Peter muber Middle School um I did take history in school and I'm confused are we not wanting to name the school back to St W Jackson because he was a confederate general or
169because he was a slave owner because P mber was slave owner as well so I would like someone to answer that person um spending the money um that was spent prior to when we you know when we did the name change I know that once again that southern end of the campus was the redhead step child um not all uniforms were replaced um some sports had to go out on their own and raise money to purchase new uniforms because the money was not there to replace the uniforms needed with an an um some of the uniforms even have to have had to have patches put over the name because they did not have the money to purchase a brand uniform so we covered the SJ up with an mty um so that's a little bit
170um that's frustra for us on the southern campus um and as far as racism goes um I've worked in the concession stand since Char Street took over um it's been kind of my thing um I enjoy doing it I see a lot of kids um I don't don't see the racism I worked under Stone Jackson and I now under Mountain View um but I can tell you when the name change was going down the first time my son who played three Sports he's a three sport athlete was called White Trash a cracker from other schools in the county that he that he was friends with prior to the whole debacle of a name change so it was Reverse Racism on my son who was obviously he is wife um but I can also tell you
171really quickly well I'm going to run out of time but thank thank you Dorian Langston you have the privilege of being the last speaker so you guys know me very well I probably don't need this but it's very ironic that Jessica brought up the fact that we are standing all of us who has had our voices heard in a gentleman's building named after a gentleman who owned slaves none of us have seemed to have problems out of that we've all been okay tonight we've all set our peace and we've all said what we had to say which was is very funny that we've heard a lot about racism and that our black Americans have experienced so much racism let me give you a quick story my daughter was in fifth grade she was in North
172Fork which was not named by a confederate soldier North Fork Middle School she is now in seventh grade when the Black lives matter movement hit one of the teachers put up a sign that said black lives matter the children the black children walked around supposed to be talking to you guys well everybody talked to everybody today but the black I'm not referring to you I'm just saying the black there was a black there was a black child walking around North Fork Middle School saying White lives did not matter then the Hispanic kids started joining in and another teacher had to go in to that teacher's classroom and tear the sign down because they were told that white children did not matter racism is everywhere it's not just whites who we've heard for the last two
173months that whites are racist I heard a comment out of someone today saying the fact that a gentleman that just spoke said they're racist and they pointed at them as they walked down the aisle just about about 10 minutes ago so I'm telling you it's not a it's it's racism is taught Point Blank period racism is taught and the thing of it is is is whites are not racist have we've been we have been pegged that we are just because we want a name back on a school you know the thing of it is is is blacks are racist against whites just as well as they say we are against them racism is Tau and nobody is you know every racism is Tau it has nothing to do with school name when I said that
174was the last speaker I lied iot that um we had John Su here earlier and couldn't U give his statement and his um representative from his district is going to readis as everyone now is well aware on May 9th sh County School Board is going to vote on whether or not to once again name Stonewall Jackson High School Stonewall Jackson High School those who are against changing the name of Stonewall High School back talk about how doing so will be so horrible to Children of color who may be offended by the concept of going to a school named after both an American and Virginia hero they also talk about the need for racial healing very unfortunately the actions of those who want Stonewall High School to have its name stay as it is are everything
175but healing all one needs to do is go to the Northern Virginia Daily blogs and see the hatred in their comments anyone who doesn't agree with them is a racist a Nazi a bigot Etc as a nonwhite I find it both humorous and insulting to have ly white lily skinned white folks label me as a racist or bigot me I happen to understand that Stonewall Jackson was a rather pivotal figure in shannel Valley history and thus thus the name should return to Stonewall High School those people who supported the original name change a few years back did no talking to the average person in shanoa county and thus really are not able to understand that the average resident of shanoa county is not a racist and they very very likely had an ancestor who fault
176under Stonewall at one time or another to support Stonewall Jackson is not racist for the average resident here who again has not one racial bone inside their body they are celebrating their ancestors and their Heritage to suggest that everyone who supports the name change is a racist is to state that almost everyone who lives inside shanoa county is a racist something that is ridiculous are there racist in shannona County yes is RAC racism Adent yes should we do everything we can to eradicate R yes time up that was from John Mass the chairman of the sixth con congressional district Republican party [Applause] of that concludes the the public comments going to ask the board one more time uh we are are ready to move on the consent agenda and then eventually action items I'm ready
177to entertain though a short recess before we take up the the rest of the agenda do I have such a motion I move to recess for 10 minutes we have a motion and second that 10 minutes we will do so e e e please have a seat quickly as you can [Music] you all right and just a few minutes we will begin uh the consent agenda there is one item I'd like to take care of before to do that and u a board member was uh called out specifically during the q&as uh he did not respond to point which he was not supposed to and so didn't uh but he has asked for a chance now to uh respond I have uh consulted with the parliamentarian who feels that it's uh proper to do so
178so I'm going to allow um School Board member Tom Street to respond to a comment made about him uh during the U public comments so Mr [Music] street thank you Mr chairman yes I is wanted to point out that fact is of the false application false accusation that was made against me is not true during that time period if it happened they got the wrong Street and that street is De ceas now so I just wanted to make that clear and that's backed up that they said it was handled by the administration I was only handled by the administration one time in some Jackson high school and that was by jry double being TG m p they have thank all right um we are going to consider the consent agenda right now uh we have
179a number of items under the agenda which the school board has uh reviewed uh such things as the last few minutes approval of bills paid donations overs Etc and I ready to accept a motion to approve uh the uh consent agenda I move to approve the consent agenda as presented second so we have a um a motion and second to approve the consent agenda as it has been delivered to us uh and um all in favor please signify by saying I any opposed no we're move into the instructional agenda and we're going to hear about the summer school information from U Brer and Mr H good evening good evening Mr chairman members of the board Dr Shephard thank you for giving Jennifer and I the opportunity to give you a brief overview of our summer
180school coming up and a little bit of tease of what the students are going to be doing during that time we have teachers every year help collaborate and build our curriculum for our summer school that supports our standards of learning in English and math and then we also have some staff that help run that as administrators during the time so we're really appreciative of the teachers that have worked to develop this up to this point and we're proud of the things that they have our students during during the summer okay can you hear okay so we have uh summer school dates are june3rd through the 28th teacher hours are 8:15 to 3:15 and then student hours are 8:30 to 3 and then we are serving breakfast and lunch every day and that is free of
