001I move that the school board having been in closed session pursuant to a proper motion come out of session. Second. Whereas the Franklin City School Board has convened a closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. And whereas section 2.2-3712D 2-3712D of the code of Virginia requires a certification by the school board that such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia law. And now therefore, be it resolved that the Franklin City School by Board hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge, one 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 as were identified in the motion convening
002the closed meeting were heard discussed or considered. Second by saying I this is a work session at the end of this meeting and we will spend about 30 minutes answering those questions. Looks like we have three motions. So move. I I So move in favor of that motion by saying I I have a motion to approve the field trip. I move by saying I approve. It was me. I move second motion by saying I I have the first reading of our next on the second reading for 27. So move second. Thank you, Mr. Halt. Dr. Miner. Mr. Halt. Schoolboard members, Miss Davis, Dr. Carter, citizens, and community members. Good afternoon, good evening. On March 25th, a letter of intent to return was sent out to our staff, and it was staff members were asked to
003respond no later than the close of business on March 31st. And here are the results. Overall staff retention, 95.7% of the staff, that's 233 respondents. We do have a few respondents that are out and once they return they will be able to respond. Um so 95.7% of our overall staff have stated that they are going to respond which is a reflection of a strong divisionwide commitment and satisfaction. Next slide please. So here's the breakdown. When you look at teachers 91% of the teachers have stated that they will return next school year. For SP Morton 86.2 are returning. one is retiring and actually five is seeking um seeking um opportunities in another division and one has not decided and you will see that in a later um slide. 100% of the support staff has decided to
004return. At JPK Jr. CTE Academy, 100% of the teaching staff as well as the support staff have stated that they will return. At Franklin High School, 95.2% 2% of the staff has stated that they will return. One is relocating to another state, although that person said it is not a 100% guarantee that but they are leaning towards going to another state. The other person is seeking a position closer to home. The operations department, 95.6% of those staff members have stated that they will return. One is retiring. Central office staff members, one is seeking other opportunities. 9 97% of those staff members have stated they will return. Next slide please. So the key takeaways from our um intent to return retention is high across all schools and departments. JPK Junior CTE Academy um 100% retention um
005from those staff and most departures stem from life transitions not job dissatisfaction. I will state that um contracted staff do have until June 30th to decide if they're going to leave after they sign their contract. The only thing we ask that if um staff members are seeking other opportunities as soon as they receive a contract from another division if they can let HR know because as we know after June 30th teachers are not allowed to move in and out of the divisions um the seven cities and so we want to make certain that we are able to replace those people with qualified candidates. And I would also like to say of the five positions at SP Morton, we have already filled four of those positions with qualified candidates. Next slide, please. So here are the
006reasons that our staff members have cited for leaving. Some of the reasons I did take out the identifying information, but I felt it was important for everyone to see exactly what they wrote as to why they were leaving. The one person um stated that they are still having some family in school and other health other issues and that if they decided to come back they wanted to change grade levels retiring. The third teacher not feeling supported and no discipline for students that throw things at teachers. The one thing I do want to say about that statement is that is a teacher that is in a sped classroom and sometimes um based on a student's disability and their um it may be a manifestation of their behavior. So instead of disciplining those disciplining those students, we
007normally put those students on a behavior plan to work with those students. Another key point from that um teacher is touch-based nights are pointless and require teachers to stay late. For those that do not know what touch-based nights are, those are our parent teacher conference nights which allow our parents that work during the day to come and speak with the teachers at night about their child's progress. Number four, retiring. Next slide, please. Okay. So, the final Okay, there it is. All right. The next um teacher personal reasons. Another one is planned to work at another location closer to home as that person lives in North Carolina. One person said that at their age they feel they need to be closer to home. Another person stated that um her family has decided that she will be
008a stay-at-home mom. One teacher stated that the district does not fit my professional goals um at this time. And this was that one high school teacher that has stated that he or she would take a job out of the state, but it's not a 100% guarantee. um but they're leaning towards not returning and they will let me know and the and the other person seeking other opportunities from history. I will say that last year when we did the intent to reform inform letter, the intent to return letters um from the day that the um intent returns were due to the first day of school, we had one SP Morton teacher that resigned um before the June 30th date to work closer to home and one Franklin High School teacher that was promoted. So what has
009happened during the 2425 year when it comes to teachers that have resigned? One has resigned at SP Morton. One has resigned at the CTE Academy. Two teachers did resign at the high school as well as one long-term sub. One teacher that would have serviced both the elementary school and the high school and two central office um staff members. And those are contracted positions, not classified positions. Any questions? What's the difference between contract and classified? So, um, our contracted or our certified, um, position, so teachers, administrators, classified as our support staff. Any other questions? I don't have a question, but I have a comment because for a teacher to say that touch base isn't what did they exactly say? Touch base point. I don't see it being pointless. I only see it being pointless if the
