001colleagues I'd like to call the October 12th 2023 Shin County school board meeting to order uh at 6 p.m. uh Miss Ritz will not be with us because of a personal matter today so we will definitely miss her uh Dr Shepard do you have a motion to reconvene in close session please I do I recommend the school board of shinida 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 shinida County Public Schools under Virginia code 22- 3711 A14 and I recommend the school board of shanida County convene a closed meeting under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act for the purpose of discussing and considering several student matters
002involving the admission discipline or disclosures of information contained in a Scholastic record of students in the shanida County Public School Systems under Virginia code 22- A2 thank you you'll hear a a motion from my board members yes I move that the shinano County School Board convene a closed meeting under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act in order to discuss and consider several Personnel matters involving the assignment appointment promotion performance demotion salary discipline or resignation of several employees of the sheno County Public Schools under Virginia code 2.2-fold Ving the admission discipline or the disclosure of information contained in a Scholastic record of students in the Chenoa County Public Schools under Virginia code 2.2 d371 A2 thank you Mr Barlo do you hear a second second second by Mr Guta all those in favor say I I
003all those opposed motion carried by 5 Z vote we will hopefully reconvene by 7 pm. for us or considered by the shander County School Board each member will respond I do certify by calling by the clerk Miss jet ISO certify ISO certify ISO certified ISO certified okay the invocation and the pledge is going to be led by Mr Guta but before we have one former employee that would like to remember uh shirleyanne liman who was uh a a driver for transportation in the northern uh Northern in and worked in the cafeteria I believe and I like to add one one of my close friends from paig County Mr Wayne comr he uh referee basketball and uh he was a dear friend of mine he's the only person I know that played in the war Series
004in 1968 and um he coached paig County baseball to a number of state championships and one of the highlights that I remember reading about his state championship teams the reporter of the DNR asked you know is it good coaching what is it Mr comr and he made this comparison a a donkey has never won the Kentucky Derby meaning he had athletes it's not about him it's about the athletes a donkey has never won the Kentucky Derby that's that's him down to earth okay let's bow our heads for a moment of silence please thank you all right let us pray Heavenly Father we come before you today in humility and faith we thank you for all you have given us and the many blessings in our lives show us the way and fill us with courage
005and wisdom help us to remember your love and grace and to be faithful in your service to you give us the patience and understanding to face life's challenges with Grace we ask these things in your name amen amen now for the pledge pled aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible for liberty and justice for all moving on do I hear a motion to approve the agenda Mr chair I move to approve the agenda as presented accept to postpone item 5.3 proposed Library material selection policy to the November 9th 2023 Schoolboard meeting do we hear a second second second by Mr Keller discussion Mr chair i' I'd like to uh give some indication as to why I think this is
006the proper move um for the last seven or eight months we've been discussing this topic and it's been a wide ranging topic lots of points of view and I think uh everybody on the board uh has learned something about the policy the need or uh the uh the requirements for doing such a thing and uh we we've kind of been learning as we've been going um we seem to have reached an impass uh but um I think there are several areas where we could consider to either compromise or make a uh make changes that would be more applicable to for a majority vote um I will give you very three very quick uh synopses of the things I think we could still do that would make this uh this proposal more uh more agreeable to
007the to a majority of the of the board and I'll mention those very quickly uh before I do so I want to um thank Mr Keller uh for his uh Aid support and understanding uh on these issues uh he and I have worked at trying to come uh together uh and bring some of the some of these issues closer to agreement and we've talked about three particular areas where we think that could be done so I think it might be helpful if I um summarize those to the group and then Mr Keller can uh can um speak to those as well the first is uh we do feel that there is in a policy for libraries selection materials a need for a good criteria list of things that need to be considered by Librarians and
008by the school system before books or materials are selected and we would like to see um a uh a meeting of librarians and some um other members of the central office staff and a school board member or two uh to develop that criteria uh and we think that could be done quickly uh the second thing is that there seemed to be a hangup on the library the makeup of the library Review Committee in which uh the proposal uh stated that uh parents stakeholders uh would be part of a library Review Committee that would be appointed by the school board members uh it may be more appropriate if uh if the people on the library Review Committee were um appointed from the parent Community Advisory Group by the superintendent rather than uh than by the Schoolboard
009members and finally uh we believe that um if such a policy were passed that we would Envision that it would be for a trial period that implemented by January of uh 2024 uh and continued en Force until 20 December 2024 at which time it would be reviewed and uh either for sufficiency re passed or rejected in favor of another or no policy so those are the three um ways in which we think Mr chair that the uh that the U motion could be improved uh and perhaps and perhap perhaps passed in November and I would defer to my colleague Mr Keller I don't know that I can add a whole lot more than than you know I think I think it's probably a good move I think that everyone uh regardless of their position wants
010to know what their expectations are um and to some extent we were asking uh we were asking our Librarians to meet our expectations without telling them what it was uh I think I think by establishing a criteria we're able to do that and I can tell you that I don't believe that anyone uh that's that that's in our libraries and I certainly know that no one uh up here supports putting books on our shelves that are grossly inappropriate for our our students so um I think that that developing this criteria is going to be helpful um I think that uh uh creating this this group of of librarians and and members of uh the community that that serve on the uh superintendent advisory our parent advisory group uh is important and uh uh I think
011being able to move forward like that is a positive thing for everyone um other discussions with my board members okay um do uh no more discussion uh all those in favor of approving the agenda as a amended uh say I I I all those opposed it carried by five zero vote recognitions Dr Shephard thank you so this evening we have the um 4 with us so I would like to um ask Miss nansel You are not miss nansel to come forward uh I'm Adam zurl Miss Nel had to be out of town this evening so I'm I'm stepping in for her I I know your father will I'm sure you do go ahead uh during October millions of Youth parents volunteers and alumni across the country join us in celebrating the power of positive youth
012programming during National 4 week including members of the nine Shino County 4 clubs 4 is the largest informal Youth Development organization in the US 4 programs operate under the umbrella of USDA and reach six million young people through the 110 land grant universities like Virginia Tech Virginia state and through Cooperative Extension and more than 3,000 local offices serving every County and Parish in the United States we celebrate for each week during October 4 is a feeling 4 provides a place for all youth to feel valued heard and connected as a kid I did a couple years of 4 but 4 at that time did not offer near what 4 offers now these kids get up and speak you'll you'll find that out in a hurry um my wife and I are both now Allstars uh
013we are the leaders of the Sho County Livestock Club I am an adviser on County Council she is uh leader of Honor I think that yeah so we are deeply involved in 4 now so tonight I'm pleased to introduce some of the best and brightest 4ers who are currently serving in leadership roles they will be sharing their own stories of growth and they've also brought a special treat for you first up will be Maggie Eaton she's from the New Market 4 club and a 4 Camp advisor so I'm Maggie Eaton and I'm a senior at Mountain viw High School and I'm in the New Market 4 club and the honor club and I just got tapped as a 4 Allstar this year at Congress um I've been in 4 for my whole life I grew