181charge for our students and our class sizes in summer school are significantly smaller they're usually around 10 to 12 students in each class some might be a little smaller some maybe a little bigger because it just depends on how that um the students that sign up and the need of each grade level in those schools So based on the students that sign up which are approximately every year about 90 per campus that sign up uh we have transportation that transportation is limited it goes to certain spots based on what parents request it's not feasible to run from house to house during that time because obviously if there's only 90 students attending on the campus you would be running a lot of roads to be able to get to all those students so we collect that
182information our principles right now are working with teachers to collect information and get that from our par so just to give you some um insight as to what our theme that's there is for elementary it's actually the same for middle school as well um but it is career Quest exploring paths to success and so uh this year our students will be exploring various career paths and businesses within our community uh we have guest speakers lined up from different profession professions and uh just to name one of them we'll having um some guest speakers from JMU coming to talk about the advancement of sustainable energy uh we also have field trips planned um and we're going to places such as the explore Museum the Discovery Museum PL View Farms uh the Li Stone I'm not sure
183if I'm saying this right CaRu lime and stone uh downtown Woodstock businesses and town offices and the Seven Ben State Park are some of the places we're going but our program isn't just about um the field trips and the guest speakers it's also about academic growth uh we are going to be working on foundational skills in English and math and our students will have remedial instruction that's tailored for each one of their needs so we'll have a Hands-On blend of activi ities Project based learning engaging experiments and re and our aim is to reinforce these essential skills while fostering the love for [Music] learning so at the middle school level we include fifth grade and they don't not stay at the elementary level that is a transition for them to help with the process of
184transitioning to the middle school at the middle school level we're going to do multiple things that include Project based learning such as Jennifer spoke focuses around literacy English and math skills and also about creating building and exploring during that time and those field trips some people say will you take field trips why field trips field trips are to really tie the curriculum to real life we want to bring what we're teaching alive to our students so that they see the importance of it and why they're learning it in school so at the middle school the four weeks that they're in they're going to focus on those careers in Virginia the first week they're going to focus on agriculture and food where where they're going to end up being an agriculture reporter that they have to
185write and Report out the second week they're doing Visual Arts and they're going to end up doing Visual Arts they're going to go and they're going to create a book or they're going to create some type of media that's going to be presented so they're going to use their skills in English language arts to do that when they do it third week is going to be agriculture hospitality and tourism this is where they'll take a trip out to Bryce to see how that runs and then they're going to have to plan their own event do their own budget and do their own media marketing for their event that they're going to hold the last week and the fourth week they're going to do health and Public Safety they're going to take a trip to the
186conicville fire department they're going to go to the Luray Zoo but they're going to use all their skills that they use from week one week two and week three to build a game to include students in how they can find the career that they like best oh yeah sorry High School had that too so at high school it's 9 through 12 and it's recovery for credits and we do that for English Math Science and History and that's done through an online program Apex that we have a teacher that will work with them through that process but it's recovery based for credits any questions is there an application process or something that the students need to go through to get in to the summer program so our principles along with our teachers identify students that would
187qualify for this so some of our students are needing some extra help in literacy and math and that's how that we had contact their parents we send them a letter sometimes we reach out by phone we don't get responses also thank you you're welcome thank [Music] you weing on to the informational agenda uh we are going to hear about a request to increase the fiscal year 2024 Food Service budget Miss n thank you Mr chairman members of the board uh the Food Service uh fund received an award notification from the national school lunch program equipment assistance grant for school nutrition in the amount of $553 this is a federal reimbursement Grant and will be used to replace a twodo reachin refrigerator at honeyrun elementary school um and that's how the grant was written so that's
188why it's specific to that school um it will be U they're restricted and the reimbursement process um is going to actually happen this fiscal year so it will be shown on your um as an action item on in this agenda any questions next one all right the next one um so the Sher Community Foundation is home of the bchan cultural Arts fund the purpose of these funds is to educate guide stimulate the enjoyment and participation in Cultural Arts in shendo County Virginia staff have been in discussions with the foundation and have submitted an application for funding from The Bowman shamp and Cultural Arts in the amount of $150,000 the request if awarded it um will be used to upgrade the sound systems at each of the three high schools and this will help enhance the
189success of the performances and better showcase the talents of our students if approved These funds will likely be received prior to June 30th of 2024 and therefore you will see this also as an action item this evening any questions thank you [Music] than we're moving on to Personnel items um discuss the U Personnel decisions that we made or discussed earlier do I have a motion to approve the Personnel list as it has been presented I move to approve the Personnel list as presented second second second by Mrs Caro uh any discussion all in favor please signify by saying I any oppos 6.2 uh policy updates the uh the background on this issue is that um we received a briefing from Dr Hein Gardner which the policy committee did um and there were 41 policies uh
190that uh that were presented to us to be reviewed and you should know that our uh we have to review these policies consider a couple of years and the time for this review came up the policy committee job is is to is to review uh and uh Mrs rutz and I have been on on that committee and we have looked over these 41 we've also had these on the on our board DOC for the last two months have invited school board members to bruse and review that uh and so I think we are um ready to accept a u proposed motion for um accepting those um those recommendations that we have such a such a motion um I moveed that the February 20 sorry I move that the February 2024 policy updates 1 through 41
191um as presented to the school board be accepted as presented with the understanding that policy number 25 which is policy ikb for homework be redrafted in a collaborative process between the sh County school board and the central office staff um and then presented to the school board for Action um that that policy number 25 actually did away completely with the homework policy um because we need a second all right second all right now we're ready for discussion this is R sorry long night um the policy itself did away with homework um because it wasn't legally it wasn't lawfully required I kind of struggled with that whole concept of of I I don't know whether it meant homework is not required or we didn't have any standards for homework um when we when we send our
192our kids out of here to higher education homework is a part of um to master anything may require extra efforts and extra work and I would hate to do away with a policy that might indicate that we don't have a standard for either giving homework doing homework or what's expected so um I'd like to see that reworked and I I have a comment too about that um the U the way it was presented to us uh from uh bbaa was that the policy of of giving a homework is not not um legally required so the code does not and then Boe does not require that homework be given um but we felt that that's the one policy withit we wanted to hold back and to work with the um with the entral staff because we