010parents don't come out to speak to teachers, speak to the teachers. So, I'd like some clarification on that one if I can get it from that individual, please. Why did they say it's pointless? I will well we do have exit interviews so when I do my exit interview with that teacher I'll get some more clarification on that any other questions thank you board I would also like to add that our enrollment is up by 12% and we are really getting a lot of high qualified candidates early so uh staff the educators outside of Franklin really see what's happening and they want to be a part of it. Dr. Ricks. Dr. Rick, hold on one second. So, our enrollment should be close to 700 now is what you're telling me over. No, I'm saying the from
011from the previous year it went up 12%. total. So that would average to roughly about 150 160 students more. And so what I'm saying now is is that is we're looking at it to increase about another 100 students next year. All right. Good evening everyone. All right. So tonight I'll be talking about our senior cohort and also giving some insight on our over overage student population. Currently at Franklin High School, we're in the red zone at a level three for a dropout percentage in which that dropout in percentage over a 2-year trend has increased from 4% to 11%. As of 3:17 2025, we received a report. 50% of the senior graduating class was reported as in danger of not graduating. The the actual student percentage currently right now as we look at the student count,
012we have worked with the teams and we have reduced that percentage down to 45% in danger of not graduating in this 2025 cohort. 34 out of 75 students are in danger of not graduating 2025. Out of that percent, we've um noticed we actually when we noticed that large percent, we went in to get more data and anal and get a percentage of how many students are in the are currently in our division. And that's that's at an overage rate. And as you can see, 7 through 12th graders right now at 9% over age. That is 41 students that are in our building that are over age. And we know that in any data trends that when you're overage, you fall into most of the time those dropout percentages. Next slide. So that with that data,
013we currently work with our team, not just the school teams, the central office teams, the support staff. We work to put key interventions in place. And th these are some things that I'm going to review tonight. So, we have developed a division dropout committee to set interventions for those specific populations. Miss Tomkins will be coming forth our chief academic officer tonight to talk about the verified credit committee. We have noticed with this next bullet which is our special permiss permission locally awarded verified credit accommodation for our students with disabilities. We have noticed that we have not used this this special accommodation which is known as as as you can see here the the acronym for that. We have we've noticed that we have not used that at all in our division over the last three
014years. and we haven't used it period and it's been pretty much established over the last three to four years. This gives our students that only have been graduating before whether they had a 504 a disability. They did they were graduating with just a certificate or applied studies which is equal to a certificate. And with that with that graduation with that certificate these students were released from school and there can't they can't get a job. They can't get they can't go to college. They can't go to a trade school. So we have established a committee. We have identified kids that are currently in that gradu that graduation cohort right now and we have worked with our special ed team also with our chief academic officer and we have worked with the school teams and we are
015going to save six special ed kids and we've submitted those we're working on submitting those to the state. The next thing that we're doing right now, we're developing a supportive plan to support students with behavior challenges who have been elevated to graduate early without meeting academic requirements. We have noticed that and we're working on plans to support those students. Notifications were shared with parents and students who were classified as being in danger of not graduating. and inerson meetings are scheduled for the first week of April and they will also be going out before we going we go to spring break. We are meeting with families oneonone. We've worked with families. We've worked with each student per student and analyze their specific situations that's on this graduation cohort. CPR, which we notice with our seniors still
016have not some of them still have not met the CPR requirement, which they must meet before they graduate. CPR will be offered from April the 10th during the fourth block for term graduates and we will also be extending afterhour schools for our seniors to meet that requirement. remediation plans have been developed by our curriculum specialists and once they develop those along with the teachers the lead support from the lead counselors and administrators in the building um Miss Tommpkins have reviewed those plans and made modifications and made sure that they were ready to support our senior class. Next slide. We also notice with this large dropout, this this large overage group that there are students that's just causing concerns and problems and challenges within the school because they don't have any credits now and they're causing
017problems in the classroom. So we have had to begin to develop alternative education plans specifically targeting that those students that's fallen into th those that 41 students that I just mentioned industry certification tutoring sessions third block we have built this within our within our instructional day specific industry certifications so that we can get those seniors across the stage graduating class we scheduled special tutoring sessions and retesting throughout the month of April. The so academy will still be going on during the enrichment Fridays for grades 7 through 12. We still have the allin tutoring to work with our students that are behind. And also again, our service our student service team is working on developing a full-time alternative program proposal to present to Dr. Carter and you all to to hopefully put a strategic plan in
018place to to definitely target those 41 students in that overage population. Any questions and I want to also state that this begins in the ninth grade. you know, we should be mon modeling, monitoring, and making sure that we don't we never get to a place that we are having to do this much intervention and support with our senior cohort. And I want to commend the instructional team. I want to commend the student services team, the family engagement team, the school teams because this takes work and it takes a team getting together. It takes the community, it takes the parents. We appreciate just all the support that we've had in this process, but it takes a team. Thank you. So, can we clarify what we mean by overage? Is that for their grade level or Yes,
019it's for their particular grade level. So, we may have kids that are 16 in the ninth grade. We may have kids that are 18 in the 11th grade currently right now. And we do have those cases. Question. Just to clarify, we were sitting at 50% of students of seniors that were in danger of not graduating as of right now for this. Well, when we first when we first sent the letter, the letters were sent out by the school counselor the week of March the 17th. During that time, we identified that it was 50%. But as we begin to get industry certifications complete and more data began to come in, that's when we gradually begin to create that began to decrease. Yes, ma'am. Miss Tommpkins Good evening, uh, Mr. Holt, Chair, Vice Chair, school board members,