014up near a farm and I've been showing dairy cow since I was 3 years old which is probably a little bit too small to be showing a dairy cow but I enjoyed it and I still do um the county fair was and always has been one of my favorite places to be I've also always had a love of singing and 4 had a place for me there with the Share the Fun competition it was my dad who convinced me to compete and I was really reluctant to get up there and sing but I've been to the state competition at 4 Congress twice because of that so thanks to my dad um and I found that 4 is a place where I can explore anything that I'm interested in and it has a place for everybody
015it brought me out of my comfort zone the most impactful part of 4 for me though has been being a camp counselor at 4 overnight camp in Front Royal everyone says that being in 4 teaches you leadership and responsibility skills and being at Camp is definitely an example of that I was absolutely terrified the first year that I was a counselor because I had no previous experience doing anything like that and I was so worried that the kids were going to hate me um but I ended up absolutely loving it and I don't think the kids hated me um Camp is a week that I most look forward to during the year and it's another one of my favorite places to be I love having a responsible role there and seeing how the kids are
016enjoying it just as much as I did when I was a camper being a counselor taught me how to be a good leader and there was lots of music there so it was right up my alley for overall singing and Share the Fun and especially being a camp counselor has inspired me to want to pursue an education career specifically in music I have found a passion for music being a leader and inspiring younger generations to pursue their goals I know that the confidence responsibility compassion and all the other skills that I've learned in 4 will help me become a great teacher and I hope I can teach those lessons to my future students thank you great job thank [Applause] you good evening my name is Nate farmer and I'm currently a junior at Mountain View
017High School I've been in 4 since I was in elementary school one of my biggest impacts 4 has had on my life is teaching me responsibility as a member of the as a member of the livestock judging team I've learned that a team was always counting on me if I was not serious or I did not study I would be letting my team down as I got older I began to hold leadership roles within my 4 group I was Treasure historian and now this week I was voted vice president for the second term each leadership position gave me more responsibilities living on a farm I also head chores at home so I learned how to manage my time some of my 4 responsibilities have been a bit of a challenge like the summer Maggie and
018I and a few others were put in charge of a 4 day camp for a week that was a whole lot of high energy responsibility another role I've had in 4 is on the livestock show and sale executive committee after showing cattle and goats for many years it it was exciting to be given the opportunity to help and make decisions that benefit that benefit our youth in shannond at the shannond county fair it is a big responsibility to be able to impact the kids the way that older 4 members have impacted me this past summer I had the privilege to go with 4ers from all over the state to the Dominican Republic being an ambassador not only for 4 but for our country was an amazing responsibility overall 4 has taught me a lot of
019different things like being a member of a team time management and most importantly responsibility I am grateful for my time in 4 and I'm grateful for my leaders mentors and I'm grateful for your continued support of our 4 organization great job thank [Applause] you good good evening my name is Lizzie zurel I 15 years old in the 10th grade and homeschooled I'm the president of the Shino County 4 livestock club and vice president of the shindo county 4 Council I'm also a member of the shindo county honor Club I show sheep and goats not only at the county fair but all over Virginia and West Virginia I play volleyball for Valley Thunder homeschool Sports in Winchester and am involved at my church and at theater shinoa in Edinburg where I'm currently playing Judy let me
020give you a quick recap of my year in 4 in May and June of last year I was accepted as a delegate to go to National 4 Congress I was the youngest delegate from Virginia I in November of 2022 I went to Atlanta Georgia and attended National forage Congress now moving forward to May and June of this year I applied to be a district Ambassador so I went through an application an interview and then had to present a speech to my district do you know how scary it is to talk to a room full of teenagers the answer is terrifying of course at the end of this process it came to a vote after a lot of fun at the last night of Congress I found out that I was not elected as an ambassador
021for one of the first times in my 4 career I experienced failure the definition of failure is the emission of expected or required action we all have felt failure somewhere throughout our lives there's a Dr Seuss quote that I really stick by when something bad happens you have three choices you can let it Define you let it destroy you or you can let it strengthen You in September I went to a volleyball tournament in Gatlinburg Tennessee where I saw two types of teams one that let every point for the other team strengthen them and made them keep going or another one who let every point on the other team side weaken them to the point that they just laid over and let the other team win anytime you suffer a setback or a disappointment put
022your head down and plow ahead Les Brown I let my failure strengthen me I then had opportunities I got to be in a show at theater shenoa that otherwise I would not have had time to be in I got to work harder with my sheep and goats and went on to win Reserve Grand Champion in Reserve Grand Champion showman at the Shino County Fair I also would not have been able to try out for white Christmas which I'm having so very much fun at I've worked hard to overcome my failure and I'm trying to build back up the courage to go for bigger I will leave you with one last quote One's best success comes after their greatest disappointment thank you do you have any questions they did you did a great job as [Applause]
023well good evening ladies and gentlemen of the board my name is Lindsay Rigby and I'm a 2021 graduate of Central High School and currently a sophomore at lurel rdge Community College get pursuing a degree in science with an agricultural specialization I used to be a 4 member but I have now moved on to being a 4 volunteer and now more recently a 4 Leader I've spoken in front of this board numerous times over the course of my involvement in this organization some of you may be slightly familiar with me and slightly familiar with my 4 story to make it as brief as I possibly can I joined for in October of 2015 with the shinoa county for goat club and quickly found my first project which was two market goats over the course of my
024forh eligibility I also completed Market beef swine sheep and poultry projects I had the opportunity to exhibit these projects at the county state and National level simultaneously my Clum involvement also stemmed out and in the following years I joined the Exchange Club livestock club and honor Club on top of that I had the opportunity to serve as on the county level as the county forage council's secretary first vice president and was able to round out my final years of Eligibility as the County council president additionally on top of that I also served as a youth representative for the sheno county forn FFA Livestock Show and sale board a youth member of the extension leadership C Council and a co-chair and chair of numerous County based committees I was also tapped as Virginia for Allstar sometime
025throughout my jumble of Officer positions and responsibilities I was also able to find time to participate in competition events events and teams it was these events that I found the most impactful in the molding of my abilities as a youth participant prepared public speaking extemporaneous public speaking table setting presentation meets evaluation livestock judging and livestock skillathon were my contests of choice as my final year for it approached I began competing in my favorite contest for one final time in June of 20122 I placed top 20 of the Virginia state livestock judging contest which granted me the opportunity to compete as as a member of the state livestock judging team this would be the first time I stepped outside of a county team and on to the state level of the 20 individuals invited to compete
026on the State team once a year four of those individuals are selected to represent Virginia at the national 4 livestock judging contest in Louisville Kentucky that same year I was selected as one of the four upon my return back home I was invited to serve as the county forage livestock judging and skillathon Coach one month and 10 days from today marks my one-year anniversary of sorts serving as the coach of this team from 2015 forward I dreaded the days where I would not hold an office exhibit an animal or compete on a team in 4 I'm constantly asked what was your best 4 experience what did you like about it and what did you gain from it this right here is the best 4 experience for me this is and always will be my favorite