193believe that under certain circumstances homework is indeed a robust uh and rewarding thing to do and wanted to make sure that by deleting that concept by deleting that policy that it would be sending a message that we thought it was not appropriate to assign homework and we believe that in many circumstances it not only is the right thing to do but getting students ready to do independent research etc etc uh probably depends on it so we did discuss with uh with Dr Hein Gartner the um the ability to uh coordinate kind of recrating this with the help of the central staff and then are running it by the by the board when that's done for for final approval so um over the next several months we'll be working on on the policy uh that will
194be developed in collaboration between the school board and between the central staff so that's the intent of the motion I wanted to make sure the school board members understands that before we go is does anybody on the school board have anything further to say about that topic all right with uh with that in L I'm going to ask that if you uh approve of the U the approval of those 41 policy updates with the exception of number 25 policy ikb which is going to be redrafted in the collaborative process I've just described please uh please indicate by saying uh I I I any okay so um that motion [Music] carries the next action item is the Food Service uh explanation of food service award and um we have uh we've heard about the national school
195program equipment assistance grant and uh so we need a motion to approve the request to increase the 2024 Food Service budget by the $ 5,535 as presented we have such motion I move to approve the request to increase the fiscal year 2024 Food Service budget by $ 5,535 as presented thank you Mr R any second to that motion second thank you Mr Carino that is second any discussion if none um if you approve of the motion uh to um re to request the increase please signif signify by saying I any oppos let record show that uh it was approved by a six nothing the U follow on U action 6.4 is to request the uh 2024 special budget uh by $150,000 as was presented earlier um by Miss Stein do we have a motion to
196that effect I move to approve the requested the to I move to approve the request to increase the f 2024 special budget by $150,000 yes present thank you Mrs R is there a second second second by Mr Ricker any discussion all those in favor please signify by saying I I any oppos all right 6.4 has also been decided 6 nothing majority 6.5 food service contract with u Southwest food Excellence we've been discussing this and I need a motion to U approve the food service contract with Southwest food Excellence I move to approve the food service contract with South Southwest food Excellence I second we have a motion and the second uh a discussion on approving the food service contract those in favor please signify by saying I I any oppos no then the food service
197contract also passes with majority the last item for Action is request from the Coalition for better schools to restore the school names there are several suggested motions that have been put forth and I'm open for motion to that effect Mr chairman I move that the name of Stonewall Jackson High School nby Lee Elementary School be restored to the schools now named Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School respectively the funds required to implement the restoration must be provided by private donation excusively and not be BN by the school system system or government tax funds through the sh County Public School will oversee dispersements relating to Restoration costs thank you Mr street is there a second to that motion second second by Mrs uh Carino and we have we open for discussion um Mr
198Street uh as the maker of the motion I'm going to um give you the courtesy of the first uh discussion thank you um of course we heard a lot tonight obviously um but my take uh primarily primarily is yes how it was done in 2020 it was not done right it was improper you know done in secret in only n Days part of procedure of that procedure was the policy that is in place is it is to include part of the local community which did not take place um it was definitely like commented before I agree I need jerk reaction I was very uh disappointed in that leadership I didn't I think it showed in um yeah I hear the comments the emails what are we showing gifts but what it definitely showed was the
199lack of accountability the lack of respect the lack of loyalty Integrity it showed the lack of of not um wanting the community to be involved in um the topic of the survey has been a big topic the emails and tonight I did a little check on that um survey that was recently done done in district one and District 2 once again because of the lack of the past leadership they had the opportunity to do a survey for the local community and they chose not to so someone did it and it was done I've heard a lot about 83% didn't it and their voices should be heard well I thought about that so I thought well I'm going to check in the official way pretty much know the answer but I want to do it officially
200to give an answer toight so I checked with the reg's office and I asked Mr McDonald I said in a in a community vote whatever you want to call it but Community vote what is the minimum number that has to be required to make an official vote she said there is none there is no minimum number she said the answer is officially the results are determined by those who participate if you choose not to participate then that's your choice and that's that um I also like to say that I appreciate everybody speaking tonight everybody has the right to speak but I'm going to say this and I know some people won't be happy but the truth is it comes down even though you everybody has the right to speak and voice your opinion and even
201though if you're a taxpayer in the county in my eyes comes down to district one or District Two or the boundaries of Southern County Campus is third school this has already been shown and proven in 1992 when we had to we combine when the when they combined Thomas Brook Elementary School and sturg mdle school and I believe that was a pretty big Fiasco but I don't recall much of it because even being a taxpayer I didn't really care because it was their school I didn't I didn't want to be a part of it let them decide I don't care if they called her school will wer in the proper Factory didn't matter to me their school let them and that's how it went down down they P the Northern end of the camp that Northern
202end of the county and that's how it should have been done so yes my take is it is up to ultim it comes down to the district one and District Two citizens um and I was going to say this but it said at the very end of the comments I thought it was very ironic that we're here in a school right now the name of this school inside the building man owned about 90 more slaves than Thomas Jackson did and I haven't heard one controversy over the name of this school so I wonder why big controversy at another school I'll pass on to the other right now Mr thank Street other member comments Mrs car well thank you all for being here tonight and uh I really do appreciate all your comments and um I'd
203be very happy to name the school children of high school if that was really an option but um my decision to vote um restoring the names of stone Jackson high school and as Elementary simply comes down to the process of how the names were changed in the first place which I know a lot of people have dismissed um but I have studied the timeline of the events as well as the evidence extensively and to me there is absolutely no question that it was done intentionally in a space of about 7even days during the 4th of July weekend and under the cover cover of Co to ignore the feedback from the community this was not an in innocent mistake by some inexperienced School Board no this was the carefully cograph imaginations of a school board colluding
204to ignore the people they represented this is what political indoctrination in our schools look like if you had any doubts about that just listen to their own words or emails obtained from a PO request um one is from the chairman of the board to the then superintendent Mark Johnston um this is from Ken wesle and one of the things he said is as Cindy says once he knows it is on the agenda a lot of others will know not trying to be secretive but to condense the time that folks contact us there was another comment from board memb Cindy Walt which was uh the email was named sorry for the delay I like the wording and this is a quote just got off the phone with board member Shelby and board member Andrew ker both