020Dr. Carter, all those assembled here. I have the task of following Dr. Ricks. And I want to add a little more context to what we mean when we say we have 50% of our students who are currently in the 2025 graduating class illprepared for a high school diploma. When we take a look at the 2019 standards, this was the last time that Franklin High School had a fully accredited school, meaning they did not have any level three or reds. Since that time, we have had the school that has had level 3es and were not accredited. Next slide, please. When we think about our administrators, what the law requires, the state guidelines are based on per 600 students. You are only by law required to have one principal, one assistant principal, and one school counselor. In
021Franklin, we have about 515 students in our high school. We have one principal, three assistant principles, one dean of students, two counselors and one counselor who is also doing double duty as the registar. So as you can see when it comes to our investment in administration for our division, our investment is at the school level. Next slide please. 2324 uh is the school year for accreditation. It's based on the 2223 uh school year data. As you can see, we are a level three in three places. Chronic absenteeism, science, as well as career and college readiness. Next slide, please. The same for 24. Once again, we are at a level three in science dropout rate and college and career readiness, which means the school is not accredited. Next slide, please. One of the things that I
022want to bring back to you to add a little more context to uh the first attempt when we talk about why our students are not graduating. It starts really in the ninth grade that is where high school begins. We have to take a look at how many students how many students For example, we have to ensure that our students, if we had a 100 students taking our algebra 1 test at a 25% pass rate, it means that only 25 of 100 students passed. With algebra 2, if we had a hundred students, only 31% means only 31 of those students would have passed. And as you can see how the trend is right now for our students who had a first attempt. This is without any retests. This is the first time that they took the
023test. This is after they have completed the coursework and took the test based on their coursework. Next slide, please. As you can see, once again, it gives you a breakdown of all of the courses and a few retests and summer school that we are still not making the mark in math, English, science, or social studies. Next slide, please. One reason that our students are having to take the test multiple times is because they have not passed it the first time. As we have been looking at student data in our cohort data, which means those students who are graduating in 2025, some students have taken assessments nine times and have not passed. We have some that have taken it eight times, seven times. These are the scores that we have been looking at as we are
024trying to prepare our students. Your senior year is not the time that you should that you should have this level of of retesting going on. This should happen much earlier because you are allowed by the time you get to your senior year, you should have no verified credits that you need to have. You should have all of them by the 11th grade. And when you do not have them by the 11th grade, then that means you are in danger of not graduating, which is what I will explain in my next section about locally awarded verified credits. Next slide. Quick question. Just Yes. Is it teachers? Is it administration? Is it the the community? Why do we I mean why are we not getting these up? I mean what would be your opinion? One of Well,
025it's not just a very simple answer. One of the things that I would say Could Could you please let her answer? Let's be respectful. Okay. There are multiple factors. One is that there is a misalignment of what is taught and what is tested. The test data is very specific on what students should know and be able to do. If they are not being taught at that high level, they are not going to be successful on the assessments and we'll have to take it multiple times. If we have 50% of students who are at March 17th in danger of not graduating, that's an administration problem because students should know before they get to the 12th grade. Thank you. Appreciate that. Sure. Next slide, please. Any questions? Next presentation. Please, we have an officer here. Locally awarded
026verified credits review panel. And at the conclusion of this uh um presentation, I'm going to ask that the board approve the review panel so that we can move forward with awarding locally awarded verified credits for those students who have taken SOS multiple times and need a locally awarded verified credit based on multiple attempts. In order for a a a student to graduate from any Virginia high school, they must earn units of credit, which means they must pass the course, and verified units, which means they have passed an SOL in five courses. They must pass English reading, English writing, science, history, and math. Next slide, please. To be eligible to earn a locally awarded verified credit in either English, math, science, or history, a student must first pass the high school course. They must score within
027375 to 399 on a scale score based on their so 4 600 is the highest, but students must get a 400 to pass. But if they score between 375 and 399, then they can be admin. They can take the test again. They must take the test at least twice in order to be eligible for a locally awarded verified credit. the student can if they demonstrate that they have the academic content they can appeal to the local uh appeal process to award them a locally awarded verified credit. So the number of locally awarded verified credits during COVID the state allowed three locally awarded verified credits that could come from the panel. Now, you can only receive one. So, if you need four, you are going to have to pass three of the four assessments and use
028on get only one locally awarded verified credit to graduate high school. The only exception to this rule is if you have an accommodation because you are a student with disabilities. This number does not there is no limit for those students. Next slide please. And this is in our local policy. Um the school board appoints a review panel comprised of at least three educators to consider the evidence of the students achievement. The panel reviews the evidence which can be projects, tests, any assignments that have been given by the teacher that demonstrates that the student has some knowledge of that content. It is the discretion of the panel as to what information they will review. Based on the evidence, the panel can do one of several things. They can award the verified credit. They can deny it.