027part of 4 serving as a coach any plaque award and ribbon I have received could not could not compete to the fact of being a coach in fact every year at the state contest of the county team places overall the coach also re receives a ro rosette from it last year we placed fourth in the state which is a very high honor for these kids this rosette that we won from this contest I keep right front and center at my desk all the time um just because it's a reminder of um the opportunity I have to work with the most driven and intelligent and passionate group of kids I know I find that I value their success over mind I push them to be their best because I know they can be that and so
028much more and I'm so excited to see them go there over the course of the next couple years there are a little over 20 individuals competing on the sheno county for livestock judging and skillathon team this year that's making us one of the largest county teams in the state the youth you see sitting behind me practice two to three days a week not including the time they spend utilizing materials they have been provided by me at home um and believe it or not they do voluntarily do homework and they ask for things to do at home to study um on top of that they will also travel anywhere from an hour to a short plane ride away this year for contests and camps um they will meet and engage with industry experts and participate in
029events ranging from small to large scale this is an extremely large time commitment for R forer so far since our season begun which it only started about three months ago a little more than that um after our two-e break from after States um the participants have had the opportunity to engage in approximately 70 to 80 hours of practice time with me and they've had the opportunity to travel anywhere from 700 to 800 miles in the last three months with me um I would like to recognize the team members who are here with us this evening not all of them could be with us but there's a few um Olivia Hawkins senior Tanner Hawkins Jr Adeline Hawkins Jr and Britney SE senior on top of that I would I know she's not here this evening but
030I would like to give an extremely special shout out to Carol nil um not only for her tremendous impact on me as I grew up throughout the program but also her continued impact on them in my group and then the group over here as well um thank you for your time this evening as a volunteer I truly appreciate you listening to the for each members here in this County um and especially their presentation truly tells the story of for so any questions what year are you at Lowa Ridge I'm sophomore sophomore you got and what is your future plans um that's a little tough I know I want to stay in the world of a type of things I'm really currently thinking about embryology right now small animal embriology so sheep and goats is kind
031of my thing um but at the moment I'm open to everything I've bounced around egg teacher different things like that we're looking for egg teacher yeah I know you are yeah you don't have to go far to get HED yeah okay any other comments to this fine young lady thanks a lot thank you again as I said you'd hear a variety of stuff out of out of this group um they have cookies they're going to pass out to you so you can enjoy a sweet snack and we really appreciate the opportunity to come speak and thanks for your work thank you very much [Applause] good job great job conratulations nice job good luck keep up the hard work were we' got cookies so Mr toddlin has some great news for us if he will come
032up to share good evening chairman Hesley Dr Shepard members of the school board it is absolutely my pleasure to recognize three of our most outstanding Scholars that competed at the Rockingham County Fair the day before school in the week of the first week of school uh these timed events kicked off with the carpentry event where these students had to prepare a bench uh they're given the raw materials they're given a blueprint and they have to go build um they've got two hours about two hours uh to complete the project um and beside me here Mr Marcus Ferguson won first place in the carpentry division uh the next night we had electricity students they had to read a schematic then they had to do wire uh for lights switches and receptacles and Mr Zack Boatright took
033first place in that event the last competition uh that triplet students participated in was in masonry uh students had to build a cube uh where Mr Cody Reigns took first place in that event so these events are judged by industry uh people so they're construction people that judged our students and how well they did uh we had competitors from Augusta County Rockingham County Green County um and chano County um all combined at these events um out of these events uh their teachers Mr Chrisman and carentry Mr Stevens in electricity Mr Kibler in masonry and then myself are extremely proud of these young men's uh for taking the sweep in the construction trade classes that we participated in next year we're going to go for four as we'll participate in hbac as well thank you for
034giving us the time to recognize Marcus and his fellow classmates from trip Tech thank [Applause] you thank you Linda okay the Shiner County School Board welcomes public comment during most regular meetings and during public uh hearings school board members do not respond to the public comments during the meeting or hearing each speaker May uh speak up to three minutes the board generally allows to 30 minutes for for public comments on agenda and non-agenda items all comments should address a matter related to shinder County Public Schools complaints regarding division employees should be directed to the school principal or to the appropriate School Division official the school board expects that each speaker be courteous modeling for our students how one can respectfully disagree with other views speakers will address their comments to the entire school board and
035not to the individual board member to the superintendent or to a staff member nor to the audience speakers will not engage in personal attacks uh speakers were asked to sign a sheet when you enter the room and we will go by the list and the first one is my good friend Pastor Karen I am Pastor Karen casperson and I thank you for this time I wrote my remarks before the proposed modifications but I decided to read it anyway we talk about the three Rs of Education here's rithmetic about reading there are at least 102 books whose suitability have been questioned they are but a small percentage of those on the moms for Liberty Hit List let's assume that all 102 titles are either presently in our libraries or have been requested let's also assume that
036they are equally divided among the three age brackets so that means 34 each what is statistical odds that one child will select one of those 34 books out of thousands and bring it home perhaps the adult might find this book to be an opportunity for discussion with the child perhaps the adult may find it to be objectional leaving two options return the book and have a discussion with the librarian or bring it to the attention of social media hopefully that adult will make the honorable choice and follow the words for Matthew 18:15 more numbers let's do some more arithmetic at least one librarian in one of the nine schools was in tears after a passage was read at a school board meeting from a book that was reportedly in one of the libraries but in
037reality was not on the shelves nor had it been exper requested Librarians with multiple years of experience select books after Consulting professional sources and other Librarians they submit their choices to the principal who then screen the recommendations and forwards the list to the school administration every one of these professionals has the best interest of our students in mind let's do more arithmetic suppose all the objectional books are either on our shelves or recommended for purchase and therefore subject to scrutiny certainly there are going to be more than 102 titles ordered during any school year once again let's assume that only 102 books are to be ordered under the proposed policy all books must be evaluated by a committee of nine each of the nine committee members must be provided with copies of each book multiply
038918 books to be ordered at what cost more arithmetic what are the odds of all nine members to read each of the 102 books in a timely fashion 102 books multiply by how many hours to read each one who is that much free time to read all the books in their entirety and properly or will only selected passages be read what percentage of books will be read in their entirety more of the three Rs take the arithmetic about reading when considering what you will write thank you for these three minutes thank you uh Miss Virginia Rosen it's National Farmers day make sure you thank a farmer today for all that they do because you wouldn't eat today and happy belated birthday to the colonel we call you the colonel at my house but next year
039we may have to call you Mr President now let's get down to Ms very soon you will vote on the proposed library book policy and based on what I've been hearing I suspect some of you will vote no perhaps it's time to reflect on your voting records first the name change what a disaster that's been you spent six whole days on that even though the majority of the citizens didn't want it good job nice decision making next The Mask policy some of you thought it was too soon to get rid of the Mask oh my God people are going to get sick and die blah blah blah well we all know how that panned out nice decision making next W oh it's too soon I don't think the kids can do both blah blah blah
