001present. >> Miss Mclofflin >> present. >> Miss Cunningham >> present. >> Miss A >> present. >> Mr. Graves >> here. Next we'll move to item 1.3 approval of the agenda. These are the minutes. Correction. Just the approval of the agenda. >> Mr. Chair, I move that we approve the agenda as presented. >> Second. >> Motion made by Dr. Williams, second by Miss Cunningham. Any discussion? Any discussion? Hearing none. Madam clerk, please call vote. >> Miss Cunningham? >> Yes. >> Miss A? >> Yes. >> Dr. Williams? >> Yes. >> Miss Mclofflin? >> Yes. >> Miss Walker? >> Yes. >> Mr. Graves? >> Yes. Next, we move to item 2.1, approval of minutes. I'm sorry, my my screen is all jacked up. Give me one second. I apologize. Next, we'll move to item 1.4, a moment of
002silence and pledge of allegiance, done by Miss Walker. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Next, we'll move to item 2.1, approval of minutes. These are the minutes from November the 13th, 2025 regular meeting and November 13th, 2025 work session. This is an action item. >> Mr. Chair, I move that we approve the amendments as presented. >> Second. >> Motion made by Dr. Williams, second by Miss A. Any discussion on the motion? Any discussion? Hearing none, madam clerk, please call RO. Miss Aver. >> Yes. >> Dr. Williams, >> yes. >> Miss Walker, >> yes. >> Miss Cunningham, >> yes. >> Miss Mclofflin, >> yes. >> Mr. Graves, >> yes. Next, we'll
003move to item 3.1, consent items. Virginia School Board Principles, Virginia School Principles Appreciation Week, January 11th through the 17th, 2026. This is an action item. Chair Gregs, I'll make a motion that we approve Virginia School Principal Appreciation Week as January 11th through the 17th of 2026. >> Second. >> Motion made by Miss Cunningham, second by Miss Mclofflin. Any discussion on the motion? Any discussion? Hearing none, Madam Clerk, please call RO. >> Dr. Williams, >> yes. >> Miss Cunningham, >> yes. >> Miss Walker, >> yes. >> Miss Mclofflin, >> yes. >> Miss A, >> yes. >> Mr. Graves, >> yes. Next, we'll move to recognitions. Item 4.1, accreditation and school performance recognition. And at this time, I'll call Miss McCall. >> Good evening, um, Chairman Graves, Vice Chair A, members of the board, and Dr. Haristen.
004It is my honor to be here tonight to finally bring to you all the uh 25 26 accountability and accredititation results. Um the alignment to our strategic goal areas. Uh due to the nature of accreditation and accountability, this uh hits all of our goal areas. Uh just as a reminder, accountability now focuses on student learning progress and outcomes. There are four categories that our schools can be defined under. Um distinguished schools are models in the state. U models for other schools in the state. On track means meeting state expectations. Off track would mean needing just a little bit of support uh below expectations. Um and then needs intensive support would be um well below expectations and will receive even more support. Um, additionally we have federal identifications uh included on this side. Comprehensive support and
005improvement is the one um that we have in this division uh for full school support for um academics and so on. And then on the uh framework itself it's divided on how it's weighted between our different school levels. So in elementary school mastery is worth 65% growth 25% and readiness 10%. In middle school mastery is worth 60% readiness growth 20% and readiness 20% as well. And then in high school mastery 50% graduation 15% and readiness 35%. Um you can see the components of each of these indicators listed here. Um, for example, mastery is going to include our so test scores. Growth is going to be student performance on those tests um over time. And then readiness is always going to include chronic absenteeism. And then in middle school, it also includes advanced coursework. Additionally, in
006mastery, this includes our EL progress. In high school, we have to also um with all the things I've already said include graduation rate and the new 3E framework uh or it's essentially ready for life, employment, enrollment, and enlistment. And then again, we look at that graduation rate. On the other part of um how our schools are rated now, we have a new accredititation system. Essentially, this follows Virginia's standards of accredititation where our schools are measured in several categories to include academics, graduation, operations, um you name it, our schools have to answer for that and that is what the accredititation system is now. Um so our all of our schools in DPS are now fully accredited, meaning they meet all requirements set by the state. [applause] and that has been a long time coming and really
007speaks to the work that this division has put in. So again, this is a twopart system. We have accountability on one side um and I'm going to break this down on another slide, but on the left the what we call the school performance and support framework um covers academics and so on. Um, so we'll have a rating under accountability and then on the right is accreditation and like I've already said all of our schools are fully accredited. Um, and that follows the standards of quality and the standards of accreditation. Both are equally important. Both have very heavy weight and both um speak to the work that our schools have been doing. And so um to speak on federal identification, we do have four federally identified schools. Gibson um has shown improvement since it was first
008federally identified as um needing comprehensive support and improvement. They've improved in mathematics specifically um but not in reading when compared to uh when they were first identified. Woodbury uh has actually shown growth in both reading and math. And if Woodbury continues on that trajectory, which we expect that they will, um they will show another year of growth this year, this academic year, and they will drop that federal designation. That is the goal. Westwood is a title one school. Um it did not exit ATSI or additional targeted support and improvement, which is a separate federal designation. When you don't exit for three years, you'll move to comprehensive support and improvement, which is what happened last school year. Um, however, these go in three-year cycles. So, given Westwood's data, we do anticipate that they will also eventually
009drop this status. And then Rise Academy is in the lowest 5% for this past accountability year. So, all of that being said, with a review of the new bifurcated system, um we are bringing to you guys today and with all of our esteemed guests, uh their recognitions that our division and our schools have so well-earned. And so um DPS has 10 fully accredited schools. One a fully accredited choice program through Cognia. Two meets expectation schools are both of our preschools have met state expectations. One distinguished school, seven ontrack schools, one offtrack school, and one needs intensive support school. In addition, Arnett Hills is a brand new school. So they have a new school designation. uh it has replaced the now closed Johnson Elementary School and uh Arnett will receive its rating at the end of
010this school year. So, um to start, we'll start with rise one second. >> And I wanted to speak to um to you all and to our community about our schools and the work because you you said a couple of times this speaks to the work that has gone on. And I think sometimes people will look at this one year and assume that is happen stance or it's just happened all of a sudden out of the blue or a new accountability system. But I want you to know the principles, teachers and students have been working as well as you all as a board has worked very hard over the last five years which is when we went under theou with the VDOE. We have principles like Miss Wright um who implemented a curriculum at preschool. Not
011all um preschools had to have curriculums when she implemented a curriculum for math and literacy and all the core areas. And the class observation is done by outside observers and they look at interactions with students. Miss Williams who came to us. She's a hometown, grew up here and came back to us to open Arnette and Arnette um usually principles have a year to open a school but Miss Williams uh did it in six months. We about drove her crazy but she was okay. And then we had Miss Simmons, Westwood principal. My heart because I opened Westwood as a new school and Miss Simmons is a lot of energy. the fact that she was standing here now, she's some the proud principal of Westwood Middle School, but um Miss Simmons was the principal to accredit South
012uh Schoolfield before she left. And this will be her second year with accreditation and on track for Westwood. I would say she's right behind Mr. Kirk Patrick uh who is in I've never gone in when Mr. Kirkpatrick's been in his class in his office. He's always in the classroom and if things aren't going well, he has his chart paper and his marker, not his PowerPoint. And he is teaching teachers just in time how to adjust and make adjustments. And we have Beth Bennett, who's actually a literacy specialist. And Beth and her team, she was one of the first I asked to go through the letters training, which is a reading program, which was quite intensive, and um loves her school and was an assistant principal at her school. and Mildred Richardson, also a literacy specialist
013who gets angry anytime she doesn't achieve her mark. I don't know why she's angry with me, but she gets angry, you know. But, uh, you go into her school and she is a model small group learning principal. You see small groups all over her school. And then we have Kelsey, a new mom who's here tonight with Cynthia Johnson. And Kelsey is a young principal and finding her niche in leadership, but has adopted visible learning. And you'll see her as recognized as a top tier growth school in our region. Is the baby here? No, that's the other day grow. [laughter] You know, they bring their babies to the board. Baby, I did not ask them to bring their babies, but [laughter] y'all think I'm so terrible. And then we have Dr. Span Johnson who loves and
014has a passion for alternative education. And I know that with this designation we met earlier today uh we will have a plan uh for our community to ensure that rise rises to the occasion. And then we have Mr. Mayo who's changed the climate and culture most definitely at Bonner Middle School. He is all things data and uh nothing bashful about data. In fact, if your data is is is it is what it is and it's on the wall and it's on every wall and if you're a star teacher, your name is up there. Miss Ramsay is all things organized and doesn't mind pushing her children to higher levels. And we're so proud of she and Mr. uh Mayo who were selected by UVA to participate in their leadership program. And if you remember, Miss Ramsay
015was um recognized by the state as a distinguished principal. So, we certainly appreciate her. And I'm going to miss somebody. Did I miss >> Oh, my high school because Miss Mr. Crestle uh who is new to leadership and loves his students. Um he is um all things G GW Eagles and he does a phenomenal job. We love his energy. We love uh what he does with children and we know that he uh has a remarkable future in school leadership. But Miss Miss Ragsdale um uh she and I have the same birthday. So that tells you a lot. You you know she we have similar um interests and and similar behaviors. I would say leadership behaviors. But she is such a an energizer. She has her tennis shoes on. She is walking the hallways and she
016is uh encouraging her children. And when she has those parent events, I'm telling I'm not sure what she had does, but there's hundreds and hundreds of people who come out to her parent events. And the first time I went to a an event at Gibson, not anything disparaging on on others, but there were five people there. And now I would say there are 500 people there. And so, uh, wonderful work. And we have Miss Scott, a new mom, too. She has two little ones who does a phenomenal job, uh, assuming a choice program. uh you do a great job um inspiring our children, pushing our children, and continuing the work uh that started there with rigorous um learning. And so you and your teams, I hope I didn't miss anybody uh so many folks here.