029They can suggest that that particular student participate in some kind of remedial program such as enrichment Fridays, all-in tutoring, whatever we offer for extra tutoring, make them do additional assignments to determine whether or not they will award the verified credit. The panel is final. Their decision is final. The chief academic officer signs off that the panel has done its due diligence and students are eligible for that verified credit. And this is just a sample of the form that the schools use to verify this credit. Question. Yes. Only the school board can approve that. The school board does not approve the verified credit. They approve the panel. Okay. So the panel, the three educator, correct? The panel is three educators and the recommendation for the locally awarded and this is part of the um state procedure
030as well. Who should be on that panel? and it's usually the school principal, the testing coordinator and the lead school counselor, the chief academic officer signs off on all recommendations. So the board, we don't bring the names to the board, we bring the names of the panel and the panel has the final say with my signature to award those credits for students. So, I'm asking at this time if there are no questions, are there any questions? So, have we had a panel like this in the past? We've had a panel, but I don't know if it came before the board for approval of the panel. That's our policy. We have awarded locally awarded verified credits, but whether they came for the panel was before my time. I don't I don't know. But the board has
031to approve that panel. The according to our policy, the school board approves the panel. And is this similar in other jurisdictions or other divisions in the state? Yes. But this is our policy as of three uh March 2019. This is this is up was updated. So there are several revisions, but it has been in in this this is our local policy. Now whether it has been the practice, I can't speak to that, but the policy for Franklin City Public Schools says that the school board has to approve the panel who then awards and approves the verified credits. So is there any documentation stating that this was actually done for last year? because I've never seen that being on the board. There were several students who were awarded locally awarded verified credits with signatures on them.
032But this is what the panel has to do. This is what our policy is. So, one of the things that we wanted to do is to ensure because there's nothing wrong with awarding a locally awarded verified credit for graduation. But what I wanted to make sure this year that we reviewed as we are reviewing policies that we make sure that we are following our own policies regarding how we do our business. And this is one of the areas where we know that we are going to have to award uh a good number of locally awarded verified credits. We wanted to make sure that the board fully understands what our policy is and we're going to follow the policy as well as in our practice. I got a question. When you say a good number, excuse
033me. When you say a good number, what do you what is the number? What are we looking at? What now? When you say number, what are you talking about? Like how many we can award? No. How many students are we looking at having to do this for? And well, out of those students, is it one? Is it one course? Like what what are we looking at? The student can get a verified credit in only one course. So if some So if a child because we do have some students who need a verified credit in history, science, math, and English. If they do not pass three of the four, we can only give them one. We the the state only allows us to give them one. Uh in Dr. Rick's uh presentation when she talked about
034the special accommodations, that's only for special education students who are seeking a standard diploma, not an applied studies diploma. That's the only exception where they can receive more than one. Everybody else we have we are making sure that we are looking at every possible opportunity for our students but this is late in the game for this. I have a quick question here. Sure. The grade is the passing grade. They have to pass the course. So, so if someone passes at a 400, that's out of 600. That's a 66% correct? Mhm. That's the passing. What are the three levels? So, there's mastery. When you talk about so there is below basic or or for high school it's below basic it's mastery and then it is I can't reme I can't remember the proficiency there's proficiency the
035proficiency and then mastery yes okay so when we're looking at these students they're still only getting 66% correct right yes so any class if they want to go to college they can't get a I know teaching dual enrollment at 66% would not qualify them to pass any sort of college, right? I know at camp community college they have to have a C or above. So even if they're passing, they're still insufficient. Is that true? Would you agree with that? I would say yes. However, when they get a locally awarded verified credit, they they're even though their grade may be a D, they are considered to have passed and therefore they would be qu they would qualify for a locally awarded verified credit and therefore they could graduate. If they have all if they have all
036four, they can only they have to have five. But let's say they pass writing because you have to pass writing, reading, um, math, science, and social studies. So, let's say I passed writing. So, I have one verified credit. I now need four others. I can only get one as a locally awarded verified credit. The other three I must pass with a 400 score or better. I have a question before we even do that. Bob, I'm sorry. Excuse me. So, what are we doing for these students that are not going to pass that only have that one out of four? What what are we going to do from here on? We have been given we have been given permission by the state to test some students outside of the testing window which gives them more opportunities
037to pass. We have already established a list of who's going to be tutored. They're being tutored in small groups. They're being tutored by teachers. They're being tutored by our um being tutored by our curriculum specialists. We're looking at the questions that they did not pass and focusing on those uh questions and those sections that have carry the most weight because every piece of the test does not carry the the same amount of weight. So those students are being heavily remediated. So before I even say I joined everyone to approve this, can this data be brought to us in midyear and not end of the year going forward? Sure. December on Christmas break. All year. All year just for it to come knock on our door, ring our bell or something because this makes no sense