040well it's been a huge success nice decision making now the proposed Library policy we don't need a policy it's micromanaging blah blah blah lots of games and tactics going on here like stalling deliberately leaving it off the agenda and throwing other wrenches into the process even though you're probably still going to vote now nice decision making maybe it's time for some reflection when you're always on the wrong side of the boote it's either incompetence or you're just being vindictive and that is not in the job description of Schoolboard member but don't worry if you mess up this vote the cleanup crew will be here next year to straighten everything out thank you Mike Rickert Dr Shepherd school board members thank you for uh giving me the three minutes tonight um I came across an excerpt
041from a book I can assure you it's not from the 102 that are in question um it's a timely quote from Corey and like to read it because it applies to what we're talking about it's sex I was pretty sure meant whether you were a boy or a girl and sin made taunt Jans very angry but what the two together meant I could not imagine and so seated next to father in the train compartment I suddenly asked father what is sex in he turned to look at me as he always did when answering a question but to my surprise he said Nothing At Last he stood up lifted his traveling case from the rack over our heads and set it on the floor will you carry it off the train Corey he said I stood
042up and Tagg tugged at it it was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning it's too heavy I said yes he said and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load it's the same way Corey with knowledge some knowledge is too heavy for children when you are older and stronger you can bear it for now you must trust me to carry it for you from The Hiding Place the story of Cory tboom we are asking our children to carry loads that are way too heavy for them they should not be forced as children to see and feel the world through the lenses of adults innocence is worth protecting and worth fighting for we need to do our part as teachers
043parents and caregivers to carry certain things for them until they are old enough to Bear the load in my last minute of being up here I want to applaud you guys of actually working on coming together on the policy uh I like hearing that I like hearing that everybody's working together um however the one thing that kind of clued in on me was uh the appointment of parents to the committee by the superintendent no insult to the superintendent um but the bottom line is you guys are the ones that are accountable to the taxpayers so so I believe you guys should be the ones playing a role in appointing the parents to the committee uh that way you have the taxpayers and the public to answer to um that being said the bottom line is
044I believe the parents need to stay involved whatever the plan is you guys come up with parents need to say after all it's their kids we're educating thank you for your time thank you Charles Street is next good evening I hope everyone is well school board members Dr Melody shepher thank you for allowing me to speak tonight first I would like to comment on the careers on Wheels held at Ashby this past Tuesday Jessica marwitz did an outstanding job organizing this event for the second year I know that it took a school effort to pull this event off there were we were one of 15 or 16 businesses that participated my son Chase Street really enjoyed interacting with the students for a short time that I was able to be there I was really impressed
045with the questions the students were asking I hope that Jessica and administration continue to support this event in the future it's good for the students to ask questions and learn about different careers that are in the community I don't know if the other elementary schools have a similar career day but if they don't I would encourage them to do so I'm also glad that the weather cooperated for this event and also applaud all that took the time and effort to do this event second about the library policy I've listened to all the comments and concerns the last time this topic was brought up in my opinion nobody is accusing The Librarians as to which books are in the libr libraries or how they got there things just happen and most of the time fall through
046the cracks so to speak but 100 books made their way into the system somehow I don't blame the Librarians because if I had to read each book that was acquired or purchased I probably wouldn't have time to do my job this policy helps the Librarians to have different set of eyes so that the books don't fall through the cracks some people need to understand this policy is to help life Librarians to take some of the burden off of their shoulders nobody's trying to dictate which books are to be in put on the shelves just the books are suitable for the students do I believe that the policy needs some tweaking it probably does but that's all thanks thank you Mr Steve Heisman good evening Schoolboard members Dr Shepard thank you for allowing me to speak
047a minute this evening first off congratulations to all of the 4 members that we saw here just uh previously and their achievements of with what they have done and then also congratulations to the successful career on Wheels uh that uh was the other day at the uh Southern campus at Ashby Lee um it looks like it's getting growing and hopefully getting better and better and I always want to have to take a minute to praise the um the W the weekly religious education it is often uh running at a great start uh this uh school year here it actually started up three times stronger student wise than what it finished up last year and that is very very impressive and very remarkable and look forward to seeing it grow as we go um and a
048couple words on the policy two months ago we heard comments from both sides of of the issue of of the uh the books that are in the school library and uh after listening to uh both sides and uh what I found very interesting was a little later on in the meeting as you board members were conducting business under information items uh when you were discussing the issue of the policy uh you each of you then uh gave your thoughts and or comments on that policy uh information and um M rutz read a couple paragraphs from a book and um when uh when she got done reading it showed the graphic and raw adult content that was being exposed to our Miners and when she was finished reading there was a complete silence in the entire
049boardroom here it it was just a several moments but it seemed like five minutes you could have heard a pin drop the silence in here was deafening nothing else on that topic had to be said the truth was exposed and one could see how wrong this entire issue is especially in the public school systems where our tax dollar funds such an activity it's another example of indoctrination hidden in plain sight and it needs to be eliminated immediately and I ask again where is the accountability parents who want their children to be exposed to this adult material they can buy it online and expose it to them at their homes something it needs to be kept out of the public school system something that we all need to be thinking about is throughout the valley throughout
050the country but I'm right here in shandel County there are a number of students that are in Christian Schools they're in private schools and I got a report just very recently where we now in shendo County we have 554 students that are being homeschooled now we M Shephard we have what some 56 5800 students I think in the 56 okay and that's a percentage that is noticeable and that's something that we need to be thinking about because right or wrong what you all are going to be deciding on it's you could call it what you want but it's good versus evil and the there's a number of people that are just flat out taking their children out of the public school systems and that should be concern to us thank you very much thank you
051Pastor Katie Gowan this fine lady I attended homecoming at my mother's home church Sunday and she did an outstanding job as she always does and the food was good too Dr Shephard and shinid County school board members I thank you for the few minutes that you are allowing me to talk about spring forward but even more I thank you for the hours the days the months the years that you have put in to serving our community and seeking to be civil servants a difficult thing to do in this day and age I know you have agonized over the needs of our children and and you have been in my prayers and I thank you for your service so spring forward is an after school program that my congregation and uh the Hamburg rtin um club
052and in cooperation with the shinid doic county schools has joyed to provide since 2009 it is um starting up and I provided you the first two plans of the day that are our students were able to enjoy this past Tuesday and then today and I continue to just stand in awe of the Educators who pull these uh programs together and our executive director Jane Perry for the creative spirit that she provides um I can't tell you that if I had had to take a test before Tuesday on deciduous trees I would have passed so I'm always learning something uh at spring forward and it's always uh an enrichment opportunity for our students this year so far we have 15 Scholars that are registered and uh three from the southern campus and 12 from the central
