001e e e good evening the time now is 5:30 p.m and I call the Thursday February 13th 2025 meeting order Madam clerk please call for a vote Dr Williams present Mr P here M Walker present Dr present present here here next we move to item 1.3 the approval of the agenda do I have a motion Mo second motion made by Mr Payne second by Mr a any discussion on the motion hearing n Madam clerk please call for vote M yes Mr yes M yes Dr will yes yes yes yes next we'll have a moment of silence and Pledge of Allegiance by Miss Aver stand for a moment of [Music] silence pledge I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible
002with liberty and justice for [Music] all next we'll move to item 2.1 the approval of the minutes these are the minutes from the January 23rd 2025 meeting I have a motion second second motion made by Mr Payne second by Dr Williams any discussion on the motion hearing none Madam clerk please call for a vote yes yes yes yes yes yes yes next we'll move to item 3.1 School Board clerk appreciation week February 17th through the 21st this is an action item second motion May by Mr Payne second by Dr Silverman any discussion on the motion hearing none Madam clerk please call for a vote yes yes yes yes yes Mr yes so being that we only have one meeting this month I don't think she's aware but we're going to go ahead and recognize our
003board clerk Miss Marquita bash Jones let's give her a round of applause [Applause] oh that's awesome look at that look at that [Music] oh hi Nathan thank you so much and thank you Nathan nice to meet [Music] you let's give Miss Jones another round of applause we truly appreciate all you do thank you for being you and thank you for being great for the board we do appreciate you next we move to item 4.1 Virginia school board appreciation month February 2025 at this time I'll turn it over to Dr Harris thank you chair Grace and um way we might handle the pictures uh since our little ones need to get home in the bed we'll wait and we'll take a picture with them and you all and then Marita and then come back around um
004so Virginia school board appreciation month February 2025 whereas the education of Virginia's school age children is a foundation upon which the economic social and intellectual capital of our state is built and whereas locally elected and appointed school boards play an important and vital government role and decisions made by local school boards directly influence instruction in Virginia's public schools and whereas the decisions affect the present and future lives of children and also set direction to prepare all students to be competitive in local State national and Global 21st century knowledge economy and whereas local school board members work with parents businesses education professionals and other community members to create the educational Vision we want for our students and whereas this year's theme champions of opportunity Advocates of Excellence highlights the efforts made by school board members to
005create Pathways for student achievement and Innovation on behalf of our students and whereas the school board appreciation month provides an opportunity to celebrate Virginia's school board members who Champion the mission of public education and now for bed resolved the Danville School Board joins the Virginia school boards Association in recognition the uh recognizing the contributions of the local school board members to the academic success of its public school students and expresses its sincerest recognition to local board members for their focus on the well-being and achievement of students throughout the Commonwealth and be it finally resolved the Danville School Board declares Fe 2025 at school board appreciation month and encourages all local community members and leaders to appropriately recognize the school board's dedication uh dedicated School uh division's dedicated school board members adopted by the Dan school
006board on January 23rd 2025 um U Mr taquon Grace chair and Angela Harrison superintendent and I'd like to encourage all of us to give our board members a hand let me tell you um it's it's not an easy task being a Schoolboard member you're on the front line you don't often make um decisions that are popular with everyone but you make decisions that are best for children and I had to laugh because the little one here was sitting up there looking at me like what are you talking about lady um but I will say and I want the public to know that this past week our school board uh went together on a two-day retreat with vsba and it was a very powerful Retreat because they began working on our strategic direction for the next
0075 years it was a unifying experience a Visionary um setting moment for our Schoolboard members and I want to thank you for taking two days out of your personal lives and your work lives to do the work on behalf of children so I don't care what anybody says this is a great board working together and moving forward in a great Direction and so our little babies here are here to recognize you and I'll turn it over them cuz they're real tired waiting for me to be quiet okay hello everyone chair Graves the chair the school board and Dr Harrison thank you so much for letting us come to to celebrate you today um we love this little tradition that we've started of celebrating our school board from our youngest Learners so I'm Ronda Wright simmers
008I'm the principle the very happy principal of growth Park and Northside Preschool where the youngest Learners in the School Division uh learn and play every day we have children that are 2 years old three years old four years old at um both Northside and Grove Park preschool and we are just so happy to celebrate you guys so boys and girls if you are under the age of five please come on can you tell the public what can you tell the public because you have music uh cards oh yes yes yes so um the bigger cards that you have came from the children at Northside Preschool The Grove Park children have these smaller cards that are going to you but the little special thing on the North side ones is a little scan here QR code
009and each of the uh classrooms did a little video uh for you that you can scan on your phone that you can have uh to take with you this evening so fun fun and we do have a plag for each um board member frame certificate so if you all would um once you've received your goodies come and take a picture with the kids and then we'll give this to you to take a picture standing alone as a board okay e e e uh for the vhsl 2024 All State girls cross country team champion ranking class uh ranking number one in her class and um this is a tough Sport and our our Maya has done an amazing job being top ranked uh runner in the state and we just wanted to take this opportunity to
010thank you for representing Danville public schools and doing so very well on behalf of our school district and yourself you have a lot of discipline you're an awesome student and we just wanted to say thank you for all that you do [Applause] okay e [Applause] next we'll move to item 4.3 Black History Month February 2025 at this time I'll turn it over to miss Avery okay Proclamation Black History Month February 2025 whereas in 1976 Black History Month was formerly adopted to honor and affirm the importance of black history throughout our American experience and whereas the history of people of African Heritage goes back thousands of years and includes some of the greatest most advanced and Innovative Societies in the history of human existence and whereas African Americans have played a significant role in The History
011of the United States from the early days of the Pioneers to our present day leaders in such Industries as Aerospace Finance government and international trade and whereas Black History Month is a time for all Americans to reflect on the rich history and teachings of African-Americans whose contributions are vast and wide and whereas during Black History Month all Americans are encouraged to reflect on the rich history and teachings of African-Americans and bear witness to the progress Beauty and achievements they have made throughout our region now therefore the Danville School Board does hereby proclaim the month of February 20125 to be Black History Month in the Danville Public Schools we encourage the celebration of the collective Ingenuity creativity cultures and traditions of African-Americans and encourage participation in educational events honoring the contribution of black Americans signed this