038at the end of the year. It makes no sense that 34 out of 75 students are in critical danger of not graduating. Yeah. And we are at the end of the year. This is not the middle of the year, the beginning of the year. This is the end of the year. And to have them where they supposed to have four credits, may only have one, may only have two, may possibility have three, to go through remediation. And I'm going to say this because I had one child knock on my door the other day and told me that they don't graduate, they're not coming back. And it's not fair to them. It's not fair to them. They did their four years. It's not fair to them that someone along the line dropped the ball. It's not
039fair. It's not just the central office. And I'm sorry for speaking out of term. It's not just the central office. You know what? You're right. They can. But it takes a village to raise a child. I'll ask again. Do we have a motion to approve the locally? I so move. I second it. All in favor signify by saying I. Anybody else? I have the um the approval of the um special education annual plan for 2526. That'll be my final presentation. Yes. And they will be informed tomorrow and the Yes. And the and the um forms will be sent so that they can begin gathering their evidence. So this is my last and final presentation. Our annual plan. It says 2425. This is when I'm presenting it to you, but it is for the 2526 school
040year. Next slide, please. Um, just want to give you some background information. Each year, we bring to you the annual plan, which is in alignment with our federal regulations of IDA that we must follow as we are providing services for our students with disabilities. Next slide, please. Um, this federal grant ensures that our state operating programs and procedures that we ensure that all of our students who have an identified disability are receiving a free and appropriate public education and we have to certify with how we are using our funds to meet these goals. Next slide please. So as of December one count, which we are required, we have a we had 144 students with disabilities and 41 students with 504 plans. And that simply means that those students need some type of accommodation to ensure
041that they are uh receiving their highquality education. With the influx of students that we've had in our division, of course, our uh special education program has increased. So now we have our current data. We have 150 students with um with disabilities and we have 54 uh 504 plans. As of January 1, we had our maintenance of effort which is the amount of money that we have to locally provide. That was submitted and approved. We had our annual plan that was reviewed with our uh SEAK committee which is our special education advisory committee. So they had an opportunity to review our plan and to provide feedback. And today I'm presenting the annual plan to the division. Here are some of the ways in which we are allowed to use funds. Personnel of course, benefits, purchase services,
042other services, materials, and supplies to support our students with disabilities. Next slide, please. So here are our allocations. We were awarded $384,67. A little over 16,000 is used to support our prek special education uh students. our flow through which is basically how we comply with federal regulations to ensure that we are following IDEIDA and the CCIS which is our comprehensive coordinated early intervening services which is which allows us to screen students early to determine if they have a disability and that we need to provide. So this gives us funding for those things. Next slide. Um, we want to make sure that we set aside that money um to make sure that we're able to provide those students who have potentially been over identified. We have two areas that Franklin Public Schools has been overidentified with
043students with disabilities. And one is long-term suspensions with students suspended over 10 days within a school year and the overidentification of African-American students with an intellectual disability. This money helps us combat those those overidentifications and uh allows us to put systems and processes in place to ensure that we do not overidentify in any particular category. Next slide please. So, as you can see, the folks that have been a part of this exceptional education committee, those folks are listed here. Our CCIS and child fine program, those are the folks that have participated uh in this process in some way. So, um it is my task to ask that the um that our annual plan for special education be approved at this time. I so move. I second. I thank you very much. board. We will provide
044updated information on SP Morton when they take their so test in May. Okay. But we had to give you this emergency information for Franklin because we have June 14th is coming and we've got to get 50% of our seniors across the stage. The goal here is to make sure that kids have certific So that's what students must want to make sure that every child's career. So there's not choice whe it's just what cification would like the door as soon as they get out of high school or they go straight into the workforce and they are already certification. And so we want to focus on the needs of what the community has asked for which is a high And they're also hoping that through the CC that a lot of kids will reinvest back into the
045community instead of going away and never come back. We are excited to have center and once again it's every child when they leave Franklin City Schools has a plan for secondary education and they have skills that's necessary either through industry certification. They can get a free college tuition or associate degree or a fouustable many students are finding that instead of going into college their interest to have a field that they are passionate about something that will make them work and with that they have a chance to immediately graduate from high school and be certified in whatever their area of their passion is and be gainfully employed immediately. Students come from every walk of life and you don't know what will interest them that will keep them in a career or make them become an entrepreneur