205are firmly on the yes category for renaming Shelby is ready to do it in July Andrew is hesitant about the timing because he worries that the public will be angry that we rushed it through without giving them the chance to weigh in I joke that it only took 4 days for the whole County to know about the reopening plan and he laughed this isn't funny it is unacceptable it is political indoctrination by a minority imposing their ideology on the majority and it is our job to fix that now some people have tried to argue that even if the process was flawed we should ignore it in favor of the outcome that is wrong not only does the end not justify the means but the process is an integral part in our nation of law in
206fact a lot of people here keep mentioning um the decision about Brown versus Board of Education that was a Supreme Court decision that overturned py versus Ferguson which actually was the one that says separate equal so this is how we do it through the process this is how the process is important so even when you say bard of grounders Bo rication you're saying that the process is important ignoring this would only encourage other R boards to act against the wishes of their constituents with the hope that their mistakes are ignored and never rectified instances like this erode the Citizens Trust in our governmental system and must never be accepted so for this reason alone regardless of surveys I will vote to rectify a situation that clearly violated our citizens rights and divided our community as
207nothing else has and this decision is very much in tune with the desires of Myers in District 3 who have overwhelmingly voice their desire to change the name back as for those who are concerned we're working uh to draft a policy in the future that will actually taking the community into consideration um if this issue ever comes back again but I also want to address the inflammatory rhetoric and the name calling that we have been hearing from those against restoring the names specific specifically I want to talk about the ugly accusations of racism and even white supremacy I've heard from hundreds of people and not once have I witnessed any instances of racism coming from those who want to restore the names in fact we heard today about a false accusation so egregious that the
208pr should probably be sued for slander it is not just an in calling and the basist accusations but the absurdity of some of these claims and let's not forget that the names were originally changed for incidents that happened in a different state not for anything that happened here and out of all the different absurd comments that I got emails about per husand L absurd was the one that came that that and I got this more than once asking me to put myself in the shoes of black Hispanics yes some people actually asked me Hispanic woman born and raised in Puerto Rico in a middle class family whose first language is Spanish to put myself in the shoes of a Hispanic this type of condescension and ignorance may work another way for this not going to
209work with me and as a side note for those using the term latinx please stop that term is not just universally hated by most Hispanics it is also insulting as it is the term we associate with white world people trying to impose their madeup name on us it is a term that implies that our language and our culture which has been here been here since before this country was formed is somehow defective and we need a white person to come and fix it for us but I dig right then there are the comments calling he Spanish ignorant for not agreeing with those wanting to keep the current names take for example this quote which I will keep Anon and this is a quote you know very well that it is now few blacks in the
210district and that the other people of color in including Hispanics probably don't really understand that they fall into this minority group to my guess is that they are not that knowledgeable about this issue enough to know so they probably didn't get a survey and if they did probably didn't understand what is really going on with their schools I hope that at least they know that they are in the minority too but not treated quite as bad as blacks end of quote in other words because we choose not to be victims and be offended by everything we must be ignorant now I don't know what it's like to be black in America Frank I don't know what is black what is like to be black white alian asian or even Mexican Argentinian Oran but I do
211know what it is to be the subject of prejudice and discrimination for being Puerto Rican I know what it's like to be told speak English you're in America when you're a kid talking to your mom or your little brother hey I know what is like to have a group of men throw a book back in your table when you're make the same demand when you're just minding your own business and having a nice lunch with your friend at College I also know what it's like to be denied a job because of my asset I know what it's like to have to defer going to college even after graduating with high honors because the college wouldn't process my financial aid papers unless I provided a green card something I never had because I was a born
212a US citizen just of my parents and my grandparents before me and I certainly know when people much less educated than I am question my achievements my legal degree as the head of the local democra party did right before this board at the last meeting these achievements were not a product of any affirmative action programs but of my own hard work and the sacrifice including working two or three jobs at a time I had I had help from no one other than my Aly God the difference again is that I choose to be a victim it's probably safe to say that most Hispanics like so many other ethnic and immigrant groups before us choose to work harder and not let the ignorance of others affect us these struggles can either make us victims to success
213and grievances or they can make us stronger and wiser I choose the latter I choose to fight harder and when you subsist mostly on grievances your goal becomes making sure that those grievances stay at the top of the list I've been listening to this is we are more oppressed than you are retoric for decades but here's a not so fun fact while Puerto Ricans have been US citizens for over 100 years fought for the United States in every single World conflict in fact my grandmother lost four siblings in the wars we still have no congressional representation with the vote and we still can't vote for the Pres of the United States that is the definition of a second class citizen yet than complain and live miserable lives I thank God every day that most Puerto
214Ricans choose not to become victims but to overcome the adversities now I understand that many of those claiming racism probably have their heart in the right place and meanwhile but I just grossly misinformed and Mis by those who seek division to strengthen their political ideology while weakening our country that same ideology victimizing people of color and finding racism everywhere is the same IDE that has taken God out of the Public Square that wants us to believe that a biological boy can become a girl and that we should open our borders to all which incidentally affects adversely affects the Hispanic Community most of all and what has this victimization accomplished racial divs among blacks and whites are about as bad as they have been since desegregation despite the fact that we've had a black president a
215black attorney general and some of our richest billionaires are in fact black is that what operation looks like it's ironic that the country where black people have made the most strikes in the world is also the one accused of being the most racist just today there was a story of a 16-year-old boy in North Carolina who is suing his school district after he was suspended for three days for using the term illegal alien when asking his teacher about an assignment but that's not the only absurd part of it and I'm quoting for the article after the boy asked his teacher the question a student of Latino descent jokingly said that he was going to kick his you know what although class proceeded normally both students were eventually pulled out of the classroom to address the