017I was trying to get everybody up here, but um thank you for all that you have done. I think you deserve a hand. [applause] And they focus on teaching and learning. And we know that leadership matters, but we also know that our teachers matter. Our teachers and our support staff in schools matter. Um, you have to love children. You have to inspire children. And you'll notice that our attendance has improved significantly over the last two years. And part of that is because we care for our children and they know we care for our children. Um, I also know that and I want you everyone to understand that this doesn't happen in a vacuum. Um in 2021, Dr. Babalola came and uh she was a team of one and Dr. Williams, I believe you became a
018part of her curriculum writing team as one of many teachers who started our local curriculum. And I'm sharing these things because I I I think they're important to understand that this work has gone on for five years, for five long years, and it has happened incrementally over time. And when we think about um the curriculum and the work, the resources that go into it, it's very very important. It's important work. So much that you, the school board, um adopted policies, maybe not you individually, but the board as adopted over 400 policies and regulations through VSBA uh which was very important for increasing accountability, attention to instruction, attention to assessment and those things. And so Dr. Babalola and her team from uh Olivia being able to tell you pretty much um remember Mr. Graves called me
019one day about a student and I was able to pull up that spreadsheet and see the student and the information and share with the parent what was going on very easily um to our CTE work that matters. It mattered to our community five years ago. It still matters and it inspires our children to to get in the right spaces. uh to Kim Agna and her team who coach teachers. All of these pieces matter. Our federal funds, using our federal funds in the right way matters, Katilla Green matters. and our faith specialists who go out and not always had the tools to support our parents. But by working with Harvard, intentionality and working with Harvard helped us become a better uh community when working with parents and advocating for parents. And our special education team, they're
020out, they're coaching, they're not just working on IEPs, they're coaching teachers on how to be better. All of these things fit like a puzzle to improve instruction and improve what we've done over the last five years. And operations is key. You know, second chance transportation for attendance, uh getting kids to school on time, having them fed properly. All of these things matter when you're trying to improve student achievement. And they're not always in sync and not always done in an orderly manner. But all of these things have been worked on by some really dedicated leaders, really dedicated folks as we have come through um these challenges. When I think about human resources, Miss Mclofflin, you started back our recruitment efforts. We did not we had abandoned recruitment efforts and so Miss Mclofflin led that initiative.
021It was picked up by Dr. Windbush and we were fully staffed for the first time in several years this past year. All of those pieces matter and we must continue investment in that type of work. When I think about our maintenance and facilities department paint facil this nice new facility, you sit up a little straighter, you think a little clearer, you feel a little better when you're in a good space. And that's what our parents wanted from us and that's what we committed to for our parents and our community. And so when we think about the work um led by our technology department, our communications folks, Megan with Silus over there, ensuring we have over 100 plus partners in the community and also Dr. Haynesworth, thank you so much for leading the coaching of our
022new teachers. These things all matter and they fit together to improve instruction for children and we must continue in my estimation to invest in these tools for improving instruction. But they don't work apart. They work all together. And if I left somebody out, I'm probably in a lot of trouble. But you know, and I I'm leaving Mr. Mclofflin out. I can't believe it. Where's Mr. Mclofflin? Safety and security. I can tell you that since he took on the directorship of safety and security, we are a safer school system. We are a safer school system. He is constantly working on technology and and things that improve safety in our school system. So, I I say all of this to say that we are a team. We are all a team. You see us at the parade.
023you all a national night out. But I cannot thank you all the board enough for working with our city council. Those relationships matter. Those relationships matter. When we first arrived, the city council did not have faith in us. They wanted to know where was our money being spent, where was it going? And I was told that, you know, it's in a in a bucket and we distributed and we were we were of course spending it appropriately. But Andrea Gillis came in and developed a budget that was very transparent and communicative where we could understand where all the dollars were going and all the dollars were and I can tell you she's on us about where they go. We we you know we she's on us about where we go. So she and that finance team,
024they are tremendous and and and and they spend hours trying to ensure that dollars go to the right places. when we had millions of dollars of ESSER money, we had millions of dollars of all-in money. She and Dr. Navalola, Dr. Lyall, all of them worked together to ensure those dollars went to the kids. And so, I cannot say enough about this team in supporting our schools and our principles. And I wanted to share that with you because I think it's very important to understand that we have a system, a collective system that supports improvement. It's not just one person. It's not just one area. It's not just one thing. Student services matters. If I didn't have social workers out there pounding the pay for stu for attendance, we couldn't get kids in seats. Behavior specialist,
025not just suspending kids, but showing them how to behave, how to monitor their temperament. Um, uh, Miss Carter working on mental health, collaborating with mental health. and Saunders ensuring our nurses have tools so everyone understands that our role is about teaching and learning. So everything we do has to be targeted toward teaching and learning, not just a bunch of busy activity, busy work. And all of these individuals collectively have worked with us to ensure that we are what we are today. And I think all of them deserve a hand. Thank you. [applause] >> [applause] >> So if I miss anybody like Laney and Patrick and all of them, you know, I won't get a Christmas gift. [laughter] But we all love Laney. We know that. Laney, Patrick, and the in the group. We all love
026them. Okay, so first we have >> Yeah. Up first, uh I would like to congratulate Rise Academy for being fully accredited. >> [applause] >> Is that okay? Anybody else? Well, actually, >> [applause] >> All right. Did we have any certificates for there? >> No. >> [applause] >> credited and on track. We would like to congratulate Woodbury Hills for being fully accredited and on track. [applause] >> [applause] >> Next, we would like to congratulate Schoolfield Elementary for being fully accredited and on track. [applause] We would also like to recognize Schoolfield Elementary for being top five in growth for reading in region six. [applause] All >> [laughter] >> right, I think I have everybody ready. >> [applause] >> Next, we would like to congratulate George Washington High School for being fully accredited and on track. [applause] We
027would also like to recognize DW for being top five in region six for English learner progress. [applause and cheering] I can see you. There we go. All right. Ready? >> [applause] >> Next, we would like to congratulate Park Avenue Elementary for being fully accredited and on track. [applause] >> We would also like to recognize Park Avenue for being top five in region six for chronic absenteeism. [applause] All right, y'all. Ready? >> [applause] >> Next, we would like to recognize Westwood Middle School for being fully accredited and on track. [applause and cheering] We would also like to recognize Westwood Middle School for being top five in growth in both math and reading in region six. All right, two. [applause] Next, we would like to recognize Bonner Middle School for being fully accredited and on track. [applause]
028We would also like to recognize Bonner for being top five in region six in growth for reading, math, and chronic absenteeism. [applause] All right. Ready? Three, two, one. >> [applause] >> Next, we would like to recognize Forest Hills Elementary for being fully accredited and on track. [applause] Here we go. [laughter] [clears throat] >> [applause] >> North side. >> They They each have a banner. Grove Park and North. >> It's right here. This is North Side. >> Okay. Up next, we would like to recognize Grove Park Preschool and Northside Preschool for meeting state expectations. [applause] Next, we would like to recognize Activate STEM Academy for being fully accredited through coia. [cheering] [applause] Here we go. >> [applause] >> And last, but most certainly not least, we would like to recognize Galileo High School for being fully
029accredited and rated distinguished. [cheering] >> [applause] >> Additionally, we'd like to recognize Galileo for being top five in region six in reading, chronic absenteeism, enrollment in the 3E framework, six-year graduation rate, and their four-year graduation rate. [applause] Three, two, [applause] and just to give you a review of the certificates we awarded to our schools tonight. Um the schools listed on the screen have been recognized for uh being top five in region six which is 14 different school divisions in this area of the state. Um so and those are the certificates you saw us present. So a big deal for those schools and it really uh speaks to the hard work that they have put in. Just as a reminder um we have our new school designation for Arnett Hills. So, we will have data for
030them this school year and be able to present a banner to them um hopefully much more before December of uh 2026. But um stay tuned for next school year's data. Uh looking forward, we're doubling down on uh key initiatives, our literacy initiatives, deepened support in our core content areas, um expanded leader and teacher development programs, high um high quality instructional materials, our attendance initiatives, more support for our alternative education programs. And all of this work really just reflects the investment that you all and you guys sitting here watching and and uh participating have put in for every student. It represents the work that our teachers and our staff and our principles and everyone all the support people um instructional coaches everyone um has put into this division uh to help prepare our students for their
031futures. Um and I'll close with this quote from Dr. Haristen. I'll let you guys read it because I'm on my 27th slide. And so, um, that is [laughter] all I have for you. Uh, thank you all for letting me do this and and share this news. I'm so glad we could finally do it. Thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you, Olivia. [applause] >> Thank you, Miss McGraw. And uh before we move forward, I mean, we've heard Dr. Haristston honor and recognize every single administrator and central office staff. But I must pause and let's recognize our superintendent >> for her. [applause] Now, I don't want to put anybody on the spot, and I know I'm getting a little off the agenda, but we we do have a lot of administrators here. If anybody just want to say
032a word about Dr. Haristen, because we hear a lot about Dr. Haristen and we hear about a lot about our staff, but if any administrator that's here just want to drop just a just real quick because we know we have an amazing superintendent. There we go. >> There we go. Um, I just want to say that Dr. Harrison is a godsend. Um, she totally has come to Danville back home and really made a true turnaround for our schools and believing in us and believing in children and believing in support from the school board and parents. It means all the world of difference. And a key word or thing phrase I like to say is that she inspects what she expects and that makes a difference. So, Dr. Harrison, we appreciate you and God bless you