01223rd day of January 2025 Mr taquan Graves chair Angela s Harriston superintendent good evening chair Graves Vice chair aett members of the board Dr Harriston and our guests it is my honor to be here this evening to accept this Proclamation on behalf of Danville public schools and I'd like to share with you a few items of information our strategic plan alignment calls that dville public schools raise student achievement close the achievement Gap and enable students to take ownership for their learning the danille public schools will Foster an inclusive climate that values the safety and well-being of students faculty and staff and fosters an equitable environment that creates a sense of belonging so why do we observe Black History Month Black History Month was created to focus attention on the contributions of African-Americans to the United
013States it honors all black people from all periods of US history from the enslaved people first brought over from Africa in the early 17th century to African-Americans living in the United States today black history is United States history so some of the celebrations and observances that you might experienc this month and D Public Schools our door decorating contests black history programs and talent showcases research projects plays and drama presentations trivia questions and musical moments we also have sponsored a black history essay contest that has recently ended and those are being judged at this moment and we will bring back our winners to recognize them before the board and our topic this year was African-Americans and labor this evening we are privileged to have with us J Lee Fulton a fifth grade student at Gibson who
014is here to share her entry in our oratorical history competition her topic was rights and responsibilities her coach is Miss Tanya Felton and her principal is Miss Michaela ragdale so I turn it over to Jay Le good even good evening my name is J Lee fton from Gibson Elementary and I stand before you today as a future graduate of George Washington High School I can't help but think about the journey that was made before me I would like to share with you the rights and responsibilities that are in order for me to get where I am today many years ago not everyone had the same opportunity to go to a good school although during the 1940s children like me were told they couldn't learn in the same classrooms as others due to the color of
015their skin this was because of the Supreme Court case from 1836 called py versus Ferguson that case allowed segregation as Longos everything was separate but equal but during those times things were never equal the students didn't have proper books decent classrooms adequate buildings or enough teachers schools were overcrowded however many stood up to change that two of those people were Dorothy Davis and Barbara Johns Dorothy Davis and Barbara Johns lived right here in v in Virginia in a town called Farmville located in Prince Edward County they both went to Robert Russia mon high school together together unfortunately their school was overcrowded and falling apart the buildings were even nicknamed tar paper Shacks due to the flimsy material that covered the building they did not have a gym cafeteria lockers or decent books school was not
016the best place would you like would you want to go to a school like that thinking this was unfair Barbara John's and her classmates organized and led a student walk out to protest the unfair conditions you see they wanted to have a school that was just as good as other schools in other words a fair and equal education the walk out lasted for 2 weeks and gained the attention of many lawyers their actions led to a court case Davis versus County Board of Prince Edward County that helped change their whole country their fight along with cases from other States became a part of the famous Brown versus Board of Education case which said separate tion equal in public Ed hi listening [Applause] [Music] wow thank you to Jada and to her family and her coach
017and her principal and thank you for giving us this opportunity this evening I'm sorry miaga we have to give her another round of applause [Applause] yes so you're sitting beside a student rep so Dr Harriston make sure she's fifth grade that's our next student rep right there awesome job awesome job next we'll move the item 4.4 National School counseling week February 3rd through February 7th 2025 at this time I'll turn it over to Miss Walker school counselors are employed in public and private schools to help students reach their full potential and where as school counselors are actively committed to helping students explore their abilities strengths interests and talents as these traits relate to Career awareness and development and whereas School counselors help families focus on ways to further the academic career and social emotional development
018of of the children and whereas school counselors work with teachers and other Educators to help students explore their potential and set realistic goals for themselves and whereas school counselors seek to identify and utilize Community Resources that can enhance and compl comprehensive School counseling programs and help students become productive members of society and whereas comprehensive development schools counseling programs are considered an integral part of the educational process that enables all students to achieve success in school therefore dville Public Schools hereby proclaims February 3 February 3rd through the 7th 2025 as National School counseling week signed this 23rd dat of January 2025th Mr T Co gra chair Dr Angela Harrison superintendent thank you to board chair Graves board members and superintendent Harrison it is my honor to come before you on behalf of the school counselors this
019evening we celebrate a group of individuals who often work behind the scenes but who impact is felt on every corner of our school and that is our school counselor counselors are more than just advisers they are mentors they're listeners they're problem solvers and most importantly they're a champion for every school who walks through their doors they help guide us through academic challenges potent personal challenges and struggles and a big life decisions they always display kindness patience and wisdom to our school counselors who I have um several of them standing with me today thank thank you for your unwavering support and for seeing the potential in every students and STK thank you for being a sturdy hand that guides so many students through difficult times your dedication does not go unnoticed and we would like to
020honor you not only today but throughout the school year may we applaud our counselors for the incredible they job they do and they make a difference every single day so thank you thank you very much and then and I have Miss Jill Clary and she's been a school counselor with us for 20 years in Danville public schools and we're going to have her say a couple of remarks good evening thank you so much it has really been a privilege to be part of Danville public schools for the last 20 years I'm honored to be part of an amazing group of individuals who give so much daily to students and to others our role is sometimes Miss understood but it's true when they say counselors wear many hats sometimes that's a fire hat because we do
021put out a lot of fires we work directly with students to support social and emotional needs collaborate with staff parents and Community agencies as well as provide crisis response we are part of school-based intervention teams for academics behavior and attendance to support Student Success we provide career exploration and preparation efforts to help students plan for their future as counselors we know the power of trusting relationships and resilience we have a unique role of being able to build both trusting relationships with students and to help them to build resilience to overcome challenges they face I know I can speak for my colleagues and saying we are honored and proud to do this important work each day thank you so much thank you okay each of you can step up and tell where you're from I'm Felicia
022Valentine I'm the counselor at Elementary Trayvon rxg Le [Music] Johnson hello everyone I'm L shura and I'm at Gibson Elementary good evening I'm Ashley Casey and I am the counselor at will bear Hills Elementary School so we thank you so much um for giving us this opportunity to speak on behalf of our school counselors yeah absolutely let's give them another round of applause e e e next we'll move to item 4.5 Career and Technical Education Month February 2025 at this time I'll turn it over to Dr Williams Danville Public Schools Proclamation Career and Technical Education Month February 2025 whereas economic and technological changes in society are rapidly reflected in the nature of today's workplace there thereby placing new respons possibilities on Virginia's education system and whereas Career and Technical education provides the Commonwealth students with
