Caroline County School Board Meeting April 13th 2026

001Evening school board members, CCPS families, students, staff, and the Carolina community. I, Lidel Fortune, chair of the board, would like to call the April school board meeting to order. It is my privilege to welcome those attending in person at Caroline Middle School as well as those viewing on our CCPS YouTube channel. Each provides an avenue for you to receive information, heightened education, awareness, and involvement. The school board is grateful for your attendance as we continue to move our school division in a forward direction as hashtag one Caroline. Again, welcome to the schoolboard meeting. And now I would like to ask the clerk of the board to call the role. >> Jay Keller, student school board representative. Dr. Michael Hubard representing the Bowling Green District. Mrs. Alan Se Allison Sears representing the Western Caroline District. Mr.

002La Fortune representing the Matapana district. Dr. Sarah Calvaric, superintendent of schools. Dr. Joanda Rollins Fels representing the Rei Church District. Mr. Calvin Taylor representing the Port Royal District. Mr. Sha Kelly representing the Madison District. And I am Lisa Stevens, clerk of the board. Mr. Chair, we have a quorum. >> Thank you, Madame Clerk. Tonight, the school board would like to take a minute to pause and share the passing of one of our very own, Mrs. Carnett, 87, entered into eternal rest on April 1st, 2026. If you knew her, you knew her smile. One of those smiles that could light up any room without trying. It was warm and welcoming and full of a quiet, kind joy that made people feel seen. She earned her teaching degree at Johnson C. Smith College and began her teaching

003career at Big Stone Gap, Virginia, where she taught physical education. Much of her 20 years in education was spent serving the students of Caroline County Public Schools. She believed in young people dearly and poured into her students. Mrs. Carnett may have retired, but her impact still lives on through the lives she helped shape. At this time, the Caroline County School Board would like to enter into a moment of silence. Thank you. We will now continue with our agenda with words of inspiration from Mrs. Sears. >> Thank you. We come from different places. We bring different experiences, different opinions, different perspectives, different voices, but one purpose. We are educators. We are families. We are leaders. We are one community. Our strength is not found in agreement. It is found in respect. It is found in listening.

004It is found in unity. Unity does not mean sameness. Unity means standing together. Even when we stand differently, every student matters, every voice matters, every decision matters because every future matters. Tonight, we choose collaboration over conflict, understanding over assumption, purpose over division. We lead with care, we lead with courage, we lead with commitment for our students, for our school, for our community. Together, we move forward. >> Thank you, Mrs. Sears. At this time, we will be led in our pledge of allegiance by Lewis and Clark Elementary. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you so much students of Louiswis and Clark Elementary for leading us in our pledge of allegiance tonight. Uh this time we will

005now move for approval of the April 13, 2026 agenda. >> So moved. >> Second. It's been moved and properly seconded that we adopt the agenda as presented. Are there any questions? >> Madam clerk, please call for the vote. >> Mrs. Sears, >> I. >> Mr. Fortune, >> I. >> Dr. Hubert, >> I. >> Mr. Taylor, >> I. >> Mr. Kelly, >> I. >> Dr. Rollins Fel, >> I. >> And our agenda for this evening has been approved. Thank you so much. Uh, moving on. We are now at achieve 2027 spotlight which will be our presentation on Caroline Reed's campaign update as well as the VSBA submission by Mrs. Hildum. Good evening, Chair Fortune, Vice Chair Sears, and members of the board. It is a pleasure to be with you again this evening and update you

006on the exciting progress of the Caroline Reeds initiative. Caroline Reeds is our countywide call to action for 2026, uniting family, schools, and the entire community around the power of literacy. This evening, we would like to highlight the successful events which occurred this year and share our upcoming plans as we continue to focus on building an increasingly engaged and literate community. Tonight, we will briefly revisit communitywide literacy campaign goals and then provide updates on programs, events, activities, next steps, and finally a request for submission for the VSBA Innovation Award. If you recall, based on indicated drivers, we identified three key goals to guide our work. First, foster a culture of reading. Second, build community connections through literacy. And finally, improve access and equity in reading opportunities. These goals are the foundational elements or the why behind

007Caroline reads. Here you see the events to which we are committed in the upcoming months or those which occurred earlier this year. These are all student, adult, and community related events beginning with the Caroline Cruiser Holiday book stops to adult book clubs, excuse me, to the Main Street Kickoff to the reading incentive charity challenge to a robust summer reading program to a fall 2026 leveled literacy focus consisting of authoring, illustrating, and publishing student books. One book all eagles and one book one academy at CHS and the student led enterprise at the high school, the bookstore cafe. As you recall, our work started with outfitting the cruiser with bookshelves and new reading materials ranging in age from 0 to 18. Parents climbed aboard the cruiser at Second Mount Zion in the Dawn area, at Lotus Academy

008in the Lady Smith area, in Bowling Green at Walgreens, and finally at the Port Royal Library. Caregivers selected two new books for each CCPS student in their household, and then staff bagged the books for holiday gifting. The turnout was excellent at all stops, and participants were thrilled to leave with new books for their home libraries. We were pleased to distribute over 500 books to 250 students of all ages. Families expressed gratitude for the additions to their family libraries and the assistance of the cruiser staff. We wanted to continue to reach outside the schoolhouse walls to engage adults in fun community building reading experiences. To that end, we are offering free of charge to participants adult book clubs meeting bimonthly, in person, and virtually through 2026. Patterned after the traditional book clubs, adults from all across

009the region read a selected book from the mystery, historical fiction, and contemporary fiction genres. They then meet either in person or virtually to discuss their corresponding titles. Discussions during round one were lively and engaging. We were pleased that when surveyed over 95% of end of first round survey respondents said that the experience was positive and they would like to participate in future rounds. Round two registration is currently under underway and clubs are filling fast. This round kicks off on May 6 with the titles remarkably bright creatures by Shelby Vanpelt, The First Time I Sawm by Laura Dave and Blackcake by Charmaine Wilkerson. Our premier literacy launch event was the Main Street kickoff. Although the weather caused us to delay until March 14th, the new date did not dampen the enthusiasm or limit the participation. We

010ended up with a beautiful day of fun literacy games and activities hosted by the generous businesses on Main Street in Bowling Green and facilitated by a variety of Caroline County students and staff volunteers. Participants were given very official looking passports to track the events they attended. After participating in at least seven events along Main Street, students received a free ice cream from Gibson's. At each activity, students also received new books and other literacy supplies. The atmosphere was inspiring and attendance was excellent. Over 300 passports passports were distributed along with over 1,000 new and gently used children's books. Now, reading challenge activities are not new to the school environment, but we offered the excitement of a challenge with a twist, a service component. As students read this winner, they earned prizes not only for themselves, but

011for local causes within the community. To kick off the program, award-winning authors were invited to present to students at each school. We invited the authors such as Wendy Chang, Jamal Yogis, Trey Baker, and Carter Higgins to present to students at all levels, preK to 8th grade. Students were thrilled to learn more about the writing process from the design of a graphic novel, the inspiration for a poem to the life experiences of a second generation immigrant family. It was amazing to see the progress and participation at each school as students added their names to the power up reading garden and reading blizzard bulletin boards. Students were excited to collect their prizes and work each week towards supporting their charities of choice. Hundreds of students participated in grades K through eight, not only clocking hours of reading

012time, but also gaining the knowledge that they have the power to help others. muchneeded supplies for the senior gala held by Caroline's Promise, dog and cat supplies for the Caroline Animal Shelter, and supplies for families staying at the Richmond Ronald McDonald House were all provided through this initiative, proving that reading and working together does grow stronger communities. Although much has been accomplished, we are only getting started. Excuse me. To ensure our students maintain momentum gained during the school year, the summer reading program is currently being designed with a heavy emphasis on access and personalized support. Central to this initiative are targeted reading incentives that celebrate student progress and foster a genuine joy for reading for students demonstrating areas of opportunity based on Val's assessment data. We are implementing high-touch targeted programming that includes the distribution

013of summer book boxes. These boxes are curated to match student reading levels and interests paired with specific parent support strategies to help families facilitate meaningful literacy engagement at home. By combining these personalized resources with pop-up community programming open to all students and strong connections with public libraries, we aim to provide a comprehensive support network and that prevents summer slide and drives measurable academic goals. During the 2026 27 school year, we will work directly with students and teachers within the learning environment in a variety of ways. At the elementary level, each students will become authors, editors, and publishers to produce a unique work highlighted at a school or divisionwide event. Middle school students will participate in a onebook experience through the read to them initiative paired with a variety of interactive activities. Likewise, at the high

014school level, each academy will engage with a text and participate in learning activities related to that text. High school students will also be introduced to the art of spoken word poetry and have the opportunity to pursue pursue deeper learning of the craft. Another of the three building blocks to enhance community literacy is book ownership. We want to increase the opportunity for community members to purchase books for themselves and their families by offering a book exchange outlet model. As an added bonus, students will lead the development and operation of this bookshop and cafe. Modeled after a thriving program in Hampton Roads area, the bookstore cafe will meet the demand for a truly unique literacy experience for the entire community. A fitting wrap-up to the year's programs will be another holiday cruiser event, including multiple book stops

015to offer new books to parents for gifting during the holiday season. We can already see with the implementation of several of our Caroline Reeds programs significant outcomes. As we continue to focus on our goals, we aim to stay dedicated to positive literacy growth in within the community. Based on our Caroline Reed's programming, tonight we have a request for submission for the VSBA Showcasing Innovation Award. This award is an exciting enhancement to the VSBA Showcases for success initiative. This prestigious award recognizes and honors outstanding achievements and innovative practices in public education across Virginia. The document you have before you outlines our responses to the following questions. First, a detailed description of the program or initiative. Then, what makes this program or initiative innovative, original, and creative? How is the program or initiative designed to be sust

016sustainable over time? What partnerships or collaborations were involved in developing and implementing this program? And how can this program or initiative be adapted or implemented in other school divisions? I'm happy to field any questions at this time as we are requesting a board vote and approval for submission to VSBA by April 17th. >> Thank you. Uh do board members have any questions or comments at this time? >> Just a quick question about the uh bookstore uh at the high school. Where would you guys uh where do you envision that going in the school? >> Um Dr. Calvar, could you maybe explain in more detail? >> Sure, absolutely. We are currently working with an architect engineer to um modify the cafe space that is often used for meetings right outside of Chef Jazz's classroom and then