033and continue to bless you and I hope you don't leave forever. Thank you. [laughter] Thank you, Mr. [applause] Any others? I don't want to leave anybody out. Any others? Thank y'all. Next, we'll move to item 4.2, United Way campaign recognition. And at this time, I'll turn it over to Miss Smith. >> Good evening, Dr. Haristen, Chair Graves, and Vice Chair Aert, and all the distinguished board members here. Um, I am so excited to be the um, Damma Public Schools campaign manager for United Way each year. And it has been such a fun time uh, each year raising our goal and exceeding our goal. So last year we raised over $20,000. This year $22,399.77. [applause] And we are so blessed with the United Way because they give back to our students. They give back to Danville
034public schools through our education foundation and supports our literacy efforts. So we are so blessed that our employees give to United Way because it does come back to our students and families in the Danville area as well as Pennsylvania County. So we had um goals for each school and a campaign manager at each school that helped motivate their staff, teachers, employees to give to the United Way. So, I'd like to recognize the schools and locations that met their goal this year. So, go ahead and we'll give out plaques and take pictures. >> So, we're in good shape. If you all don't mind just standing behind the uh where you are and move together and we'll have principal stand. >> Awesome. That works. >> You don't have to come around. >> All right. The first is
035activate with a goal of $750. They met that goal. Their campaign manager was Sarah Owen. We have Miss Scott here, Miss Owen. >> We just turn. >> [laughter] [applause] >> Our next school was Arnett Hills Elementary. They had a goal of $1,000 and they exceeded that meeting $1,540. And Miss Felicia Edmonds was their campaign manager. We have Mr. Jackson and Miss Williams here. [applause] Come on. [laughter] You have to [clears throat] All right. The next school that met their goal was OT Bonner. And I would like to say Miss Ebony Glass is a I mean a power horse. She came in here was like I am going to be the first campaign manager to hit my goal. And in the first day she did and they exceeded it. They had a $1,250 goal. They uh
036raised $2,13. [cheering] [applause] So, Miss Ebony Glass, I have a nice little gift card for you meeting your goal. The first one to turn it in. Awesome. [applause] >> All right. Next, we have Forest Hills with a goal of $1,000 and they raised $1,081 with Megan Evans as their campaign coordinator. [applause] Our next school was George Washington High School and Mr. Crussell said, "You know what? I want to be the campaign coordinator." So, they had a goal of $1,500 and they exceeded that with $2,227. [applause] There we go. All right. All right, our next schools, um, Grove Park Preschool and North Side Preschool. Miss Rhonda Wright Simmers decided to be the campaign coordinator for both, and she even did a chili cook off at both schools so that she would reach her goal. So, uh,
037she raised $945 at Grove Park and $565 at North Side. [applause] The next school was Rise Academy. They had a goal of $500 and they raised $565 and or sorry $545. And their campaign coordinators were Fran Garland and Karen Greatton. [applause] Schoolfield Elementary is the next school. They had a goal of a thousand and they raised $1,180. And their uh campaign coordinator was Miss Denise Robinson. [applause] Westwood Middle School always comes in hot. Miss Summer Will always cools through. She is the second person to meet their campaign goal. They had a $1,250 campaign goal. They raised $2,859. And she also gets a nice little gift card for meeting her goal. The second one. [laughter] and WW Morg who could not be here tonight. Um they had Miss Karen Wallace be their campaign coordinator. They had
038a goal of $250 and they raised $325. And then last [applause] but not least, central office had a goal of $5,000 and we raised over $5,700. [applause] >> If the senior team could come up and take a picture I think everybody [snorts] and I would just like to thank everybody that contributed to our United way campaign this year. It was a great success. So, thank you all again. I love helping the Danville and Pennsylvania County community. >> Awesome. [applause] >> Next, we'll move to item 5.1. Public may address the board. You have any signed up? >> No, sir. >> Next, we'll move to item 6.1, update on aviation sciences. At this time, I'll turn it over to Dr. Stone. Chairman Grace, Vice Chair, Miss Aid, board members, and Superintendent Dr. Haristen. Good evening. I am
039honored this evening to provide you with a glimpse and an exciting snapshot of one of the shining pathways within CTE, the Aviation Sciences Academy, proudly serving both the Innovate Middle School and the Motivate High School program. As always, we will always reflect to our strategic plan and how it aligns to that with being goal one student achievement with the objective to increase college and career readiness for all students. And the initiatives of course are to increase work-based learning opportunities and post-secary readiness. Also, as a reflection, wanted to always highlight ourmies that we just most recently updated and we always try to refer back to our international business and culture, our building and manufacturing technology, health and human services, law and leadership, advanced technology, environmental sciences, hospitality and tourism, and aviation sciences. Just to give you
040a glimpse of what the aviation pathways consist of. In the middle school, the courses that we offer for sixth graders is the aviation careers exploration. For seventh grader, we also offer an introduction to smart skies. And in eighth grade, we offer smart skies. In high school, we have the aviation logistics pathway that has aerospace technology, aerospace technology 2, aviation maintenance as well as aviation maintenance technology too. The other pathway that we offer is air piloting and it's very exciting. A lot of our kids um love that pathway and you're going to see it in our video that I have for you at the end. and that's consisted of aerospace technology, air pilot training one, air pilot training two, and unmanned aircraft. Wanted to to give you a highlight of some of the enrollments that we
041are seeing thus far, even though we just began this pathway this school year. We have currently 27 students in the middle school pathway and 11 students in our high school pathway. We also participated in the kids fly free. Um over 100 students were able to not only explore the aviation commission but also fly that day for free. It's an exciting time. This is our second year participating. So it's a it's a great commitment for our students as well as community involvement. I I think the most important um aspect of the aviation science academy is to talk about the impact and opportunities it provides for our students. One is workforce development that leads into career exposures and also has a commitment to community partnerships. For workforce development, our students will be exposed to high demand fields
042in aerospace maintenance, drone operations, and engineering. to expose our students to the careers and student empowerment. They will be able to do some STEM um flight training, some technical certifications um that all lead to post-secondary metriculation or directly into the workforce and most importantly I think it's the community partnerships and innovation that this inspired. We have been doing a lot of presentation in the community and working with Danville Community College and AIT as well as the aviation commission to sustain the program to get the program going as well as to fuel our connection to the courses. We don't currently offer the maintenance at our site but we will connect with DCC to um assist us in that endeavor to offer aviation maintenance to our students. And I wanted to hopefully show you the video that
043Patrick and I prepared. >> Danville Public Schools is helping students take their futures to new heights through the aviation sciences program. This innovative program prepares students for exciting careers in the aviation industry, offering handson learning, real world experience, and opportunities to earn both industry certifications and college credit before graduation. Students can choose from two main pathways, [music] aviation aircraft pilot or aviation maintenance. The curriculum prepares them to has key certification exams through strong partnerships with Danville Community College, Ingret University, and the Danville Regional [music] Airport. The aviation sciences program is open to all eligible students across the district through the school choice registration process. By connecting classroom learning with realworld aviation opportunities, Danville Public Schools is building a pipeline of skilled professionals right here in our region. [music] >> I wanted to join the aviation
044program cuz RTC we did a project on planes, [music] fighter jets, and it sparks an idea on me. I want to be a pilot. I want to be a Navy pilot to be exact. [music] I've been wanting to become a pilot for a really long time. You know, I've always had this thought in my mind. You know, uh, Hispanics are suited for the hardest job, whether that is, you know, blue collar jobs, but I realized that we can do anything. I can become violent if I want. I can do great things and I can set a stepping stone for future generations [music] that come. I wanted to join the aeronautics program to help me with my knowledge of aerospace. I really prefer becoming a aerospace engineer and joining the Air Force to help in their
045engineering. My favorite about the class is when we get to get on the simulators, have our fun [music] and learn some new things. >> Walked in my 10th grade year, which was now, and they [music] had simulator set up, and same day I went to the guidance counselor and got transferred in. Being a flight simulator being the simulator helps you out, especially when you're truly flying, it's one to one duration. I [music] love it. After high school, I plan to attend April University to [music] be a pilot or ground crew or ATC or whatever God [music] has in store for me. I really appreciate the opportunities this program has given me and I'm excited to fly. >> You know, the pipeline to Aver University gives those young people that opportunity with uh all of the
046alumni that we have. you know, they'll have just such a great networking opportunity to where they they can start a career coming, you know, through the public schools into whether it be dcc or a university uh and move on into the industry. So, I think the most important thing about it is is is there's so many uh opportunities in aviation that young people don't know about. It's not just being an airline pilot. There's there's many different things in the industry and and I think in this community as well, [music] the young people don't understand all of the vast opportunities that they have. So I think what this pipeline is [music] going to afford them is is those opportunities and to learn what those opportunities are and what that pathway [music] may look like to where
047you know at one time they may have not given aviation a second thought [music] because they thought it was too expensive or uh those goals were just unattainable but with this pipeline I think that they'll find that that there's absolutely ways in which that they can really make their dreams come true in Thank you. So, I I hope you enjoyed the snapshot of the opportunities that are afforded to our students. What an invaluable experience that we're giving our students in our district as well as collaboratively working with the the pipeline that's essential to ensuring that these courses exist. So, we're very grateful to Danville Community College, a Danville Commission that we've been working with for over a year for the curriculum, the um enlightenment, um the opportunities. We'll have a CTE um tour for our
