January 15, 2026 School Board Meeting

001Good evening everyone. I call this meeting to order at 6 p.m. on January 15, 2026. We have a quorum present. Let's proceed. Can we all stand for the pledge of allegiance? To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Miss B. Roll call please. >> Good evening everybody. >> Good evening. >> Miss Boon >> present. >> Miss Bailey. Miss Parker >> present. >> Mr. Grant, Dr. Harrison >> here. >> Mr. H >> here. >> Mr. Albre Dr. Carter >> present. >> Thank you. I'd like to give an announcement in the beginning so everyone is aware and we're all on one accord. Last meeting there was something for citizens time to be placed in the front of

002the meeting and it was done uncorrectly. It was not voted correctly. What it is and there is a copy in the back if anyone wants the code for you to take freely and look it up yourself. What it is is that it has to be placed in writing. Once it's placed in writing, then it's the board comes together, makes a vote. Once that is done, it is then done then done seen through legal actions. After the legal, then because it's a policy, it was only changed for that day. It was brought to the front. So, unfortunately, this evening, it will be continued as it has been until the policy is correct. Thank you. Superintendent, please. >> All right. that I would like to present our superintendent uh student advisory. So all members please come up

003and our two representatives. Give them a hand everyone please. [applause] These are our children. Let's meet our members. Nathan Thirsten, member sixth grade. Nathan joined the the SSAC so that he could engage with his peers, improve decision making, and influence outcomes by sharing his own ideas in a collaborative space, thus creating a fuller pool of meaning for better results. Nathan's extracurricular activities include Boys and Girls Club, recreational soccer with Camp 25. >> Give Nathan a hand, please. >> [applause] >> Dixie Land Short who is not here right now. Dixie joined the SSAC to address concerns in education at the elementary school level. She will also like to help improve student learning so everyone can comprehend and understand what they are learning. Dixie's extracurricular activities include girls on the run and participates in Virginia State University

004Cherry Camp. [applause] Asher Bryant, freshman. After Asher decided to be a part of the SA SSAC because he would like to add this to his college resume and to help enhance the quality of our schools. Asher's hobbies and interests include learning about American history, being a part of the FHS wrestling team, skateboarding, and gaming online. >> [applause] >> Joe Ricks who's in the back is a sophomore. He decided to be part of the SSAC because of his to learn leadership qualities and eagerness to serve. His extracurricular activities include JR OTC and girls and boys club. [applause] >> Harry Van sixth. Harry joined the SAS SSAC because he desires to help out our schools and to help his peers with their work. Harry's extracurricular activities include the National Honor Society, the SP Morton Safety Patrol. [applause]

005>> I stand to introduce our two co-chairpersons for our SSAC. First, we have our co-chairperson, Sahila Hayen. Sahila is a junior at the illustrious Franklin High School, and she decided to become a part of the SSAC to demonstrate her leadership skills, represent her peers and student body, and to try and better the school in any way she can. Some of her extracurricular activities include being a part of the Scholastic Bowl and the WHRO at Old Dominion University. Let's give it up for her. [applause] And then our other chairperson who they work so well together as they lead this group is Mr. Aaron Goodton. He is a junior at Franklin High School. And Aaron desires and desired to be a part of the SSAC to get more involved in school to act as a voice for

006his peers and add this to his college resume. Aaron's extracurricular activities also include the National Technical Honor Society, WHRO, at ODU University, captain of the FHS Soccer Team, and he is also a part of the photography club. Let's give it up for Aaron. [applause] And ladies and gentlemen, let's give it up for all of our SSAC members. [applause] And this is what we're currently doing as a team. We've already created and sent out a student climate survey. Thus far, we already have 130 plus student responses. And by the next board meeting, >> which is February 5th, we will be ready to present our data. You can, if y'all would like, y'all can scan the QR code and y'all can view the survey yourselves if y'all would like. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. So,

007we need to make sure that Mr. C's uh Dr. Ricks, I think we have something or Mr. Mr. Creek has something for our superintendent student advisor. Go ahead, Mr. Kremir. >> Yes. Just to commemorate their membership into the uh superintendent student advisory committee or council. Uh we are going to present each member with a certificate um of membership as well as a um backpack, a tumbler. And inside of the backpack are school supplies for each student as well as a hoodie with the um superintendent student advisory council um emblem on it as well as a t-shirt as well. So do you want to pull one out? Mr. Koffield is going to just show the hoodie for each student with the logo on it and also a t-shirt. The logo was designed by our chairperson, Sila

008Hayan. So, very good job designing the logo. [applause] So, I'm going to call their names and present them with the certificate and then Mr. Koffield will um bestow the backpack upon them with the supplies. This certificate goes to Harry Van. >> [applause] >> Asher Bryant, [applause] Joel Ricks, [applause] Sila Hayan, [applause] and Aaron Gooden. [applause] And while they're taking a picture, can the families please join on the next shot also with a group picture around? >> [applause] >> Stand with Children this way. >> [applause] >> So, our student advisory will come back February 12th with their results. And did you just say 130? 130 students are have responded already. So, so they, so that's an amazing response and I'm sure they will be able to tell us uh how the students are feeling and what

009they think about their education. All right. So, I now we'll move to uh as promised the superintendent parent advisory. And uh Miss Williams, would you please come forward? >> Mayor Williams. Good afternoon. My name is Mary Williams. I live at 326 Thomas Street. >> Um I'm a member of the superintendent parent advisory committee. We we have mean met three times and um [snorts] we started off with some gentlemen but I don't know what happened to them. They didn't come back. So if any parent males would like to join the uh team, please come aboard. We need all the input we can get. Um, I mainly wanted to come tonight to um speak on behalf of the opportunity I had yesterday to um go to SP Morton uh to meet with the team there that is

010trying to help the homeless families in Dorchester. That's very nice of them to try to do something. They're partnering with Department of Social Services to help these families. Um, Miss uh Murphy hosted this meeting and it was very productive. They're going to try to do something to uh get these families on board to teach them how uh to learn how to finance. And that's very important because you don't know how to finance, you always be in a hole and you'll find yourself homeless. time after time. So that's very good that they are doing. Also, I had the opportunity to um view Miss Murphy's classroom. She has things in there like clothes, food, uh educational materials and things that to bless the students and the uh families. So, you know, that's a good thing. I was

011really surprised. I said, "Wait, is it anything like that at the high school?" I said, "Cuz, you know, maybe we need to get something like that at the high school also, so that, you know, not only be right at SP Morton, but you know, the parents could go to high school and be able to get some supplies. So, I want to thank the team for just stepping up and helping the people in the community. It's well needed. It take a village, they say, but it take a godly village." >> Yes, ma'am. to help one another because if you don't know Jesus Christ, you can't help yourself and nobody else. So I said to those who are trying to help, thank you, thank you, and thank you, [applause] Dr. Ricks. Good evening. I'm here to give

012a update on our pre-amp scholars program. All right. So again, once again, Camp Foundation in partnership with Franklin City Public Schools has granted the senior cohort of 2026 a full scholarship to complete a post-secary pathway into either an associates degree or a um certified industry certification through Camp Community College and also they have opportunity to take any programs throughout through the workforce center here in Franklin and also the expansions that they've have in other areas. of in suffuk as well. So the criteria is attendance interventions, you can see academic interventions, discipline interventions, drug testing interventions and they also have to have a certain amount of volunteer hours as you can see students the students that received interventions February those numbers are there. There were a total in February 2025. That's the data from pre preamp

013scholars cohort one. The students we moved everything up a month to give the students even more time um for the parents also to get an understanding of the program. We started in July this year versus um September. So we have the data from January fall 2026. So far we have a total of 35 students that are enrolled in this particular program. As you can see there um right now we have all the 35 students are on track with what they what how they supposed to be attending school on a regular basis. So that that is great. um the interventions we we do have three students who are receiving academ academic success plan and we're working with the teams are working with those students to pull up their GPA. Um they their GPA is is close

014to that 2.0 but there are still some support needed there. um discipline interventions. Right now we only have one out of the 35 um students that we're working with with those interventions with discipline drug testing which was a definitely a plus this year. Our first group of students were 22 students and they passed their first screening in the fall and as you can see we only going to have another session in the spring and those are the 13 students who did not take the test in the fall. So currently right now the intervention is to just keep motivating them and to continue to work with them and we again we do have those substance abuse programs. We have two that we partner with in the division to support students. So we we waiting to get