023a career path for postsecondary education and workplace Readiness in a global economy and whereas Career and Technical education gives students experience in Practical meaningful applications of basic skills such as Reading Writing and Mathematics which promotes deeper learning and improves the quality of their education and whereas Career and Technical education is the foundation of a strong and well-educated work Workforce which Fosters productivity and Industry and contributes to Virginia's leadership in the international marketplace and whereas Career and Technical education offers lifelong learning opportunities that provide individuals with more career choices expanded earning potential and greater job satisfaction and whereas leaders from business and industry Nationwide report increasing challenges related to the related to addressing the skills Gap and connecting qualified professionals with available careers and critical and growing CTE related fields including healthc care energy Advanced manufacturing
024cyber security and information technology and whereas the national theme for Career and Technical Education Month readying learners for career and College and Career Success demonstrates The crucial role in Career and Technical education playing in readying Virginia students for successful careers now therefore be it resolved that the dville school board recognizes February 2025 as Career and Technical education month signed this 23rd day of January 2025 Mr taquon Graves chair and Dr Angela Harrison superintendent chairman Graves board members and superintendent Dr Harrison good evening we're immensely honored to accept the CTE Proclamation for all the dedicated individuals who have worked tirelessly work to advance Career and Technical education together we have contributed towards transforming lives in empowering our community and building a better future for all on behalf of the CTE department and team we are grateful
025for the importance of celebrating CTE and its profound impact on our community CTE is not merely an educational pathway but a pathway to success opportunity and fulfilling one's true potential CTE goes beyond traditional academic education it provides practical handson experiences that bridge the gap between the classroom and the workplace as we begin to celebrate CTE we would like to highlight the efforts of of our over 30 staff members and central office team in our most recent efforts we have completed the eighth grade tours CT and elective Fair professional lunch and learns which we completed our first today at Forest Hills Elementary School we have our upcoming career fair future ready and Beyond culinary students have honored um famous black Americans in the culinary field in upcoming events we would like to appreciate and get to
026know your CTE teachers through a scavenger hunt with prizes we also have sent and will send appreciation letters to Organization for work-based learning opportunities we will Design t-shirts in a design contest during this month for prizes we will also highlight and honor seniors through spotlights and we also will celebrate through a hall party party and a CTE fair for all students on February 26th and as we give we will continue to fundraise for classes that raise the most money to receive a prize and our nurse aid program would do health checks this month at a table setup at the school here are some highlights of some of the engagement opportunities that we have practiced and engaged in for the month of February and thank you thank you next we'll move to item 4.6 Danville Community
027College president list and Vice President List and at this time I'll turn it of a leag on good evening we are here today to recognize 21 early college students who have earned the recognition on Danville community colleges President's List or vice president's list we will begin with the Vice President List to be recognized for the Vice President List the student had to be enrolled for six or more credit hours have a cumulative GPA at least at 3.0 and must have earned a semester GPA of 3.0 to 3.74 and they have completed a cumulative 24 semester hours we have six students who will be recognized for that honor Miss Gunter would call their name we ask if they're here to please come forward so we can give you certificate sure we currently have 70 students in
028the early college program 32 Juniors and 38 seniors they work very hard to earn both their Advanced high school diploma and their associates degree through this program um each of the students that um thank you thank you um each of our students um has morning classes at DCC including a science a history an English and a math through the two semesters Junior and Senior year and then their afternoon classes are spent at their base school either gal or GW we're very proud of this year's students i' like to recognize Somaya bethl josn Cobbs Shalia Edmonds janah Jackson Bradley Stanfield and micaa Williams and next we will recognize the students who have earned the President List those are our names for our vice president list I'm apologize so for the President's List the students had to
029have again be enrolled for six credit hours or more they had to have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher they had to earn for this semester 3.7 five or higher and again have completed a minimum of 24 semester hours we have 15 students who have met the requirements for the president's honor their names will be displayed on the screen and we will call their Nam so they can be recognized with a certificate Usman Ali Simone Boyd Christina [Applause] Elliott Adam Hawkins Camila Hernandez Rios NM Jones Cameron Casa Savon Marshall Tasia mcneel [Applause] henkins Maya [Applause] Robinson Haley sers emony Snipes davana Walker Addison Witcher [Applause] Brady Woodson congratulations to each of you on your hard [Applause] work e e e February 9th through 15 2025 at this time I'll turn over to Miss Harris
030boort chair Graves board members superintendent Harriston this week we celebrate something simple but yet powerful kindness week kindness may seem like a small act but it's impactful and it's unmeasurable a kind word a helping hand or even just a smile can brighten somebody's day and create a ripple effect of positivity kindness just isn't a grand gesture but it's an everyday choice that we make it includes including somebody who's feeling left out showing gratitude showing and treating others with respect when we choose kindness we create a school a community community and a world where everyone feels value and supported so let's challenge ourselves this week to go above and beyond and spread kindness in every way we can because the smallest act of kindness can make the biggest difference in someone's life and so with me
031it is my honor to introduce to you all Kayla Whittle she is an eighth grade student at Bonner Middle School and she's going to recite a point about kindness kindness is reaching out to help a friend who is struggling one act of kindness can spark a chain reaction of love being kind is to compliment someone tell someone they look nice today kindness is helping someone pronounce a word and being sure to not make fun of them for saying it wrong kindness is listening to people when they need an ear kindness is a shoulder to lean on a leg to stand on and arm to hold when you do something kind for others kindness will come back to you kindness can spread and keep going on forever and ever no matter who you are if you
032are kind others will be kind to you happiness is kindness because no one is truly happy until they are kind can we give her a round of applause great job Kayla also and also miss Carter can you bring up our um mental health ambassadors and as they're coming Kayla and I have kindness cards and so what it is is you at you incorporator you do an act of kindness you pass the card on so the next person can do an act of kindness and we have a ripple effect so we have a card for each board member and who should have a card for each person in the audience Miss Harris can you make sure M Mr Pay get two please do yes sir just one more picture and we'd like you to um meet