053campus nine of them are returning um students and six are new Scholars eight girls seven boys and they are just a joy to uh be with our staff is tremendous it's created of 15 um retired School Educators and Military Officers Community leaders and then Pastor Katie and when we show up as soon as we arrive we put on our name tags and we all become a community of Learners together um we also are blessed to have two former Scholars serving as tutors as they um complete their college degrees and you can tell that they love this program we are funded by private grants through shanida Community Foundation through the Francis and Michael Williamson Family Trust charitable trust as well as support from the Hamburg Ron club and from um the uh Zion Lutheran Church and
054Edinburg Lutheran Parish um I want to thank the the shinedor county schools for all the help and the time that you have provided in supporting this program as well and thanks to Linda Hodges who will be with us next Tuesday providing boundary trainings for our staff we seek to provide a High um a highly um um just lost drain of thought um a highly skilled program and we pray for our students and we pray for all those who support our students so thank you again for being part of this wonderful program thank you next speaker is Mr Tom Street good evening I noticed my brother had 45 seconds left and I was going to ask could I add it to mine but I see Steve Heisman totally took that um anyway I want to thank
055the school board for being here tonight thank you Admiral I wanted to comment on the library book policy and I'm here to speak not only as an adult but I I really want to express I'm here as a parent I have a student at North Fork Middle School and I talked to a lot of parents here recently and I thought somebody would actually disagree with me because normally there always is somebody that disagrees but nobody did and I heard comments in the past and I I about you know we should trust our Librarians our Librarians are educated and I I don't think that's the issue we we do trust our Librarians they are educated so I don't think anybody has an issue with the Librarians we we are proud of them but um so as
056a parent it comes down to you know I think about it a lot at work and you know bottom line is it doesn't have to be complicated and what adult when I think of as adult what adult would be against some formal policy as a safeguard as a watchdog because you know it's it's there but remember there's nothing wrong with being proactive okay there's nothing wrong with being proactive because there's probably more to come if nothing is done so as a parent I just want to express and it's a term that I've used for a long time and for many many years I've always trusted I've always told I've told people this I've trusted the sheno County public school system that they act under good faith and that's my message just simply as a parent
057tonight to the school personnel and whoever it is I mean whether it's in the past Mr Jim hind is a teacher or Mr Todd Lim an administrator or the superintendent or the school board us parents always remember that we just ask that you simply always act under good faith in what's best for the kids and remember evil triumphs when good people do nothing thank you thank you does anyone else in the audience like to speak that did not sign sign up hearing none we will proceed uh next on our agenda is the approval of the consent agenda do I hear a motion colleagues I move to approve the consent agenda as presented thank you Mr Guta do do I hear a second second second by Mr Barlo all those in favor say I I I
058all those opposed it carried by a 5 Z vote moving on to information agenda number four uh strategic goals and comprehension long range planning Dr he Gardner good evening Mr chairman and board members I'm going to do the best I can Dr sheper um I um got a little bit of a silence in faction going so I'm going to say as little as possible we like that but uh here's a hall I've been I'm you never turn down from former teacher thank you all right um the long range plan um you saw this several months ago you saw the first draft of it we were in collection data collection mode at that time we've got most of that data collected and we're now ready to show it with show it to you you have it
059there um on your computers but I'm going to skim through it on the screen uh there's a table of contents board members the central office staff is listed principls are listed the back the back pages of this is where the meet is um our missions Mission Vision belief statements um we have to have some curriculum components into the long range plan so they are there part a new segment we have to have is the literacy plan and that is there you have your Schoolboard goals that you work through in one of the board meeting sessions there's the other two there's five of those goals there's demographic information about the school system and then the pages are the ones that begin to Bear the fruit of the work um and kind of guide us and show
060us and give us some information as to the progress that the school division is making with regards to the goals that you've selected now I do want to pause at this state at this point right here and because I want to mention one point that Mr Barlo raised when we were meeting and that is a lot of good things can happen in schools and you only see it by the feel or you can only feel it it's a atmosphere its environment its culture it's not going to resonate itself with a number and that's an important concept to remember and I promise you we do remember that um and we will continue to remember that however it's also good to be able to progress chart our progress and that's what this chart does so under our
061academic achievement and growth you see I think there's nine um different topics that we um that we Monitor and you can see um we're in the emphy stages of this particular plan but obviously a graduation rate is one of the top things that we Monitor and that we watch and we've been very very very blessed for many many years to have a high graduation rate um but of course we'll never be satisfied until it's 100 going across there um but you can see the other points that we monitor under academic achievement the College and Career Readiness um and then of course the s sols that um the accreditation report um and then are Reading Writing math science and social studies those are so scores um you can see what that specific item is you can
062see the person responsible for collecting it and then um the results of of how that goes and so obviously over the course of the next several years we want to see these ticking up that's obviously the goal so that's academics number two goal is positive School climate these are 10 or 11 data points that we'll collect we continue to monitor um I will I will tell you and just using this as an example A A number that number right there 456 is just a number if you don't know the information behind that number the number before that that's just a number now we do have something to compare it to obviously but it's still unless you know the details to the number you really don't know what it says and I'm just using this one
063as an example because it's a very easy one for people to wrap their head around does that mean that we had more incidents you could take that away from what that says does that mean we're reporting more incidents than we had to the year before that might be part of it there are could be lots of different reasons and there usually is there's usually not one reason why a number goes up or down it's usually multifaceted for sure but that's just one example that I wanted to make sure to point out because you may see a number and if you don't know the context in the story behind that number it may not make sense to you um so my point in that is if you look over these over the course of the next
064week or so or whenever don't hesitate to call us you can call me if I don't know the answer I'll find it out um but we will certainly um get you an answer as to what we believe a number is the the way that it is the NY is simply I'm sorry is simply that that information na down there at the bottom is not available yet um as soon as that information is available I'll update these but that's Paul survey data is coming from JMU and it's coming in as we speak so over the course of the next several weeks Miss Hodes will be unpacking that and be able to um populate those fields we look at goal three family engagement and Community connections you can see some of the points that we um emphasized
065there and some of the topics that we look at to to determine progress on that the reason these are shaded out because that's we do not do this survey this Pride survey in the these years that's a survey that is done across the state you can you can see percent of students who perceive marijuana use as as moderate or great risk see what that number was to years ago see what that number was last year percent of students who perceive marijuana use as moderate or great risk just in informative just in informative goal number four recruit support and retain enthusiastic professionals obviously this one is very encompassed in the HR Department Linda handles all of these I there's 12 11 or 12 of these again some of these come from the Paul survey but some