048eighth grade students. So, with that, so students could see because talking about aviation and seeing the simulation really gets students interested and engaged. So, we'll see those numbers increase and I look forward to to um updating you in the years to come about how this program continues to lift and to grow. Are there any questions? >> Any questions? >> Dr. Sun, first thank you for the presentation. I'm excited for it. I could not fly a plane, but it's really cool to see the opportunities for our students. Are there any prerexs or requirements to get into the program such as math courses or things like that, or is it open enrollment for students? It's a good question because that um definitely attributes to enrollment. Technically, we have the course um choice guide that's out and so
049students do um register if they would like to participate in all CTE programs. However, if a students is interested, they just simply enroll with their guidance counselor. So, don't we don't create any barriers to prohibit anybody. So, there's no prerequisite to get into the programs. The courses are aligned with prerequisites. So you're not going to go to air pilot training two without having air pilot training one. So that's the distinction between the two. So yes, it's open enrollment for everyone. However, we do have the process of the um choice. However, we don't create barriers for our students. Any others? Any others? >> Thank you. >> Next, we'll move to item 6.2, Space Camp, Student Experience. At this time, I'll turn it over to Miss Mentor. >> Good evening, Chairman Graves, Vice Chair A, Dr. Harrison,
050members of the board. It's my pleasure to introduce to you one of our outstanding students and the DPS staff members who accompanied her to Space Camp for interested visually impaired students. This is a nationally recognized program designed to provide handson, fully accessible STEM experiences for students with visual impairments. Tonight, you will hear from our student Sarah Combmes, Julianne Parker, our orientation and mobility specialist and teacher for students with visual impairments, and Stephanie Haynesworth, our coordinator for teacher quality. Good morning. How is everybody this evening? I am going to explain. Cyus stands for space camp for interested visually impaired students. This was the 35th year of the program. The program was held at the US space in rocket center in Huntsville, Alabama. This year there were 141 trainees from 31 states and territories, six countries, and
051Sarah was one of five from the state of Virginia to attend. The goal of Cyus is to build leadership, teamwork, and confidence through hands-on stiff experiences. Leadership at Cyus means stepping up when another trainee needs support. If someone needs additional assistance, Sarah and others were able to help other trainees complete tasks or guide them. So, look at the top left and center pictures are examples of Sarah assisting other students. Leadership also showed through when students shared ideas to solve challenges throughout the week. Teamwork was another major focus. Our group had 18 trainees and they all had to work together during missions and activities. In the slides ahead, you'll see several examples of how they collaborated to complete tasks and overcome challenges. There are a couple things to point out. number one in the lower um
052picture Sarah is proudly wearing a GWHS t-shirt. So, also have to note this was a full five days of camp. Each day started at 7:30 in the morning and our last mission didn't end until around 10 o'clock at night. It was exciting but very exhausting. and the the students and the chaperoons pushed through it with a lot of determination. I must share this story. This is my fourth year accompanying Danble Public Schools students to space camp. So this is Dr. Haynesworth's first year. So I told her there's exhaustion and there's space camp exhaustion. Her response I have taught elementary students for several years. I got this [laughter] about the second day. I have never been this exhausted. Told you so. So, I just had to share that with you. >> Sarah wanted me to share
053with you that she caught Dr. Haynes sleeping [laughter] during one of the activities, but trust me, we were exhausted. [laughter] >> It was the 10 o'clock activity that night. The Red Rover [laughter] So, this was really special for me because I taught Sarah in second grade. So, it was neat to accompany her um on this. And one of the things I was able to work with her on was um her 4hour mission that we did on the last day of space camp. She served as a pilot on her mission. She supported the commander during the landing. She handled the navigation and communication system. and she worked through unexpected mission anomalies. She really did show show strong leadership and stayed calm under pressure. And I was in the pilot seat with her and it it was
054a lot of pressure and she did a phenomenal job. Throughout the week, the trainee rotated through different leadership roles. Sarah also served as Capcom where she had to relay information between the spacecraft and mission control. >> Oh, hold on. There we go. Thank you. Her final mission was a 4-hour mission that brought together everything that she learned during the week. During that mission, she served in two roles. She was a scientist on the International Space um station and she was the pilot. We completed two practice missions earlier during the week. In the middle picture, you're going to see a braille panel. I think this shows you exactly what it was like at this space camp for the week. Everything was brailed, even the drink machines. The camp um had a section called the Braille central
055section that had magnifiers, any type of technology devices that our trainees might need to use during the week to be successful in anything that we did. It was truly amazing to see how accessible it was to Sarah and to all of the people who were attending. and they also had special training for all of the NASA employees right before the week. So, it was a neat experience. So, I'm going to explain some of the activities that occurred while we are at camp. So, I'm going to walk through the pictures from left to right and what the students are doing in each activity. For Cybus, the students took part in a variety of hands-on astronaut training experiences. They started by building their own rockets and launching them. They completed the climbing wall which pushed them physically
056and mentally. The next picture shows scuba weightlessness training. Their mission was to gather the pieces of a, and Dr. Haynesworth, you'll be proud, docahedron. She came up with the word, assemble it in the water, and then swim it across the tank. Many teams don't finish this task, but our team did complete it successfully. They also visited the planetarium, experienced the 116th anti-gravity chair, and trained on the multiacess trainer. Now, look at that. She's upside down. One of the biggest challenges of the week was the pamper pole. It's a 30foot climb using ladders and brackets. Then you get to the top. You stand on a platform and um reach out, grab a rope to ring a bell. So, you take that leap of faith. And Sarah set a personal goal to climb above the ladder. She
057achieved it and was able to float down on ropes at the end of it. In the last picture, it may look like they're playing on their phones, but they're actually recording the flame test for thermal protection system challenge. Students had to design shields to protect an egg, and a device held each shield in front of a flame for two minutes to see whether the egg would melt. It was a great way to test how effective the designs were. Now, these activities were incredibly fun, but they also required teamwork, problem solving, and perseverance, which are all goals for Syus. >> Like I told you earlier, she was also a scientist on the International Space Station for part of her 4-hour mission. One of her jobs was to complete an ISS style experiment. She completed alien toothpaste,
058you can see on the bottom picture. um which was a chemical reaction that had an eruption that happened and she enjoyed that. But at the same time, we call our NASA people space ghost. They threw in a lot of anomalies for us. Um they had a medical anomaly that happened after they had water and waste spill. They had a leak. They had a mechanical anomaly. And all of this happened while she was responsible for finishing up her experiment. During the medical anomaly, Sarah was reassigned from scientist to nurse and she had to administer medicine. She was very serious about it until she found out the medicine was actually candy and then she was very jealous then and I was too. So [laughter] even with all that happen happening she completed her experiment. She worked with
059her team to resolve each one of these anomalies. was a great example of how cybus teachers I mean syus teaches students to stay focused. They adapted quickly and they kept their sense of humor when things were really really challenging for them. I would say that this was the um part of the day that I laughed the most. It was one of my favorite moments beside us. We want to thank the Danville Host Lions Club for making this opportunity possible. We also want to recognize the city of Danville for donating pins that were exchanged during the week. And Sarah and I are wearing our pins. We have them from Belgium, Kansas, you name it. And so there are places around other countries and around the United States that have a touch of Damble with them. The
060we are grateful to Damble public schools for allowing us the chance to attend this program. Sarah didn't just learn STEM content. She learned how to lead, how to communicate within a team, and how to persist through challenges. These are skills that she is going to carry with her long after Space Camp. So Dr. Haynesworth and I asked her what is her favorite memory and Sarah said, quote, "The planetarium was my most favorite because of the dome roof and projecting stars and planets. It perfected the experience of what it would be like to be in space." >> Um, any questions? [applause] >> Any questions, Miss Walker? >> Yes. First of all, thank you for that presentation. Um, um, the first I would like to say to Sarah, thank you for being so brave in um taking
061on this challenge. Um is this something and you all may have said it that we do yearly or is it something this is something that is dependent on if I have students who would meet the criteria to go. It has to be are you academically ready? Are you respectful? Is your behavior in place? And you also must be independent. um they stay in their own area with all the other trainees and the chaperoon stay elsewhere. So it just depends on who I have on my case load at that time but for the this is the fourth year we were able to take students. >> Thank you so much. >> You are so welcome. Thank you. >> Any others? >> Thank you. Let's give them another round of applause. [applause] >> Thank you. Thank you. Good
062job. Next, we'll move to item 6.3, gear up grant update. At this time, I'll turn it over to Miss Jones. >> Good evening, >> Superintendent Haristen, Chairman Graves, and Vice Chair Ait, and all the esteemed members of the board. Um there are a lot of acronyms that education has and I'm going to give you another one on tonight. Gear up. Um it stands for gaining early awareness and readiness for undergraduate programs. Uh this is a federal initiative that helps students prepare for success success after high school. Uh, Europe focuses on equity by providing academic support, exposure to college and careers, and resources that help students confidently pursue post-secary goals. Um, oh, I missed the first slide, but I said everything that was on it. [laughter] Um the second slide um connects our goals here at
063Danville with shared goals from the program itself. That being academic performance and preparation, increasing rates for high school graduation, and increasing educational expectations for participating students. Uh there are two grant programs, state and partnership. uh the state partnership, the the state grant has a bigger pocket or bigger budget that of $5 million, but again, the cornerstone is to um support priority populations through early intervention and success. The partnership grant has a smaller budget of $800 per student. However, the goal is still the same to um support students for college readiness and with specific cohorts of students. There are three major buckets that gear up focuses on that being students, families and systems. In the student bucket, uh, of course, it's a heavily support directly towards students um for career exploration and activities. These students uh