015those positive those good results with those 13 students as well. And then our volunteer hours um we do have 21 students that we're working with to get those volunteer hours complete. they have to have a total of 20 volunteer hours. So, this is just an update. Right now, we still have plenty of time as we continue. We had our first um graduation meeting with with the team. Um so, we working together and we're working as a team to get the students what they need because they have to have they have the ones that's having the track of interventions, everything has to be completed by April so that they can receive that scholarship. Any questions? Is that a limited amount of classes they can take or it's just what will add up to an associates degree

016or certification? >> Associates degree or a certification? >> So whatever classes they take to get towards that are covered through the scholarship. >> Does that cover books and other things as well? The whole thing. >> Yes. So once the whatever grants they get, if they get a PEL grant or some may qualify for a PEL grant. So once all of that is cleared, whatever that bill is, count um the foundation um covers that expense, those expenses. >> I have a question. I want to backtrack. Last year was the first year we actually brought this to Franklin. If I can recall, we had 36 to 40 students. Mhm. >> Do we have an update on how many of the 40 or 36 students are still currently enrolled? >> Yes. Our last update was a total of

01726 that were enrolled. So other students, some of them went took the military route. Some may have changed their mind and went to four to the four year university. >> Okay. >> Um route, but we have a complete 26 when when we last did had a update. >> Thank you, >> Dr. Rex. Do you have any information on how they're doing their volunteer hours? What projects they're on? >> Yes. Um, some of them are are getting their volunteer hours through JOTC, which those students already completed it. Then we have some that are getting getting it through our jobs for Virginia program. >> We also have Miss Massenberg who's working in the community with different organizations to set up those volunteer hours as well. And then they also can participate at the elementary school with reading

018books or the touchbased events. They can work work there as well and get those volunteer hours. >> Thank you. >> And also one other thing with the volunteer hours, we did open it up. If they have a part-time job, they can submit a letter from the job and that can count as their volunteer hours as well. So we have extended that opportunity. >> Okay. >> Does that also apply to like the local churches and things as well? Yes. As long as they sign off on it, if they volunteer at the local church or the food bank, as long as they sign off and send a sheet in, that can count as their hours. So, it's it's broad broad opportunities to get those volunteer hours. >> Okay. >> So, when do they sign up for this?

019Is it as a junior? What when does it all start and then when does it end? >> Well, they sign up in the summertime. So, as a junior, we kind of pull we still put we push it out there to the juniors, but when they come in, the parent meeting is held in July and they sign up. They sign up there and then we still gradually have them sign up throughout the year because they may they a senior they may adjust them because we just had another student to sign up. That's how we have 35 now. So they may change their mind by January but around January we try to lock them in because they need to be prepared to make sure they get all of these things completed that's required criteria. >> That's amazing.

020Thank you. >> That's it. Thank you. Dr. Walters. >> Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board. Uh, at our last meeting, there were some questions that surfaced regarding nutrition. Um, and so I wanted to offer an opportunity for our nutrition supervisor, Mr. Evans, to be able to share some information. uh hopefully answer some questions uh that that came at the last meeting. Um and so I'll I'll turn things over to him. Good evening, Franklin City School Board, Dr. Carter, families, and community members. First of all, I'd like to thank Dr. Walters, Dr. Carter, and the Franklin City Public School Board for the opportunity and the privilege to serve as a nutrition supervisor here for Franklin City Public Schools. I would also like to take a moment to thank my wonderful nutrition staff at our

021schools. These ladies work hard to ensure that all students are offered nutritious and great tasting meal on a daily basis. Um, next slide, please. Um, we have to follow strict guidelines from the USDA on what we serve to students in schools. As you can see from the slide, we have to even consider what vegetables that we serve on a weekly basis. We're also required to make sure that the sodium and sugar content for our menus follow the guidelines that come down from the USDA. As much of our students would love to see pizza, chicken wings, and nachos on the menu on every day. That just isn't fe feasible with the limits on the sodium that we have to take care of. Also, something to take note is that the grains that we serve have to

022be 51% whole grains rich. This provides better nutrients for our students. We can see that there is also a limit to the minimum maximum calories that we have to follow by USDA regulations. Next slide, please. Last year, we used school nutrition funds to purchase new menu nutrition analysis software. With this software, we can put in our basic ingredients and make combined recipes. This allows us to track the calorie content, sugar content, and sodium content, and the components that each recipe will give us for our daily and weekly requirements from USDA. This slide shows the nutrition and component breakdown from our school menu the week of January the 5th through January the 9th of this year. The highlighted yellow shows what the requirement is for the week, and the highlighted green shows that we are in

023those ranges that we need to be to follow USDA guidelines. Next slide, please. One of the other things we've seen in the past are pictures of the trays that students get from the kitchens. What most people don't see is that we actually what we actually offer students for their school meals. All of our kitchens follow offer versus serve guidelines. Offer versus serve is a USDA program in schools that operate the national school lunch and breakfast programs. This lets students decline some food items in a meal, reducing waste while ensuring they still get nutritious choices, particularly a fruit or vegetable from the required food components like milk, grain, and meat meat alternates. Students are required to have three of the five components and one of which has to be a fruit or a vegetable. This is

024a major thing, especially in the high school setting. Most schools, most high school students do not take milk with their breakfast or lunch. We always offer two or three different flavors, but the actual amount of milk the students take is very low compared to the amount of breakfast and lunches that we serve. So, let's see what this looks like in the school setting. Next slide, please. As you can see on the list, um although we offer, excuse me. Um although we offer all five components on a daily b basis, most students only take the bare minimum of what they have for a reimburseable meal. Most kitchen employees have to remind students to grab a fruit or vegetable before they walk out of the kitchen lines with their meals. As you can see from the pictures,

025we offer two or three vegetables per day, one or two fruits per day, and numerous options for students meals. Although what students take for their meal is may be small compared to what they are actually offered. Next slide, please. This is a sampling of the meals that we offer our students at the school. The picture on the top left is from the high school where we offer a fresh salad bar most days and we have a staff member that makes salads or wraps and the students get to pick out what they would like. This all also ensures that they are getting the required components for reimburseable meal. With the higher calories they're allowed at the high school allows us to offer pizza and crustable sandwiches and a salad bar almost every day. The elementary school

026offer a healthy choice yogurt lunch that includes a yogurt, cheese stick, and graham crackers. This allows students an option other than the hot meal that we serve on a daily basis. Another one of the questions that often gets asked is um the price of the meals that we serve for for staff. Um we currently charge $5 for a faculty staff member to purchase lunch. To come up with the pricing, we have to follow the USDA meal pricing worksheet and what we charge has to line with at least what are we are reimbursed for student meals. The federal reimbursement rate added with the amount of USDA entitlement value that we receive puts the amount above $4.75 per meal is what we pay. So to make it easier and so the kitchen staff do not have to

027fumble with change, we made this price $5. Are there any questions about anything I've gone over so far? I know it's a lot y'all. Sorry. >> I have one. >> Yes, ma'am. on your second slide when it came to the high school. >> When I looked in the parentheses, it said from 9 to 12, from 14 to 18, which was the age. >> Now, you do know that we still have our seventh and eighth graders. So, how are they factored into this? >> Because they're all fed at the same time, okay? >> We can co-mingle with the nutrient values. So, it actually allows us to feed the middle school kids more calories than what we would give them normally if it was in a middle school setting. Same thing pertains to when we do uh

028middle school kids at the elementary school. Because of that, we can offer more calories to elementary school kids. So, a lot of times what you'll see is you'll see us giving more food to the elementary school kids than what they're actually required to get. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. >> No problem. >> I have a I have a question for you. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Only because I have a kid at this elementary school who always comes out nachos. So, [laughter] like, what you eat for lunch today, Tyson? I had nachos. What else you have? Uh, nachos. Did you get anything else besides nachos? No, I just wanted nachos. So they said the nachos. So do they get So they get to actually choose what it is that they want. So I'll call the I'll

029say the nachos. That's the that's the fun meal in addition to a hot meal. >> So we always do one one hot meal every day at all schools. And we also offer most of the time at the elementary school it's a yogurt meal. We call it a healthy choice meal. So what we find is a lot of students don't like some of the things that we cook. So this got offers them a second chance of something other. Most of the kids will grab a yogurt and the yogurt's got a cheese stick and a graham cracker. But as far as what they grab, we'll offer two vegetables, a fruit, a milk. The student is actually only required to take a nachos and a fruit. That's all they're required to take. Now, we always offer more, but