066of them do not for example the teacher and admin pay equals median of a comparable School divisions is and that was a goal of the school boards does it yes or does it no obviously the last two years it has you can see you know the advanced degrees retirement it will be very interesting to see our new results at the end of this year after all the work we did this past summer and is currently being rolled out by our building administrators I'm excited to see what this last number will be it'll be interesting to see you can see two years ago when the exit survey was given and the staff members said says they may have said or 16% said one of the reasons that was influenc their decision to leave was their immediate
067supervisor which you see what it was last year so that as far as I'm concerned I think we would all agree it's trending in the right direction so I'm hoping that number is going to be even lower at the end of this year when we're collecting that information and then goal number five high quality and adequate for facilities again this um lives in the CIP and it's going to live in a lot of the work that we have upcoming over the next several months um but you can see what our utilization percentage is and that's barely moving um because our student um enrollment is very very very stagnant very level to be honest it it has been for years um but nonetheless you can see that from our facilities and we take we always try
068to take this data from a consistent data report or a consistent set and that's important to know so that one year we're not getting this information from this source and the next year we're getting this information from a different source and the source where we get our student teacher ratios is this is the state divisions the state profile the state school profile and that information is not updated yet for this current school year so those I just want to point out a couple of them just to give you a sense of what's there obviously you can read it at your leisure um and again if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask because there's a story behind every number um then the appendix you can you'll be able to go to our CIP
069and then the last p portion of the appending is the fall membership report I know it's too small to see here um but again it's it's pretty dog G close into what the projections were it's couple hundred off but um it's not too far off I'll be happy to answer any questions Dennis I want to congratulate the superintendent and uh Dr Hein Gardner for I think these five or spot on um as uh Dr Shepard pointed out earlier and you pointed out takes a lot of courage to show numbers that could be misinterpreted there would be others who would be tempted to hide those numbers and kind of fudge it or just ignore them throwing them up there and inviting questions about them shows a lot of Courage which shows me a lot of confidence
070and I think that's uh again again highly highly laudable and uh I'll finish with uh it's uh it's heartening to see a veteran warhorse you don't mind me using that term like uh like Dave Hein Gartner saying that he can't wait to see the results of something I mean that I'm I'm I'm dead serious that when when professionals are looking forward to the results coming in and see how they're doing that that's a real indication of a professional attitude that in my experience trickles down all the way and I think we're seeing that already so uh Splendid job and um and we'll we'll try to help you get there and uh but but but thanks thanks for what you guys have done so far absolutely other questions so I think I remember when you were
071creating this document so Dr Hein Gardner really has a whole lot to do with how this looks and how things are measured because he created it from from there's a lot of help nothing a few years ago so appreciate that and then the other thing I just want to point out because it always is shocking to some people to see is that student teacher ratio is not a reflection of class size glad you made that point you're exactly right um that that particular number gets very misleading and very often misinterpret absolutely when you're applying to colleges they they always put that disclaimer so I've started saying that to people when they say well you're it's it's not it's because some classes can only have one in it you know by nature and and the state
072will calculate it and they'll count these positions um construction firm will calculate it and they'll use these position you know a different and they all sometimes Librarians are included and and counselors and administrators and sometimes they're not you know and so it's that's a great example of there's a story behind that thank you other questions thank you hope you feel better Garo with saltwater Dr H uh yes Dr hillsley No that's my good mother uh 4 two Dr Shepherd's already getting in place this is the report to the Community General County Public Schools so each year we do a report to the community so this is a reflection of the 22 2022 2023 school year and you'll notice the very first page as a as as a visual depiction of of what we did last
073year so and this is available on board doogs for you to go back and look at you'll notice that last year we had 97.5 of our students grad graduate on time so what is ontime graduation ontime graduation is students who start 9th grade and complete in four years so we had 97.5% of our students graduate on time of those graduates 176 of them earned an advanced diploma so 176 out of 418 graduates earned an advanced diploma toor scholarships awarded were let's see that may be the next page that's right there total scholarships awarded were 4.18 million the local scholarships were around um a little over 375,000 about 50% of our students go on to college and about 50% of our students go on to the workforce to the military or trade school 14 of our
074students earned an associates degree before they graduated from high school probably two weeks before they they um walked the stage at Laurel Ridge Community College and then a couple of weeks later they they graduated from their their Alma moer 19 students earned a general Ed certification we served over 800,000 meals breakfast and lunch last year and then switching to Personnel 55% of our teachers have advanced degrees a master's or a doctoral degree we had a 976 employees including our food service workers our transportation Department's the next one um traveled over 500,000 miles which equates to about 20 times around the earth and like I said this is available on board docs for you guys to to review you um but this um report was put together by our our good friend Jessica Sager so please
075give her um a a pat on the back when you see her because it's a job well done always any questions questions thank you and you might as well stay there because you're going to give us an update on the elementary school vest thank you Travis so fiscal year 2023 the general assembly allocated $2.3 million for school Construction and with that $2.3 million we um are going to add secure front entrances to our element schools if you'll remember the summer of 2022 Sheriff Carter updated the school board on school safety and he made three requests and one of the requests was to add an additional um SRO so that there could be a floater so I believe that has happened just recently and then a second request was to um that the one way in
076and the One Way Out of of the um strawsburg the northern campuses was was difficult however that's not something that we're going to be able to um to tackle because it needs a bridge and we are not Bridge experts um we are education experts but um the third thing that he said is we need secure entrances for our elementary schools and we need those secure entrances so that we can have parents go in parents or or visitors go in and be in aest V before they enter the building so we are we are tackling that now so the first school we're looking at is honeyrun elementary school and this is a rendering of what honeyrun elementary school will look like once the new vestibule is added you'll notice that there is some signage there to
077actually point to the front entrance of the building sometimes at our schools I know at ww Robinson those both of those entrances look the same it's the right entrance and not the left which was their main entrance last year but this year it is the left it is the left entrance so but all of our schools will have some signage that shows that this is where you enter the building and then here is the the actual drawing of what that's going to look like so you will see that there are double doors here which the community will enter this is the vestib area where people will wait until they are buzzed either in this set of doors or in this door right here we are adding some security some security film to our front windows
078and our front door and we are also adding some additional windows for um visibility of the outside of the building please feel free to stop me if you have any questions along the way so here is the rendering of WW Robinson Elementary School you'll notice that it actually brings that entrance almost out to the the um left portion that juts out on that building and then here is the drawing of that and you will notice that here is the entrance and this is the vestibule area here is one set of double doors that will be locked and then you notice a door right here for um for parents to go into the office but they will be in this waiting space until they get buzzed in and then finally we have Sandy Hook Elementary School