046for the next 10, 20, 30 years. We don't know that. And if we have a connection that will help them build that, then we've done our job. in criminal justice like a couple weeks. like myself really go through that really diet. We couldn't Today we learn about how people in restaurants in the kitchen. We learn from safety and sanitation. Today we did lab work on cuts and different presentation techniques to be careerific training. It's a game changer for Okay, what you just saw, thank you to WHRO for putting that together. I would like to respond to the mayor's comments about the CTE program that he made on Monday night. The t I would um the program at JP King while the mayor stated the program is nothing new. He has been seen that it has
047seen only one additional since its inception. I resp I respectfully disagree with that statement that he made. The CTE program has undergone significant expansion and development under new leadership as assistant superintendent and superintendent. Prior to the establishment of the CTE center, Franklin High School offered limited CTE courses including marketing, JOTC, business, welding, electricity, and the latter housed at a Paul Camp College. Since my tenure, we have introduced or restored programs such as nursing, culinary arts, criminal justice, building trades, and early childhood education. Furthermore, we have been approved by the Virginia Department of Education for cosmetology and barbering programs begin in the 2526 school year. The purpose of the CTE program is a rigorous is rigorous and requires year-long application progress. Additionally, the CT Academy officially opened for the 2024 academic year. It is important to
048note that prior to these uh enhancements, Franklin High School CTE program were not accredited since 2019. Under new leadership and specific efforts, we have anticipated achieving accreditation for 2425 school year. The the Pearson testing center located at the CT Center is another milestone. It offers high stake exams for professional certification and licensing. For example, real estate agents can now take their license exams locally. This achievement is significant as the Pearson Center cannot be established within a 50-mi radius of an existing center. Moreover, the Old Dominion University is scheduled to open a medical clinic at the CT Center in May 2025, providing free services to Franklin City Public School families. Looking ahead, we plan to renovate the Charles Street gym into an engineering center to further expand educational opportunities. Community members can support this initiative by
049purchasing communive bricks benches to place around the building. If for further information, please see Miss Davis. For a small brick is $100. A large brick is $300. If you would like to purchase a bench, $850. Now, regarding regarding the 7th 12th grade model that also was mentioned, the current 7th grade uh 12th grade model of Franklin High School aligns with practices seen in other Virginia schools such as Lake Bradock Secondary School, which has 4,377 students, Robinson Secondary School, which has 3,67 students, and Hayfield Secondary School has 3,145 students. These schools demonstrate high proficiency rates on so tests despite their large populations. Effective school-based leadership is key to to replicating such success in Franklin. Such as Lake Bradic School with the with the population of 4,377. They have a proficiency rate of 89% in reading and
05081% in math. So this is nothing new and can be done here in Franklin with only 515 students. Additionally, middle school students riding a bus with high school students has been a long-standing practice in Franklin. So, it is unclear why this issue has suddenly become a concern. Acknowledgement of leadership. I extend my gratitude to the school board and central office for their exemplary leadership and unwavering professionalism. Their dedication to advancing the mission of education in Franklin is com commendable and deserves recognition. It is important for the citizens of Franklin to understand the the exceptional qualifications, expertise, and the members of our school board bring to their roles. Each individual contributes a unique set of skills and experiences that collectively strengthen our education system. Miss Danielle Hunt holds a bachelor's degree of science and international studies
051and an MBA from William and Mary, showcasing her strong foundation in global perspectives and business acumen. Dr. Dr. Peggy Scott possesses a me master's degree in science and social work and a doctorate in theology reflecting her deep commitment to community service and ethical leadership. Miss Landre Parker is a retired Navy a retired naval aviation ordinance chief holds a bachelor's of science and organization organizational leadership exemplifying discipline and strategic thinking. Miss Orin Council, a practicing attorney, brings legal expertise and advocacy skills to the board decision-making process. Dr. Reed Harrison, a physician specializ in internal medicine, provides invaluable insights and health related concerns impacting our schools. Miss Christina Boone with a degree in civil engineering is also a registered medication aid through the board of nursing demonstrating versatility and attention to detail. Mr. Robert Hull, an attorney,
052a ret an army veteran, holds a bachelor of science and business management, a masters in science and adult education. He was recognized as a school board member of the year in 2021 for his outstanding contributions. Finally, it is disheartening to know that five out of the seven council members signed a letter calling for the resignation of the school board based on a popularity contest rather than performance. I urge the city council to present evidence of wrongdoing if it exists. Otherwise, I request that you refrain from baseless accusations. Transparency remains a cornerstone of our operations, and any misconduct would ever come to light. We remain committed to the advanced education and fostering success for every student in Franklin City Public Schools. So, folks, it doesn't get any better than this. And and I'm telling you right
053now, I'll put this board up against any school board in the nation. They care about students and they care about the staff. And you can see by the retention rate, the numbers don't lie. [Applause] Hold on. Bob Bob, hold on. I got I got a comment. you said we had comments. I'm not going to try to speak for anybody that's sitting out here. I can only speak for Luchanda Parker sitting right here. the information. I graduated from Franklin 2003 and that stuff that I'm seeing right now is bigger than one I'm sorry about to kind about to get irritated. It's not it's not a oneperson issue. It's not just that. It's not a one person issue. It's not one particular location. I remember being at JB King and Mr. Benjamin reading to us in the