030what the students take is their decision to make. Um, and that's that's what offer versus serve comes in. >> I'm glad that you explained that because I thought she was playing with me. No. >> Um, I really did. And then she said, "Well, I can get yogurt." Well, what else are you going to do with yoga? That's a snack. But apparently it is not because there's other things. I'm glad you got the pictures because I >> see the yogurt offers the meat and the grains which are two of the components are required and then we required them to have a fruit or a vegetable at the same time. So they could grab a yogurt bag which is pre-made. We have them made before they come in. They can grab a yogurt bag and a fruit

031and they can walk out and be a reimburseable meal for us. But there's always other options. So if the student chooses not to take it, that's the student's decision. >> And they only get milk. There's no um for lunches like they don't have access to at the elementary school they don't have the juices or the sodas or anything else like that. I'm trying to get you try to pick >> no and I'll be honest with you um the sodas uh there's a and I'll get to that in my next part of presentations. So that's considered a snack for us and we'll talk about that later. Um, we would love to be able to do that at the high schools, but one of the bad parts about co-mingling between middle school and high school is that

032we have to follow the calorie counts and we can't have sugar and drinks unless it's 100% juice at the high school. But because the middle school kids are there, we can't offer it to the high school kids. So, we're the only place that we do that and we we haven't really done it a lot lately is because there's not a group. We can do it at JP King because JP King is just high school kids. So, we can offer different items there, but there's not as many kids over there. Okay, no problem. Any other questions before I continue? All right, next slide. Um, actually, back one. I'm sorry. Um, uh, there have been questions about the snacks that we serve in the schools, and I want to go over the requirements for this. Snacks can

033account for almost a quarter of all food that students consume on a daily basis. Any food items sold in schools must be smart snack approved. This is a mandate from the USDA that schools must follow. Smart snacks are required to meet guidelines for general nutrition standards. These guidelines are they must be a grain product that contains 50% or more whole grains by weight. Have at least the first ingredient be a fruit, vegetable, a dairy food, or a protein food. Must be a combination that contains at least a/4 cup of fruit and or vegetable. And the food must meet the nutrition standards for calories, sodium, fats, and total sugars. If you walk around the cafeteria on a daily basis, you can see students bringing in hot fries, Takis, cookies. The items that we sell offer a

034healthier option for some of the same items that they would bring from home. Next slide, please. This is a comparison of regular nacho cheese Doritos. Um, what you can see is that the calorie content, fat content, and sodium content on the Doritos that we sell are lower than if the family were to purchase these from the normal store. Because corn is the first ingredient, it is allowed to be sold in the schools. Items may look like normal food offered in stores, but they are made so the students don't really notice a difference in the product. Next slide, please. These are the items that we are currently selling in our vending machines and snack shack at the schools. The snack shack at the elementary school is only open two days a week as long as we

035have the staff that allows us to open it. The vending machine at all schools are on a timer that allows students to only to purchase items during their lunch periods. One day a week at the elementary school, students are offered a free fruit slushie as part of their reimburseable meal. This is a treat the students enjoy and count as a fruit component for us in the kitchen. Is there any questions about any of this before I go on? Awesome. Thank you. Next slide, please. Bud budget expenditures. Um, USDA only allows the nutrition fund to keep three months operating budget without requiring an excess spending plan. Last year, we did not have an excess spending plan from the year end 2024, but we are projecting to have one this year when the state sends out their

036notifications next month in February. We are already we have already begun spending funds with the purchase of the menu software that I discussed earlier and are working on some muchneeded kitchen upgrades um that you see on the slide. Our cooler and freezer at Franklin High School are over 25 years old and when they were installed, they had been donated from another facility somewhere in the state. We have begun getting in quotes for the cooler replaced at Franklin High School and hope to have this completed over spring break. This will allow for minimal disruption of our staff and students during that time. Our freezer and coolers are also in need of a cover to prevent the sun from baking the the condenser units on top of them. And this will also help shield our staff from

037the rain during times that they have to go outside for deliveries and pull items into the kitchen to help moderate temperatures in the kitchens. We're also looking to have many splits installed in our kitchens. Next slide, please. This is big news. Um, I have some exciting news for the summer that we want to bring to the board's attention. With the permission from Dr. Carter and Dr. Walters, I was able to attend the NoK Kid Hungry Summer Nutrition Summit at the beginning of this week. USDA has passed regulations allowing non- congregate feeding for summer meals. We plan on being able to send meal kits to children's homes may not have transportation to and from schools over the summer. These meal kits will be sent through a mail service and offer shelf stable meals for students. The

038kits will hopefully contain between 10 and 14 days worth of meals, breakfast and lunches for children. Mainly this is because the meals have to excuse me. In the past, we've not had a lot of children from the community to eat meals at our sites. Mainly, this is because the meals have to be consumed on site, part of the congregate feeding regulations that we've had to follow in the past. The children that do come to our open meal sites are usually enrolled in summer school, are part of the Boys and Girls Club, or enrolled in the YMCA summer camps. These kits will help us fill meal gaps that are left for families when school is not in session over the summer. Last year, we only served a little over 7,000 meals at our congregate feeding sites.

039I'm hoping that we can get numbers around 20 to 25,000 meals delivered to homes over the summer. We are planning we are at the planning stages for everything and hope to have more information for you in the next couple months. Our plans are also to offer take-home meals for the children that still come to our meal serving sites for the days that we are closed. Are there any other questions that the board might have? >> I do. >> Yes, ma'am. So, for the kids, would that be [clears throat] one per household or would it be one per child that's in that household? I'm negotiating right now. >> My my what I'm hoping to be able to do is it's going to be one for every child in the school. I mean, in the in the

040house, they don't have they should not have to be enrolled in Franklin City Public Schools. So, even if students are one years old, two years old, hopefully we can get everybody registered. All this is beginning stages for all this, but the training that I went to, the summit that I went to on Monday and Tuesday was very informative. So, um, we're actually hoping on partnering with the outside company to help us get the meals brought in and then we'll figure out a way to get the mail delivery. But there are already school systems that have already done this in the state. So, >> I have a question. >> Yes, ma'am. >> You said that you went to you went out to do this? >> Were you told to or is it just something that you

041wanted to do? >> Um, me and Mr. Dr. Walters have been talking about um SUFFK actually started doing the meal deliveries last year and it's something I really wanted to get involved into doing. Um through the organizations that I'm part of, they sent out random emails about different conventions and summits coming up. And with this being this this summit was all about summer EBT and non- congregate feeding. And with the decision that we had that we wanted to do this for the kids, it was it made sense for us to go and learn what we can. Um there were representatives from 47 states, District of Columbia, um Hawaii and Puerto Rico all there um at the summit on Monday and Tuesday. And there was a lot of information given out. So >> I want to

042say personally, thank you for having interest for our children, not just for the ones that are in our school buildings, but for the ones that are in the community. >> Yes, ma'am. >> I appreciate you for that. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anybody else? >> Yeah, I got something else for you. >> Yes, ma'am. [laughter] I know. Um so again though, not just to piggy back off of Miss Boom, but uh sincerely, oh, thank you >> because [clears throat] there's been times where we have had um family uh read nights and parent engagement. We've had different things that have gone on and there's always been meals that have been provided. Um and I know that you all put in a lot of work when you're making the lasagna and the spaghetti

043and the and the there's it's a full meal. It's not just like wings and chips or anything like that. So thank you and help those things together. >> Thank you. >> So you don't judge me like but I really I do I do appreciate that because there there hasn't been a time where we have had like >> and sometimes you actually end up running out because families are actually coming in and they're taking it >> and they're leaving. Um they get to enjoy the snacks and everything else that is provided. So again, as a parent, board member, whatever hat you want to throw on me at the moment, thank you >> for for what it is that you and your staff do to appreciate that. >> Thank you. Anybody else? Have a great night, y'all.

044Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Mr. Yes, sir. >> And I will extend the the invite um to the entire board uh to join me for a meal at a school of your choosing. I will cover the tab. Um [laughter] so um but s sincerely u Scott and his team are phenomenal. Um >> I hope that his passion for our students came across to you this evening. Um >> the team does a fantastic job. I'm very very proud of them. >> They do. >> So again, thank you for the opportunity to be able to share him um with y'all this evening and >> look forward to seeing you in the schools uh for a meal. Um we'll continue with um a few updates in operations. Um before he leaves, I also want to highlight

045uh that we just got word um that uh the VDOE is providing us with a grant um for $14,000. Uh that will cover a portion of the walk-in cooler at Franklin High School. Um the remaining cost will be coming from uh nutrition funds. Um, but again, it's not just about the meal prep, but it's also about taking a look at the infrastructure and and again, hearing that that the freezer and cooler at the high school were 25 years old with us and and they came to us from another location. Um, it it really does show that we are making the absolute most of everything that we have. Next slide, please. Miss Boon, I'm very excited to share that we are moving forward on uh the awning at Mod C. Um the contractor did receive um

046approval from the city to begin construction uh on the awning that's connecting Mod C to SP Morton proper. Um there is a plan that's in place. Uh Mr. Polland um and Dr. Hill collaborated to make sure that there were pathways for students and staff to be able to enter and exit ModC and every student at SP Morton goes to MOD C. Right. So, um, this was a a really thorough, uh, plan that's in place. Uh, but again, you can see just from the pictures, we do have things marked off. We have, u signage at the doors, um, alerting students and staff, uh, that they can't go through those doors. There are other pathways that are open. Um, it is anticipated, um, that we will complete the project in approximately I see you, Miss Boon, in

047approximately two weeks. Uh there are always uh things that come up um weather uh other inspections of the work. Um >> weather we'll say again keep an eye on the forecast if you haven't seen um but uh we're moving on this and and excited to be able to have this finished in the very near future. >> Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. Uh and the last piece uh that I'll share with you uh happy new year. It's time for us to start talking about next year's school calendar. [snorts] Um, so we're going to start uh gathering a team of folks um including administrators, teachers, family members. Uh we'd also like board participation uh in in this committee as well. Um we're going to meet uh virtually via uh Google Meet on January 26th at 4:30. Um

048that is about two weeks. Um so uh would would love to have a board member join us for that. Um we're going to discuss uh the structure of the calendar and start to brainstorm questions that we want to ask stakeholders um you know in terms of starting before Labor Day wellness Fridays breaks throughout the year um and ensuring that we are exceeding the state minimum requirement for instructional time. >> Um so those are are several of the things that we have just for a timeline. Uh I do anticipate a draft coming to the board February 19th. I believe that is uh a meeting. I believe that we've got two in February. Uh so that that should give us enough time to get some data back. Um and then hopefully seeking board approval on the calendar

049at the March 5th meeting. Any questions from operations? All right. Thank you. Have a nice evening. >> Thank you, Dr. Walters. Yes, sir. >> Miss Morrison, Dr. Carter, school board, Miss Boon, and those assembled here. Good evening. >> Good evening. Well, my counterparts have presented very brief, very positive updates. And the finance report um may be different tonight, maybe a little longer because it is at this point in the year we've had um December results come in and we're at the midyear point and it's very important that we leave tonight with a shared and accurate understanding of the division's financial position. So there are two related but distinct measures that we use to track financially. The first one is cash position and [clears throat] the second one would be financial statement position. And I want

050to highlight how these are different but related. Cash position is just the timing of when we are able to pay our bills. it. Um, our expected state, local, and federal revenues come in at various points throughout the year, whereas our expenditures, mainly payroll, occur at a regular pace. So, there are times when a school division will not have the cash to meet its obligations. And that's common in Virginia school districts, but it's normally very temporary and a short-term measure of financial health. The division is meeting all of our expectations right now. Um cash flow is being actively monitored through um cooperation with the treasurer's department to ensure that our numbers match and payments are carefully sequenced to align with revenues coming in. And so temporary use of the city's cash reserves has been necessary but

051should be temporary. Whereas cash position is a short-term measure, financial statement performance is a long-term measure. Financial statement results measure long-term performance. And that means are our recurring expenditures greater than or outpacing our recurring revenues. And this would impact our year-to-year fund balance. And this is what shows up on our annual audit reports. Um I do have um projections. However, at this point in the year, they rely on so many assumptions that um we will be able to bring projections as the year goes on that are uh more stable, reliable for decision- making. Um as we know, ADM is the single largest predictor of our state funding. It's important to note that we are going to receive, as I've been reporting, increases in state revenue starting with January for programs in the state budget that

052only uh begin paying in January, such as those supported by lottery proceeds. It's also important to know that if our enrollment as measured by VDOE, if our enrollment patterns decline, then our revenues will adjust accordingly. Um, and so I bring that to your attention now because it's a good point in the year to take a step back and look at where we are and what we need to do. Any questions? Okay, first slide. Okay, these are the December results for the operating fund which consists of general fund and grant revenues. Um, the first two columns are the same as last month being fiscal year 24 is audited and we came out with an ending fund balance of $1.5 million. Now, fiscal year 25 um is not audited. We will not be in a position to

053proceed with our audit until we receive the city's fiscal year 25 financials and we are able to reconcile those to the school's books. Um at that point our audit can proceed and the audit report will um there will be audit adjustments made to this 935,000. Um but it's if there is a ongoing deficit there it will be offset against our end ofear fund balance and then also fiscal year 26 is also unawudited and we have collected 49% of our revenues uh mainly because we had not been begun receiving the January state funding and we've spent 52% of our expenditures um that does result in a um deficit that would be applied to any remaining fund balance on our financials. And um >> do we have any idea when the city's going to get their final

054for 25? Um, I remain in close communication with their finance staff and they are working diligently amongst competing priorities for their time and they do understand our position and they are looking into um the literary fund and the roof process to ensure that they, you know, understand whether or not they can give us the 712,000 the U 582,000 for the um HVAC at SP Morton is the one that we had to request within a certain amount of time for that budget amendment to roll forward. >> So the 712,000 is still on the table and the city manager and the city finance director are working diligently to uh come to an answer about that, but they have not given me an answer just yet. >> So when you say come to an answer, is that an

055answer for reimbursement? Is that an answer for we're stuck like Chuck and we're not getting it? What is it? It >> it's one or the other. Um in my mind, we have city council minutes that reflect that the million50 we paid to the city was earmarked for roof reimbursements above those paid for by the literary loan. >> And we received some of that money in that year. Um, so that's how we come up with 712,000 remaining. So in my mind, it's something that should be at least considered to reduce our cash flow deficit. Um, if you know, we're not really asking for the cash for it, but we really want credit >> for that. >> Okay. And um >> following the FY25 line um we have not brought forward our fiscal year 25 existing grant

056balances and we've not recorded our new grant balances. You will see that come in the budget um once the city approves those budget amendments. Um but again until they approve the 25 carryovers from 24 um they will not be able to approve the 26 carryovers from 25. Do we have any history of how that's happened in the past? I mean I know the city's had some issues with how they're accounting. Do we know? I mean is that going to be in the next month? Is it going to be in the next three months that we're going to see those decisions being made? Do we have any indication on when that's going to happen? The last I had talked with the finance director um there was an indication that it could be first quarter, but um

057with that being budget season for both the city and us um you know that would be an um a very aggressive goal. So with that being said, you are aggressively keeping an eye on from beginning to end to where our numbers equal from where it is. And I understand we started in a deficit. I do understand that part. But what I'm trying to ask is all these numbers are correct. >> Yes, ma'am. >> That we're not and I want it to be we're not tweaking. We're not doing it. It's it's correct. These numbers come directly from our financial reporting system without modification. >> Okay. Okay. I'm not saying I'm not pointing fingers. I'm just asking because I'm trying to understand >> all of this from beginning to end and why are we still in the

058deficit, >> right? And I will continue to provide accur accurate financial reporting and >> bringing to the attention of the board anything that I see that could be a potential problem. >> Appreciate that. And then um there would have to be policy and governance discussions um after that on sustainability. >> Yes ma'am. Okay. >> So just a simple question simple math. >> Yes. 20 that can be carried forward. I guess >> that is correct. And that's based on our year-end audit. >> Exactly. So if we were to add those numbers, we're still ahead if those numbers add up by about 500 plus thousand. Correct. >> Yes. Um but with the caveat that FY25 is unodudited and audit adjustments may occur to that number. >> Sure. But if these numbers were the same, >> we would