216exchange the Latino student reply told the administrator that he was not offended by the other boy comment and both teens agreed that there were no hard feelings but the boy was still suspended for 3 days and wasn't able to appeal this punishment anyway so who exactly benefits from situations like this only those on the left who seek to divide us and weaponize our differences the same people who are just angry that finally Americans are starting to wake up and fight back it is not lost in me though that the majority of the people hoping to keep their current names and making the accusations of racism and white supremacy are also the same ones to support and vote for the current president of this White House a man known for his support of segregation and opposition
217to busing who complained about not wanting his kids to grow up in a racial jungle and who referred to Barack Obama as the quote the first sort of mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean end of quote he also not long ago referred to Black pal as Predators who are two cath to be rehabilitated so um here and that's okay uh except I want other members to be able to speak and then we'll come back around for any okay so comments board I appreciate everybody that's out um you know this is my second year on the board and we tried to address this last year last year with the survey and you know I listen to everyone this evening and some of you stood here last year and was happy when we had
218a free free free vote to sh shoot down the survey there's been several of you come up and talk about the flag and what that means and yet missed the complete fact and the complete premise and the foundation of the country which stands on rights and government transparency in government we threw Kean Harbor over being represented in government um I heard something here earlier um I'm going to read a quote it was um August 22nd 1862 if you don't know who Horus um really is he was a um New York Tribune writer very influential at the time friend of of Abraham Lincoln I would save the union I would save it in the shortest way under the Constitution the sooner the National Authority can be restored the nearer the union will be the Union as
219it was if there be those who would not save the union unless they at the same time save slavery I do not agree with them if there be those who would not save the union unless they at the same time could destroy slavery I do not agree with them my Paramount objective in this struggle is to save the union and it's not either to save or destroy slavery if I could save the union without freeing any slave I would do it if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do that and if I could save it by freeing some of the slaves and by freeing all the slaves if I can save it by freeing some of the slaves and leaving others alone I would also do that what I would
220do about slavery and the CL race I do because I believe it helps save the union and what I forbear I forbear because I do not believe it would help save the union I shall do what less do less whenever I believe what I'm doing hurts the cause and I should do more whenever I believe doing more will help the cause and I should try to correct errors when shown to be errors and I shall adopt new views as fast as they shall appear to be true views history is sticky and a bunch of you down here were okay with having a school named after Abraham Lincoln it was a vast politician not unlike today's politician he talked down to both sides of now for me I stood up here on the last break and
221listened to a few of you come up here talking about how you felt wronged Mr rord here read one of his constituent emails that quck you were up here the name changed in 6 days over a holiday weekend violating Virginia fo laws now you in identity politics can call me racist without ever talking to me you can disagree with whatever the vote is tonight but you won't come up here and say Brandy you weren't transparent and you didn't give me a [Music] voice I wish we could come up with something that worked for everybody I do and I wish the process 4 years ago wasn't what it was and to deny it and to say well too damn bad move on is wrong your right under that plag means something it's the foundation of this
222of this country and to if you keep pushing people off the back of the bus eventually you're the anyone here so let me offer my apology now it was done incorrectly the imagined culture where I heard this evening started four years ago the fact that many of you come years that you hate to be called came here stayed look out love the place as it stood as St Jackson High School stood on the side of the building you made it your home you didn't find a fence enough to back up and go on [Music] and we've been killing the economy here for years we keep look for the same people identity politics gets nowhere it does nothing and it's on both sides of EV reading the book five clearance thas it's called My Grandfather's son
223one of his biggest things of growing up in in the Deep South and becoming the in truly enduring the racism that he did in that time one of his proudest moments when somebody he went to school with at an all white Catholic School said you know I appreciate that I've gotten to know you as an individual and not as a collective I hope that some point some of us can move on and do the same thing [Music] Mr Rick first off I'd like to applaud all the students that have stayed tonight that have gotten up and spoke that took a lot of Courage um and I applaud you guys for being involved it takes a lot um I've only been on the school board since January but over the last year when I was campaigning
224I made sure to attend every school board meeting so that I could see if there was any conflict with my family um and over that time I would get up and speak about things that I felt passionate about and my voice would say it's hard when you're trying to be honest and you're trying to do the right thing so I got to applaud you guys you guys did a phenomenal job tonight um that being said I've been contacted by multiple people media everything else asking me about how I feel about tonight's vote and one thing about being in this position is I was elected by the people for the people it's not about the way I feel and that's my response to them I could vote the way I feel but many people wouldn't be
225happy with me because I'm not representing them I was put here to represent everybody um that being said I was reviewing the policy on the school names because I thought about it and I represent district 6 which is the town of strawsburg and I thought to myself would the town of strawsburg would want people from Mount Jackson or conicville having a say in the name of our school or in the name of our our choice for masot um and I don't think the people at STG would so I went back and I refuted our policy which was in place when this was done 4 years ago and if you go to the third paragraph in the policy it says in fulfilling this responsibility the board shall make every effort to respect the preference of the
226local school Community however final decision on the naming of school facilities and the dedicating of areas of school facilities or grounds shall rest entirely with the board from what I saw and from what I heard when this all took place nobody from that local community Was Heard um and just for the record everybody that's reached out to me over email there was no way I could respond to all of them so I didn't respond to any of them but I have every single one of your names right here whatever ties you to shannona County I was going through it as you were coming up to speak I could tell what you which way you were going to speak before you spoke because I read all your emails there's 260 names here and like I said
227if you want to reach out to me after this meeting before we leave you give me your name I'll tell you which way you wanted me to vote but I can tell you right [Music] now that I had 118 of you vote to keep the names the way they are but I have 144 of you ask to restore the names now that being said there's people from all kinds of places in here some of them didn't even put where they were from but I can tell you there was one in here from Nashville Tennessee to me like I said it says in our policy that it should be left up to the local community now I did have one parent from my district reach out to me because their student goes to mut Regional Governor
228school and that gave me a lot to think about because I hadn't thought about that before um so immediately I thought to myself I thought well they they have their own name it's Mass Regional Governor school but then I started thinking about it more and I'm like when they were at triplet there was no issue and yet at triplet he was a slave owner as well and there was no request to change the name at triplet so I think all of this was politically driven um it was It was kind of ironic CU I Clos in this I didn't mean to go this long but I'm a Bible believing Christian and when I was on my way here tonight I would give you the shirt off my back I love everybody as my own um