017parlaying that directly into the hallway that is not being utilized as instructional space. And so it basically would be um a wall inserted um hopefully a glass wall that will allow students walking by to see all of the activity associated with the bookstore cafe and it will flow directly um from that glass wall down the hallway into the cafe. But when open to the public there is an entry door right there. And so we would be um embedding the safety security features to have that as the point of entry. >> Um and if I'm allowed to add that I would also like to mention the uh de engineering class at the high school currently has four students along with myself as included that are working with Dr. Connley to create the plans for what this

018cafe and bookstore will look like. So we as of now I think it's been a few months since we've been working on that. So plans are being made for how that potentially is going to look in Chef Jazz's um dining room as well as going into that hallway like you said. Also uh to Miss Keller's point, we should indicate that a variety of the career and technical education programs will be associated with this. For example, our criminal justice will help um prevent um shoplifting and be able to ensure a safe experience during our customers arrival and departure. We also will have our students with special needs working in the backside of the house to stock shelves and to gain that work-based learning experience. our marketing and art departments will be able to assist in producing

019publication and um publishing the opportunity to come into the facility. Additionally, our um horiculture and building and trades will ultimately be able to have little kiosks within the cafe bookstore where they can sell their wares as well, plants andor keychains or beautiful cutting boards that Mr. Hughes's students make. So, lots of goodness to be had. And then ultimately in the A&E project plans, we've asked for them to tell us where the best structural location would be for a door to be cut out. And ultimately down the road when funding becomes available, it's almost as if it would be a cave main street where families could come in, they could do the bookstore cafe, and they could go in this new doorway into the cosmetology area and get haircuts and nails and other services. And so

020um that would be a full complement and a grandio dream achieved. >> Yes. >> May I ask another question? >> Sure. >> So as part of the request for board approval to submit this to the VSBA showcasing innovation award, would we also be um including everything that you just said at the high school for and all the little add-ons that you mentioned? Would that be part of the presentation as well? Unfortunately, the VSBA submission has approximately four to five questions as noted on the previous slide that limits you to 150 words. So, between Miss Hildam and myself, we really word smmith carefully and crafted what we thought was the most robust response. But by no means does it capture the depth and breadth of the projects. Um but we're hoping should we be a finalist

021that we would have the opportunity to share widely as much of this is replicable and other schools could you follow suit um in the areas that might help them enhance literacy. >> If I may just clarification so we're being asked to approve the innovation award only. Correct. >> Correct. You're only approving the submission to VSBA. That is a new protocol that they have instated recently and um if you recall I believe it was last month I believe maybe Melissa Fry and Dr. Neighbors came forward requesting approval of a past submission um and so I believe this will be a routine scenario that you know as we move forward with submissions for award recognition we'll we'll have to present to the board. >> Mr. Mr. Chairman, I move for uh a wave of first read and

022for the board to approve this evening the submission for the VSBA uh showcasing innovation award uh for our literacy campaign as presented. >> It's been moved and properly second that we wave first read and >> question. Well, can I state the motion and I'll ask for discussion? >> Yes, sir. >> All right. has been moved and properly second that we wave first read and submit our Caroline Reed's campaign for the VSB showcase and innovation award. Uh Dr. Hubbert, >> simple simple question. So everyone in that has impact on this has read through this and has given a thumbs up >> 100%. It is a very collaborative effort as displayed by our student representative. Not only does it include the architect engineer, but it includes a variety of central office folks. We actually have the UVA

023cohort um that has about 10 of our participants involved um as part of their project. Um and so um we're really eager to go ahead and submit and we'll keep you a breast of developments. >> Thank you. Any further discussion? Hearing none, madam clerk, please call for the vote. >> Dr. Ran spells. >> I >> Mr. Kelly >> I >> Mr. Taylor >> I >> Dr. Hubard >> I >> Mrs. Sears >> I >> Mr. Fortune >> I and the motion enthusiastically passes unanimously. Thank you so much and we are very excited uh for this submission. So >> yes, thank you very much. It's an honor and a privilege to work with Caroline County. >> Thank you. All right. Moving forward in our agenda, uh we are about to enter the recognition portion of our

024agenda. Uh we enjoy having an opportunity to recognize staff, students, and community members. Uh we ask that you remain seated until all recognitions are complete and then the board will pause for a quick break for anyone that would like to dismiss. So with that, we will proceed with our art student of the month recognition uh presented by Dr. Carol Veric. Good evening, Chair Fortune, Vice Chair Sears, and members of the board. Exposure to art is critical to the development of every child. Art not only teaches students how to express themselves in creative and individual ways, but students who participate in regular art related activities perform better academically, develop greater confidence, and sharpen their fine motor skills. Beyond these benefits, art education promotes problem solving, critical thinking, perseverance, growth mindset, collaboration, focus, and accountability. All power

025skills our graduates need to be 3, enrolled, enlisted, and/or employed. In cooperation with our CCPS art teachers, I have the great fortune of recognizing one student each month with a certificate of honor for their individual artwork. The students artwork will be on display at the schoolboard office for the remainder of the month, but I promise you we we will return it safely. At this time, I have the privilege of welcoming Miss Schwarz, art teacher from Lewis and Clark Elementary School, forward to introduce our April recipient and tell us a little bit about Jackson Handworks artwork. And Jackson, if you are here this evening, please come forward at this time. Good evening. I am so happy to be here tonight recognizing one of my very talented students, Jackson. Uh the disco ball painting displayed tonight showcases

026his technical skill and playful personality. For this project, students learned about tertiary colors and analogous color schemes and how to use these color schemes to create form and they also recalled previous knowledge of tints and shades. Jackson's understanding and application of advanced color theory is extremely impressive. This piece also highlights his craftsmanship and attention to detail. I love seeing what he creates and I can't wait to see how he continues to grow. Congratulations. Congratulations. ions once again, Jackson and family. Uh moving forward uh with our recognitions, we will now have the VSBA business honor roll partners in education recipients um presented by uh Miss Stevens. >> Good evening, Chair Fortune, Vice Chair Sears, members of the board, and Dr. Cavaric. Each year we take a moment to honor partners in education with the Virginia School

027Board Association business honor role. We are deeply thankful for the exceptional support of our partners in education um providing to CCPS and these awards are an opportunity for us to recognize those who have gone above and beyond in their dedication and contributions this year. As in past years, we invited CCPS staff to nominate businesses, individuals, and organizations that have made a meaningful impact through the school year. We are honored to receive nine nominations, each show showcasing outstanding contributions to our schools and community. Our staff thoughtfully reviewed each submission and selected the top two honores for this year. We had the pleasure of honoring these amazing winners at our annual partners in education appreciation event on April 9th and we are proud to recognize them once again. If you could please take a moment to help

028me congratulate fitness dogs. You may come forward. Dr. Addie Briggs and Dr. Dr. Kim Evans are childhood friends dedicated to improving the lives of children. As a pediatrician, one of the major challenges Dr. Addie faced in her practice is childhood obesity. Dr. Kim, a superintendent and lifelong educator, believes that education is the key to positively impact lives. Combining their expertise and love for children, Fitness Dogs was born in 2017. Through the partnership with CCPS, fitness dogs is a part of our preschool instructional program and they support the annual kickoff assembly at each school for our students and parents. And Dr. Evans and Dr. Briggs both participate on our preschool policy council where they have presented as well as attend all meetings. We are so thankful for your continued support of our littlest learners. Congratulations introduce

029their new director and she teach children. Thank you. >> And our second recipient, and they weren't able to be at our annual breakfast, so we do have our trophy, is Mary Washington Healthcare. Do we have representative? Yes. Thank you. Mary Washington Healthcare is a nonprofit health care system in Freredicksburg, Virginia that has grown with its community in the past 126 years. Today we are they are made up of two hospitals, four emergency departments, and over 80 outpatient healthcare facilities and wellness services. Through the CCPS partnership with Mary Washington Health Care, they support our transportation staff with driver physicals, alcohol, and drug screenings. Our HR department has coordinated with Mary Washington to be at our wellness fair. Our staff did not just their staff did not just attend the fair. They did mammogram scheduling, blood pressure

030checks, hearing and vision screenings, and sleep apnea screenings. They also provided wellness bags for all attendees. We value our partnership with Mary Washington Healthcare and appreciate all the work you do for our community and schools. Congratulations. With board approval, we have submitted these two amazing partners to VSBA to be on the 2026 honor role on April 10th, 2026. Thank you so much. >> And once again, congratulations to our our partners in education winners, fitness dogs and Mary Washington Healthcare. uh we could not make the impact that we do if it wasn't for our education partners such as yourselves. So once again, thank you so much. Um moving on um with our recognitions, we will now have National Assistant Principles Appreciation Week recognitions by Mrs. Haley and Dr. Neighbors. >> Great evening, Chair Fortune, Vice Chair

031Sears, schoolboard members, and Dr. Calic National Assistant Principal Week was celebrated last week, April 6th through 10th, to recognize the significant role assistant principles play and the overall academic achievement of students nationwide. Specifically here in Caroline, our dedicated assistant principles work tirelessly to empower our teachers, inspire our students, and provide vital support to their building principles. They are the architects of a positive learning environment, navigating the complex and often unpredictable challenges that arise each day with unwavering commitment. Assistant principles are truly the keys to unlocking success in our schools. By removing barriers for teachers and opening doors of opportunity for students, they help ensure that every member of our school community can reach their fullest potential. While our assistant principles have been recognized with gifts and notes of appreciation and a lot of food last

032week, um we also wanted to give them another gift tonight and that's the gift of time, which is why they are not joining us here in person. Each leader will receive a certificate to punctuate the celebration. And we ask that you all join in a round of applause to honor our incredible CCPS leaders. Thank you. Thank you. >> Good evening, Chairman Fortune, Vice Chair Sears, members of the board, and Dr. Calvaric. I'm honored to be here tonight to celebrate some of our amazing secondary school students in alignment with achieve 2027. These accomplishments demonstrate goal one teaching and learning objective 1.2 access and opportunities through a variety of opportunities that are offered through our schools and programs. To begin our student recognitions, we'd like to celebrate our students that have been submitted and published in the