059still say we're in the positive at least for 2025. >> Yes. >> Okay. Um and again, the December, just from my own understanding is yes, we see a lot more adjustments in January where things are starting to be paid by the state, things are followed up there that we're sticking that in the next quarter. Correct. >> Yes. But >> we hope >> with the caveat that also if VDOE determines that they see us declining in average daily membership then um the funds could decline as well. >> Temp asked for previous years that show us this how we were in last year in January at this time. >> Yes, I will show that under cash flow. >> Next slide please. Um this is a nutrition fund. Um as Mr. Evans was saying, we do have a

060fund surplus there. Um both in 25 and 26 um pending the outcome of the audits and we already had 417,000 of fund balance. So um we have plenty of fund balance to do the required upgrades to equipment and uh we even have a grant now to help us with that. So we are actively pursuing any grant opportunities, any new funding sources um that we can and we you know are advising our state um legislators that you know this SOQ funding is is not sufficient. Um so we're doing everything we can to enhance revenue as well as control our expenditures. Next slide. Um, this is a self-sustaining textbook fund. Uh, we had a fund balance of 172,000. We added 65,000 to that for 25. And the reason it shows a deficit for this year is because

061the textbook state funding comes in through our general fund and we record it once a year into our textbook fund. So, we anticipate having um no problem meeting any uh changes in um curriculum or any textbook updates that are required. >> And when you say we record it once a year, when is that? At the end of the year, third quarter. >> June. Okay. >> And this is where our overall total comes in. You know, overall, uh we had a fund balance of 2.1 million at the end of 24. and we are currently awaiting the 2025 results and so that we will know how much fund balance we are able to make a one-time use of for fiscal year 26. >> Any questions on that? >> So again, I'm just I'm I'm trying to get

062my head around all this because is that money in the bank somewhere? That 2.1 that was left over from 24, is that just because that was what was budgeted? Where is that money going to come from if it's pushed over to 25 or then to 26? >> It goes back to the distinction between the cash position and the financial statement position. Um the cash position is just what comes in the bank, what goes out of the bank. But financial statements are prepared on a cruel basis of accounting, meaning that the expenses for that period are matched to the revenues for that period regardless of when it hit the bank. So, um it our cash position um can be offset with the fund balance, but it's not exactly the same thing. And that's I guess what

063I'm worried about because yeah, if the cash balance is not there, even though we had a surplus in 2024, if there's not the money there to be pushed forward into the following year because the cash balance doesn't equal that, then we could still be hitting these red numbers. Am I correct in saying that? >> Yes, sir. That is a possibility >> and as the year goes by and I get more information I will share that with the board. >> Questions. >> Do you do you know any other districts how they see this? I mean is this common? Are we like everybody else or is this just us? It's a common problem that um schools incur expenditures early in the year for startup and capital that they haven't received the corresponding revenues for yet. So some

064districts um have contingency reserves for that. Other districts rely on the locality for the temporary funding. >> We're relying on our locality. We and and we don't have contingency funds because anything that's left over we have to get back to the city. Correct. That's correct. >> So there's the other issue is if we were even to hold on to some if we had a good year that still has to be given back to the city and then they can determine if they give that back to us or not. Is that correct? >> Yes. Okay. Next slide, please. Um now going back to the cash position. Um in December we took in 1.8 million and only paid out 1.6 million. So, we did have a surplus in December of 213,4554 and which would bring our deficit

065down to1,32,000 and that does match what the city treasurer's office has shown. Next slide. Even though we are at a million deficit, this is where we were we were at the preceding five-year points. questions. >> Well, and that's what I was looking at when we I guess it was December when we last met. I mean, we were in a Yeah, we were at that 1.5 and so that did at least bring us down more because again, that was a negative then. So, at least we had a positive cash flow in December. >> Are you anticipating January will be similar with normal incomes coming out? that uh it will be it will be more in the sense that the January components will start to be paid, but it could be less if the if the average

066daily membership drops, but the average daily membership for the year is based on the March 31st child count. So, we do have time to make necessary adjustments. Um, you know, >> and what adjustments are we making? because if I noticed our our numbers are down versus [snorts] last year >> by about 100 if I close to that. So how are we making that adjustment at this point? >> Well, we are constantly monitoring our cash flow on a daily basis and using that information to determine um how to sequence our bill payments. Um we u are um we've done a lot of other things that um may have been discussed in close session um but they're not ready for public consumption just yet. So we are actively reducing our expenditures and we are actively seeking new

067revenue sources. >> So I have a comment sorry um and this is probably what you're going to talk about. I do understand that with the ADM, we do have more children that are homeschooled >> and that has brought us in a deficit because this is funds that we do not have in our system. With that being said, I want to hear from Dr. Carter. How does he plan to turn that around? >> So, we have uh pushing out a virtual academy. >> Okay. And so the uh Dr. Ricks has just signed it off, met with the team and it's going to be rolled out sometime is it next week is what is next week? >> The 27th of January. >> Okay. >> Yeah. And so that is a that is a way that if they

068want to take CTE, if they want to take any of our courses, they can do it from the comfort of their home. And so they sign back if they are interested in in that they can sign back up they will get uh their classes virtually and we recoup that enrollment. So that is one of the things we are working on. The other thing is uh we have something uh special ed with we have the Medicaid. We have one $1 million worth of Medicaid uh paperwork that we that we can recoup and that has not been done well in the past 15 years. >> And that money is sitting out there and we're working aggressively to cash that in. And so that's money we're losing every year. So we have uh different strategies to close this

069gap. What we are worried about is what Miss Williams also referred to is the mass evictions that are happening. >> Right. >> There's a there's a wave that happened in December and there's and I've heard from uh from what I'm hearing from social services, there's going to be another wave in January. >> Yes, it is. >> So we're going to have to combat that, too. >> Okay. >> So there are things that we that we are working aggressively. you know, some of these things are a lot of these things are out of our control, right? >> And we're just trying to close that gap. But we but that's just another problem >> that and so we're going to have to offer that virtual academy to to those students who have just or parents who have

070just been evicted and have uh unenrolled their children because they're not sure where they're going to be housed. So, we want to make sure that they have a a place to to land until we can figure it out with social services how to provide uh uh status for them here. But that but that is a problem. And but those are the two major strategies that we have to close the gap is to get those home school parents back into the system through virtual and also the Medicaid and also to address the mass evictions at Dorchester. >> Question. Do do we >> participate in sports? >> Is that not not unless they're a full-time student? They would have to they would have to be a full-time student to participate in sports >> or other class. >>

071They can do JTC. What else? Dr. Ricks. >> It can they do the band? >> No band. Okay. >> And this is that we're restricting it. >> Right. Right. Right. This is a state policy. >> I have a question because when you say we're inviting the children virtually, sometimes when things are done virtually, there's a thing called clinicals and it depends what studies they're taking. So, with that being said, do these children have to at least once a year or twice a year actually have to come and put hands on whatever it is that they're taking as if it was um medical assistance or something? Do like how are we going to do that if that's the case? >> Okay. Okay. >> So, general studies like Okay. >> Okay. We will prevail. So, I bring

072it to the board's attention um tonight, especially since we are at the six-month mark. Um it's it's um you know, once we get the March 31st enrollment, >> um we'll we will know more. I'd like to go on to the December voucher payments. Um, the first ones are going into the general fund. The only date that we wrote checks in December was December the 4th. These are the expenditures that the general fund covered. So, real quick, allied. Um, that's CEP. Is that correct? >> CEP. >> Allied could be allied. >> Allied could be our uh >> uh wraparound services. >> So, if they So, so that's what allied services are. >> But, you know, we we contract that out currently. Have we not tried to find someone in house or is it more expensive? >>

073We're in process of doing that analysis now to determine um buy versus bring in house. >> Okay. Okay. >> Yes ma'am. Yes, ma'am. >> Okay, thank you. >> Next slide. See the 120,000 there is us finally recording the textbook transfer from the year before u because of um payments that got held up. Next slide. Next slide. Wait. Can you go back? Isn't bus 30 one of our electrical buses? It says brake repair replacements. Isn't that one of our new buses? >> 31, 32, and 3. No, it's 32, 33, and 34. >> Okay. >> Our new buses. >> Okay. I see Mr. Waltz is getting up to defend that. [laughter] >> Okay. I'm just asking. Okay. I think we can go on to the next slide. All right. And finally, the next slide goes into grant