229I treat everybody like I want to be treated and when I was here on my way here I thought it was ironic cuz I was making sure everybody that emailed me their voice was heard and this person sent me an email as I was praying coming down the road I'm like God give me the words to say open my eyes open my ears this person sent me this and I just like to read it to you I'm not going to identify the person they know who they are but she wrote a brief note to tell each of you that you are being Remembered in prayer tonight and in forthcoming days this has been troubling Journey for everyone regardless of each individual's personal stf on the matter I'm asking God to Grant each of you strength
230and wisdom as you make the final decision may God grant all petitioners the grace and maturity to accept whatever will be and move forward peacefully no one should have been left holding the bag and finding themselves in this predicament but here we are Lord with your infinite love and wisdom guide and protect our seven Representatives as well as everyone in attendance fill our hearts with respect dignity and honor for each one's personal opinions and beliefs help us navigate any rough Seas which we may possibly encounter help all of us honor your name by remaining calm using Common Sense showing respect courtesy and empathy toward one another we are a Christian people and proud Virginians we represent your beautiful Shan Valley and it place in the struggle of building these United States of America I ask
231for peace and healing in our communities and Beyond in Jesus name I pray amen that struck a nerve with me on the way here I'm like here I am saying my own prayer talking to God this comes across the email as soon as I get in the parking lot I'm reading it um no matter which way the boat goes tonight I ask that all of you respect one another let's find what unites us again and for the whichever way it goes if you feel like you've got the names to petition us to change the names one way or another I implore you to follow the process I'm sorry that four years ago the process wasn't followed um it puts us in a bad position two years ago they could have done the survey and everything
232would have been done um that being said I just hope all of us can leave here tonight respect and one another and loving One Another We're All shanoa County residents thank you I'd like to begin by acknowledging the uh the meeting tonight and and the folks that have come together to speak on this top topic um clearly a very difficult and divisive matter that we've we've been on now for two to four years um you know we talked about the right way the wrong way to do it the right thing to do the wrong thing to do things like this really come down to perspective and and how you how you view things and like it's been set up here tonight we've received a ton of feedback whether it's in person whether it's phone calls
233texts emails everything um there's been plenty of feedback and I think that's one thing that we can say is there's been some sort of a process this time around we've heard the community um we're hearing perspectives from both sides of this issue um but at the end of the day like it's been said we're all a community um you know these are tough decisions we're elected we're put up here to make these tough decisions and obviously this is a very difficult one um the way I look at it from my viewpoint um we all have our own constituents and you know we overall at least I did I've received a majority from this County overall um to change the names back um my district has not been the same um you know two years ago
234when I voted changing names back um the outcome and the feedback that I received was quite different I would say time has gone on and some people just don't care anymore um especially in Woodstock because it's not directly related to the southern campus which is understandable um but there are still a lot of people out there that care about it and you know we talk about the the surveys but the first survey and the only one I guess that we ever got results from you know it's been trying to people have tried to put it on us that that we're using that as our only data point and I'm going to speak for myself but I don't think anybody else is solely basing their decision making on a survey that received 1,300 um people responding
235or whatever respondents um I do wish you know because there was another survey that was conducted a couple of weeks ago I wish we would have gotten results from that um that was a countywide survey I don't know who you know we talk about the whole uh no one wants to identify themselves but that survey was um Anonymous as well but I think the more you have the more data you have the better decision you can make for for the community and it's unfortunate because that was countywide and um unfortunately we didn't get those results for whatever reason I'm not going to speculate on that um but again ultimately for me it's a very tough decision decision because I have my own thoughts and beliefs on certain matters um my district has been overwhelmingly in
236support of retaining the names the way they are um you know I've talked to people and you can make the argument well those people probably didn't vote for me anyways well you know I've talk to people in my inner circles and people around the community that I agree with and I may not agree with on anything um and as far as my goes like I said the connection is not the same as it is with the southern campus um because I know even for me I don't have that same connection I can't speak to it but I know that I trust people and I understand the perspective that that's their identity and I completely understand that um I just know that for me I've always talked about democracy and listening to the people and we
237know in 2020 at least in multiple districts um clearly the the popular opinion or majority wasn't heard and I'm not willing to do that same thing and be a hypocrite like some were in 2020 um and ignore the majority so um it's a difficult decision like I said um I've thought about it for a long time there's been a lot of input um and I understand both sides to this but ultimately um believe that the people of District 4 where we're sitting in right now um those that felt that they wanted to reach out to me um they expressed their thoughts and feelings and I don't feel like I would be doing my job properly if I sat here and ignored them even if I didn't necessarily agree with what they were um expressing to
238me so always multiple perspectives of things and that's just kind of how I've dealt with it um I don't judge any body or just you know look down anybody for the decision they're making tonight um it's a complex issue we've heard plenty of feedback and um we'll be voting on it same so those are my [Music] thoughts in terms of process um so what I'm probably going to do is RO I'll pass it to you in just a few minutes your comments and then uh Mr street I'll uh give you the courtesy of a final word and so I guess it's my time to speak so um on the Geer up here I'm 78 years old and U so I remember 1959 not as the as the as in the era of um what's it
239called massive resistance is that um and by the way um I've learned about about that I've listened to you I've listened to some of the and I I understand some of those things really happen they're not fiction that there were people using um uh the schools and so forth at that at that point for kind of a last ditch effort to see uh what they saw as their their old world but I I'll tell you as a as a 13 14 year old at the time I was just you know it was the time of the bicentennial excuse me the Centennial Civil War and it was big deal uh I remember as as a child uh there were the last few uh veterans were still alive and I was like four or five years old
240I used see pictures of them and they'd have these reenactments and and they come together it was mind bot for me as a little kid to see that but that war was perhaps these sent in our nation's history more people died in that more than any other War we've ever had and people to Sho Valley tell me you know that only the Confederates were the ones who did nasty things or did nasty things to black people you're just not read your history and you're not being realistic War's hell sh said it he did it but at the same time we still have you know great soldiers great Heroes great heroins who through that era uh through at the post of War era both races both Nations and we felt the pain together we dealt with