033the uh mental health ambassadors we know they present 6.1 but um get here with um introduce and then we can have your presentation afterward okay okay all right so I will introduce our mental health Ambassador we have Gyra gun we have Miss Gyra Gunter we have Miss hope Barts and we have Serena Shaw and we have um three others but they were out sick yes abely thank you and they'll stay around for the presentation right [Music] yes one e e e to item 5.1 public May address the board we have anyone signed up this evening yes Madam clerk if you read the guidelines please the public com agenda item offers an opportunity for the board to hear directly from D citizens on matters of school interest the board's responsibility is to hear speakers items of
034Interest make any clarification necessary for understanding and then assign School staff to investigate and report back to the IND Miss Anderson thank you very much thank you well good evening distinguished board Dr Harriston and you all thank you very much I've worked at Danville public schools for almost 20 years I'm representing today my colleagues from George Washington High School and the entire District when I say that we're surprised at the lack of accountability that DPS has taken in regards to mishandling employee tax withholdings now we the employees should not have to be financially responsible for this Monumental mistake this mistake should not fall on us we are literate of the tax of the federal tax laws and also when it comes to people who come to work in our in our division whether it's the
035Director of Finance the finance department our superintendent we hope and pray that the people who are hired are competent to take care of things such as this I myself have been working since I was 18 years old for 32 years I have never had to check behind any of my employees ERS to make sure that my federal withholdings was correct that includes McDonald's Family Dollar and other employees as well but yet this year I had to worry about damel public schools the situation is a complete incompetence at best so how does Danville Public Schools fix this problem of without making its employees pay unexpected taxes face 10% penalties for blatant differences in the withholding statuses from last year and and face potential IRS audits for possibly the next five years well how does DPS show
036us the employees that our livelihood and our families are also important to this community DPS most likely needs to refigure the correct amount of withholding for each employee deduct from that amount what has already been withheld and sent to the IRS and then pay the difference to the IRS at that time DPS will then need to give each employee a corrected W2 form prior to the April 15th deadline to allow each employee to file their taxes appropriately at this point anything less is unacceptable and will put DPS at risk of losing valuable Professionals for the upcoming school year thank you all very much for your time and consideration thank you next we'll move to item 6.1 DPS mental health ambassadors this time I'll turn it over to miss car good evening so I am going
037to introduce DPS mental health ambassador program and introduce our very first ambassadors sorry so the purpose of this program is a platform that involves students developing and implementing mental health programs and services within an educational setting this group aims to represent students voices needs perspectives and concerns regarding mental health and well-being our goals are student advocacy raising awareness policy input support resources prevention and education and collaboration projected outcomes to create a more supportive environment to I'm sorry supportive informed and proactive environment where mental health is prioritized and students are actively involving and ens shaping the resources and programs that impact our mental well-being so how will we train our students and prepare them to deal with mental health for um students so we'll train I would train the students in Teen Mental Health First Aid
038which is a national accredited program Teen Mental Health First Aid teaches teens how to identify understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges in their friends and peers so who are our first Danville Public Schools mental health ambassadors we have Serena scha she is a 11th grader at Galileo Magnet School Dominique M she is a 11th grader at Galileo magnet school as well micaa Hamp she's 10th grade at Rise Academy hope Barts which is 12th grade at George Washington High School Elena Nolan 12th grade at George Washington High School and I say her first name wrong Gyra Gunter 12th grade at George Washington High School thank you thank you you hear you hear from one of the one or two of the students about why they're interested in this yeah sure
039could um can we hear from two of the students about why this interests them this this this Ambassador can you come up and tell us tell the board a little bit why you're interested in this area hello I'm jyra Gunter I'm a 12th grader from George Washington High School I'm interested in this program because mental health and teenagers often look get looked over because of so much going on in society but I myself went through a lot and I want myself to be an advocate for young people because I want to be heard and I want to be heard in a positive manner and I believe that I can help people at George Washington and anywhere to grow their mental health and become a better version of [Applause] themselves could you come up hello I'm
040Serena shof I'm at um Gallo Magnet High School I'm in 11th grade I've had many friends that have come to me with mental health problems and I've always been a helping hand and there's many other people that I am not close with that I know have problems and I would like for this program to allow a lot of people to have a higher um source to talk to instead of going to extreme extents and I want everybody to be heard because how they feel it matters a lot and and that's why I'm interested in this program I mean it's always been really important to me thank you thank you thank you next we'll move to item 7.1 update on Second Chance Transportation I'll turn it over to the transportation department Mr scarce good evening chair
041Graves Vice chair a members of the board and Dr Harriston in keeping with our goal area two for operations internal processes D schools will ensure efficient and effective operations and processes aligned with board policy and supportive of improved working and learning conditions so we've got some several things we cover tonight and I'm got some help coming I think that they're still here here uh we have several new Transportation initiatives to enhance communication and safety uh the first is our stop finder parent app and we have Miss Penny Bryant our program support specialist who will take just a moment of your time and explain how this program came about and where we're at with it currently good evening everyone good even okay so stop finder is a free app that helps parents track their child School
042Bus it uses G GPS and other Technologies to provide information about bus schedules and locations so a couple of things we can do with the stop finder app you will be able to track your bus location by using our rinder plus system to locate and track your school bus you can set up alert zones which means you can receive notifications when the bus arrives and the parts at the bus stops you can also receive push notifications that means you get alerts about bus schedules changes delays or substitutions you'll be able to view your bus schedule you can see real time bus schedules and bus stop information you can also see the bus on the app move live time you'll be able to communicate with the school the parents can send and receive messages with the
043school to the school transportation department um at an addition to stop finder once we Implement wayfinder we'll be able to get notifications about the estimated time of arrival for All Buses oh okay so currently we have a approximate total of 155 parents that's actually signed up for the Stop finder app um what that means is the parents they actively um receive the invitation they have the app downloaded on their phone they can actually see their students bus schedule all of that 155 121 parents actually use the app actively every day um the number of students we have attached to those parents is approximately 1,533 students so that's sinder any questions about sinder any questions Mr Pay yes thank you for this presentation few questions um the first one is how how have we tried to
044get this information out to all uh parents as we did like the uh the DPS moment on Facebook and different things like that to get it out there versus just sending a letter on right okay so far it's been advertised on the DPS homepage um we're currently working on getting Flyers out to the school and another invitation letter out possibly sent out next week to all the schools reminding them about the stop finder app I think it would be a great idea if we could have that on Facebook as well as so they have a media packet and I don't know Laney are you I don't know where Laney went um I don't know excuse me could you come out and speak to that please yeah and I agree um they presented to the principals