074fun uh grant funded expenditures. We did not have many. >> Wait, that's all right. Yes, this is our grant expenditures. We had no cafeteria or textbook expenditures in December. So something asked I'm sorry my there's my microphone coming on but it's sorry those of you that can't hear me my touchpad is not working anyway what do we have now a January budget set for this coming year >> the fiscal year 27 budget that starts July 1st 26 through June 27th um We have some initial estimates of expected revenues and we have some initial estimates of expected expenses. Um but um our budget will be turned in to the city manager by March 13th and at that point we will have every bit of information that that is currently available in order to set those expected

075revenues and in turn the expenses. Oh, yes. Yes. I would see it as a first read and then come back and ask for board approval. I'll probably do the first It is hard to forecast because you know they're unanticipated expenditures by nature. Um but um the city typically in the past has funded a lot of capital expenditures for the schools and so um we we consider that option as well. Um >> but again we got to learn that they're maybe not going to Right. >> Yes. >> So that's what I'm trying to say. I think we should be an entity within ourselves and not be dependent on that, >> you know, >> looking over our back to see if they're going to really do it or not. I guess we've se seen nowhere the last

076year where you know that didn't happen. So thank you for you know really let's trying to look into that. Appreciate it. >> Um the the initial budget u will have gaps that need to be closed pending new information on incoming expected revenues um and the expenses that that will bear. >> But Dr. Harrison the only issue is even when we save and forecast they take it back. said anybody >> they take it back. So anytime we become good stewards of our funds, they take it back. >> Unless we spend it all, >> can't hide it anywhere. [laughter] >> And so I have one last thing for this evening. >> Yes, ma'am. [laughter] >> And that would be a proposed budget amendment. We received a check for $75,000 from the OBC Healthcare Foundation >> and that

077will help us uh enhance our playground. Um this proposed budget amendment asks to increase the grant budget to accept this new grant from the OBC Foundation. Um I'm asking the board to approve this amendment as presented. I'm asking that this budget amendment be approved as presented. >> I move that we approve budget amendment BA26-00005 as presented. >> Second it. >> Take a vote. Miss Parker. >> I I >> Mr. Hope >> I >> Mr. Reed. >> Yes, >> Miss Boon. Yes. >> Thank you. >> Uh Madame Chair, uh as you can see, we're getting ready to go into close session. However, it is 7:10. If you would like for me to continue to move through the slides, I can. or take a pause for close session. I'm asking uh how would you like for me

078to proceed? >> We can keep going, but I have a question for operations and for Mr. Evans with our new refrigerators that we're going to get and I'm going to say brand new, but we're cracking the box and we're not getting them from someone else. Are we also taking into consideration our electrical boxes that are in the buildings because our buildings are old? Part of our quote for the bids for the new cooler contracts with an electrical company that's going to come in has already taken a look at the electrical capacity that we have. Um the only installation they know for sure will have to be done is want to put an outside light on the coolers and freezers to more security in the morning. So my staff get there early in the morning. Okay.

079>> So they might have to run a 120 volt line. >> Okay. >> I've already been in contact with Mr. Poland and seen where there's access to that in the building where it is. But both companies that we're hoping on partnering with all that's been put into the bid already. >> All right. Thank you. Good answer. Good answer. Mr. Walters, I have one more question for you. Um, about a month ago, if I'm correct, the boiler went down, how many band-aids did we put on it or did we get a brand new boiler? >> We've got some really good band-aids. >> Okay. Um what we've done is in in meeting with some contractors, they've recommended that we not drop our set points when the building is unoccupied. >> Okay? >> That the the um exertion

080on the the boiler after you drop to a lower temperature to save energy >> and then to get back to a typical set point is what was straining the boiler. Uh so one of the elements is malfunctioning. um the other element is functioning properly and that one element with the boiler that we have is able to keep set points um now that we've changed kind of the way that the the unit is programmed. >> So we're keeping it running so the current is running concurrent is exactly what you're saying. We're not shutting it off because when we shut it off and we turn it back on, it strains it. >> We're right. We're we're maintaining the set point as if the building is occupied even when [clears throat] the building is unoccupied. >> Right. >>

081We are um to Dr. Harrison's point, uh we are projecting the need to purchase a boiler to replace the one that we have. Um and so we're going through that u that procurement process now, getting quotes from different vendors. Um and and that is definitely something that I'll be sharing with Miss Morrison uh to include on our proposed capital budget. >> Now, the reason why I'm asking that is because our children are putting on more clothes in the winter time, but in the summertime, we don't want them taking off more clothes than they need to. So, >> correct. >> Is this actually going to have a cooling system for the summer or are we going to go through this hot span? because I don't like seeing the fans. >> So, the the boiler is only

082for heat. The the I know that part. So, the water source heat pumps um they're going to be able to to maintain temperatures. Again, we've worked through with U JRC, the contractor who installed those um to make sure that that those issues have been addressed. >> So, I'm talking about the HVAC. That's fine. >> Correct. >> When it comes to the summertime. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. as of today. >> As of today. >> Thank you, ma'am. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> All right, we're going to continue on. >> That's fine. >> All right, Dr. Miner. >> Good evening, Madam Chair, school board members, Dr. Carter. >> Good evening, >> members. Here I am here to present the fall 2025 climate survey. Next slide please. The purpose of the survey is

083to inform the board of staff climate trends and support data informed leadership and decision making. So what we did is we u went out to the schools and we had a QR code and the staff members took a climate survey and it consisted of I believe it was eight questions. So the first question I feel supported by my building administrators or supervisor. The blue is strongly agree the red is agree. The orange is neutral. The green is disagree and the purple is strongly disagree. All right, next slide. I am overall satisfied with my position here with Franklin City Public Schools. Next slide. Back one, please. Franklin City Public Schools is a source of pride in the community. Next slide. So our key improvement indicator. So I did look at it from last year based on

084this year support from central office. And you'll see that later in the um in the presentation. Last year we had a 51% of um staff that either um strongly agreed or agreed. This year 58%. Support from the supervisor or the building principal. The 73% was strongly agree or agree combined. in this year was 79%. And overall job satisfaction last year was 72%, this year 77%. So we're trending up. >> Do you know the number? >> I apologize. There are clear and high expectations for students. Next slide. There are clear and high expectations for staff. Next slide. Communication is clear and consistent. >> So that was one I did notice when we looked at the data. >> Didn't define where that communication was. It wasn't between administration and staff or administration or teachers and students. I

085mean, that's a very that's an interesting question when I saw that and I could see why. Why are we getting, you know, 20% or, you know, nearly 40 45%. >> And it may be, and I didn't think about it that way. It may be what you just said. I may need to um clear >> communicate very good on that question. >> Yeah, I need to find that question a little more next year. >> It was not clear. [laughter] Next slide please. I feel supported by central office. And so what I did is I looked at the um the comments and I kind of um created some the three major themes of the comments. So the first one was school-based leadership and support. So um based on the comments, schools are stabilizing. The majority of the

086staff report feeling supported by their principles and or their supervisors. The second common thread was communication and transparency especially around central office decision m decision making and processes. Many comments express frustration about not understanding how and why certain decisions are made. But this also reflects the limited visibility into processes that are often confidential and legally restricted meaning there are a lot of things that we can't say. And the third thing was workforce capacity compensation and support. the workload pay and change employees continue to de to demonstrate commitment while navigating increased demands compensation concerns and ongoing change. >> So the one question I had on that communication transparency >> do we communicate that well with those that are concerned? I mean this is why and these are the reasons why I guess that's again that's a

087question >> but some things are we legally cannot say. So, um, a lot of the comments were, um, well, one comment was like central office needs to tell us why they make decisions, we can't tell you. Like, if we have a personnel decision, we can't just go out and say, well, this is what happened. Why? So, legally, we can't get oursel we can't put the division at risk. >> Do do you feel that's one of the biggest issues? Is is it staffing and and >> based on the comments, I really do think that's one of the biggest issues. They just want to know why and legally we just can't say. Next slide. Any questions? All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right, Miss Tommpkins. >> Good evening. And keeping with the trend of

088short and concise, my presentation um this evening will be short and concise. So um madame chair, school board, Dr. Carter, those assembled here and online. I'd like to report our first semester so data. Um this includes only the pass rate. There's no growth included in this. And this is the report that was pulled as of January 12th, which was Monday, >> without retakes. >> Without any retests. These are firsttime test takers. >> Yes, ma'am. >> For high school English, first semester last year, this time was 48%. this semester 61% with an overall uh increase over last year's data by 13%. English writing this time last year our students performed at 35%. This year it's 53% with an overall increase of 18%. Civics and economics. Although the score is not what we would like, first semester

089firsttime test takers was 13%. This year without retests is 30% with a 17% increase over last year's performance. World history has remained the same, 42% and 42%. first semester last year, there were no firsttime algebra 1 students who took that test. This year, 100% of those students passed. >> You know how many took it this year? >> Um, I would have to get that for you. Um, algebra 2, 31% of those students p um pass first semester last year. this year 100% of those students who took the algebra 2 so passed with an overall increase from last year to uh is a 69% increase. So um in February when we have all of the students um assessments, we have retests, we have all that information, we will comp we will prepare and present the complete

090data update based on all of the students who took an assessment first semester, but at this time these are the scores as of our so test date ending on Monday the 12th. Any questions? So, you're saying that science wasn't done yet? >> Science was not done as of Monday. >> Any questions? So, being that these right now are currently these are scores without retest. >> Correct. So with the individuals that we do have that needs to take the retest. >> Yes. >> Our scores will go higher. >> That if if they pass up. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Do we know what the past was like? Like this time last year, how many did end up passing? Do we have any idea what what improvement they had throughout the years as we did retesting?