033spring 2026 writer Virginia Writer Journal. to introduce these published authors. I'd like to ask English teacher Miss Lisa Gaddy to come announce these students. Please give her a round of applause for her support. And I think you're in for a treat because maybe a student's going to read for us as well. Yes. >> Yes. Tonight we recognize high school students who are talented writers of poetry. These students had their poetry selected from dozens of submissions to the writer Virginia Writers Project Journal. This journal is published both online and in book form three times a year featuring student writing from across the Commonwealth. The theme this year was change. Tonight, um, we recognize two students who are in our presence, Isabella Antiveres and Morgan Davis, our newest published authors from Caroline High School. And we are

034going to indulge you with Morgan's poem. She is going to read it to you tonight. Change can be like the wind, unseen yet always there. The blowing wind makes a pathway for what's new to come. Change, like seasons, has its own time to arrive. It can be gentle. It can be untamed. But there will always be a promise of a new tomorrow. Just as the moon is always different but stays present, shining a light for new ways, so too is it with change. Even though the moon shines, sometimes life can get rough on dark nights. But there are a million stars that shine to help you find your way back to the start. Good job, Morgan. >> Got a family out there. See, >> um, Miss Stevens, are board members able to click on the

035link? I have linked the actual if you want to see all of the works, it is linked on the picture on the previous slides for future reference. Hopefully, it will go there. If not, please let me know and I can make sure you have the publication. Next, we'd like to recognize our students that have been dedicate that have dedicated themselves to our beta club. Miss Rice, CHS librarian and beta club sponsor, will share the recent awards. if you can come forward please and join me in thanking her for her time and commitment to supporting the club and these students. Thank you Miss Rice. Okay. Um thank you for having me. So a little bit about National Beta. It's the largest independent nonprofit educational youth organization that our high schoolers can participate in and it focuses

036on academic achievement, character, leadership and service. It promotes the motto lead us let us lead by servicing others through service projects, competitions and leadership training. We have a group of an amazing um beta club members and these students participated in a Virginia state beta convention and they participated by doing some academic testing and artistic talents and they placed in the statewide competitions. So I'm super proud. This is a picture of us at the convention. And the first person I want to recognize is Matteline Clonzeras. And she won second place in the biomed health science academic testing for division 2. So, I would like to also recognize Miss Kayla Woodward. She won second place in the creative writing. And here we have Miss Olivia Jones and she won first place in recyclable art. And we have

037Diana Aragon and she won first place in the pottery and Miss Jaden Carneel who is not able to come tonight but she won first place in the academic studies for social studies. Thank you. Women raise your hand. And finally, we'd like to honor our winter student athletes. Athletic director Josh Gran is out there on the field, so principal Dr. Connelly um will be announcing our student athletes from winter. Good evening. First, we are going to recognize our wrestlers. The state runnerup in the girls first ever girls state tournament, Reagan Forehand. And also joining uh Miss Forehand in the audience is Coach Swanton. Coach is want to give us a wave back there. Thank you for all you did for our wrestlers this season. Okay, next we're going to recognize our boys basketball and I believe

038I saw coach wear. If coach wear you up co coach wear, come on down. So we have several uh athletes to recognize tonight. We're going to start with Elijah Lawson. Elijah Lawson was our district player of the year for the Battlefield District as well as first team all region. He also eclipsed the thousand career points milestone. So congratulations to Elijah. We have Tavari Terrell. Tavari Terrell's first team all battlefield district. Dion Coats. Dion was second team all battlefield district. And I I don't believe I see the rest of these folks in the audience, so we'll just name them. Uh Taan Terrell, second team, all battlefield District. Wesley Taylor, honorable mention, all district. And Blake Morris, honorable mention, all battlefield District. Next we have our girls basketball team. I don't believe coach Morris is here. Is

039coach Morris here? Okay. Um our se we have two all district um honores for girls basketball. Desiree Davis and Alene Bour. Moving on to track and field. I know I saw Coach Lewis back there. Coach Lewis, why don't you come on down? So, while Coach Lewis makes his way down, we had several all region performers in the region 4B track and field meet. We'll start with Riley Forehand, who plays second in the shot put. We have Micaia H. Hearnden who plays second in the high jump, second in the triple jump, and fifth in the long jump. Desiree Davis. Desiree plays seventh in the high jump and seventh in the triple jump. And last but not least, Charles Lumpin, who placed fifth in the all region in the shot. Thank you. >> Thank you so much.

040And once again, uh congratulations to all those who are recognized this evening for your amazing achievements. With that, as promised, at this point of time, the board will pause for a few moments for anyone who would like to dismiss uh prior to us continuing with our agenda. Thank you. >> Fitness dogs. Okay. And we will now continue with our agenda with information from the district. Uh first up we have the student school board representative, Miss Jay Keller with a summary of survey results. Miss Keller. >> Good evening, Chair Fortune, Vice Chair Sears, and members of the board. I'm very excited tonight to finally share with you all the results from my student survey that was sent back all the way back out in January. Uh, so we've had a few months to collect some results.

041So since my last presentation, I put together a student survey regarding fostering a more positive environment throughout our schools. On January 20th, this survey was emailed out to all school principles and later sent out to students within those schools. Since then, I received 197 responses from students across all of the schools in Caroline County primary or across all students in Caroline County, primary and secondary included. One thing I would like to point out before I continue on to these results is as you can see majority over 50% of these results are coming from high school students. So, I just ask that you keep in mind when I'm sharing these results with you that this is geared a little more towards our secondary students since that is just, you know, the responses I received. With that

042being said, next slide, please. The survey contained five main questions for s for students, which closely resembled some of the feedback I had gotten back from my listening tour in September. Each question allowed students to rate it on a scale of 1 to five and was then followed by a short response area for students to elaborate on their answer if they so pleased. All responses were recorded anonymously, allowing students to be as honest as they wanted to be, and the questions were as followed. How effectively are events and opportunities communicated within your school? How would you rate your comfortability uh spelled incorrectly, I might add, uh with teachers and other adults in the building? How would you rate engagement through the school system? How would you rank your school's overall environment? And is there any

043other information you'd like to share? Among the results from the survey, I was able to pick out five key themes. Communication, stu student teacher relationships, overall school environment, community engagement, and student voice. Our first theme, communication. Amongst the results I received, communication was consistently addressed as a major issue. Students reported communication about events and opportunities was inconsistent and ineffective with a mixed results of rankings anywhere between two to four out of five. Students said they often felt they felt they found out about opportunities and events when once it was already too late or sometimes even never at all. Real student responses incl responses included, I barely knew any information on opportunities until it was too late and asking to make more flyers or mention more of these opportunities within our announcements. Overall, communication exist communication

044systems exist within schools, but they're not always accessible, timely, or really student centered. Moving on to theme number two, student teacher relationships. Many students reported strong and positive relationships, but others described a disconnect, especially in upper grade levels, along with a inconsistency across classrooms and schools. Student responses included, I don't feel a connection as much in the high school, or it feels like they're only here to do the bare minimum sometimes. What this means, relationships are strong within our schools, but it's not always a shared experience for all students. For theme number three, overall school environment. School environment had a wide range wide range of responses from students ranging anywhere between one to five with many students describing the environment from a neutral to negative climate. Students describe the environment as okay but not engaging

045or that the hallways were bland and uninviting. What this means is that students are seeking a welcoming, vibrant, and engaging spaces when they walk into the building, but not always necessarily receiving that. Moving on to three theme number four, parent and community engagement. Most responses from students described community engagement as 5050 with key patterns for strong support amongst athletics but less visibility in academics, the arts or other programs offered. Students mentioned it's usually the same as adults at every event or sports get a lot of sports get a lot of support and arts not so much or both parties could benefit from some better communication. Overall, engagement exists, but it lacks equity. Equity. Equity. I know how to talk, guys. And intentional outreach. And last, but certainly not least, theme number five, student voice. Students

046seek to be heard and treated as equal individuals among their adult peers. Across multiple responses, student expressed a desire for respect, understanding, and more voice in decision-making. What this means is that it's less about the programs within our schools and more of the student culture and mindset shared between teachers and students. So for our next steps, I had the pleasure of presenting all of this information just shared with you with the superintendent advisory committing committee consisting of middle school and high school leaders. At this meeting, each table selected one issue to focus on and how we could improve it. And amongst all responses, student voice was a big factor. So, I present to you what I like to call our feedback cycle system. Now, you may be wondering, Jay, what is a feedback cycle system?

047I'm so glad you asked. Amongst all of our schools, we have these student leadership groups. I know at the high school, we have our lighthouse group. I've met with other student leadership groups from the middle school and the elementary schools, even on my listening tour. But one issue is that if you're not in these groups, you kind of don't really know what's going on. I know I didn't know what they were talking about until I got to actually be in the room when they were talking about it. So, I'd like to introduce a system where these groups can still continue to meet and still continue to have their their own independent private conversations, but allowing a feedback form where students outside of these groups can know what's being talked about, share their opinion on issues

048they feel need to be addressed, or just overall be more educated on what's going on in these groups, even if they're not a part of it. So, thank you all and I will now take any questions if you may have any. >> The board members have any questions or comments? >> Yes, sir. Uh, first, thank you very much for providing this. Um, this I think goes above and beyond anything that I envisioned as a student board rep and I think it's very welcome to receive the information. um the feedback and also the suggestions for ways that we can modify how we handle the situation. Um so I'm just very appreciative of it. I know it's going to take a while for me to digest and contemplate this, but I think these are some good suggestions

049for the board moving forward. So thank you very much. >> Yes, thank you. >> I would just like to echo u what my fellow board member has said. Uh an excellent job. uh these are very sensitive things and it's difficult uh but we have to face them and I think this is the one one way we go about addressing that um I don't know that we've actually tried to do that in this particular instance as what we're doing now since I was on the board. So I think it's it's been very good. I think it's very informative. We need to know what students are thinking. We can't help them if we don't know what their concerns are. We may not be able to do everything that uh that they suggest, but certainly we ought to

050listen to them and do what we can do to address their concerns. And I think this is a good way to start. And I appreciate what you did, >> Mr. Chair. Uh thank you for uh your efforts um and the impact from the other students. My question to you, what did you learn from this process? >> I honestly I learned that a lot more students than I I'll be completely transparent. When I sent out this survey, I was fully expecting a lot of responses to be, well, everything sucks and I hate it here. That's what I was expecting. So to see even if it was a smaller group of students be like I have these strong relationships with my teachers and there is a strong foundation that we just have to continue to build on