045um last week and can you speak to how we might better get that out to the parents because I can tell you it saves us so much yes so I actually um spoke with Penny today or she sent me an email and we're working on a flyer and uh we've got our press release as well so we will be pushing that more uh it is on our website currently and a parents got an invitation um and we'll be working on that that broader um promotion I agree so we'll work aggressively because it does save uh parents it saves uh if staff are not in the office trying to call they know exactly where the buses are thank you'all for your hard work as well sorry M Walker um Mr so is it um accessible with
046the app that they have like DS app like if it's something you can put a link in and they could just get it off the app or it's not it has to be the invitation has to come from the transfinder routing software and it is an app that was designed and developed by that program and that's the company we use for our routing software so the app is free to download one of the hurdles that we faced early on was confirmation and verification of valid email addresses in the system so we've had a lot of work behind the scenes uh quite a few names to list of of people in the district that have work tirelessly to get those email addresses in and get them corrected just something as simple as a comma instead of
047a dot in an email address when you're typing it in in a hurry at the data entry point makes a world of difference for somebody getting that that invitation so that's been a lot of work in the background to get that before we get to this point Thank you any other questions Mr SC thank you so in continuation with that um we embark on a a student ridership pilot program uh we hit several snags with that um waiting on Hardware waiting on uh the buses that were needed to be repaired that this equipment needed to be going on um so the bus hardware for our pilot program was installed on January 31st and February 1 uh we have some training dates with our transfinder route finder U uh software vendor coming up starting next week
048uh then we have a training date after that to for the assigned drivers uh that will be using this program and then a targeted implemention uh date after spring break with Park Avenue so this uh is the equipment that's going on the buses this is a c reader basically and the students will have an ID card and we'll get to that in just a moment this ID card is multi-purpose the students will able to use this ID card to check in and off the bus so that will tie back into that parent app uh the the driver will then have a readymade roster on their bus uh that will be able to be communicated back to the school this is a report who rode in on bus 16 today for this particular school um that
049card reader is mounted in a standard location as the students board the the bus it's on their right they we'll have to swipe on and off at the school and on and off at their stop so that's that's one of the steps in this process the next step is the onboard uh tablet that the drivers will have access to uh and in compliance with Virginia law this is not an active tablet while the bus is in motion so uh it the screen will look just like that when the bus is in motion when the bus is put into safe mode at a stop which means the driver has had to secure the vehicle set the brake open the door that screen will illuminate and as those students check in their name will turn green so
050the driver knows who's who's getting on and off the bus so that's an important piece and this particular tablet will allow us to do several other things uh that we'll get to later on but this is a key component of student ridership program this is the student ID card um uh that that we selected to go with and this card basically uh can be used to check in and out of uh off the bus check in and out of the school um child nutrition information technology for checking out Chromebooks Library all of these all of these things will be accessible from that student ID card and it will have the students uh photo on it and it is DPS Centric so it's not it has uh DPS on it so it can transfer with the
051student so it's not school specific it is District specific nice so real quick we'll give you an update on our transportation bus referral program uh we'll start off with our bus video program all of our buses are equipped with um an angel tracks video system uh most of them have an array as you see here with at least six U minimum cameras some of our newer buses have external cameras as well such as curb cams and forward facing dash cams we are in the process of um looking to set up additional dash cams on some of the older buses once we find an interface with that so the Bus video process is intrical to the bus referral process a lot of times um administrator may want to review something you know just to get the
052the the what and the where in addition to the the verbal narrative so we'll just scroll through and you'll have access to this information afterward this is what we' given you is a three-year comparison for first semester for the last three school years just basically showing how it tracks for each School uh and there again we're just tracking through first semester of each school um for the ne for the last three years starting 22 23 23 24 and 24 25 so here are the top seven reasons for referrals um the biggest is you know moving while the bus is in motion uh we understand children are going to be children um youve been pent up pushing the books all day and proof of that is all of these students up here with all of these
053high marks and there's got to be a little bit of a release so there's some movement on the bus uh that's one of our big ones failing to follow reasonable directive ties right into that need you to need you to sit down need you to face forward and that's just a repetitive thing I mean that's anybody that's had children raised children that's that's a common practice you know whether it's in church in the grocery store or in your own car so that's that's a common thing um this was for first semester 2223 and then this is 23 24 the top seven reasons and they track pretty much the same so here is the uh discipline action taken and this again is a three-year comparison and you will have access to this uh document as well
054and we'll just kind of scroll through those you can see that the actions taken in a three-year comparison all the way up to bus suspensions so some of the reasons for increase in referrals well number one there is an increase in student ridership uh when we were in covid we didn't have a lot of lot of students on the buses and then we came came postco there were still a lot of students that were remaining virtual so now that we're almost back up to a full compliment um 3200 3400 daily average there a lot of students moving around on buses uh on a daily basis so increase ridership increased adult supervision with the Advent of additional bus AIDS and our rotation possible our rotation process when applicable um more eyes and ears so you've got
055additional help on the buses so they're seeing things that the driver may not be able to address from the driver's seat or from the student view mirror over their heads uh and then um increased observation by drivers and then staff student relationship development um Rapport is a big thing and I've seen I've seen a lot of growth in some of our drivers just the other day I spot checked a bus and I noticed a driver had put a goals chart on his bus Behavior goals chart this is what I expect this week next week he may change it and do something else uh We've also seen drivers start to take advantage um after thanks giving of a a new offering in our bus conduct program which is a positive referral so if a student you've
056not had any issues with and they've been extremely helpful and they've been very behaved very well on the bus you can single that student out and give them a certificate uh and it's printed out and they get a picture taken with their school principal or something like that so we've got several drivers that have started to take that initiative and as we offer that and continue training on those modules hopefully we'll have more drivers take advantage of that as well so it's positive if you emphasize the positive behavior um sooner or later that has a um a ripple effect ripple effect so additional strategies for managing conduct on buses rotation of AIDS when applicable retraining of drivers uh we've had several sessions of um our crisis prevention intervention training um and we've got several more