064participate in creating academic plans, SAT prep, and in the family bucket, um there's a lot of support for families that gives them tools to navigate enrollment, clear up any myths about college, um and then help them help them feel uh confident about their student pursuing um education after high school. In the systems bucket is where we also benefit as a school district. Creating that collegegoing culture uh improving advisor to student ratios uh and giving again our students college readiness preparation. Now with all of the backdrop that I just gave you about the program itself, nothing speaks to its positive impact on our district but student voices themselves. Um, so there are a couple of students that would like to personally share their experience with the Gear Up program. Um, Gary Warren, uh, and his sidekick,
065of course, Josiah Davis, uh, Samantha and Samantha Van Obstto. I'm gonna ask Samantha to go first, not to put you on the spot. Samantha, you can come and take my spot and the gentleman will follow. >> Sorry. >> It's okay. >> Don't get too excited, guys. It's a little short. Okay, good evening. My name is Sam and this is my Gear Up story. My first experience with Gear Up was in the summer of seventh grade. It was the first time they were trying to initiate Gear Up activities in Halifax where I was and everything was relatively unorganized. I went to the camp not expecting much as it was mostly just an exploring the businesses of Danville camp and not something most would find very interesting. However, even with the program being as early set on
066as it was, the camp was awesome. I got to see so many different business settings including Ma's cakes. Got to talk to the mayor and really just have a fun experience of overall with the final day going ziplining. Then the college trips began. I've gotten to go to so many of my dream schools including UVA where I'd want to transfer into the McIntyre College of um business after a year of studying in the arts. How do I know I could do that? Because of those same gear up trips. Sure, some kids might go on them to waste time and eat good food, but for me, it's a matter of seeing college life and being able to experience my dream schools while still on a planned school field trip. The free food is just a bonus.
067Um, I continued to go on little events, too. Every taco night and every career day. The speakers were well chosen and didn't just speak about how good college was, but alternative options and simply how to manage situations that might just come up. Overall, Gear Up has helped me not only be more knowledgeable in my future opportunities, but find joy in learning more. I'm so happy that I've been able to have all these experiences over the past few years. And I've gone to so many camps. My friends will always be talking to me about how like, oh, you probably just do this to skip school. But honestly, I really just enjoy the experiences that I go to. I go to all these different camps and I've had gone to one that was really fun. It was
068one when we went to William and Mary and they were talking to us about like leadership opportunities and things like that and it was just really nice. It was really fun and all the people were really nice and it's come so far from my seventh grade year because in this my seventh grade year it was disorganized. Everybody didn't really know what was going on. So the people that volunteered will kind of just, oh, let me take you to this business. Let me take you to that business. Let them just talk. But even with that, it was still so nice. And then now it's gotten to the point where I'm able to go on these trips and it's so organized. Everyone is so nice and I can actually learn about my future. Thank you. >> Awesome.
069[applause] >> Good evening. >> First, I would like to shout out my principal, Mr. Crestle. [laughter] my gear up coordinator at GW, Miss Bagley. My family for raising a good kid. [laughter] My pastor being in the back. Um, my name is Josiah Davis. I am an 11th grade student proudly representing George Washington High School, as well as a committed member of the class of 2027 Gear Up cohort. Over the past four years, Gear Up has provided me with opportunities that have far exceeded my expectations. From my visit to Virginia State University to enriching week-long academic emerges at William and Mary, each experience has broadened my perspective, strengthened my ambition, and deepened my understanding of what is possible for my future. I stand before you today sincerely grateful for the transformative impact these experiences have had
070on my academic journey. They have shaped not only my goals, but also my confidence in pursuing the vision I have for my future self. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Hey, how y'all doing today? [laughter] >> Good evening. My name is Gary. I am another proud student of George Washington High School, class of 27. And I want to share what Gear Up has meant to me. When I first heard about Gear Up, I thought it was just another program, but it turned out to be something that opened doors I never imagined. I'm going just keep it short and say the best part for me. The best The best part for me was said with music. Music has always been something I love outside of school and Gear Up gave me the passion, the chance to bring
071that passion into the classroom. I even helped lead my peers in creating an ambition song and video. That experience taught me that leadership isn't just about speaking up. It's about inspiring others through what you love. Any questions? Thank you. [applause] Any questions? >> Well, since he opened that door. Any questions? Awesome. [laughter] >> Dr. Williams, you got a question. >> Thank you all. Uh we'll fact check that uh best behavior thing, but uh [laughter] what has been your favorite part of Europe and what has been the most challenging part of being a Europe student? >> Uh the most challenging part the timing on when we can go on trip. That's it. But the but the best part is all of it. It's fun. It's great being a part of that. And since he gave shout
072out, I want to shout out my family for also raising a great man. [laughter] I want to shout out Miss Carter, my astronomy teacher, Miss Jones, where he at? [laughter] He ain't in here, but uh Curtis Artist, that's my mentor for uh Project Imagine. I feel like that's a great program to be a part of, too. Y'all want to get y'all kids into it, you know? [laughter] >> Y'all have a good one. left out. [applause and cheering] So, I'm gonna do a quick shout out to my parents, to Mrs. Ramsay, to Mr. Johnston, and to all of you guys for listening to us. So, thank you. [applause] >> Awesome. Next, we'll move to item 6.4, reading campaign update. And at this time, I'll turn it over to Miss Barnes. Good evening. Uh that's a tough
073act to follow, [laughter] but as always, we are honored to be here to give you updates um on some of our reading incentives. Um the strategic plan alignment, this goes with uh goal one objective A, which is to support um improve content mastery, sorry, with a laser focus on literacy and numeracy. It has been said already this evening in many different ways. Um but truly so many people in this district support literacy um throughout even as Megan mentioned earlier the United Way campaign. We have literacy grants. Our principles um institute programs and you know fun things in their schools to build literacy. So truly this is a district-wide effort. Um, I'm always, you know, happy to be a part of this and we have a literacy vision for our students. We want Danville public student
074public school students um, to be effective readers, writers, and listeners and critical thinkers. And a lot of that has to do with our instruction such as using highquality instructional materials and um basing instruction in the lower grades on the science of reading. But we also want to make sure that once students can read, they want to read. Um and so a lot of what you're going to hear about tonight is kind of the fun side of things, some incentives that we do and ways that we try to get students interested in reading. So, here we have a district reading snapshot, but that's a little old. Hang on, I have a post-it note. Um, so I can be specific. Um, because we have read even more books than what is on this slide. As of today,
075our district total is 64,075 books read. [applause] And um, we get that data from various places including circulation through our school libraries. um the books that students log in beanstack and also the books that are completed in Mayion and Jasmine's gonna tell you a little more about that. >> All right. Um so Mayion is our online library that we use for independent reading and research includes a collection of Spanish books and readalouds. There are over 3,500 books that have been completed since August 1st. Um there's been training offered to teachers back in September on the Mayan basics and with creating assignments. And to shout out two of our schools, um Bonner and Schoolfield have the highest Mayion usage in the state of Virginia. [applause] So we will continue providing training with our assignments as well
076as with our increasing our usage for our high school students. Um, also in order to build a culture of literacy, we've launched the superintendent reading challenge, which is called Mission Read Impossible. So, our goal is to have each student read 2,100 minutes by the end of the year. And as of November 19th, we had logged 178,074 books. However, I'm sorry, minutes, excuse me. However, as of yesterday, that number has increased to 230,492 minutes. All right. We also had our first drawing on November 5th, which was held at Woodberry Hills where five of our students won $25 Walmart gift cards for logging their reading into our Bean Stack program. >> Excuse me. >> [laughter] >> So, just to provide you with some of the literacy campaign updates, more specifically the reading bowl. Um, we had such
077a positive turnout last year. So, to build off of that, we have decided to extend it to all students in grades four through eight. And what this is, this competition builds a love for reading um and boosts the comprehension skills. Students are allowed to compete with other students across the district. and, you know, get bragging rights and things of that nature, but it also fosters a um reading with a purpose. And here's some pictures from the um reading bowl update. So, Schoolfield was one of our first schools to receive their reading books and they dove right in. You see the students, they've gotten their books, they received their own personal copies, which they can keep even after the reading bowl. And then some literacy up events. Arnet Hills had a comic book night. Bonner had
078an ELA social studies and world languages night. Um Woodbury had a family literacy, math, and science carnival. Schoolfield had a fall festival as well as Westwood. They had an academic showcase. And to also highlight two schools, um, Westwood, they gave students free books and Woodbury, they challenged the students over the course of the snow days that we just recently had to return a picture of them reading over the break and they would be entered into a drawing to receive some sort of incentive. And then our face specialists are working with the CNI team as well to host family reading events. Um, so again, we just want to say thank you to the many people across the district who make this possible. Um, and I look forward to coming back second semester to give you updates
079on the reading bowl and Dr. Haristen's mission read possible campaign and all the other things we're doing. Um, are there any questions? >> Can you share our partnership with the public library so people know that they can always go there and Yes. >> and how to how to get books there? Um, Danville Public Schools does have a partnership with the public library with the Ruby B Archie Library. Um, students don't have to have a physical library card. They can check out books from the public library um, just using their school ID. Um, and so we do have some students take advantage of that. Our school librarians are going to um, be given more information about that program second semester. We do it every year, but you know, sometimes it gets gets lost in the shuffle.