091So are you saying the number of students >> did the percentage rates I would just was wondering last year what percentage rates how they went. So if our English reading was 48% without retests, right? That's was the this was last year's >> that's first semester. >> First semester. Exactly. Did we with the retest? How did that go? Did we see any change? >> So um I presented I believe maybe uh sometime first semester a couple months ago where I showed a three-year trend. I don't have all of that information, but we had some areas that increased and some that decreased when we looked at the overall performance of all areas, including retests. So we it did fluctuate but the fact that we are here and that we have this level of increase is a very

092positive trend that shows us that we don't have to work quite as hard to get those students where they need to be when we have this number of students who pass the first time. So this is a very positive um positive trend up. So, also what I've noticed is, and I want to say thank you to the individuals that had something to do with this, because we lost teachers, we gained teachers, and we moved teachers. And obviously, we did the right moves in the right positions because of our math scores. >> Yes. >> I cried like a baby when you took one individual and switched them somewhere else. But I thank you for doing that because the numbers is what shows. The numbers talked and they talked very loudly. So I appreciate that. I do

093very much. Thank you. Thank you for that. >> Any other questions? >> Yeah. Something in the future that I would like is you have to see what changes we did and how we got to that point. I think that would be helpful as well. You know, I know you did curriculum instruction. >> Why did our world history scores not improve? I mean, that should we should be really looking at that. I mean, we 75%, we only had 42%. >> Instructional issue. >> Was it a teacher issue? Was it I mean, those are things I think we have to still really look at to get better. >> Absolutely. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. And I think, Madam Chair, I think the only thing uh left is that we are going to hold another town

094hall and it'll be sometime in February. I have to take a look at uh I think our next board meeting is February 12th. >> And so I believe um is it is 5 and 19. So I believe before the 19th I'm going to try to hold another town hall. >> Okay. And in speaking with the parent superintendent's parent advisory, we're going to do that in breakout sessions and try to hold that at JP King. And uh so everyone, this time I last time I restricted to parents only, but now I will let the entire community ask their question because now I've had an opportunity to hear from the parents and now I can listen to everyone else. And so I more information will come uh the by the next board meeting in you said February

0955th. By the 5th I will have more information of the who, what, when, where, and how. And I also would like to thank the entire Franklin City staff from the bus drivers to the custodians to the cafeteria workers to the teachers to the curriculum specialists to the school leadership to the um central office staff to uh supporting board members. we are heading in the right direction and I am very excited and and the hard work uh that has been put forth. Uh the kids have spoken, the kids are invested and I really truly believe that um if uninterrupted in years come we will be in the top 5% of all school districts in the state of Virginia. But I would like to basically tell those hardworking staff who sometimes get insulted up here that and

096they tell me that they're being insulted by some board members that they do matter and and and they do work hard and they are offended by some of the board members who make uh defamatory remarks towards them. Hold on. >> With that being concluded with um the superintendence report, what I am going to do right now is go into citizens time before we do go into close session. I have two that signed up tonight. School board meeting January 25th. January 15, 2026. The first one I have is Brandon Lily. Can you please come forward? >> Good evening. >> At least to the board members who are here tonight. It's interesting that the night you're supposed to evaluate Dr. Carter, all the new board members are somehow missing, but we won't touch on that. At the

097last meeting, one of your new board members asked um Tomkins to pull up the school performance support framework. She said she couldn't because she wasn't prepared. I timed it today out of curiosity. Takes 60 seconds to pull up. And that's if you don't have a web page opened. All right. Um the board asked her to present it last week or at the last meeting a month ago. Still not here tonight. Okay. Into my main point. Under Travis Felts, Franklin High School implemented a scheduling model where all of the general education students took their so tests in the fall. This led them have time for remediation and retesting to ensure a successful school year. All the honors kids test in the spring because they needed one attempt. The presentation shared tonight leaves unanswered questions and once

098again implies were misrepresenting data. So here's my questions to the board and to Miss Tomkins. Can you verify how many kids actually were enrolled in the courses you just showed um up there? Not percentages, but the actual enrollment. You showed that in previous meetings. Why can't we have it tonight suddenly? Were the math and English scores presented this evening made up of students enrolled in honors or general courses? You don't have to tell us, but you can tell the board. Um and the context for that is important because if you had seven kids in honors class get 100%. That is way less encouraging and impressive uh than if it was actually general education students. And I hate to tell you, but if you just tested all your honors kids here, that means all your general

099education kids testing in May are going to have less time to remediate and less time to retake. Which subjects and grade levels actually completed so testing in the fall? Why did you choose very selective information today that painted you in a good light when you've actually taken more so tests since that data was published? In fact, you tested this week. And don't say the scores aren't back yet. I'm willing to bet any amount of money you want that Dr. Carter and Miss Tomkins have the results of the so test. They could have showed them tonight. They didn't. Why don't the board ask why? Unless it's the IRW or writing test, you get results almost instantaneously. And you better believe both of them know what the data is. They just chose not to present it tonight,

100even though they've had it for days. Your data presentation this evening focused on comparing fall test results this year to fall test results last year. Why did you choose not to comp uh compare your results to the overall performance of your last school year? Is it because your writing scores were significantly higher overall? Is it because you padded stats with honors or academic classes with advanced placement courses? See the thing is when you give data and it's incomplete and it doesn't tell the whole picture and we have no context for it. We are as left asking a lot of questions and the real problem here is if you actually changed the strategy that made Franklin High successful and you didn't take and set it up so the kids can take their um so test this

101fall and your testimate and no time to retest and your scores are going to tank. And again I'll see you next time when you misrepresent data again. Thank you. >> THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> MISS MARY E. WILLIAMS. >> OKAY. She was the number two. That would conclude our citizens time. We can go into close session in accordance with section 2.23711 23711 of the code of Virginia. I move that the Franklin City School Board enter into a close session to discuss and evaluate matters related to new hires, supplemental employment, and resignation termination pursuant to Virginia Code section 2.2-3711A1. >> I'll second. >> Dr. Harrison. >> Hi. >> Bob Holt. >> I >> Christina Boone. I >> Landanda Parker. >> Hi. >> Close session. So move second. Whereas the Franklin City School Board has convened a

102closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Whereas section 2.2-371 2-3712.D of the code of Virginia requires a certification by the school board that such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with V Virginia law. And now therefore be it resolved that the Franklin School Board hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted by Virginia law were discussed in the closed meeting to which this certification applies and two only such public business matters were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard discussed or considered. Second, >> Miss Parker. >> I >> Miss Boon. I Mr. Holt. >> I >> Mr. Harrison. >> Yes. [clears throat] >> Madame Chair, we have

103two motions from close session. The first is to approve the employee resignation under option two. >> I'll second it. >> Miss Parker. >> I. >> Miss Boon. I. Mr. Holt. >> I. >> Mr. Harrison. Yes. >> The second is to approve the personnel agenda as presented. >> I second it. >> Miss Parker. >> I. >> Miss Boon. >> I. Mr. Hull. >> I. >> Mr. Harrison. >> Yes. 7.2 6.2 School board work session meeting minutes for December 4th. First reading. >> I move to approve the minutes. 6.3 school board regular meeting minutes for December 18th first reading. I move that we accept that as well. >> Do I have a second? Okay, because it's the first reading school board minutes. Are there any schoolboard announcements, presentations, or comments for the board? >> Thank you. I