057of those scheduled to be to come forward as we move forward assigned seats at elementary and middle school level uh the safety and conduct video project that Transportation worked with uh Patrick on and um any student uh that has an issue on the bus has to watch that video before they return if if they're suspended from the bus um conduct and safety rules review um we generally try to do that after each major Break um we did had a little snag with all of the inclement weather and delay days coming back from Christmas break so that kind of put a little snag into that so plans are for spring break we will hit that again it's where we send drivers and buses to each campus uh to review those the buses are there for an
058extended period of time during the day and students are brought out and we go through the bus rules with them during that period of time and then continuous professional development be provided to drivers and AIDS and that's an ongoing development process any questions on that before we move into Second Chance Transportation I just so um just one question in the slide that you gave um the information in regards to the 2024 semester so of course I see that Gibson um had a dramastic increase so um I know you probably don't you may not remember this do you know like the more happen within months or is it like was it just overall that was just overall for first semester compared to last semester which um their student population has increased as well so you got
059more students on buses for that particular campus than you would have in previous years we've added buses to that campus so I guess the interventions that you all mentioned you all have tried to implement them I guess right now to try to um I guess decrease this problem that is correct okay Mr scares our Second Chance Transportation uh is part of our ongoing effort to make sure students do in fact get to school to combat the uh the the the lagging numbers from previous years where students didn't think it was important and and uh Dr Harris and I had this conversation just just the other day they're starting to get the message that one way or the other I need to get to school uh so so our Second Chance Transportation guidelines uh we will
060have a bus or a van available uh after 7:45 to assist with a Miss bus incidents up until 9:00 a.m. and then from 9:00 a.m. until 11: we do have two uh Second Chance shuttle buses that we maintain during that time period one on the North side one on South side of the river uh it is not available on delayed start days uh and it is not available on early release days because of the conflict in in bus routing schedules parents must call the school the school will call Transportation uh that way the parent gives the school the reason why their student missed the bus or why they're late um when the school calls us the first step is is we we will look at our GPS routing if the bus is still within proximity
061of that student stop first step is can you Circle back and then if they're if they're too far out of out of that particular proximity then we will put them on the list for Second Chance um we will dispatch a shuttle or a bus the student will picked up at their regular assign bus stop we track all the calls and the number of riters the students use the program is monitored by the attendance team and the shuttle service will be discontinued for a student after 14 pickups or is deemed appropriate by the attendance team under the direction of superintendent's office and to elaborate more on that we have Dr KO from student Support Services good evening Mr chair Madam chair Vice chair and members of the board uh this is definitely a collaborative effort with
062student services and our colleagues in transportation um among the many things that our social workers do we track the number of students as they are reaching maybe 11 12 rides our social workers or one of our admin assistants will call the family and say Hey you know you're getting close um most of the families will you know take heed and you know use it less or maybe just stop calling all together making sure that the kids get to school but um uh it's definitely a collaborative effort and we have the second chance Transportation program has been instrumental in helping us address The Chronic absenteeism issue over the past few years and so it's very much a tool in our Arsenal to combat that challenge that we've had here in the district for for some time
063and there are the numbers for first semester comparisons from 2223 23 24 2425 and it should be noted that we didn't start the program in 2223 until November the 9th so first semester was only a small fraction that particular year any questions any questions Mr Pay Mr scares I I want to thank you and your team for this um Second Chance Transportation I've spoke spoken with a few of your second chance drivers and it's a joy for them to actually be able to do this so I want to thank you and Miss Penny and your team for this awesome work this is this is big I think this is going to be ejected off the district as well because a lot of districts been trying to find ways to have the kids get to school
064AB miss the bus the first time so I think this is going to be big so kudos to you and your team thank you yes sir any other M Walker I just had one question um when Dr po did you say they it's a limit to 14 days after that they would have to have another option like per student yes ma'am I think last year been a little higher a newer program and every year I would probably to down okay 14 yeah do thank you Mr scars I also have to commend your drivers your leadership Miss Brian thank you for being here um you know I think Miss Cunningham talks a lot about the village working and it still works and you guys are definitely a part of that Village you know and I think
065often time the bus drivers do get left out but I want you to know and I want them to know publicly that we do appreciate them because without them it'll be none of this so we do appreciate you we appreciate your leadership Miss Brian's leadership and all of your drivers so please pass that message back from the D public school board thank you we do thank you next we'll move to item 8.1 update on Schoolboard Retreat oh it's me just a gent on uh February 6th and 7th the board had an opportunity to go down to Charlottesville Virginia with the Virginia School Board Association Along with our staff our superintendent we had great conversation around both board governance and the Strategic plan uh for the next 5 years even though this strategic plan is not
066up um we had a opportunity to sit together talks amongst each other about our board norms and protocols and different things uh right here within our district I'm excited uh for you know the future and the work that we have ahead of us um I think one of the quotes we started off with was um let's see excellence in the classroom begins with excellence in the boardroom so I personally want to say to miss Anderson you were hurt this evening I want you to understand that and I thank you for your voice for all of the staff within our district so I want you to know that so we in order to to say that quote we have to we have to stand on that quote so I do appreciate that um and to all
067the staff and board members that attended uh the two-day training taking time out of your busy work schedules to make this happen and again the work is is still great the work is still best to come um and I'm excited for the leadership that we we have here and uh and I'm looking forward to great opportunities next we'll move to item 8.2 School opening committee update Mr Grace you forgot um one important thing that we had the privilege of uh experiencing with the superintendent that was her birthday he really enjoyed having cake and ice cream for her birthday so I didn't know if he was going to mention him falling out of the truck or the birthday but I'll turn it back over to Mr pay the commit uh for opening of the new facilities