051to build these relationships between students and between teachers. So that was very nice and motivating for me to see that there is at least a strong base that we can continue to build on and that students aren't just like I don't want to show up to school. I don't like going to school. They do they do like it to an extent and that was very I was very happy to hear that from a lot of the responses. I didn't really mention that. I probably should have but I do I do want to point out that not everything was negative. A lot of it was positive but you know >> we can't change if we don't know what people want the change to be about. So >> absolutely >> Mr. Chairman. Yes. Comment. Um thank you

052so much. Um, I know that this board contemplated a student rep for a number of years and it has been, I think, one of the best decisions that we've made. Um, and I noted in your research structure was very sound. Um, and the themes that you derived from it or that emerged was communication, relationship, the environment, and community and parent engagement. and that resonated with me because that's what we're talking about with adults and for students to pick up on that same theme is really insightful. So, thank you >> Dr. Calbury. Thank you Dr. Ronfel >> and also very well aligned to achieve 2027 our five-year goals. So, what connectivity Jay magical I do um believe I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to invite you to share what your postgraduation

053plans are. I know I'm putting you on the spot. Are you comfortable putting that out there for the good of the group? >> Um, so originally I was dead set on going to AMDA, which is the uh school of performing arts in New York. I'd gotten in for musical theater. I have now changed gears a little bit in I look at my mom cuz she did not want me to go there, but I've changed gears a little bit and I think I will now I'm leaning towards Randolph College in Lynchber and will be going there for theater and minoring in musical theater. >> Wonderful. Congratulations. You have options to choose from that light your fire. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Awesome. Congratulations, Jay. And I definitely echo the kudos that were giving you away

054by my uh colleagues and I'm also really excited to work to put some of this feedback to action. You know um feedback is only as good in my opinion as the u ability to implement um you know changes that need to be implemented. So thank you so much for your hard work and once again correct congratulations. >> Thank you. >> All right. All right. Next, we will have our monthly revenues and expenditures at ADM uh update by Dr. Farley. >> Good evening, Chair Fortune, Vice Chair Sears, members of the board, Dr. Calverick. This evening, I'll be presenting the financial report for March of fiscal year 2026. Operating revenues for March were 3.7 million with year-to- date revenues of 46.6 million or 71.40%. Special fund revenues for March were $412,000 with year-to- date revenues of 3.9

055million or 47.09%. Total revenues for all funds for March were 4.1 million with year-to- date totals of 50.6 million or 68.61%. Now to expenditures. Operating expenditures for March were 5.7 million with year-to- date expenditures of 43.9 million or 67.29%. Special funds expenditures for March were $500,000 with 4.3 million or year to date of 51.29%. Total expenditures for all funds for March were 6.2 million with year-to- date totals of 48.3 million or 65.45%. You'll note that there are two new grants that have been received under the category of special funds. One is the middle school advanced math grant while the other is the mathematics implementation grant. Mrs. Stevens will be bringing a budget amendment before the school board later in the meeting when we get to action items. Happy to take any questions from the board

056on the March fiscal year 26 financial report. >> Any questions from board members? Those grants are only to be used for that which they have been requested and applied for. Correct. >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. Next, I'll be presenting the average daily membership ADM update for March 2026. Average daily membership is determined by dividing the total aggregate daily membership by the number of days schools in session during the school year. For March 2026, the principal's ADM report reflects a total of 4,241.112. The year-to- date total stands at 4275.474. Be happy to take any questions from the school board regarding the March ADM report. >> Any questions from board members? >> Hearing none. Thank you so much, Dr. Far. >> Appreciate it. So that takes us to the uh consent agenda portion of our agenda. At

057this time, I would entertain a motion to approve our consent agenda. >> So moved. >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second that we uh adopt our consent agenda as presented. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. Madam clerk, please call for the vote. >> Dr. Hubard, >> I. >> Dr. Ran spells. >> I. >> Mr. Kelly, >> I. Mrs. Sears >> I >> Mr. Taylor >> I >> Mr. Fortune >> I motion carries and now consent agenda has been adopted. So that takes us now to our citizen comments portion of the evening. Uh the Carolina County School Board welcomes public comments during regular meetings and public hearings. Speakers may address an item on the board meeting agenda or an item not on the agenda during this time. All comments should address a matter related

058to Caroline County Public Schools. Each speaker may speak for up to three minutes. Once you see the red light on the traffic light positioned in the in front of the clerk, please make your last statement. The school board chair is responsible for recognizing all speakers, for maintaining proper order, and for adhering to the time limits stated above. The chair is authorized to stop and or have removed any speaker who uses language that is obscene, constitutes fighting words, truth that threats or solicitation to commit crimes and incites imminent lawless action. Moreover, the chair may stop and or have removed any person who disrupts the orderly functioning of the meeting by making loud, boisterous, or threatening comments. Once you come to the lect turn, if you have not signed in with the clerk, please complete the appearance

059request form. State your name and your district. At this time, the clerk will call those that have signed up prior to the meeting. Hearing none, are there any citizens in the audience that would like to make a citizens comment at this time? Since there are no comments at this time, the citizen comment period is closed. Thank you. We are now at the action portion of our agenda. Uh first up will be uh calendar adjustments uh request for uh wave of first read by Mr. Mud. >> Good evening, Chair Fortune, Vice Chair Sears, members of the board, and Dr. Calvaric. We have recently adopted the calendars for 2526 and 2627. I'm bringing forward to you this evening some adjustments to the holiday observances for this school year as well as the 2526 school year. We propose

060the following adjustments. One, Junth, 2026 to be observed on Thursday, June 18th. Two, July 4th, 2026 to be observed on Thursday, July 2nd. And three, Junth, 2027 to be observed on Thursday, June 17th. There are no observances that need to be adjusted to the 2728 calendar at this time this evening. I'm requesting a wave of first read and approval of these three calendar adjustments as proposed. >> Thank you, Mr. Mud. Uh at this time, I will entertain a chair will entertain a motion to wave first read and to uh adopt the calendar adjustments as presented. >> So moved. >> Could I second it? >> And then for discussion. Okay. >> All right. It's been moved and properly second that we wave first read and adopt the calendar adjustments as presented. Uh, Mr. Taylor. >> Okay.

061And this probably was answered, but we have an election coming up on the 21st. Do do we need to adjust the calendar for that or has that already been taken care of? We've made we've had a lot a lot of discussion around that as we've seen some of our area um counties making calendar adjustments but in working with our maintenance department as well as Mr. Wick um and collective as collectively as a senior staff um we have just two polling sites that are in schools and we feel that we can um operate school as scheduled while at the same time maintaining the safety of our students and staff and um the safety of our public coming in to vote. >> Okay. Thank you. I I'm just concerned. I I don't want us to get into

062a situation where voters say they were unable to, you know, vote uh because of that. But if we've taken care of that, that's fine. I just want to ask about it. >> Yes. And again, we have a senior staff meeting again tomorrow. So, we certainly can add this to our agenda just for final discussion, but I feel that we're well prepared for that day. >> Okay. The the only other thing did we receive any instruction from the board of elections as far as how this should be done? >> We have not received regular communication from board of elections. Actually, Mr. Wick and Mr. Caldwell have been the people to reach out to seek additional insight. I will share to piggyback off of what Mr. Mud has identified, we have a letter that goes out to

063our Lewis and Clark families. So they are keenly aware of the enhanced security measures for that day. We have an external door that all of our voters will enter. Here at the high school, it is somewhat of a non-issue other than we will have voters on campus because they are able to enter the Blland and gymnas area without um entering into the school facility. We also will take measures at Lewis and Clark. Miss Brown is keenly aware of how to operationalize this is this is not the first time we have held school um for a special election date um where they will not have outdoor recess as well. So that there will be no opportunity for the students to be outdoors with people milling around campus in terms of gaining entry into the facility. >>

064Any additional discussion hearing? None. Madame Clerk, please call for the vote. >> Mrs. Sears >> I >> Dr. Hubard >> I >> Dr. Rollins Fells >> I >> Mr. Taylor >> I >> Mr. Kelly >> I >> Mr. Fortune >> I the motion carries unanimously. >> Next up Mr. Mud once again this time with student fees. >> Yes. Good evening Chair Fortune, Vice Chair Sears, members of the board, Dr. Calvaric. This evening I bring for you um before you for approval the 2627 student fees in reference to policy regulation JN-R student fees fines and charges. And just as a quick reminder, there were no proposed changes at the elementary level. At the middle school level, we have just one change uh one additional fee of a $5 fee for theater that has been proposed. At

065the high school, we had a few changes. Um, an increase at of the behind the wheel fee to $175. We also are looking at ecology at 10 for $10 for that course. And finally, at the high school, jazz ensemble is a new course being offered, and we are going to we're proposing a fee of $25, which is in alignment with other similar courses. There have been no changes since our initial presentation. Um, so we request approval as proposed. >> Thank you, Mr. Mud. >> At this time, the chair will entertain a motion to approve the student fees as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly seconded that we adopt the student fees for upcoming school year as presented. Is there any discussion? >> Yes, if I may, Mr. Chair. The

066is there any push back with the 175. >> So, uh, if you remember, Dr. Calvaric commented on this one, um, at the last meeting. Um, I have not received any feedback. I don't think Dr. Neighbors has either. Um, and it is well aligned with other areas um, divisions. Um, and as you know, it's a significant um, savings still from what the private industry would charge. Um, we're we're grateful to be able to um, offer the service. It still falls a little shy of where we would eventually like to be um for charging for behind the wheel, but because our charge has been $100, we did not want to go up but so much this year and we'll continue to monitor our numbers um into the new year. >> Great. Thank you. >> Is there any

067additional discussion hearing? None. Uh Madame Clerk, please call for the vote. >> Mr. Kelly, >> I. >> Mr. Taylor, >> I. Dr. Rollins Spells. >> I, >> Dr. Hubert, >> I, >> Mrs. Sears, >> I, >> Mr. Fortune, >> I, and the motion carries unanimously. Thank you so much, Mr. Mud. >> Thank you. >> All right. Our next action item will be uh, a request to wave first read of the fiscal year 25 Head Start budget revision presented by uh, Mrs. Andrea Ross. >> Good evening, Chair Fortune, Vice Chair Sears, members of the board, and Dr. Calverick. This evening, I'll be asking for a wave of the first read and approval of Head Start budget revision for fiscal year 25. As we work closely to close out the school year and the grant cycle, it