054classrooms and being in and about. I remember the DARE officers coming through. I remember being at SP Morton. That was when it was the middle school for me. And we had there and we had Miss Herold and we had different people. We had where where's Miss Burgess? Never forget BFG still one of my favorite stories. I'm reading it to my daughter now. There have been people that have been here my entire time through school that made school so much fun and make sure that we learned. I'm sick and I'm devastated over the state of the schools period overall. It didn't just happen within the last 6 months. It didn't happen within the last year. This has been happening for a number of years. I was gone for a little bit, but there is absolutely no
055reason why this little community cannot pull together for where we are now versus what it was like when we were in school. Everybody joined in. Everybody took a chance and put everything that they had into students. It didn't happen overnight. And I'm not going to look at one person and blame it only on one person. I'm going to look at the board collectively because we're the ones that are sitting here. So, we're the ones who have to fix it. It doesn't matter what happened before us or where it is. That's just what it is. So, y'all want to go ahead and knock us out, go ahead. But we have a duty to fix it. The teachers need support. The principles need support. We need the community to step in. There are a lot of people
056who did a lot of things for us during the summer times and in class all throughout my time in school. So to come home and to see Franklin literally at the bottom of the barrel like it really really hurts me. It really really does. So I'm asking not just the board we take accountability. Period. That's what it is. This is on us. We've got to fix it. We need help from everyone else. So instead of us fighting and pointing fingers at who did or who did not do, how about we focus on the ones that really matter, which are our kids from preschool all the way up and they don't stop being our responsibility just because they graduated from high school. Get in and help these babies, literally our preschoolers and our elementary age kids.
057It can't just be once they get to the ninth grade. If we wait till they get to the nth or 10th grade, we've already failed. So, it is it is going to take all of us starting from the babies. And but you know what? But you got to but also when I was coming up, our parents also held us accountable and they also taught us too. It can't all just be on the teachers. So, parents take some accountability. parents come out and see what is going on in your schools and with your students. We have access for you to be able to talk. I don't know if some of you know, but we have um parent square. I can talk to Tyson's teacher whenever I get ready to. She responds back. You want to know
058what's going on? And it's it's mind-blowing to me. I'm sorry I'm taking up time off. I'm so sorry. Go ahead. But it's it's mindblowing to me because we don't know what it is that's going When I say we I'm a parent, right? my baby's in the first grade. Too many parents have no idea what it is that is going on with their children because they're not involved with their children in the schools. So, I'm not going to blame my principal or my assistant principal or my dean of students when I don't know what is going on with my child. [Applause] So to me this is this is for me this is every this is this is everybody we all as a parent I have to be involved I have to train my daughter I have
059to teach my daughter I have to give her rules and regulations she has to go to school she has to follow it that's the way that it goes that's what it is not one particular person it is going to take Franklin Whether you have kids in the school system or not, you are here. You are part of the community. They are also going to be a part of the community. We are all going to have to pull together. I don't care about popularity contest. I don't care about any of that. At this point, I am sick because these children are not this. This is I there at the end of the day, that's what it comes down to. Like Miss Moon just said, they're suffering. There's no reason that we're even looking at this and
060having this kind of conversation at this point, whether it's the beginning of the year or that that we shouldn't even be here right now. So now my my feeling and my question is this. Do we feel that our kids aren't any better than the bottom of the barrel that they're going to graduate and they may get a job somewhere? Well, let me tell you something. I graduated from Franklin and then I went to OCS as a as an RDC and then I had students that came through that program that are now naval officers. You don't have to be a statistic of anywhere that you come from and we are not going to let them be a statistic of where they came from because people feel that oh my god they're just from little old Franklin
061and they're going to be nothing. We're not doing it. is that I don't have a personal man in my life never cared. I want my children from Southampton school because they were failing. I have seven kids. I'm a registered nurse. I work hard every single day of my life. My children, they are exemplary in a lot of things. There are a lot of things there that are better. And it's not just the education. It starts at home. It starts with the foundation. The pass to grade and you can't read or write, you don't go to the next grade. Dr. says things to me sometimes that make sense and I'm like, you know, here we are bashing this man and everybody hating on them and he's obviously made some decisions that we don't like, but all
062we're asking is to be heard because our kids, we're here, we're here fighting for what's right, not just for our children, but the children that don't have a voice at home. But you're holding accountable a person that I have seen and I will say I love the administration at the academy always. They are great people. He compares he compares to every school in this county. Not one person that has been a principal to me other than Tammy who is now at gives you that same warm fuzzy feeling. Every kid matters. He doesn't care if you don't have a dad at home. He'll be your dad. He will be the man in your life that you need. All right, let's cut off the discussion. Mr. Cows, would you pass the cards up? Hey, hey, hey, everybody.