068we met on February 10th 2025 um the opening schedule and construction update uh George Washington High School arnet Hills are on schedule to complete at the beginning of August Langston is behind schedule tively to be completed mid September the furniture update fure orders for uh motivate motivate innovate l and arnet hills are all due to be submitted by February 11th 2025 Forest Hills Furniture uh procent has not yet started the signage update George Washington High School W finder signage has been approved cafeteria signage is drafted art has been installed in the cafeteria walkthroughs with the Danville historial society and Lang alumni group is completed the CTE signage is in progress measurements are being taken arnet Hills mural list for the media room is in progress Human Resources uh update HR is collaborating with the new
069principles on Staffing and is in the process of scheduling employee interviews for rnet Hills curriculum and instruction a timeline has been established for training the CTE equipment is pending approval and schedule for delivery in in June public relations we have no update and opening day events uh update is the subcommittee schedule is scheduled to meet again uh March the 11th 2025 and invitation list for the opening day events is in progress Mr chair yeld back to you thank you Mr pay next we'll move to item 8.3 finance committee report I'll turn it over to Dr s this is a brief synopsis of the finance committee meeting that was convened on Thursday January 23rd 2025 the attendees including myself as chair Mr Payne Miss Walker staff presid Andrea Gillis Chief Financial Officer Dr Angela Harrison superintendent
070superintendent and Lanny Davis Hayes public information officer Miss Gillis presented the superintendent's budget recommendations and a draft budget book was distributed to each Committee Member the key priorities outlined for the budget were teacher raises safety and cap and safety and Capital Improvements Miss Gillis informed the committee that the final state budget had not yet been received while the governor's by annual budget outlined intended state allocations general assembly's final submission could result in additional funding due to the these recent changes the budget presentation has been added to the work session agenda this evening with further details on the recommended priorities and potential funded adjust adjustments will be discussed thank you Dr San next we'll move to item 8.4 the Danville Public Schools district brand and communication plan I'll turn it over to Miss Hayes first I'd
071like to say thank you to Laney start off I saying that over the last year we've worked with with the marketing and communication agency and work with our National Organization to really look uh at our communication strategy and met really good feedback after a year of that work and this is only a part of a three-year plan so um we wanted um Miss Davis Hayes to begin uh talking about that process because communication we often think about Lany Lany Lany and communication belongs to all of us and so we are thankful for Lany and her team Patrick Dash and um Miss heill but um this is just a part of of many presentations that she will bring to you chair Graves and our board members uh to fulfill that that final plan thank you thank
072you Dr harison good evening chair Grace Vice chair apit um I usually work quietly in the background um but tonight I'm really excited to share the work like Dr hman said that we've been working on for over a year now um and it's really exciting to see it come to fruition like this so um this fits into strategic plan goal area four stakeholder engagement and communication objective b increase internal community and parent stakeholder communication so the process uh has been a long one we have been in partnership with kagar digital Market marketing on this project uh we also have taken some notes from the national school public relations Association um and we started in November 2023 with branding Discovery um and we we know that branding just isn't logos colors fonts right it is our
073division's unique identity so we needed to identify that what is our identity what are what is the message that we're putting out in the work that we're doing so we talked to uh we built a brainstorming Committee of parents of um staff members and we uh got them to tell us what they thought our identity was so in February we reviewed our audit results from our communication audit and then we reviewed our branding with our stakeholders and those stakeholders included students staff teachers parents and you the school board and then in June 2024 we finalized our branding and created our three-year communication plan so I wanted to kind of touch on the why uh before our branding was kind of the Wild Wild West um it really had no uh we didn't have a guide
074right so we had some different um taglines going on we had some different brands going on uh logos so um we I it had been a want for me to have a branding style guide for a little while um but this process allowed us to do all of those things while creating a clear logo that represented damville public schools and what it is so um and you've seen this all before obviously we launched this in July um and we obviously kept our blue and orange and we changed our font we changed our iconography to those four people looking like they have their hands raised um and they're meant to symbolize our key stakeholders our students staff families and community and then for fun I wanted to add some um some complimentary colors so we didn't
075get you know everything blue and orange right so we added a green a pink and a teal to the that color palette so I mentioned before that Brandy is also messaging so we as we were speaking with people in our in our school communities uh it was very clear um some key brand themes emerged about what people are saying about the work that we do um and these themes are woven into uh the work that we do every day um so those themes are accountability and results engagement and partnership Choice Talent and resources and focus and purpose and what we did was um assigned those different uh five different themes with uh some taglines some quick quip taglines that people could remember um so and I'll go through those in the next couple slides Gary
076thank you um so accountability and results and talent and resources and we associate those with cultivating excellence and some when we talk about cultivating Excellence some um some examples of what we're talking about when we look at that are Grant Awards accreditation test scores um faculty and staff Awards um student achievement as a group slide engagement in Partnership that's our invested community so we're looking at at school sponsors we're looking at volunteer opportunities we're looking at our Danville Public Schools Education Foundation Community programs all of that are examples of our invested Community Choice we talk about Choice all the time diverse voices School choices obviously we have our school choice but we also have choice in our extracurricular options Athletics Arts programs stem programs CTE our internship and apprenticeship programs focus and purpose uh that
077tagline is safe spaces and happy faces so some examples are facility health and safety crisis communication code of conduct Transportation mobile phone policies Etc so examples of how examples of how we use this um since we've gotten this branding um on our website and social media so it's kind of hard to see it's a little small but for example um one of the social media posts pulled up here is our DPS teacher of the year and just that hashtag that quick cultivating Excellence tells you that that teacher is cultivating excellence in our classroom every day that's accountability and results um the other social media post right there is the shoes that fit um event at schoolfield where every uh student got a new pair of shoes that's our invested community at work and we want
078people to know that um and then we've also added these to our um website so on our Safety and Security as like a header you'll see safe safe spaces happy faces and then obviously on school choice you'll see um div voice of school choices and again obviously this is reinforc reinforcing the work that we do and also uh our Focus areas to our stakeholders and it also helps with recognition brand recognition you know that that's what Danville Public Schools holds dear to us so I'm going to uh switch a little bit uh to talk about our strategic communication plan now and I I will try to go through quickly because it's a lot of information um but alongside this uh branding and marketing plan is the communication plan and we are trying to be strategic