079and again here's the visual here's the rendering and then here's the front entrance and there is the secondary entrance and then you have the the door right there for um to go into the office any questions before I turn over turn this over oh wait I've got one more slide so anticipated timeline so we started this process um several months ago with Mosley Architects and they um provided us the renderings and the drawings but in August we sent out a bid to construction companies we received two bids from for the project and we would like to award the bid in October so this month we expect the project to launch in November and then the completion will if if this time works then the completion will be in April of and then Angie's going to
080talk about finances if you have any questions about anything I've talked about yes Mr barow not about finances but as these are being designed and built uh is there um somebody who works with the builder at figuring out the proper sighting for cameras and for the camera monitoring system other words is this kind of an inte cretive process that as the build goes on and the design goes on that that the plan for camera usage and monitoring is integrated so the actual camera locations have already been um established in the plan I don't know that I could see it here to point them out because um there has to be wiring to the camera so that all that work has already um has already happened so um so the cameras you know we we have
081architects who are experts in in design and building schools they were the ones who said okay you probably need a camera here and there and this is where your door access point is going to go and this is how we're going to wire them yeah what let see the completion is April that's next spring uh what's about the interruption of of of taking care of people coming in while the school year is going on yeah so all of our elementary schools have relocated to another space so that the interruption will be minimal okay all the offices all the offices that's that's correct any other questions for her missan okay financing 101 thank you Dr sheer all right so um this is a number you've seen before the state awarded us um 2.3 million the next
082um architecture and engineering um is $141,800 um that's with Mosley Architects ancillary costs we're estimating to be around 110,000 this includes setting up and moving of the offices which she just uh talked about it includes asbest testing installation of data Outlets furniture and anything else that might come up um that's ancillary in the in the in the project that leaves us an available balance of two just over $2 million the low bid came in at 2.6 million um obviously more than what we had remaining so we went back to Mosley Architects and asked them to do some value engineering with um The Firm the low bid firm and um we were able to find some Savings of $116,000 um in in some material savings and Equipment usage um then we like to put in um
083it's Market says to do like 3% for um contingency on construction for um change orders and things like that that may come up when we take all of that into consideration the total cost of the project is just over $2.8 million again the state awarded us the 2.3 million um as you all voted on earlier this year and the county has established for us the escrow account we will be getting some some interest on that I've estimated about $40,000 the August interest was just over um $ 9,000 so again that's going to depend on interest rates and um expenditures that we use you know over the next couple of months then it left us with um requiring $494,000 we got together and um we'll have to postpone some CIP projects that we had originally scheduled
084for this year um but we that we had the 2.3 million from the state and the safety of our elementary students this project needed to move on so we're going to be um we're estimating using about $494,000 of the CIP funds that the county um appropriated for us this year any questions questions yeah uh Andrew back to that ancillary costs those are just those other things that comes up with that number well so some of the stuff we already know about um so it is it is an estimate um let me get back to my notes here so um we already know we we worked with ist to set up and move the offices so we already had to pay those um being um the security technology firm that we use um the asbest testing
085was weci they came came in and did the asbest testing that cost $99,250 what do they test to see if there's asbest under the under the floor and in the tiles and things like that that was required through the RFP um the installation of the data Outlets um that's something that Dr Shepard was just talking about when we moved the offices so those are costs that we already know so we took that and added just a percentage to to to get it in there it's pretty close it's a lot other questions thank you you're welcome thank you all right uh Dr Shepard 4 for proposed budget development of the calendar and Schoolboard meeting dates for 24 so the proposed budget calendar and the proposed school meeting meting calendar is attached are attached to this agenda
086item and they will be recommended for approval at the November school board meeting and you the uh questions first uh the calar you you mentioned when we met 101 about uh the work days for elementary and that's included in this yeah so no this is school board meeting C scheduled okay okay y okay just off the top of my head looking at it here real quick it looks great to me I agree I don't know why we're voting on it all right any other questions moving on I assume four or five Virginia School Board Association proposed legislative position amendments Dr Shepard or Miss Walsh Miss Walsh uh so I was elected by this good board to be the delegate to the vsba this year and Kyle is my um my vice delegate what's the right
087word um anyway the good news is there are only four amendments proposed this year um to the legislative handbook they're pretty straightforward two of them are from rural schools two of them are from Urban Schools they're not terribly complicated um I would propose that we vote on them as a block at our next meeting unless someone wants to pull one out separately to vote on but I am open to suggestions it's good that Warren County got one in yeah they did usually it's Fairfax County well there's two Fairfax one Warren and one tazwell that's a rule yeah that is a rule so uh when would you need to know um what did we just I think it was November Friday the thir November third please okay so send you the information that we have yeah
088if yeah if if there's one that you want pulled out separately thank you y by November 3rd thank you hey moving on action items 51 colleagues uh do we hear a motion on student matter a I'll do it I move that the student considered in student matter a be expelled from shenoa County Public Schools motion made by Miss Wallace you hear a second second second uh Mr Barlo uh roll call vote Mr yes Mr yes Mr yes Mr yes Mr yes motion carried by 5- Z vote five two request of increase of 2024 operating budget for Ida Part B flow through for special education for the 2324 allocation I move to approve the request to increase the fiscal year 2024 operating budget idea Part B flow through for special education 2023 2024 allocations thank you
089Mr Guta do I hear second second second by Mr Keller this discussion roll call vote Mr yes yes yes motion carried by 5 Z vote moving on we're skipping 53 54 Personnel do I hear a motion I move to approve the Personnel list as presented motion B by Mr K do I hear a second second second by Mr Guta roll call vote please yes yes yes that vote also carried by 5 Z moving on to superintendent's monthly report Dr Shepard you have any highlights I do our monthly attendance for September was up from 93.04 in 2022 to 94.4 in 2023 um we thank our families for continuing to make attendance a priority we would also like to congratulate our grade level spelling be winners they will compete in school level bees later this fall and
090then the county be is held will be held in January our teachers and our administrators are working hard to come up with fun activities to engage both our students and our parents a few examples include um ww Robinson Elementary School how to bring your parent to PE week um I believe about 185 parents participated in that were guardians or family members uh Sandy Hook Elementary School kindergarten students had an alphabet parade with students and staff to celebrate learning the whole alphabet honeyrun elementary school as you heard earlier hosted a career on Wills that featured a fly in from Air Care and our students and staff were very excited about that we hope everyone will join us for our education Expo on October the 21st it will be hosted at Mountain View High School this year