068has been determined that in the FY25 Head Start budget, we will have approximately $100,000 of funding from staff benefits and $50,000 from staff salaries that need to be reallocated. Several staff members are not licensed teachers at this time. And as you know, long-term substitutes are paid hourly and are not eligible for benefits. In addition, not all staff members take the full benefits package. Anyways, the slide before you shows the reallocation of the funds. The first item is going to be equipment with two vehicles um be to be purchased to support preschool staff with travel, delivery of classroom instructional and health and safety materials during the school year and summer and travel for family home visits and conferences. Additional funds will be reallocated to support office classroom and family event supplies and conference travel. The past

069two years, directors and principles have traveled to Texas to attend the Frog Street conference. And this summer, we are taking a much larger group with assistant principles and teachers, and they will accompany myself and our two preschool instructional coordinators to the conference, resulting in the need for a little bit larger of a budget for travel this year. And finally, this is an error on my part. I neglected to list $1,000 because if you add that up, that is $149,000, not 150. But there should be $1,000 on there that I'm adding to contracted services for printing. Um, every year families receive a handbook and at at the beginning of the year and we would like to contract out for a little bit more of a polished professional handbook to hand to our families. So, I'm happy

070to answer any questions. Um, but at this time, I would ask for um approval to wave the first read and approve the Head Start fiscal year 25 budget revision. >> Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion that we approve the first read of the Head Start budget as proposed. >> Like the second Wave wave. Yes. >> Thank you. It's been moved and properly seconded that we wave the first read of the fiscal year 25 head start um budget uh revision and approve of said request. Uh is there any discussion? >> Just want to reinforce that this budget was discussed uh and covered during our policy council. So we are completely >> This is coming up at the Thursday meeting for policy council. Yep. Yep. I need approval from both. Any further discussion hearing? None.

071Madam clerk, please call for the vote. >> Mrs. Sears, >> I. >> Dr. Hubard, >> I. >> Mr. Taylor, >> I. >> Mr. Kelly, >> I. >> Dr. Rollins spells. >> Hi, >> Mr. Fortune. >> I And the fiscal year 25 Head Start budget revision has been approved. >> Thank you. >> All right. Moving on to approval of the 2627 Head Start transportation waiver. Uh, Mrs. Ross, >> thank you. Good evening, Chair Fortune, Vice Chair Sears, members of the board, and Dr. Calvaric. At the March school board meeting, I stood before you and presented information for the 2627 Head Start transportation waiver. And the CCPS preschool program is asking for a waiver from the child safety restraint systems and bus monitor requirement to remain in compliance with all Head Start requirements. And this evening, I'm

072asking for board approval for the 2627 Head Start transportation waiver. Nothing has changed since March to now. So, Mr. Chairman, I move for approval of the 2627 high school transportation waiver as presented. >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second that we approve the 2627 Head Start transportation waiver. Is there any discussion? >> Hearing none. Madame clerk, please call for the vote. >> Mr. Taylor, >> Mr. Kelly, >> I. >> Dr. Rollins spells, >> hi. >> Mrs. Sears, >> I. >> Dr. Hubard, >> I. >> Mr. Fortune, >> I. And the 2627 Head Start transportation waiver has been approved. Thank you. Next up, we will have the U. Perkins grant application presentation by Dr. Neighbors and Miss Fry. Good evening, Chair Fortune, Vice Chair Sears, Dr. Calvaric, and esteemed members of the board. Tonight,

073Melissa Fry, and I will share an overview of the Perkins Grant for the final read. Again, here is the breakdown of the Perkins grant and you will have the draft of the application in your board docs. You will see the bulk is around modernizing equipment, developing and updating curriculum of program and credential testing. Our grant is based on this year's allocations of this year's allocation of $86,38769. And this is the breakdown based on budget categories. Please let us know if you have any questions and we look forward to final approval before submitting our Perkins grant to the state and we are here for questions. >> Mr. Chair, move for the approval of the Perkins grant as presented. >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second that we approve the Perkins Grant application as presented.

074Is there any discussion? >> Mr. Chair, I do have a comment. Um, I don't want to miss the opportunity to advocate and just to note that this $86,000 is supplemental and an opportunity to revisit our budget to support CTE programs is a top priority for me. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Rollins Fels. Any further discussion hearing? None. Madame Clerk, please call for the vote. >> Mr. Taylor, >> I. >> Mr. Kelly, >> I. >> Dr. Ron Fels, >> hi. >> Mrs. Sears, >> I. >> Dr. Hubard, >> I. >> Mr. fortune. >> All right. And the Perkins grant application uh request has been approved. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> All right. Moving on now to uh new courses, Dr. Neighbors, and Miss Wheeler. >> Good evening again, Chair Fortune,

075Vice Chair, Seer, Superintendent, Dr. Calvaric, and members of the school board. Tonight, Rachel Wheeler and I are here tonight to share the additional new courses to propose for our school year 2627 program of studies. Good evening. As shared in our prior schoolboard meeting, um the addition of AP pre-calculus to the program of studies will expand the rigorous mathematics opportunities and strengthen students preparation for college and high demand careers. And as we await the official announcement of the Safford County Public Schools and Caroline County Public Schools receiving the GO Virginia grant for CTE expansion, we are requesting to have the following four courses added. The geospatial technology 1, geospatial technology 2, unmanned aircraft systems, and information technology fundamentals to the program of studies. We thank you for the consideration and happy to answer any questions you

076have before making your decision on a final approval. I I don't have a question, but I I'm glad to see the pre-calculus course uh that gives students a lot of problems in the first year of college. And so I think the fact that we are addressing this here at the high school, students are getting an opportunity to get at least an introduction. So I think that's that's a good thing. >> Great. Awesome. Uh, the chair will now entertain a motion to approve the new courses as presented. >> Second. >> Yeah. All right. It's been moved and properly second that we approve the new courses as presented. Is there any additional discussion? >> I'm just glad we're doing it and I' I'd hope that you don't make the board members take that AP calculus class. Pre-cal.

077That's it. >> We'll bring quizzes. >> Only comment I have >> assessments. All right. Any additional uh discussion hearing? None. Madam Clerk, please call for the vote. >> Dr. Rollins Spells. >> I. >> Mrs. Sears. >> Hi. >> Dr. Hubard. >> Hi. >> Mr. Kelly. >> Hi. >> Mr. Taylor. >> Hi. >> Mr. Fortune. >> I. And the new courses have been approved as uh presented. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> All right. Moving on. Uh the next action item for consideration is the special education 2026 2027 annual plan part B section 611 and 619 presented by uh Mrs. Plet Herren. >> Good evening Chair Fortune, Vice Chair Sears, members of the school board and Dr. Calverick. The special education annual plan is a VDOE requirement. The 2627 special education annual plan part

078B flowthrough application serves as a formal agreement between the local school board and the Virginia Department of Education for implementation of federal and state laws regarding the governing of special education and related service that we provide. The plan was presented to the school board for first read on March 16th. As a followup, I believe Mr. Kelly had asked a question about our percentages. Currently, Caroline County stands at 17% overall for students with disabilities within the county. At this time, I ask for the school board to approve the presented special education annual plan for IDA part B section 11, 611, and 619 grant for the 2627 school year. happy to answer any additional questions you may have. >> At this time, the chair will entertain a motion to accept the plan. >> Second. >> It's been

079moved and properly second that we approve the presented special education annual plan for IDA part B section 611 and 619 grant for the 2627 school year. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. Madame clerk, please call for the vote. >> Mr. Taylor, >> I. >> Dr. Hubard, >> I. >> Mrs. Sears, >> I. >> Dr. Rollins Fells, >> I. >> Mr. Kelly, >> hi. >> Mr. Fortune, >> I. And the uh presented special education annual plan has been approved. >> Thank you. Right. Next on our agenda agenda is an action for fiscal year 26 budget amendment for grants received and a wave of first read by Miss Marshia Stevens. >> Good evening, Chair Fortune, Vice Chair Sears, members of the board, and Dr. Calvaric. I'm Marcia Stevens, chief operations officer, and I will be presenting a

080budget amendment this evening for the fiscal year 26 budget. The purpose is to present this budget amendment in to incorporate newly awarded grants and funding totaling 1.05 05 million and 1.5 million in state funds deferred to fiscal year 26 for Caroline Reed's program and to seek board approvement for the board approval for the amendment. This amendment aligns funding with the district priorities and ensures timely use of the resources under state and federal requirements. I will provide you all a recap of the state and federal funding that we have received. The comprehensive literacy state development grant is $219,64. The fund will be in the special grants fund and the grant will support the literacy improvement network at the CMS and Bowling Green. The school improvement grant for Bowling Green is 44,974 again in the special grants

081fund. And the grant will support in-person professional learning for 16,000 and Orton Gileiam Gillingham materials for $28,974. The math innovation grant is $251,952. Again, special grant funds. and it will do um on-site days for professional learning, coaching with the division's leadership, stipens for the specialist teachers and coaches for professional learning, and creating competencies for each grade level. In addition, we have the math acceleration grant of $36,72 again in special grant funds to expand teacher endorsements and increase licensed teachers. and a school improvement grant. Looks like I have that one on double. Um I will change that amount. It looks like I have that amount double. This does not include the go Virginia at this time as it's not yet awarded that Dr. Neighbors just spoke about. We are also working with staff on that to

082um determine the fiscal policies that we will have as Stafford will be that physical agent. In addition, we have additional state revenues received $30,000 for the jobs of Virginia graduates. The grant will support the implementation of the jobs of Virginia graduates with paying a teacher, providing funds for resources and field trips, as well as the SOQ bonus that the state has recently passed in the amount of $464,445 for that bonus. In addition, we have the literacy funds of $1.485 485 million that were deferred into fiscal year 26 in order to run the year-long campaign for Caroline's reads literacy program. The total budget impact is the 597,000. I will adjust that figure momentarily for you for the federal revenues and expenditures in the special grant funds and the amount of 1.980 150 for the increase in

083revenues and expenditures in the operating funds. The revised amount for the federal funds is $552,72. If the school board motions and approves the budget amendment this evening, then the budget amendment will need to go before the board of supervisors for appropriations for state and federal funds. A request is being made by staff to place this item on their agenda for the May next May meeting. These grants were not budgeted for in the FY26 budget because at the time we were not aware of the opportunities and have applied for them this fiscal year and have since been awarded. So we will um this is accepting and bringing those revenues into our budget for the budget authority for revenues as well as our expenditures. Are there any questions from the board on the budget amendment? >> Mr.