079in our Communications and really improve the work that we're doing so phase one of our plan involves 18 recommended action steps that the communications team and or other departments should Implement to prove improve communication like Dr Harrison said it's not all on the communication Department uh everybody owns um communication so it was really important for us to to have this collaborative plan so um some of the action items include inventorying all printed materials and updating them to the new branding um including fors and handbooks and non-event flyers that is in progress that is a marathon not a Sprint uh to change all of those logos um we are implementing exterior digital signage and exploring other opportunities for signage in collaboration with Walter Lucas in construction we are assessing the effectiveness of the current communication tools
080and their interaction with Power School uh in progress with Marcus Cheney and it and that goes back a little bit to what Tim was saying earlier about those emails with um the transponder right um so we're making sure that our data it is correct and also interacting well uh with those programs that we are using we are looking at developing core consistent communication materials inventory by each facility type so preschool Elementary Middle High and program and I'm working with the cni team on that uh one of the parts of this progress was a school audit and we walked into the schools and realized across the district it's not a common experience the core communication materials that are in the offices whether it's on a billboard whether it's with you know a rack with rack cards
081and and some um Flyers so we really want to make sure that we have consistent communication materials in across the district so that customer service experience can be similar um we are looking at branding or developing brand value value proposition brochures for each school and program we are looking to start that very soon we are developing workflow models and Sops for key communication procedures including events and social media content creation so um we had this discussion a little bit in the finance committee not the finance committee the policy committee earlier about the importance of having Sops and then also how you communicate those Sops as important as well so we're looking at um building our website around that um and then developing uh and providing printable branded signage templates for facilities that is also in
082progress through our department and lastly um we have updated our content schedule for all of our channels in line with The Branding guidelines and themes that I just presented um we are writing and producing alumni and student success stories I believe that we are filming our first one next week um and we are researching the state of teacher parent communication and planning for districtwide two-way communication solution so we really want to see and um how teachers and parents are communicating how often what tools are they using do they like their tools and see if there is an opportunity to have a district-wide two-way communication solution I know that was a lot and a little a little bit of time and it's been a lot of work over the past year but I'm excited to bring
083it to you and let you guys know what we are doing in our department so does anybody have any questions any questions any questions Mr Grace I think Miss lame need a a round of applause all thank you thank you next we'll move to item 9.1 Personnel recommendations at this time I'll turn it over to miss Hilton wimbley is a little under the weather tonight so we have our good evening chairman Grace Madame Vice chair AIT school board members and Dr Harrison you have been presented the Personnel recommendation for your review and approval and I'll try to answer any questions that you may have any questions any questions he n this is an action item second motion made by Mr Pay second by Dr Williams any discussion hearing none Madam clerk please call for a
084vote M yes yes yes yes yes thank you next we'll move to item 10.1 board request future agenda items hearing none before we adjourn I would like to turn it over to Dr Harriston for comments thank you and I appreciate your patience it's not our policy to address public comments but I I do feel I need to give some words um before we leave this evening um I want to assure you that you know all of our staff to all of our board Bo members of our community all of our staff work incredibly hard um they put in tremendous numbers of hours these folks tonight are here they'll be here till 9:00 tonight but they didn't come in late they arrived this morning at 7:30 to do the work of our children so they work
085very hard and they're incredibly dedicated and that's all of our staff members from the board to the school nutrition staff and so I I I appreciate all of our staff and you know you all will hear me uh often times always and and you as board members are always asking how can we improve the conditions and support for our staff as teachers our custodians and everyone and we've heard a lot of words tonight Excellence quality supporting children we've had a lot of children come up tonight students come up do excellent work but that's only because we work together and I wish I could say that in this work over all these years that we will mistake free I wish we could say we were mistake free I wish I could say that everything we do
086every day was error free but it's not and when we make mistakes we're more than willing or should be willing to First apologize because we don't want to have anyone feeling like we don't care we want to apologize guys and then we want to help prepare and and get it right because we want everybody resting and feeling like you know that they come to work and they are appreciated and that's that's our work we don't ever want to disregard anyone and so you know with this particular ERA this we we've discovered that not all employees were impacted but but there were a good number that may have been impacted um but we're really still not sure because when you're talking about deductions um we have some employees who have no deductions by choice we have
087some employees who have various levels of dependence by choice so what we've asked our employees to do is to schedule a meeting we have a team ready to meet and sit down and go through everybody's circumstance and we've asked our employees to do that of the 1218 or so and we've had 11 employees and we've already finished two meetings and I actually met with one of the employees after her meeting and she said I I kind of understand and I'm good so we ask our employees if you have any challenges we've we've sent a contact use that contact because we want to help you work through your circumstance and your circumstance is different um all employees have different circumstances because all employees have different things that they do and so so it's hard for us
088to determine where you sit so we have a process um just like we do with anything in life if mistakes are made we we can't be arrogant and not own it we have to own it and then once we own it we have to help people uh get to a good place so I'd ask you to use the process again we've had 11 folks so we have lots of slots if anybody wants to meet and just go over their circumstance and we'll certainly help you through your process and um come to some some support that you might need what whatever that might be we're not sure people have different ask and we don't know you're ask until you take advantage of that opportunity so again we apologize it's not our policy to respond but I
089appreciate the opportunity while we're all here together um so that we can make the best of things but again as we move in this work I just wish we all could be mistake free but we're not and and we do apologize thank you thank you superintendent Harrison and as a board chair I would also like to follow up uh with the superintendent and also issue a public apology to those who were directly impacted um and again I said it once but I'll say it again miss Anderson thank you for your voice we want you to know and we want other community members to know that anytime you come before us it is not our policy to to respond or our protocol to respond but we want to ensure that we are listening we hear you
090we we hear everyone that come to us and we want to make sure everything is right because we want the people that we work with and the people that work for the D Public School Board school system and ensure that they're they're getting what they deserve so thank you again and thank you to all the teachers and please if you know anybody that have been impacted to please sign up to speak with staff thank you again any further business any further business got two uh Clos Mee item still right is it after I think it's after work session oh after work session budget session for Budget any further business hearing none thank you all meetting the jour