080Um, it's also particularly good for our secondary students because they can check out audio books, which is one of my favorite ways to read. Um, audiobooks and ebooks that they can read on their phone. So, that's a great um resource for our students and we're grateful to the public library for working with us on that. >> Awesome. Thank you. Any questions? Any questions, Miss Noloff? >> I don't have a question. I just have since the competitive side of me always comes out. Dr. Harrison, I think the school board needs to join your mission read possible challenge. >> Yes, >> I love it. [laughter] >> 2100 minutes is very doable. >> Any others? Any others? Awesome. Thank you guys. >> Thank you. Next, we'll move to item 6.5, first review of school year 2627 and 2728
081academic calendars. At this time, I'll turn it over to Miss Mcraw. >> Good evening again. Um, this presentation I am here to share with you all our first review of the school year 2026 27 and uh 2728 academic calendars. Um, so our current calendar template, which uh the board has seen, was built by our calendar committee and approved by the board. Uh, so the calendars you are about to see and you also have in your folders should look pretty familiar but with different dates and numbers. Um, our priorities that have been established by our board are to honor the Veterans Day um, holiday, a three-day Thanksgiving break, a two-week winter holiday for teachers and students, a full week of spring break that is around the Easter holiday, a balanced school year with 90 days per
082semester for a total of 180day year, and to start in August and end in May before Memorial Day. Uh so you will see all those things reflected on both calendars. Uh some notable components for 2627 uh shared here um again in front of you guys and also available if you click on the link uh in the presentation. Um so the start of year work days openhouse and PD um or professional development strategically arranged to maximize teacher uh prep time. A full family conference day each semester. So, one in the fall and one in the spring. The school year does end before Memorial Day and the graduation dates and times are established for um not only the end of year but for summer and winter as well. You'll see the same things in the 2728 calendar.
083Again, uh start in August, end in May before Memorial Day. um strategic start and end uh days to maximize teacher time and then close out time uh full family conference days and uh the graduation dates and times are established. Uh we did release these calendars for stakeholder feedback in October and we actually were able to end up leaving that open well beyond the original period. Um so it's been open for almost two months. Uh we have close to 200 uh comments on the calendars. Um it has been shared with families uh students in grades 5 through 12. Um the student responses are my favorite. I we'll share that with you and we'll have specific responses uh when we do the final review next. Um but teachers, administrators, other schoolbased staff, district staff and this has
084been pushed out on our social medias on the website and then we emailed it directly uh to DPS contacts. Uh so we'll present the final calendars in January for board approval and then uh about uh midfall next year we'll present the 2829 and 2930 calendars uh to you all. Any questions? >> Any questions? Any questions? >> Thank you again, Miss McCall. Um just quick question. Is this still align pretty well with the county? I know that was like pretty big feedback that we were getting from community members. >> We are actually ahead of the county in regard to having a a two-year calendar. Um, and I think we'll stay that way. They seem to do a year over a year. Um, but right now, what we have proposed does match their spring break that they've
085released and voted on. Yes. >> Any others? Thank you. >> Next, we'll move to item 7.1, counts payable warrants. At this time, I'll turn it over to Miss Gillis. >> Good evening, Chairman Graves, Vice Chair Aver, Dr. Harrison, and members of the board. This evening you have before you accounts payable warrant number 80 in the amount of $418,529.84 number 87 in the amount of $1,173,4258. Number 92 in the amount of $361,62346. Number 97 in the amount of $355,4701. Number 99 in the amount of $1,877,94463. Number 103 in the amount of $20,24410. Number 104 in the amount of 1,331,755.78. Number 111 in the amount of $766,340,340.558. in number 118 in the amount of $485,53.33. If anyone has any questions about these signatures, I'd be happy to try to answer them. >> Any questions? Any questions? >>
086Thank you. >> Next, we'll move to item 8.1, public notice. January 2025. Tuesday, January 6th, 2026, 5:30 p.m. Reorganizational meeting, schoolboard meeting room, 220 Cleveland Street. Thursday, January 8th, 2026, 5:30 p.m. regular meeting here in the school board meeting room. And on Thursday, January 22nd, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. is a regular meeting here in the schoolboard meeting room. And next, I will move to item 9.1, finance report. tired of Miss Gillis. >> Good evening. Once again, you have before you the revenue and expenditure statements for the month ended October 31st, 2025, which will include our general fund expenditures as well as the textbook budget and the school nutrition funds. And we also have the revenue and expenditure statement for the month ending November 30th, 2025, which will also include our general fund expenditures, our textbook
087budget, and our school nutrition funds. If anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to try to answer them. >> Any questions? Any questions? >> This is an action item. >> Mr. Chair, I move that we approve the financial report as presented. Second. >> Motion made by Dr. Williams, second by Miss Cunningham to approve the motion from Senate. Uh, any discussion? Any discussion on the motion? Hear none. Madam clerk, please call for a vote. >> Dr. Williams, >> yes. >> Miss Cunningham, >> yes. >> Miss Mclofflin, >> yes. >> Miss A, >> yes. >> Miss Walker, >> yes. >> Mr. Graves, >> yes. Thank you. Next, we'll move to item 10.1, personnel recommendations. This time, I'll turn turn it over to Miss Wimberly. Good evening, Chairman Graves, Vice Chair Averett, Dr. Harrison, and members of the
088board. You've been presented with the personnel recommendations for your review, consideration, and approval. I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have. >> Any questions, Miss Walker? >> Yes. Thank you, Chair. I would like to pull one 1212508 for close and 1212516 for close. Thank you. >> Did you repeat those? >> Yeah. >> Yes. Um 08 and 16. 8 and 16. Any others? Any others? All right. This is an action item. >> Chair, I move that we um approve the personal recommendations minus 9 and 09 and 16. >> 08 08 and 16. >> I second the motion. >> Motion made by Miss Mclofflin and second by Dr. Williams. Any discussion on the motion? Any discussion on the motion? Hearing none, madam clerk, please call for a vote. Miss A, >> yes. >> Dr.
089Williams, >> yes. >> Miss Mclofflin, >> yes. >> Miss Cunningham, >> yes. >> Miss Walker, >> yes. >> Mr. Graves, >> yes. Thank you. Next, we'll move to item 11.1, elementary school attendance zones. And at this time, I'll turn it over to Dr. Haristston. >> Okay. All right. Thank you, Mr. Grace, Miss Aver, vice chair, members of the board, uh bringing before you or back before some of you all the elementary school attendance zones. Um in February 2021, we issued an RFP uh to have attendance zones drawn here in our district. Um we have successfully implemented the middle school attendance zones. The first recommendation was the OT Bonner and Westwood zones. And so we have feeder patterns at this time. uh parents who would like to work outside those feeder patterns use our choice program.