241the pain together and it it wasn't just about massive resistance of some Die Hard races and fast forward God news for you it's not anymore it's not 1861 anymore work people systemic racism absolutely you think it was just Southerners you think even the abolitionists weren't stuck on their own sense of superiority this is something we we've come to realize recently what I love about what I've heard and unfortunate to to lookit liit the last few weeks is the whole Christian concept of you know Universal priesthood of of believers we're all equal we're in this together I believe that it's it's driven me in my life I've uh sorry glor I talk about my career I've spent 29 years uh doing International diplomacy and doing International military uh diplomatic work I I saved hundreds of thousands
242of children in Haiti I worked in Burundi we've delivered programs to Jordan to Colombia I mean when I was JMU and and did this stuff when I was the Army saving Kurds Kurdistan and Iraqis and it was the greatest meritocracy that ever lived or ever existed for me because I had comrades who were black and white and I served under and over both of them and we were just soldiers and that's to me what the Civil War is all about I mean do you think when I was 12 or 13 we ran around saying I'm a slaver we weren't thinking about that and so when I see people don't even know me and accuse me of being a racist because I have this one position you tell me I'm wrong yes I did say I
243would feel unsettled if I were black and going through this so are you kidding of course I would be unsettled to Glorious point doesn't mean that I would that it would be the most horrible thing that ever happened I mean most of the the black soldiers that I soldiered with I don't think that they would think going to Stonewall Jackson high school was the biggest threat that ever happened in that so the hyperbole here is is rather uh is rather stunning uh especially when we talk about I mean you realize that Civil Wars account for about 80% of the conflicts in the world English have had like five major Civil Wars they don't divide themselves from Cavaliers and rounds anymore they're not white roses and red roses anymore you know they unify and by God
244that's what we got to do that's what we have to do and so those people who have been calling for kind of a a spiritual coming together I'm right there with you that that's where I got but I do say that the way to kill democracy is to say that the ends justify the means and to say that the things that that the school board got away with a few years ago in terms of the money that they promised to on in terms of the close sessions that they had of icing out one of their members uh of uh doing it under Co you're telling me that that's that that's right I I can't accept that I can't accept that there has there has to be redress for that and I'll finish by saying this
24529 countries have done these missions I've been with Frenchmen I've been with Germans I've been with English I've been with and then going to all these countries the most democratic egalitarian people I've ever served with and seen and been with are Americans and you go to Korea you'll find races that they hate each other in certain parts of Korea the Sudan they hate each other racial Strife is everywhere cultural Strife is everywhere Americans are better than that we really are and we have to celebrate that and not divide ourselves along these lines and calling other names without even knowing who who we are so um sorry for long would over I just want to finish up um what I was going to say um because the truth is that we will never kind of going
246back to what what my colleagues are saying that we're never going to achieve racial Harmony or any other kind of Harmony so long as we insist on keeping this label from these divisions um what is more this Bas with accusations and they call to the opposite that they create resentment and racial device that is becoming really hard and increasingly harder to overcome um so I encourage you to please if you really want to stop this racism and Prejudice let's just stop finding racism and Prejudice into everything not only does it detract from the true cases of racism which we do know they exist and they need to be addressed perpetuar racial war that has been affecting this country for so long in the end like I said this is I just wanted to address this
247whole topic of racism because that's what is been brought up over and over today and because that's what I got a lot of emails on um in the end like I said this is for me like CH B just said the process is important I mean this is what our nation is founded upon and if the shoe was on the other side and you know the right had done something like that that was so outrageous and we had not taken everybody else's um opinion to consideration you were still being complaining about it so we have to do it the right way and like I said before we are going to after we do this um this vote I'm hoping the next um few sessions we're going to work into actually putting in place a better
248policy that if in the future we have to deal with this we are going to actually have some kind of referendum or some kind of way to actually ask the people who are affected by those changes um for their opinions so there will be no questions about that in the [Music] Mr Street yes thank you um uh to back up what Gloria just said about yes we do need to work on the procedure uh in the near future to uh to do that to make it you know make it better U before I forget the other comments that I've heard tonight you know the comment expressed of you know while the school board focus on other matters or what they call more important matters well I do have an answer for that and the answer
249is yes we can and yes we are this board has really been looking into things because we believe in accountability you know we're always paying attention and so we've looked into things and twice I heard when I left somebody's office and I'm not Pat myself on the back but to answer this topic to you know an answer to this topic that we hear about the board should be concerned about other matters I hear thank you for coming you're the first school school board member that's been here so we so the answer our point is we are um the other topic like I said earlier at the last meeting the issues actually three issues I said two two and three the procedure the racism and who the name who who this is all about the character
250of this individual Thomas Jackson and I find it interesting that number two I guess number two the the individual Thomas Jackson I find it very interesting when you read about this man who he was what he stood for his character his loyalty his leadership how godly man he was was those standards that he had were much higher than any leadership of the school system in 2020 and are higher than anybody now but yet we want to put that individual down we don't want to look at it as a person I remember the L's comment the last meeting that stuck in my mind it was so simple but I always thought about it is that time back then they were fight they were protecting and fighting for their home and that made a lot of sense
251to me um as far as I thought it was very interesting um the topic racism and I don't really like to talk about a lot because I don't believe in it and I have to say some things that I wasn't going to say just to back up of earlier comments but my but you know a lot of people can come up here and talk but for myself I experienced it in 1976 I went to ashy leag elementary school and I was there the whole time and I said it before and I know this is kind of embarrassing but what took place in and I didn't I I've been educated what took place by individuals I actually went to their house and they educated me what took place in 1959 in the' 60s and it was
252interesting because being here 54 years my my whole life I've never heard that because it wasn't talked it wasn't preached it wasn't you know I went through a school and I didn't even we didn't even know who the name we didn't we didn't really understand or know who the school was named after we just thought it was a neat name as you leave because by 1976 I can tell you from experience that that wasn't taught that wasn't pointed out so moving on to 5 years at stall Jackson high school I can tell you from experience whatever the contrary that was not an issue we didn't make it a point you heard somebody talk earlier Mr Steve Weaver and he's correct that's not what we focused on and you heard earlier By Carolyn Long there was