084Chair, um help me understand the additional state revenue. I think it's on slide seven uh deferred from FY26. So that's all in money that we were allowed to float. That may be the wrong word to use. Um from the last FY2, >> correct? We were given that money actually in fiscal year 24. >> We were we deferred it into 25. We are now deferring it into 26 or we did defer it into 26 with audit entries in order for us to do the entire Caroline Reeds campaign all in the one year with that large sum of funds. I would actually like to request a correction to the slide for clarity for the community. These are all in state funds. So if we can change the grant title, this is earmarked for three buckets. Tutoring, chronic

085absenteeism, and Virginia Literacy Act. So, I want to make sure that the community understands that we did not spend $1.4 million on the Caroline Reeds literacy campaign because that would be a misnomer. That would be an amazing campaign, I might add. But that is not factual. So, if we can make an amendment and an understanding in the community that it was three years worth of tutoring, it was of course all of the Virginia Literacy Act work plus the campaign and chronic absenteeism mechanisms which included a number of mental health aspects through Miss Wheeler's office for parent guidance, care solace, things of that nature. >> Right. >> That level of granularity is absolute and perfect. >> Very important. Yes, sir. There's a large spreadsheet on all of that. I was encompassing it into the whole Caroline

086reads as one whole event versus one event that we had on that specific day. >> All right. At this time, the chair will entertain a motion to approve the fiscal year 26 budget amendment for grants as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. It's been moved and properly second that we approve the fiscical year 26 budget amendment for grants uh as presented. Is there any additional discussion? >> Yes, sir. I I have a question about the the grants coming in because it's April and so my question is does this fall does the expenditure of this funds fall on the the federal calendar what we have until September for bookkeeping purposes or does it fall on the counties and the state um fiscal calendar where it has to be expended by the end of June. >> Actually

087each of these grants seem to um expire at multiple different dates. So we are bringing it into the FY26 budget. Um we will expend and receive revenues of what we actually expend in 26. We will project for any remaining amounts in the FY27 budget as we develop that complete budget. >> Understood. And if if we say yes to this, the board of supervisors say yes to this, um we have it in good faith in that everything has already been earmarked for where it will be spent by the end of both fiscal years. Correct. >> Absolutely. By the end of the grant award, we will have everything fully expended out. Um, these are just new buckets that we have not had previously in the past as they are new new grants that we are now becoming

088aware of and have applied for and have received. >> All right. And last question, uh, slide six, the SOQ bonus, uh, 46445, the operating fund states being provided for a SOQ bonus that is for this year. Correct. >> Correct. that is for this year. We must certify those funds by May 1st. The amount is yet to be determined at this time as we will be looking at our financials for the entire year um and then making a determination with that. We will be introducing that as we um send out our contracts. >> That's what I was going to ask next because I um keeping up on this. My understanding was May 1st was the deadline for us to basically accept it and then we would have to spend it I think by June 1st. June

08930th we have >> June 30th. Okay. So we could use that as an incentive as a signing bonus for people coming back for next year. We would have and that's just is that just a ballpark figure? >> That is the amount the state has put us put on the um calculation template at this time. It will be adjusted based on our final ADM. >> Okay. I have no further questions. Mr. Chair, I move the previous question. Please call for the vote. >> Question. >> Yes. You made a modification to the amount. It was 5 552,72 as opposed to the 597 676. Correct. >> Correct. That would be the amount. >> So, >> and for clarity purposes, the only grant that has an expiration date to my knowledge. So, um in this is the allin grant

090funding and then of course the state monies for SOQ. All of the other grants have date um dates that have later deadlines, but we met today. We know exactly what money remains in the all-in funds, and we will spend down to zero. >> Yes, that is true. And you will see those grants now appearing in your fiscal year 27 budget when we bring it back to you. >> All right. Thank you. Any additional discussion? Hearing none, madam clerk, please call for the vote. Dr. Rollins Fennels. >> Hi, >> Mr. Kelly. >> Hi, >> Mr. Taylor. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Sears. >> Hi, >> Dr. Hubard. >> Hi, >> Mr. Fortune. >> I And the fiscal year 26 budget amendment has been approved. Thank you. So, that takes us now to new business uh with first

091read of the VSBA February March policies. Mr. Mud, >> good evening. I know this is a much anticipated item, the annual review of VSBA policy updates. Good evening, vi uh chair for vice chair Sears, members of the board, and Dr. Calvaric. This evening, I am bringing forward uh VSBA policy updates for first read. All policies presented this evening contain additions, deletions, and revisions to reflect the current recommendations of the VSBA and Virginia code. In consideration of time, I will share the policy title and ask that the board review this presentation in its entirety to gain knowledge of all changes. Policy BBBA, qualifications of the school board members. Policy BBBC, board member oath of office for elected boards. Policy BDD, electronic participation in schoolboard meetings from remote remote locations. Policy CA, administrative goals. Policy DIA, reporting

092per pupil costs. Policy DN, disposal of surplus items. Policy EBBA, electronic room partitions. Policy GB, staff weapons in schools. Policy GBC, staff participation in political activities. Policy GBO, Virginia Retirement System. Policy GCBA, staff salary schedules. Policy GCBC, staff benefits. Policy GCBD, staff leave and absences. policy GCBE, family medical family and medical leave. I do want to note that this particular policy, thank you, Miss Stevens, um does have some more substantive changes and would be one noteworthy for you to take a look at. Um those changes are going to include policy revi revisions for clarity. um some definitions that were removed, types of leave available have been clarified, and it also takes out operational details that are more um suitable for regulations. Next is policy GCG, professional staff probationary term and continuing contract. Policy GCPA, reduction

093in professional staff workforce. Policy GCQA, non-school employment of sta by staff members. Policy GCQAB, tutoring for pay. Policy GD, support staff. Policy EA, pledge of allegiance. Policy IGBH, alternative school programs. Policy IHB, class size. Policy IICA, field trips. Policy IIC, community resource persons, school volunteers. Policy INB, teaching about controversial issues. Policy JFCD, weapons on school property. Policy JFCE, gang related activity or association. Policy JFCL, notification regarding prosecution of juveniles as adults. Policy JGA, corporal punishment. Policy JHCF, student wellness. Policy JH, suicide prevention. Policy JJ AF, student athlete, sudden cardiac arrest. Policy JM, restraint, ret restraint and seclusion of students. Policy KBC, media relations. Policy KC, community involvement and decisionmaking. Policy KGB, public conduct on school property. Policy KK, school visitors. Policy KB and KLBE inclusive, excuse me. Um, sorry, I don't have the reference there.

094This one's related to including for instructional materials and including library resources. Apologize, I didn't have the title on that one. Policy KN, sex offender and crimes against minors registry information. Policy KP and I did want to note this is another one of our policies with more substantive changes which I'll review some of them here. This is on parental rights and responsibilities. They include it will include adding a reference to um the family educational rights and privacy act. It further defines required notifications to parents. Provides parents the right to notifications should staff deem their child in imminent risk of suicide. Requires parents to be notified should there be a confirmed school connected student drug overdose. Provides parent optout rights and ability to receive advanced notice to inspect materials for curricula or questionnaires and surveys. And I

095will say it's also noteworthy that while this item was added to this policy, this is already a practice in place connected to policy I which is for instructional materials and is now cross referenced as part of this policy. And then this policy also includes some language to that revises some parent responsibilities including providing accurate and up-to-date contact information to schools and parents ensuring that their children attend schools in compliance with c compulsory attendance laws. Almost finished. We have policy LB relations with private schools. policy LBD for home instruction. Thank you for your time and attention to our VSCBA policies for first reads. Please refer to board docs to review all changes. We have them currently in draft mode for your review to see what was removed and what's been added. And then of course we'll

096return in May um to review this again and request approval um of all revised and reviewed policies. Can I ask a question? >> Sure. Absolutely. Sure. Um this may not if it's not the right place just tell me. So um where are we as a division with regards to title two ADA compliance? >> I am not familiar with title two ADA compliance >> accessibility. the deadline >> title >> by the 24th of this month to ensure that we are >> is that listed under title two >> allow us to go back and investigate that. We don't have a readily available response and so we want to do our due diligence in looking at that. That is not something that has been shared out of the state superintendent's office with us. So we will investigate and

097get back with you in the Friday update this week. >> Okay. Thank you. >> And you said title two >> title two >> ADA compliance >> compliance. All right. Thank you, Dr. >> Thank you. Right. Any additional questions? All right. Thank you, Mr. Mud. >> Thank you. >> All right. Uh, next we have a first read of the fiscal year uh 26 Head Start grant and supporting documents. Mrs. Ross. >> Good evening, Chair Fortune, Vice Chair Sears, members of the board, and Dr. Calvaric. This evening, I will present a first read of the Head Start continuation grant. And as a reminder, the Head Start grant is a five-year cycle. And believe it or not, CCPS will be entering year four already for the 2627 school year. The Head Start continuation grant package is quite comprehensive

098with four components. Head Start requires goal and pro programmatic updates, a detailed budget with corresponding narratives, self- assessment and community assessment updates along with an annual programmatic report. The screen before you shows the purpose for each of the components and you have access to all draft documents in boards. The first component, the self- assessment, helps us identify areas of need to drive our programmatic planning. Policy council participation, recruitment, and retention of staff and behavior support for students, staff, and families are areas that have been identified for improvement. Policy council meetings are flexible with a hybrid option and staff are reaching out to personally invite parents and encourage their participation in our policy council. For recruitment and retention purposes, grant funds are allocated for preschool staff working on lure or further credentiing with a commitment to

099remain in the preschool program for three years beyond completion. And to improve behavior supports, we have hired a full-time behavior, I'm sorry, a full-time mental health specialist who works with staff and students in real time and provides families with resources and support. The second component you see is the community assessment, which helps us identify community strengths and potential gaps and services for our families. Student health screenings have been an area of focus and our continued partnership with CVHS Dental of Caroline County to conduct all dental screenings and KEXUS for vision screenings has proven very beneficial to our program. Another component of the grant would be the budget. CCPS has been awarded a total operational budget of 1,124,998, but please note that is level funding compared to this current school year as well. Over the next