090U Miss Hilton uh navigates any uh request for transfers um and those types of things between the middle schools and elementaryaries. Uh we um made uh had created had MGT of America uh present to us elementary attendance zones which were well defined and u mapped out. uh we wanted to adhere to a um an implementation or we had asked you all to vote on the implementation of this um uh these attendance zones. Um so implementation of the sixth grade middle recommendation happened in August 22nd. So we had sort of a progression. We started with the sixth graders and then we had the sixth graders move up to seventh grade. So we implemented uh tender zones for Bonner and Westwood in August 2023. And finally in 8th grade uh we moved to uh 2024. So now
091all of our children at Bonner and Westwood live within defined attendance zones. Uh we asked to implement the Johnson attendance zone without transportation August 22nd. So that was successful. Um before you you have a map um that I'll show to the public at a later time, but um the Johnson attendance zones uh students who live more on off the Franklin Turnpike area, they are attending Arnette with permission without transportation and they've been doing that since 20 uh 2022. Uh and then we wanted to uh uh begin implementing uh the full Johnson now Arnette Hills attendance zone in 2025 in August. However, we just were not prepared for it. Uh so we held off on having the children attend. So at this time uh I'd like to eventually I'm going to get to that point. We'd
092like the children who live in the Johnson area, the new approved uh attendance zones, which were approved by the board at that time, to fully attend Arnett Hills. So, if you look more toward the north, there's an orange section. We'd like to have all of those children attending Arnett Hills um because that is their attendance zone uh as uh approved um by the board. We also like the remainder of the students down at the bottom left, which is sort of a pinkish area, all of those students to attend Forest Hills. That is a Forest Hills attendance zone. Uh and um we'd like all of those students h some of them do and some of them do not fully attend um Forest Hills. So how would that impact? That means that four to four students would
093leave Gibson and go to Arnet Hills. the students uh in this area and I don't right uh in this area here and if I have a it doesn't show up well the in in this area to the those students are bus down to the Gibson elementary school so they would no longer be bus down forest to Gibson they would actually ride the bus over to Arnet Hills which is closer and is within their their zone so that would impact 44 students um Arnet Hills has the space. Um that means that that the teachers would be assigned to follow those students and we're prepared to handle that adjustment so that Arnet Hills has its full attendance zone and choice program. Uh we also uh would like the children who live on Corning Drive, Green Tree Road,
094Quarry, Quarry, Access Road, and West Main Street who currently are not attending um Forest Hills, but they're in the Forest Hills attendance zone. They're attending Schoolfield. So bus has to go pick them up and take them out of the area to school field. we'd like them to attend Forest Hills and that means 14 additional students will be at Forest Hills and they are prepared to handle that capacity. Okay. Uh we would like to uh I would like to ask um seeking your permission to move forward with implementing Arnet Hills Elementary attendance zone in fall 2026 which is one year behind our anticipated uh request our initial request. We'd like the children at Forest Hills to begin in 2026 as well. We would like to implement the attendance zones for Park Avenue, Gibson, and Woodbury fully
095in 2027, which is the next year. And of course, fully implement Forest Hills and Schoolfield in 2029. And that would bring us uh to to full uh closure relative to the attendance zones. We anticipate Forest Hills will be open at that time or reopen and will be able to handle the rest of their students. So when you go back to this map here, you um the Forest Hills attendance zone is expanded, but we still have those children at school field because we do not have space, but we do have space for the 14 who are down uh near Pine Tag is where they are. They're near Pine Tag. Any questions? Any questions? M. >> Thank you, Dr. Harrison. So, um I know for some of the it's a couple years, but my two questions would
096be um so some of these students are already going to the schools that would be they will be switched back out to other schools which you have described prior, right? So right now the the Arnett Hills um area which is that orange space there um children are already being either bus there or their parents drive them to Arnet Hills. >> Okay. >> There are 44 students that are not being driven probably because the parents do not have transportation. In this model, we would completely um adhere to the approved attendance zones for for ARNET and we would bust those 44 children over. >> So place of the process, they're already going to each of these schools. Yes, ma'am. >> Like it wouldn't be a situation where >> the following year they would end up going to
097a new school. >> Okay. the 44 children at Gibson, they live um if you go up 41 over in the Tamworth area and a little bit beyond. Um so they will permanently be assigned or those residences rather will be permanently assigned to ART. So it wouldn't be a ne next year they're going somewhere else. That is their attended zone. >> Sure. Sure. So, uh, we would we would like to notify them in January. Um, we reopen the choice, um, program again in January. If they choose not to, um, attend Arnet Hills, they would be required to provide their own transportation. However, there will not be a bus driving them down. So, they can apply to to remain at Gibson. >> Any others? Any others? >> This is an action item. So again, what am I
098requesting? U February 26 that we uh fully implement the Arnet Hills attendance zone by moving 44 students to ARNA. And the second request um which is all one request actually is to to allow to to transport the 14 students who are in the Forest Hills attendance zone actually to Forest Hills. So uh to move forward with uh work that with adhering to the approved attendance zone for Forest Hills, >> I move that we approve um the recommendations for the modifications of um >> Quebec Hills. Yeah, the modification the modified schedule for the elementary schools. Okay, >> second >> motion made by Miss Walker, second by Miss Aver. Any discussion on the motion? Any discussion? Hearing none. Madam clerk, please call for a vote. >> Miss A? >> Yes. >> Dr. Williams? >> Yes. >> Miss
099Mclofflin? >> Yes. >> Miss Cunningham? >> Yes. >> Miss Walker? >> Yes. >> Mr. Graves? >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Next, we'll move to item 12.1. Board request for information for future agenda items. You test that out there. >> Can you repeat yours? >> No, you could. All right. Next, I'll move item 13.1, comments, city attorney. I >> I don't have any comments. >> 13.2. Superintendent. >> I've talked a lot, but I'd really like to thank our parade crew, Mr. Prompler, Julie [clears throat] are the drivers. Um, thank you all so much for um for getting us out there and we have a challenge from Park Avenue. They're challenging us next year on our float. So, uh, we look forward to that. And, um, I hope everybody has a really super nice holiday. Uh,
100and I want to thank Walter Lucas for getting us uh, in the bill. He and what what people may not realize is that he and and Marcus Cheney and Jefflin and Desh Wilds they are pretty much um on these calls every single week with with um who did I miss? I miss somebody. Joel Joelle >> Oh, I got push microphone. Okay, I missed somebody. But um they heard me. They heard me, but uh they're on these calls every week uh pulling cable, looking at um cameras, looking at security. Um Walter is um making them stick to the budget and ensuring that the architects and and contractors do their job. So, I I can just tell you that um this team has given so much time. Uh Dr. Babalola was our furniture person at one time
101and she of course quit us. She said, "That's just too much." Um and Kim that media center for for Arnad is just gorgeous. So thank you all for the time and I wish everybody a nice holiday. >> Next we'll move to item 13.3. Call the roll. >> Miss Walker. >> Good evening again. So my comment is kind of it's not too lengthy but I just wanted to be intentional tonight. Um, of course we all know with uh heartfelt sentiments in regards to accreditations, a huge congratulations to our superintendent, Dr. Harrison, and the incredible DPS staff. Thank you for your leadership, your passion, and your continued commitment to excellence. Having all our schools fully accredited is an outstanding achievement and a true testament to your hard work, your dedication, and belief in our students. This is
102a milestone that reflects the passion and the excellence you bring every day. So, thank you Dr. Harrison. There are others that I feel that should play a part in our academic success. Special thanks to our transportation department that ensures that the students safely are transported to school daily to learn. Special thank you to our school nutritional staff who are crucial for student health and academics. Special thanks to parents and loved ones who make sure that students show up every day to learn. And then lastly, I just wanted to speak directly to principles and teachers to know that I see you whether it's in the school when I visit you or just driving by the schools. Today is a positive today is a powerful reflection of teachers tireless dedication and that in their being um able
103that I see you. You come in early, you stay late, and I and still head home with a cart or loaded with briefcases so that the work can continue. I see you. You teach, you manage classrooms. You support students and you keep a constant eye on goals and benchmarks. I see you all while bringing energy heart, your energy, your heart and commitment to every single day. This achievement belongs to you also and it shines because of the passion that you pour into your work. Congratulations on this incredible movement. And lastly, I pray that everybody have a amazing holiday season and remember to be a blessing to those that are less fortunate. Thank you. >> You got my notes, don't you? [laughter] Um just briefly um I just want to take a moment to acknowledge some
104outstanding achievements across our division. First congratulating the GW football players um who were named to the Pedmont district um all district offensive and defensive teams as well as the Dan River Sports Southside honors. Um a special shout out to defense player of the year Chris Law and coach of the year Nick Anderson. Um and to every player who was not in individually mentioned. You have so much to be proud of. You are Pont District Champions. Um, and that title was earned through teamwork. No one man did it by himself. It was a collective effort and you showed what unity, discipline, and heart can accomplish. Um, I also want to send a heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Haristen. um five years ago or when you came I was a truency attendance clerk and I remember everyone talking
105about this new person and what she's going to do and whatever. Then we had some people saying, "Oh, she need to go." And I remember saying, "It's a room of a group of women who will rally behind you." And so I am just excited that you stayed the course. You built a team and we, the district, the community accomplished this through your leadership. Um, I enjoyed seeing the photos of the float. Um, I do miss that project. However, I had the pleasure to go celebrate my daughter and her husband. They're expecting our baby little Miss Princess Sloan in March. So, we got to celebrate um her and with family and all my other grandb babies. And so, you guys were missed a little bit. >> Number one. >> Y'all deserve number one. I think every
106year y'all deserve number one, but um I just want to say it was a nice float. Um and then I want to highlight the Langston um program. I had the opportunity to present, but then I also had the opportunity to watch some of Galileo's students walk through in particular drama team or club. When I tell you those kids were so excited when they saw that auditorium, you thought they about to be in New York on on Broadway. They were so excited. Then when they came through the little hallway to see the cafeteria space, it just made my heart proud because I remember being going into trainings into that building and it did not look like that. And so it I definitely know our parents and our community um will benefit from that gorgeous space. Um,
107and then the highlight of that day was in the hallway when the alumni sung the alma mater. I can't say that I remember my al alma mater but and these people were older than I and just to see that they were singing it with so much pride, so much history in that building and the DPS went out their way to make sure um they had the right people at the table to make sure that history has been encapsed in that in that building in this build in this building. we're in this building, you know, and and this is beautiful. And so, um, with that, I just want to say that was amazing. Um, as we wrap up the last six days of school before Christmas break, let's finish strong. May God bless each of you
108as you spend your time doing whatever brings you peace, joy, and rest. And let's return with renewed and rested minds so we can finish this year strong. I mean, before I let go, um, and just capping on, you know, the generosity, um, my church every fourth Saturday of the month feeds at House of Hope. And so, just remember those who are left out in the cold, um, don't have loved ones. If you have opportunity to give, and it doesn't have to be House of Hope, it could be anywhere throughout whatever cities you live in, just remember them because just by a click of a finger, it could be us. So, thank you. God bless you and I can't wait for this long break. >> Dr. Williams, >> good evening again, everyone. >> First, I'm very
109excited to be said, uh, thank you again to Dr. Harrison for your leadership with this project, to Walter, and to our community members again for contributing the 1% sales tax to make projects like this possible. Um it's been an incredible exciting semester of teaching and learning here at DPS. Um best of luck to students with exams and SOS and teachers as well as we wrap up with testing. As Miss McLaclin again said six more days we can do it. Um I feel like I've told every person in DAL but I am so excited about our accreditation. So kudos again to our students, our staff, our teachers, families, community members um all involved with this. Um again five years ago I remember those days. It was not easy. It was tough. Uh but we made it.