091we have music performances fun activities free books for our students and much more and then our marching bands are Midway through their competition season we would like to wish them luck as they continue to compete throughout October and the fall concerts have kicked off so tonight we have some fall concerts at the central campus I'm missing and I encourage everyone to come out and support our students and staff by attending these music events and the calendar event calendars available on our website and then we would like to congratulate Tenley rusher of strawsburg high school who won the Laray uh golf girls Golf Invitational and then Mountain View High School won their homecoming football game last weekend and we want to wish luck to our Central High School and strawsburg High high school teams as they
092compete in their homecoming games over the next couple of weekends that's all any questions uh I have one about we you haven't heard we haven't heard any complaints about uh the lunchers I mean you know running out that that's I first couple of weeks they had to work through that and I know each child they went through the line got something to eat that's correct I have not heard anything in addition to that okay that's good to hear and the kids are eating yes all right all right board comments who would like to start Mr Keller I have nothing at this St miss Mr uh Guta I have nothing uh Miss Walsh sorry um I I just wanted to thank Dennis and Andrew for working together um to come up with a plan for next
093steps for the library policy I think it it's a really good plan and I appreciate that the parents are included and um that will give the Librarians a direction to move in before we before we hit him with stuff um Melody mentioned marching band competition season has started last weekend was uh parade of Champions at JMU it everybody calls it the marching band Christmas because it's so much fun and the marching Royal Dukes performed twice um Mountain View High School this year moved up a level because their band got bigger so they had some really stiff competition they did not place but they were robbed because their show is so so good and if you get a chance to go to one of the Mountain View home games you got to see the halftime show
094CU it wow it was stunning it was a great story great music great costumes um and then Central did place this year they placed fourth which was the same as last year for their division we're in a smaller division because we've got the smallest band I think we have the smallest band competing because we went first at 8 a.m. call time was 3:45 a.m. um but uh they got four and our Color Guard got first in our division so that's really exciting and I do want to give a shout out to all of the Elementary School principles I won't list all the events because Melody listed them but they are really bringing their parent and uh students together as a community and doing all of these fun activities and um it's great to see so
095much uh parental involvement at these events that the principles have worked on so I appreciate that that's it Mr Marlo sorry Kyle I got four things so but I I'll get through them um first of all uh as far as the uh as far as doing the work that it takes between now and the November meeting to come to grips with a policy a library selection policy um Mr chair I recommend that um Mr Keller and myself use the good offices of the superintend to uh get together the group of um Librarians and others who will form this Committee in the next month so if the superintendent is okay with that the Chairman's okay with that it certainly is all right with me then uh Andrew and I will figure out a time to um
096to come and work that out with the superintendent and her staff um second thing is that um we heard a presentation during the work session that was incredibly enlightening to me and I just have to take a a couple of minutes because I think it's something we need to address or be aware of in the future we we got a really I think stunning report from the student support Specialists uh who used car's funding to engage these students in our families who don't know about using services in the community and um after 21 years in diplomacy I can smell authenticity and those folks uh Deborah Linton and her folks Linda and darthy made a a stunning presentation uh and I'm one of those guys says just teach teach teach but it it it hit me
097that if we don't run interference for these students that are having problems I'm not talking just displ I'm talking socioeconomic problems and let their poor parents when I say poor I mean their understanding of how to get through the system is tough it's tough for us you can imagine what it's like for some of these the some of these parents and um and it it it broke my heart to hear oh I forgot who it was it was it Linda I'm not sure but somebody was saying that when they went to the parents the parents said well you're the school system uh and the teachers and we trust you and and and to realize how much Faith these people put in our guidance or the the it's it really uh made me realize that it's
098not directly teaching but it's a I'm going to use a football analogy here it's a little bit like a pulling guard who pulls out and makes a way for the for the running back to carry and score so our teachers the ones whove run in and score by teaching but when you can clear the way and clear the fog out so that the teaching can become more effective and uh then then that is a strong educationally necessary activity I think our goal or our challenge will be to figure out how either we keep doing that uh but get funded for doing it because it's not teaching education per se and we could even work with a Board of Supervisors I don't know uh or take it on as a mission uh that that is a
099subsidiary educational Mission uh but but but find the funding to do it I I just think it's so important uh to to find those parents and those students who are struggling with how uh to get help and to get along uh that it's something that we need to to keep going so that that's that's my U that's my ad there and finally Kyle um there was an article it's very rare for me to uh quote the New York Times I'm I'm going to do that today New York Times and the Washington Times now there's a couple the same article but anyway it's it's titled Pentagon run schools LED nation in math and reading last year I was going to tell you about that article yep so children of military service members and civilian defense employees
100and schools run by the Pentagon led the nation in math and reading last year improving even after the co9 disruptions the percentage of eth graders in DOD schools who scored proficient in Reading increased from 45% in 2013 to 55% in 2022 according to the nape um the standardized Federal exam that compares States and large districts over the same period the national average for reading Proficiency in all 50 states dropped from 34% to 29 so we see that the dod schools went up during the period when National schools went down um in mathematics it's pretty much the same it wasn't as dramatic but it was the same New York Times first reported the numbers Tuesday uh noting that the military brand schools also had the highest scores for Hispanic and black students students who outperformed the
101national average of their white peers that's stunning education experts attributed the performance gaps to or our our objectives higher academic standards smarter financial decisions shorter coid lockdowns and better family support and we've captured some of those in our objectives and so seeing the beginning of a turnaround probably shouldn't shock us and and and this model is is now don't get me wrong there are some things about DOD schools I know some of the teachers in that assist they get pray pretty well uh and then when then you're dealing with military families as well so but but there's still there's still a lot here to to to grasp about the Improvement that's possible uh and uh so I think I think that model is something we should keep in mind that's all okay I have a
102very few things first of all I got we got an email colleagues uh from a parent and had a uh YouTube video and I I came early to do my homework here and I already looked at it dad destroys book Banning you need to look at it it's from a a father in Pennsylvania and uh anyone in the audience you can look that up also my homework I found our our attendance went up by 74 I mean according to the numbers you provided so we got more State money I assume that's how that we get funded for attendance yeah no oh the attendance wait no I I mean the number of students increased by 74 maybe I said it wrong I said attendance I'm sorry and then the the couple things we had two great
103front page of the nvd if you call that uh uh one uh Brand's not here but the extra recess time for elementary you know it's going well and and uh she's spearheaded that with the uh with the the central office staff and today is I mean this is a remarkable at Central High School they have a called Outfitters program they collect food and use clothing for students in their building to take home and they've just expanded to include Formal Wear so you know girls who need a dress for PR that's wonderful so if you haven't read it you can read it online and whatever and also it was brought to my attention that uh we and i' always shared this with Dr Shephard and the budget uh a a person approach me about returning Middle
104School having seventh grade teams for boys and girls at all three middle schools I don't know what the cost is they already had the uniforms and I don't know when it was discontinued Dr hegard can you tell me 200 what's that okay and the eom Y session all right and I'll Jour the meeting at 8:40 have a good evening was really good it was good