100several weeks, we will continue working on our budget to finalize and include updated inind costs, per people expenditure costs, and projected salaries. And the fourth and final component of the grant is the annual report. And this is a detailed summary brochure that we um include information regarding school readiness, family engagement, and budget, which is made available to the community after we receive all of our approval from school board and policy councils. So, at the May board meeting, I will present all final documents and then at that time ask for your approval. But at this time, I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. >> The board members have any questions? >> Mr. Chair, I don't have a question, but I have a comment and reviewing this. Um, I was very impressed to see the

101funological awareness gains of our students from about 40 to 50 points. >> Um, and we know that's a building block to reading. So, just wanted to call that out for public knowledge. >> Thank you. >> Any additional uh comments or questions? Hearing none. Thank you, Mrs. Ross. >> Thank you. >> So, that takes us to uh school board comments and we will start uh to my right with uh Mr. Kelly. >> Thank you. Um, I just uh it's not like a formality, but I've been asked to uh I don't say mentor was the word used, but it's more like meeting with a new board member from a locality around here. And it's been very interesting just to hear inside conversations about how other boards operate and we don't. And it was it there's a lot

102of questions have been posed like is how do you guys do this? I talk about the training and it's not an easy process to go into a room and be honest with a bunch of people and work with them. And I'm just thankful that we have the board that we have that can work like that. Um I do not have any committee updates because tomorrow is the gifted advisory committee. Um, I think on Thursday I have the agenda meeting for the MW ATI Lab School and at six o'clock we have the Chesapeake Bay Governor School meeting. Um, so next meeting I will have a lot of information for you regarding that. Um, and you're going to hear this again next month, but I do have a alumni update for one of our esteemed graduates from

103Caroline High School. Uh last night I was asked to attend the uh the awards ceremony for the swim team at Bridgewater College and one of our alum was voted as the uh for the girls swim team was voted as the the golden eagle award winner which was chosen not by the coaches but it's from the team. It's not most valuable. It's not a record set or anything like that. It's just the person that personifies the sport in the spirit of competitiveness. And I think that's a good reflection of us. I said it a thousand times that my daughter never would have been involved in sports or anything um if it wasn't for what we offer to our students in regards to the arts and everything else. You know, she did had a scholarship there at

104the school where she played the viola, decided just to invest full-time and she is just super happy. Tonight she is going in front of the rest of the student body population to receive this award. all the student athletes all vote for their specific teams. Um, but I was really really proud of her and uh we just had a moment of reflection last night talking about what it was like being in seventh grade when we actually started the swim team here in Caroline. And we have some kids now who I know are pursuing that same um avenue as they move forward to their college careers. So that is all I have. Mr. Chairman, again, you'll probably get a full update next week or next month once she graduates from college and I will be all to

105tears. Thank you. >> I can definitely understand that. Thank you so much, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Taylor. >> Yes, Mr. Chairman. Uh just a few uh congratulations uh to the businesses. Uh I did get an opportunity to uh go to the business breakfast was very good. um businesses were there and we uh are very fortunate to have businesses that uh are willing to uh provide funding uh to support different programs throughout our school system. It makes our school system better. It gives our students opportunities uh to learn about businesses and how they operate and it just gives them a a leg up. And so again, I would like to thank those businesses that do come uh that do participate within our county and for the assistance that they give our our students. Um I visited with

106or went to the town hall meetings. I think the town hall meetings were informative. I think they were well done and uh parents were there. uh they had an opportunity to hear firsthand the direction that we are going as far as education is concerned for the students of this county. Um so I thought that the town hall meeting served that purpose. Uh they were able to ask questions and hopefully we will get more involvement. Uh the key to being able to do what we need to do is going to come from community participation. Um if the community knows what we are doing and approve of what we're doing, hopefully we will be able to convince the powers that be uh to do what's necessary uh for these children. Uh and in the end, I would

107just say thank you to all the staff uh for the good jobs that they do. Uh we're coming to the end and uh I can remember when I worked in the system, anytime after spring break, it gets a little challenging to say the least. So hang in there and uh do the good job that I know you can do and that you always have done and know that the board appreciates what you do. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Taylor. Dr. Rollins Fel. >> Yes, sir. Um in terms of committee updates, um March was very busy for me. attended um I think nine or 10 different workshops or events um to garner information about school safety, school construction, budget or AI. Um had the opportunity to meet with the secretary of education um meet with

108some of the teachers of the years and attend the tour at Winchester actually with Miss Fry. So that was really exciting for her to tag uh along with that site visit. Um, lots of good things were shared there. U, they have a a new building um, completely dedicated uh, to CTE. There is a documentary that has been filmed about that school as well called Multiple Choice. I would invite anybody to check that out. Um, and in some of their lessons learned and best practices, I saw a reflection of how we set up themies um, at the high school level. So, shout out to um, the principles and the time that it has taken over the years to establish that um we are on the right path and so that was really encouraging. Um I also

109had the opportunity to attend the Veco um budget certification workshop which was really interesting. Veco is the state association for county officials. Um and they invited me to come to be a part of the panel um discussion on the relationship between school boards and board of supervisors in the budget process. Um so that was very insightful um and it was good to be able to share uh just some different perspectives um with how to work together in a positive forward uh momentum type of fashion. And so that was that was a rich experience. Um like my colleagues I also attended the town halls and at the town hall one of the questions that I directly asked was to get feedback on the criteria that we as a school board were using to evaluate some of

110the options. Um, and that included alleviating overcrowding of our schools, anticipating future student enrollment, uh, minimizing redistricting, rightsizing schools for best practices, addressing deferred maintenance costs, the overall cost feasibility, design, construction duration, and the new transportation center. And so, it was a good moment to pulse check to make sure that our citizens are in alignment with the criteria that we are using to evaluate different options. and it was affirmative. Um, I want to give a special shout out to Caroline's Promise for the college tour on March the 28th where um, some of our students um, traveled to Washington DC to learn about some uh, future education opportunities. Thank you to our assistant principles and on Thursday I will be attending the ROC um, banquet. So, been a busy been a busy month. >> Thank you,

111Dr. Dr. Robinsfields. Uh, Mrs. Sears, >> thank you. Um, yes, it has been a super busy month here as well. Um, first I want to give a big huge applause to the CSGH theater students. They put on a wonderful production of Little Shop of Horrors that included our student member and it was fantastic. I went to every single show um and it was great. Um, and so I really want to thank the students for working really hard. Um, Mr. McBride, the director, for doing such a great job and then all the volunteers who really helped put on the show from taking tickets to running concessions. It it was a a big effort for many people and it I it was great. Um I also had the opportunity to attend the partners in education breakfast. Um

112and I'm really grateful to the businesses that support our school system. um having businesses and other adults that our students can look at and look up to and and can, you know, help share goals and dreams and ideas is just such a great opportunity and I'm very thankful for them. um when we're talking about you know coming together as a community I can't think of any more um community oriented event than what was on display on Friday night as it was opening night for Caroline County Little League. Um it w it's a wonderful organization. Um my family has been a part of it since my son was seven. He has played all the way through senior baseball and my husband has been an assistant coach and at times an umpire. Um this year is their

11350th anniversary which is just so great and it was great to get out. It was beautiful weather to see all of our community members and talk to people and see how excited the kids were. Our JOTC was there to present the colors. It was just a really fun event. We had um concessions and businesses and it was just really fun. Um and with that said, it is immense amount of work. Um and it takes so many volunteers to make that go so smoothly and so well. So I want to thank everyone who volunteers. Um, if you're an coach, an umpire, a grounds crew, um, or if you are serving on the little league board, um, thank you because that can be sometimes like a full-time job. Um, and this all volunteer, you know, and the

114kids love it and it was such a great night. Um, something I'm looking forward to in the next coming weeks is the art show that is happening here at Caroline High School. Um, that is on April 23rd and that is a great event that encompasses all of our artistic talents from every school. And so if you have not ever been, I highly encourage you to come. So much talent on display from the artists, pottery, crafts, digital art, the chorus, the theater, the band. It it's everything all in one roof. So please come out and cheer on these very talented students. And with that, that is all. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Sears. Dr. Hubard. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I would like to start with really a shout out with um, you know, uh,

115Miss Ross and, uh, our our policy council and the fitness dogs. You know, we've got a lot of businesses out there that are supporting and it's great. Uh, and I don't wish we should take any from them. With the fitness dogs and being on the policy council, we actually get to see the outcomes. we see pictures and videos of how they are transforming uh these young kids into getting them to start thinking correctly. So this uh from beginning from concept to outcomes uh is I think a very powerful message and um if we continue which I'm sure we will doing things of this nature it's really going to have a significant positive impact on um all of our our young scholars. uh the opportunity to participate in the town halls obviously was was a great

116to hear conversations and whatnot. I did have the chance to speak to PTO president and PTA president. So let me at this point reinforce the importance of those organizations and how they are supporting uh our our young scholars and our staffs. So that's also a good outcome. Uh in addition to all of the positive feedback that we received, uh I too was at the uh the little league uh event uh this past Friday night. Um and it it's phenomenal to see the number of students in this school division on that field is phenomenal. There is not a a a school or probably a classroom that isn't ed by this and that's a good thing. Uh before coming here this evening I drove down to uh the fields and out we saw the football team uh

117in early uh training running laps um and running laps. I'll just leave it at that. Uh the girls soccer uh team was out there practicing. The girls um uh softball team uh was out uh practicing as well. a lot of sporting and that really helps build good character, good is free and those are elements that really help us drive the message of good stewardship, good responsibilities and those are the types of things that I think we really uh need to help uh bring together because not only are we working with the students but guess who else is involved with all of that? the parents, the ones that were trying to get into these board meetings or to participate in PTO, PTA, they're out there for those sporting events. There's a strategy that we perhaps could

118take to the next level at trying to really uh bring everything together where they are at. We talk about going to students where they're at. Well, we know where the parents are at. Well, let's kind of work it to them. It it's an idea, a concept going forward. I think that's a great thing. Uh let me apologize to Mr. I didn't mean to put you on the spot with regards to um uh ADA. It is a very big thing in uh higher education. I know it is also equally uh something of concern for K through 12 as well. >> So I mean I but bottom line is I would much prefer us trying to be as proactive with it than uh playing uh catchup. I'm sure we're not, but that's that's that's good to go.