104didn't see that one. Yes. 6.1 school board work session meeting minutes for November 13, 2025 is the second reading. >> I move that we approve. >> Do we have a second? >> I second it. >> Miss Parker >> I. >> Miss Boon I. Mr. Re Mr. Hull >> I. >> Mr. Reed Harrison. >> Yes. With that being said, 7.2 schoolboard announcements, presentations, or comments from the board. Just one of the issues that I was wondering about is again is how we get things on the agenda. There's a policy of how soon that has to be prior to our meeting >> and that is found where where do we find that information? So if someone wants to propose an agenda item >> typically from my understandings I may be wrong is they are brought to the

105board's clerk and nine times out of 10 I have a 2 by two on Mondays. So prior to Monday I have no acknowledgement. I have an acknowledgement of what can be on the agenda, but I don't have the final agenda because during my two by two on Monday afternoon is when we're actually going over what is going to be con what is going to be added, what we're not going to take away, what is going to be a first reading, what is and then things are coming in and as they're coming in, they're brought to Miss B and Miss B is actually the one that puts together the agenda. So to be very honest with you and transparent, I really don't see the final agenda until I come here. >> So if I have an

106item, >> Yes. >> it has to be there by Monday is what you're saying. Early Monday so that you can review that. >> Yes. Okay. >> So we're not adding things during the week because a lot of other things are going on. But there has been times where at that last minute something has been added on because it's been imperative that it needs to be added on. It's important for it to be added on. But typically that Monday because that is the first meeting with the chair, another school board member and the superintendent. And then the two by twos that follow is going over what was done on that meeting Monday. So that is how you guys are aware of a possibility what is on the agenda because of that Monday meeting >> is I'm

107sorry is the only way to get something on the agenda to send it to the board clerk or can we so don't reach out to the board members like it needs to go to the clerk so that you can have it >> yes >> by the 2 by two on Monday to >> finalize what you have Yes. >> So, sometimes it comes to the to the board clerk and comes to the chair >> and then the the board clerk gives it to me and I begin to start to compile and when I meet with the the board chair on >> on Monday >> on standing meetings on Monday, that's when we start compiling the information as it comes in. So I I if we're trying to get a system that's faster, but sometimes information it

108just depends on when someone sends it in and we try to make it that deadline Monday just before that board meeting. So we try to get that 72-hour advance as much as possible out there. >> So what I'm understanding is we really don't have a policy on this. >> No. >> So maybe that's something we should discuss in future is create a policy. What's the criteria for it to be an emergent edition? Right? If if it's Tuesday or Wednesday right before, then we should have a policy say, "Okay, it has to meet these certain criteria because I think that's it. That's the question. If we're saying, well, you know what? If it was a Monday, well, we don't have we've got a holiday this Monday." So, Exactly. So, developing a policy would be a good

109idea. >> And actually, that would be a great idea for the reason Miss B being brand new. >> Exactly. So, then we all understand her fault when something is not being done right then and there. It's not her fault. Miss Be's fault when it's taking more than 72 hours or something. So, we're not pointing fingers because she is brand new and she's been placed in that position and she has ongoing training. >> Okay. Well, that's I mean, how do we set that agenda to discuss that policy? Just like we're going to discuss the policy of citizens time. Is that going to be on next time's agenda? Yes. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> And speaking of citizens time, we did not discuss citizens time. No, we did not discuss citizens time during this board meeting because

110we did not have we had a quorum but we did not have the individuals that we would like to speak to >> about citizens time and now the policy for the agenda. Um we can talk about that during our next board meeting and implement this policy to where we can start it and then present it to the lawyer and then we can go ahead and vote it on it and that is the changing of the policy. So we'll we can do these policies come our next board meeting. >> Um I also want to most of you will probably already know um and then for the public as well there's trainings and stuff that the board also has to have um that we go through through VSBA and not just at the conference that we have

111in November. So, if you all were not aware, um, lodging is too late, but there is a conference that starts, it's the 26th and 27th with the legislators up in Richmond. I think it starts on the 26 at 1 or 1:30. >> We have breakout sessions and whatnot. um until about 5 or 6 p.m. and then Tuesday we I think we meet up at 7 >> and we get with our legislators and we walk around um with different discussions and things that they have for us in Richmond as well. So if you missed it in the VSBA newsletter that they sent out, we do have that training available as well as other and I I'll send it I'll send it to you, Miss Boom. As >> I have one coming up also. The one I

112have coming up is actually the superintendence evaluation workshop. This will be my second year coming, but I do know that there is more different information that's coming on this one. And what it is is just so the public can know. We do get these emails spontaneously from VSBA and is our choice if we choose to go ahead and register for these classes. um I'm not sure but at the end of every year we are given certificates and when we are given certificates we accumulate points with these certificates of the classes that we've actually taken during the year. So you have the superintendence evaluation, you have the nutrition, you have quite a few couple of you have a lot of things. It's a lot of legals, you can go in depth, you can be an advanced

113board member, you can go into whatever it the curriculums you choose. But another thing being said, with that being said, school board U is actually our schooling through VSBA. They give you in the beginning they give you 24 months for you to do I want to say it is eight or 10 classes and it starts from governance. It starts from you knowing the foyer. It starts from you knowing how things are done. And you're not forced to do it. You're not forced. But it gives you clarification on what it is that you are voting on. It gives you clarification on what it is where these codes come from. Why is this a policy and why is this not a policy? If you choose not to do it, that's on us. But if you choose to

114do it, they're worth you. You don't have to physically go. Miss um Park is physically going. Unfortunately, this day, which is March 31st, 2026, um I'll be coming in from work cuz I have to go to work that day, but I will be doing this virtually. So, you don't have to physically be in a hotel. Another thing, too, is is that it's worth the pay. We have to pay for these classes. We have to pay for these classes. this particular one, just to let everyone know, um, after March 17th, late registration is $230. Because I already registered for it, it's only $180. So, I just wanted everyone to be aware that VSBA does have workshops. If you're interested in knowing the correct schoolboard mentality, I'll put it that way. With that being said, anyone else

115have anything else? There was something that I had wanted to inform you all about args and their upcoming show and of course now I cannot find it. Um But I will also let the board know in um in discussions with the calendar that Dr. uh Walters was speaking of, ARS is also trying to set their calendar. So their start dates um are also based around what we decide to do um as well as the other districts. I think there's like a a two week notice, two week um start period they can do with in the earliest division starting. So, that's something that we'll also need to uh discuss so that we can give that to Dr. Walters as they're planning this uh our upcoming calendar as well because that will affect both of our governor

116schools for their start dates as well. >> And Miss Dr. Ricks, there's something I like to see Dr. Carter where I know we have a Facebook page, Scholastic Bowl. They were the district champions. if we can bring that in before we have board meetings so we can let them know thank you and we appreciate them. Congratulations to the Scholastic Bowls. Do something even if it's just acknowledgement because we have where I was told by one I was told by students that we cheer on football more than we cheer on soccer. We cheer on soccer more than we cheer on running. We cheer on running more than we cheer on tennis. And these are our children. We need to let them know that we are aware of what they're doing. And we need to let them

117know if in fact they're not champions this year, there's another year. So we like to bring acknowledgement to them. I'd appreciate that also happening. Um this week between the 12th and 16th is principal week. I want to say thank you to the principles in our schools. We appreciate them. We appreciate what they are doing. Keep up the work. And if there is something that they need help with, if there is something that they don't understand, even though they've been in these positions for the years that they've been in, how they say a closed mouth don't get fed. We need to know if not us directly indirectly, but somehow someway I'd like to let them know that I appreciate every single one of them and to continue doing what it is they're doing because our vaping

118is down in schools. Our fights are down in schools. We have a lot of positive things that are not being told during these meetings. And not everyone has Facebook. Not everyone has Tik Tok. Not everyone has what is it Instagram or the new one lemonade whatever it is. So um these are things that I'd like for the children to know that we do know and we do appreciate them for putting Franklin High School's name out there that they are champions even when they're not. Is that it? Meeting adjourned. >> Moved to >> Oh, I move >> second. >> Lanna Parker, I was ready to go home. >> Boon, you I >> I'm not going home. I got to go to work.