110We've um made it to this point. So uh kudos again to senior leadership for all you've done with that. Um kudos and a special thank you to our students for all that you're doing from space camp to gear up. I'm so incredibly proud of each of you in the futures and the incredible things that you're doing. And just want to wish everyone a warm, festive, and safe holiday season. Uh to our students, please remember to read 20 minutes a day. And to our teachers, turn off those laptops. See you in January. Okay. Um, good evening. Um, not to reiterate everything that has already been said. Um, but I will, if I can, echo, um, our city councilman has a slogan that he calls Danville the comeback city. Um, for us to come to now from
111where we were, um, Derks call us the comeback school system. Um the city of Danville, we highlight a lot on the advancements and the growth and for the a couple of months now DPS Danville public schools has come back to back and have been the peak of advancements here in the city of Danville. Um that's from the the opening of the new gymnasium at GW to the preview day at Langston campus, the opening of Galileo Magnet School to our new central office. Um, and then I'll pinpoint as well that the ribbon cutting for Galileo, if I'm not mistaken, is on this upcoming Monday um, at 10 o'clock. So, let's pinpoint that so that we can show up for that. Um, but also today for our first official meeting to be held on the Langston campus
112and for us to also be able to announce that we are fully accreditated. That is a moment in itself, if I'll even say God ordained moment in itself for us to be able to se celebrate and acknowledge that. Um to Dr. Haristen, if uh trust the process was a person, um that would be you. Trust the process. [applause] Um and I say that as not only a Dambo Public School Board member, but even as a parent. um being able to see it on both sides. Um trust the process. Um to the staff, students, um your your team, your executive team, um to all educators, administrators, I thank you for trusting her process. Um if we needed proof that it works, um it's here today. the accreditation status is proof that her process, her vision, um
113our implementation of it, it's working. Um and when you know that it works, the morale is higher. Um the excitement is higher, the wanting to come to school, come to work every day, it's higher because we know that the work that we're putting in, the commitment that we have, the level of hardship and dedication and commitment that we all have to our students first is working. So, I want to say thank you to Dr. Haristen, of course, big thank you to the school board, and thank you to you all. Have a wonderful holiday season. >> Just um that the it was really great to see how all the different programs that DPS is offering is really impacting students. It's really great like how Gear Up and the aviation program has really shown students how we
114have like we have so many different career opportunities like beyond our lives outside of high school and the dedication from our teachers and and and principles has really impacted us. >> Miss A. >> Yes. Good evening. Um, what a way to christen our first official night here, um, in the new Danville Public Schools, uh, main office. Um, I think it's been all over social media all week. Um, the community is excited, parents are excited. Um, the state of Virginia [laughter] is excited about the work that you have been doing here, Dr. Haren. So, a big appreciation to you and your vision, your team, every teacher, every paraprofessional, every custodian, every um I'm leaving somebody out. cafeteria worker, just anybody who touches the lives of students every single day. Um, thank you. A huge appreciation to
115you. Um, this is my fourth year on the board and there was grumblings. You know, people were complaining and didn't understand. And I kept saying, you know, this is growing pains. As you grow and you stretch, um, but once you get finished doing all of that, you're going to reap the benefit. You're going to see the results. And that's where we are now. And that is just thanks to everyone, um, the board, the community, parents, teachers, everyone who has had a part. And as Dr. Harston said tonight, um, we're all pieces of that puzzle. Um, and we all have fit fig figured out where we fit to make the teaching and learning better here um, for Danville public schools and for our community at large. And I think tonight a highlight for me was just
116listening to the students share their appreciation for the work, for the opportunities, for the intentionality to make sure that they are prepared and that they have options once they graduate from Danville public schools. So again, um, huge appreciation. I'm a Danville girl. I raised four children who we all came through Danville public schools. Um, and so it just touches my heart because I know my love for Danville and my love for the schools that I attended here. And I just think that everybody should go to school here in Danville, live in Danville, play in Danville. Um so again, thank you to everybody who had any part, any role in getting us to this point. And um just to close, I want to wish everyone a merry Christmas. Um enjoy this downtime. You have earned it.
117You deserve it. Um take some time to just reflect and just appreciate the small things. Just um get some rest. Thank you, Mr. Graves. >> What's left to say? >> Thank you, everybody. And I don't want to call anybody specifically because I don't want to forget anybody. I just want to say thank you. And I do, and I am a firm believer that there is power in prayer. Um, there are many times that Dr. Harrison and I have been on the phone laughing, crying, sometimes going back and forth. Y'all know y'all superintendent, right? [laughter] and I enjoy every single moment of that. Um, I'm going into my eighth year sitting here on the school board. Um, most of my my childhood life, right? Um, [laughter] but I I want to I just want to give
118a I want to give a special shout out to our superintendent, Dr. Haristen, for her incredible work through throughout this school district and throughout her tenure here with this district. I remember back in I say June of 2020 uh we got a letter of resignation from my former superintendent and we like what in the world this is all of our first time trying to find a superintendent and I remember I had the job of going downstairs and greeting Dr. Angela Haristen and when she came up to the interview she walks in and she in good old Dr. Harrison fashion and she presents us with a book and I said what is this and it's her entry plan and I was like wow day two she had a strategic plan going on and she was ready
119to work and we knew then that we had made the best decision by choosing Dr. Haristston to come back and be our superintendent and look at where we are now. That within itself deserves a round of applause. So, thank you for your [applause] leadership. Also, I would like to give a shout out and I try as much as possible um to give credit where credit is due. But Dr. Gwyn Stone and the amazing work that she's doing with our career and technical education, that is amazing work and the opportunities for students. We have four students, four incredible students, Sarah, Sam, Gary, and Jojo who come here tonight to present in front of the board. And they were just, I mean, wellspoken. They were amazing students, and that within itself deserves, you know, just incredible praises
120for the work that they're doing and the work that all of our principles are doing. So, thank you for staying late because we know how much work you put into our our students and to our district. We appreciate you guys. I had an opportunity to visit Bonner not too long ago and uh I walked into a team principal meeting and uh I was uh I had the opportunity to see uh what what is the wall that you call it? >> The Hall of Fame and he you know he just amazing amazing work. So just not I mean we can see all the great things that are happening and thank you uh Olivia for all the work that you do and putting all the numbers together. We praise a lot of people tonight but I want
121to give you a shout out for the work that you're doing. amazing calendar. Let's give her a round of applause. Thank you. [applause] And also lastly, um the catering staff, man, the food. Let's let's give them a shout out as well. [applause] Slim Pickings. I'm trying to give everybody shout outs, right? I'm at the end. Um, but lastly, and I know we we have so much to be grateful for as we go into the holiday season, but I would like to send my condolences to uh Patricia Ratliff's family, Patrick, and and her grandkids. Um, so my condolences do go to them. She was an employee here with the Damma Public School System for many, many years. Served at George Washington High School. We all know Miss Ratliff. So, I want to send my condolences to
122her family as well. And Mr. Payne cannot be here tonight, but he sends his congratulations as well. He would definitely love to be here to hear about all the great things that are happening right here in Danville public schools. I remember two numbers um in closing zero and 132. When I first started, we had zero schools accredited. Now we have all schools accredited. And I also remember 132 and that was because we was 132 out of 132. So again, that within itself deserves a round of applause. [applause] And thank you. I'm done. And next we'll move to item 13.4. Uh clarify school board request for information. >> Yes. >> All right. And next we'll move to item 14.1 recess. >> This is an action item. >> Mr. Chair, I move that we recess for seven
123minutes. >> Second. >> Motion made by Dr. Williams, second by Miss Cunningham to recess for seven minutes. Any discussion on the motion? Any discussion hearing? None. Madam clerk, please call for a vote. >> Dr. Williams, >> yes. >> Miss Cunningham, >> yes. Miss Mclofflin. >> Yes. >> Miss A. >> Yes. >> Miss Walker. >> Mr. Graves. >> Yes.