119Um, other than that, I know we have a policy council this Thursday, uh, coming up. We also have the, um, the, uh, JOTC banquet that's coming up as well. Uh, and Miss Harren, I'm not quite sure, do we have one coming up as well? >> Thursday as well. So, that's going to be a fun-filled day for me. Um, but, uh, again, I thank everyone for what you're doing, what you continue to do. Uh, and again, whatever I can do to support the effort moving forward, I'm always there. So, uh, thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Hubbert. Jay. >> Yes. I'm I'm so sorry I was not able to be here for our last meeting. Uh, but with that, I think I'll address the elephant in the room. Graduation is right around the corner for for

120fifth graders, for the eighth graders, and for of course the the the seniors at the high school. Uh fun fact, come this time next month, the seniors will be done. And I say that mostly to myself because that's very hard to believe. Um, so I I'm I'm giving all my support to my fellow my fellow seniors and obviously also the the elementary schoolers moving on to middle school or those middle schoolers moving on to high school. I I give all my support to students as we continue on into whatever this next portion of your life may be. Um, and with that, if I may, I am gonna touch a little bit back going back to my little my little presentation from earlier because Mr. Dr. Hubard, you've made me think a lot of just the

121responses that I got that even through I don't want to say the I guess for lack of a better term, negativity that a lot of students within our schools really have truly built a strong relationship with their peers and adults in the building. And even with suggestions that were presented through the survey, it was always out of a place of seeking a genuine improvement to their learning environment. And so that was just a very nice thing to see when I was going through all the results because I mean I already said I fully was expecting a lot of students to be like everything sucks. I hate school. So it was very nice. I mean I did get a few, don't get me wrong. There were a few but not a lot. And so that was

122very nice to see. Um, and with that, soon I will be passing on the torch to the next student schoolboard representative. And I hopefully since talking with Dr. Neighbors today, will have the honor of getting to be on the interview panel of helping in the process of bringing in new potential candidates. one lucky senior or rising senior, one lucky rising senior will get to take my spot right here. I don't bite, I promise. Uh, but I hope that all of the research and everything that I've done this past past year, I'm able to set them up for success. And I'm I'm very very excited to well, hopefully I get hopefully hear what happens next. But uh with that, I will leave it off on again touching on the art show that we have coming up

123on the 23rd. But I will also mention that at the end of this month on the 30th at the high school, the theater for students will be presenting a senior showcase where each senior in theater gets to direct a one-act play that they have written. Um that they fully direct fully uh all the seniors have been put in charge of doing all this themselves. And so you should really come out and see it because I know that they've worked really hard and are working really hard to make sure that this is a good performance for everyone. And with that, I yield the floor. >> Thank you so much, Jay. So, as always, I want to uh thank all of the staff and all those to include our um not only our internal but our external

124stakeholders and all that you do for our division. uh we could not be as effective as we are in meeting our students needs without all of us working together. So, thank you so much for all of your efforts. Uh uh Mrs. Sears, I too had the uh privilege and Jay had the honor of attending the Little Shop of Horrors uh performance. Um I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I did not enjoy it as much as my wife. Um that is her favorite musical and I think she may have gotten some pictures with you guys. Uh yeah. Yes. >> Could I say that I ran into I ran into your wife at Waw Wa. I think it was like the following weekend or like the day afterwards. And to see her reaction of like you guys were

125in little shop, right? I loved it. I was like, "Oh, thank you." That was that was a very pleasant interaction. >> Oh, awesome. Yeah, she she definitely raved about that interaction. So, you made her her day. So, thank you for that. Uh I also want to join my colleagues in thanking everyone uh who who took the time to attend the and participate uh in our recent town halls. Uh we definitely appreciate hearing directly uh from parents, staff uh and community members and those conversations are an important part of how we move forward as a division. Uh those discussions as well as recent reporting reflect uh the reality that our school division is facing both immediate um as well as longterm u facilities challenges. And for those who did not have the opportunity to u attend

126our town halls or have been tracking um some of the great work that our board has been doing um in trying to meet these uh immediate challenges as well as these long-term challenges. I do want to uh highlight one particular immediate challenge uh at Lewis and Clark Elementary. Uh the school board uh has submitted a request uh for the reappropriation of previously allocated funds uh to support learning colleges cottages in order to address a time sensitive capacity need for the upcoming school year. uh that request has been formally submitted and followed up upon. Uh as of today, that request has not been brought forward for consideration uh despite being raised repeatedly through direct communication and in public settings. Given the timeline required to have those cottages in place for next school year, the window to

127act is limited and delays have real implications for our ability to meet student needs. At the same time, we are aware of differing perspectives on long-term facility solutions. As Dr. Rollins fells alluded uh the school board has carefully evaluated multiple options through a structured process and our responsibility is to ensure that any solution not only addresses capacity but does so in a way that supports student learning appropriate school size and long-term outcomes. We remain ready to work collaboratively to address both the immediate needs in front of us and the long-term solutions that lie ahead. And we encourage our community to stay engaged, informed, and involved. There are important decisions that directly impact our students and community voices matter in ensuring those decisions are made thoroughly and in a timely manner. Thank you. And with that,

128I yield the floor to Dr. Calbertt. >> Thank you, Chair Fortune. I would like to begin by acknowledging a retiree who has announced her transition into a new season of life um since our last schoolboard meeting and that is Mrs. Cynthia Hexel, the current principal of Bowling Green Elementary School. And she has served our Huskys for seven years. And so I do want to make sure that she receives her flowers while she is still with us and um able to help ensure a smooth transition after we announce a new leader for this building. Additionally, another celebratory moment, Miss Marcia Stevens, our chief operations officer, was elected as the Vasbo president and will serve um during the 2627 term and I know will breathe life into this role in a new level. So, congratulations to Miss

129Stevens. Now, kind of moving into some dates. I could be here all night if I went through the um drink from a fire hose calendar that many of us are living, but I just wanted to lift some of the key moments. On April 24th, the Caroline Education Foundation is hosting the second annual golf tournament. If you have a business or you would like to uh enter a forsome, please look at our Facebook page. We'll make sure we get an updated post out tomorrow so that it is front and center. Um we're looking forward uh to a great day. Hopefully mother nature will help us out. But we raised $25,000 last year and we are hoping to meet or exceed. And at last count we are around 23 24 forsomes and I think we meet capacity

130at 34. So still room for some golfers. Also that day is our kickoff of our Caroline Middle School theater production which I am eagerly awaiting of Charlotte's Web. They will have an evening performance on Friday the 24th and on Saturday the 25th. Um, kudos to our brand new theater teacher. She is stellar. So, when you see this production, know that she has put her blood, sweat, and tears into shephering these kids onto the stage and performing at their best. And Charlotte's Web is a a standard in many households. So, come on out and see it live. On the 25th of April, we also have a massive multi-school division job fair. And so we will be interviewing here at Caroline High School from 9 to 12. Registration is open. We also are taking walk-ins. This is

131for all instructional positions as well as operational positions. And we are doing this in partnership with, of course, Caroline, the host, King George, Essex, and Fredericksburg City. So the more the marrier. come on out and learn about these four divisions and then choose the best, which we all know might be CCPS, right? Um I I I would not be a great superintendent if I did not put that plug in. Um also, uh to shift over to Dr. Hubard, we do our quick study. We are very aware of the ADA compliance. We just didn't term it title two. That came out in 2024, so it's been on our radar for quite some time. actually um compliance date for organizations under 50,000 is 2027 versus the 2026. So we can certainly have an update provided to the

132school board so you're aware of the different um mechanisms that are coming out of the communications office as well as our IT department because this um title 2 ADA is in relation to accessibility to media and um visual marketing materials and so we've been working on that for quite some time. So just when you said that it made us go down a different rabbit hole of legislation that's out right now in relation to ADA. So just wanted to make sure we were talking apples to apples. Um moving um beyond that on May 8th we are really excited um one of our newest partners Kalahari which is a really blossoming partnership they reached out to us. They are hosting regional employment fairs and they are going to be using the Blandon Gym on May 8th. May

1338th and they are expecting over 500 interested employees to run through that event. And shout out to Josh Grin and Dr. Connelly um for embracing that opportunity while simultaneously having a very busy day at the high school. It's a really big senior day um because it's also senior walk which is one of the most anticipated events of the senior year and quite frankly in many of our other schools to watch those students walk by in their cap and gown. And then before we meet again it'll be Mother's Day. So shout out to all of the moms, stepmoms, aunts, siblings, female leaders in households that really make a difference to our children and our families. And with that I yield the floor. >> Thank you call Dr. Calvaric. Uh is at this time the chair will

134will enter entertain a motion to enter into close session for the superintendent's personnel agenda for the discussion of professional appointments classified appointments stipens clubs retirements spring sport coach appointments resignations corrections position changes substitute appointments as authorized by Virginia Code section 2.2-3. 2-3711 A3. >> So moved. >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second that we enter into close session. Madame clerk, please call the vote to vote. >> Mrs. Sears, >> I. >> Mr. Fortune, >> I. >> Dr. Hubard, >> I. >> Mr. Taylor, >> I. >> Mr. Kelly, >> I. >> Dr. Rollins spells. I >> We are now in close session. I move we return from close session. >> It's been moved and properly seconded that we return from close session. Madam clerk, please call for the vote. >> Mrs. Sears, >> I.

135>> Dr. Hubard, >> I. >> Mr. Taylor, >> I. >> Mr. Kelly, >> I. >> Dr. Rollins spells. >> Hi. Mr. Fortune. >> I we are back from close session. >> Mr. Chairman, I call for certification of close session. I so certify. >> I so certify. >> And I so certify. Uh at this time, the chair will entertain a motion to approve the superintendent's uh profession uh personnel agenda. >> Some moved. >> It's been moved and properly second that we approve the superintendent's personnel agenda. Madame clerk, please call for the vote. >> Dr. Rollinsvilles, >> I. >> Mr. Kelly, >> I. >> Mr. Taylor, >> Dr. Hubard, >> I. >> Mrs. Sears, >> hi. >> Mr. Fortune, >> I. >> And at this time, the chair will entertain a motion to adjourn. >> So moved.

136>> It's been moved and properly seconded that we adjourn this meeting. All those in favor, please make it known by saying I. >> I. I. >> And we are journ.