253a confederate flag in the gym that's correct we never understood why I was up there I kind of wish they would have took a dam because it it wouldn't have matter we didn't see that as racism that wasn't we didn't see that as as a symbol as a message no they could have took it down and we would have oh we would have been fine and it probably would have been a while till we recognized in PE class in that old gym that wasn't our point we looked out for each other back then I'm going uh I may it choke up a little bit you made I don't know if anybody knows his name Lauren Punk well we looked up after laen nobody picked for laen because we looked that for him we looked out
254for one another and that's what we did that was the atmosphere at Stonewall Jackson High School Lauren was a special edate so anyway that wasn't the atmosphere back Jackson High School um I talked to a teacher coach that been still W Jackson for a long time he actually told me that after the name was changed he thought it was interesting that a lot of the kids on his team that were um minorities a lot of Hispanics they were upset that the name was changed because they felt like they took it they took something they took something away from them that they looked up to as far as a leader and he told me honestly that actually a lot of minorities were upset that they took that away from them um uh ultimately what it comes
255down so you know I guess also to elaborate a little bit um you heard her name earlier Steve Brown I can tell you for a fact when I was a kid I was younger during that time period when he played quarterback at Stone Wall I looked up Steve Brown I was around Steve Brown why because he was a friend of my oldest brother and he hung out with that whole group and I looked up to Steve Brown he was also in the fire department I was a junior firefighter he was a senior firefighter my best roommate in college Lucian Roberts we had a great time together Lucian was black so I've said for decades you know as far as that this topic racism is a point or a problem if you make it a point
256now the reality is unfortunately that bar just mentioned [Music] on the problem with American society is as human beings and the truth is it doesn't matter what the name is inside of the school unfortunately there's going to be a certain amount of racism because of human beings in today's in this nation society and I don't understand that and I'm sure if there's a problem at that school on the south campus I'm sure that Mr Mike Dorman will nip it in the bud and take care of it right away and Dr shepher will take care of it right away I feel very confident about that ultimately what it comes down to is I represent the voice District to and I've going and I'm going by actions which is undisputable and the actions have always been that
257District 2 District One have always been ignored the leadership always found a way to block them to not make them a part of it and that was their actions and like I said ultimately out of respect you know if this board myself the way I was raised this board believes in accountability they believe in Integrity ethical loyalty honesty well if you want to debate that then okay I don't know how you are that may be the difference so I'm here to represent the voice to stand up for the people that you know what they want and be heard be supported um so anyway the other thing I want to put out there I want to make it very clear whatever happens tonight there's going to be a side that's not happy and that's just how
258it works but whatever side is not whatever side is unhappy I just want to make it clear that this board will not tolerate any action any communication in just in a um in a negative or unrespectful way to any school Personnel or student Personnel teacher principal superintendent the school board will not tolerate if you have a problem you address the school board and we will talk about it deal with it PR um chairman it's allad unless there any other comments I'm going to call the question anybody have any further then U sure what I'm going to ask you to do is a r call though um before I ask you to do that does any member of the school board need um have the motion St okay so um sure we're ready for roll call
259though thank you Mr stre yes Miss careno yes Mr gut Shaw now M RS yes Mr Ricker yes Mr bar yes record show that the motion carried 51 we are now ready for the superintendent's monthly report thank you and good morning good morning so we have several students that are here still here tonight and I expect them to be at school on time tomorrow so I would like to congratulate our 2024 graduate um from all three of our high schools I am looking forward to seeing um their mark on our world um as they start the next chapter of their lives graduation is Friday and Saturday next week this is National teachers week and I would like to recognize all of our teachers and staff for the the work that they do with our students
260our staff make a world of difference for our students and we are so appreciative attendance was up almost 1% for the month of April from um 93.3 4% last year to 94.25% thank you to our teachers staff and families for making attendance a priority congratulations to our students who won State competitions in F FCCLA and skills USA we will be recognizing our state first place winners at a future meeting congratulations to the mass Regional Governor school students who competed in the state science and engineering fair and congratulations to our biomedical Science Academy seniors who presented their catom project and celebrated their graduation on Monday Mountain View High School's um music and musical Anastasia was amazing Skyline or strawsburg high school will present their murder mystery musical this weekend there are music concerts every night this
261week and I hope to see some of you there and good luck to our athletic teams as they wrap up their spring seasons and compete in playoff events I'm happy to answer any questions thank you Dr shepher appreciate that um School Board member comments anything think have [Music] any okay um so I'll yeah so I I'll just go around the horn very very quickly I just wanted to um say that we've had the personal committee had their final two meeting since last uh week and we met with the teachers we've been listening to them and trying to see ways that we can um improve the retention um so I think the teachers are really appreciate that we're listening to them and we're going to continue doing that thank you Mr rck Mr chairman I just
262have two things uh I'd like to talk about uh with the board um two ideas I've heard over the past week one of them was uh as an incentive for retirees to come back and sub maybe we could look into covering their insurance premium making [Music] panded the second thing that somebody brought up to me and I thought was a great idea was we're also short on custodial staff if parro or teachers or whoever wanted to stay and help clean the schools in E time um maybe we could work something out where they would get a s for that um until we can hire some more conans that's it and uh everybody that's still here thank you for coming tonight thank you for staying through the whole thing yes Mr Street yes Mr chairman I
263say few things congratulations to the uh want touch on Teacher Appreciation Week um I love Disney schools I apologize um you know crazy thing called work but I wish I could get around more but I do want to point out and appreciate the teachers for what they do um and honor them Teachers Appreciation we also we need to give Mr Kyle gut Shaw do congratulations he graduates tomorrow [Applause] [Music] I appreciate that jam you do that's the only time I bleed purple so I'm that out um congratulations to the to the graduates of our high schools um looking forward to continuing to get ready for we'll have the summer school stuff and other programs going on and um getting ready for for the next school year that starts quick fast moving process oh I got
264one more tomorrow night strawsburg play Central go Rams last comment of the night I am I do sincerely and honestly hope and pray that uh out of what has been an excruciating four years for me if I can deal with this issue back and forth that there is and I I've seen in clings up the last few weeks that there is a dedication to work together as we haven't before perhaps to understand things like racial sensitivities that maybe we haven't really acknowledged yet and to work together to try to come together as a whole because shano county is a wonderful place for wonderful people and uh I think we ought take this advice and I like the prayer and I I I I think we ought to look to look to our Lord to help
265us to be better with each other so um based on that I'm going to close out my comments and I will unless there's any objection um Jour meing at says 12:35 there yeah [Music]