063Hey, everybody. Please, please don't be so rude to our chair. Okay. I'm I'm I'm serious because this is not a this is not the forum right now and I understand that people want to be heard but there is an order in things and we would appreciate so much if you would just follow the order. Mr. Mr. Holt did not have to allow that to continue and he did and it's we're not we're not trying to be rude. We're not trying to be ugly and we're not trying to cut people off. I I know this fine lady. She and I have a long history together. She's fabulous. But please be respectful. You've noticed that as board members, we are very respectful to one another. That is one of the things that I am so grateful for
064on this board is that I appreciate everything that the other board members have said. I respect the other board members. When we meet together in private session, we listen to one another. We are richly blessed because we come from such different backgrounds. We have such different unique experiences. This is one of the strengths of of our board. And I I would like you guys to please just again, we're seeking to be respectful to you. We're not calling anybody names. We're not calling each other names. And we are and Whoa. Hey, let's settle down and let the board have their say. We have our disagreements. Let let them conduct their meeting at at the Thank you. At the moment, it is it is the board meeting and it is a time for board members to to
065speak and I am a board member and I'm respectfully asking you to allow me to speak. Thank you, mayor, for that. Um, we had a question about cell phones and it says, "Why are why are not all kids being disciplined equally at Franklin High School for cell phone usage? Some are suspended, some are told to put it away. Nothing is across the board." Dr. Carter, the administration has we've discussed that and it's supposed to be a consistent discipline across the board. So if there is a situation where there is not consistency, then I ask you to contact Dr. Tena Ricks and she will investigate because we will not tolerate things not being fair. So if there's inconsistent discipline, please contact Dr. Tena Ricks if you see that happening at the high school. I think the
066the pouches changed that drastically, didn't they? Yes, the pouches allow the students to be able not to be distracted and give the students an opportunity to learn. Now, did they like it? Of course not. But are they getting used to it? Yes. And so uh we we were experienced a students uh with the headphones on in class listening to music or they would be sleeping. They would be doing anything but paying attention to the lesson. And then at the point the teachers were getting uh ex uh frustrated and they just ignored it at some time and they just gave up. But now we just tell the teachers now please do not struggle with the students. Give them a warning and then call administration and administration will handle it. What impact do you believe the loss
067of one instructional day per week has on learning outcomes and is any consideration given to going back to five days a week? Absolutely. So we lengthen the school day and then we also uh have enrichment Fridays. So enrichment Fridays are a chance for the stu for the kids parents who want their children in school to always attend five days a week. Now we passed out surveys that ask the parents we asked the staff and and when it comes back the parents and the staff the majority says stay in favor of the wellness Fridays. So we're listening and we set out data. So, we're listening to the community and so the majority of that data comes back to keep the wellness Fridays and then we also keep enrichment Fridays so that if you want to place
068your child into school 5 days a week, that option is there. Instead of it being an option, can it be mandatory? And the reason why I'm asking that is because that fifth day, some of our students need to bring up these grades. What we can do is uh the kids that are in need of that remediation, we're going to get our family engagement specialists, our administrators from school base, our central office go doortodoor and make those those those students mandatory because they really need the help. So, can we name it remediation Friday? Something. So, they have some type of clue because going door todoor doesn't always work. Calling them on the phone doesn't always work. This What is that thing? When you go to the school and you're supposed to meet the teacher after school,
069the parents are not coming out. So, what do we do next? Set off balloons. We can we can look at putting together a policy once we take a look at the data and require those kids that are not passing their SOS to come to school. Dr. Carter, sorry. Sorry about that. Go ahead. In addition to that though, I know we have some uh I know we have some other stuff that's coming up in May, but just just across the district period. like if we have the students who are struggling period I know like SP1 we have the enrichment Friday but across the board if the students are struggling um I don't I don't think it should be optional for them to be able to participate on that day like that's that's what I'm saying I'm
070saying I'm saying across all schools I'm saying that we have to come to you for approval to undo some part of the wellness Friday for those targeted students that we know that have not passed the so that they must come to school Monday through Friday. Do we have staff to do that? Do we have teachers that will? Yes, we do. Okay. Why are kids pass grade to grade and school to school when they without meeting the basic requirements? Yeah, that's that's been a major concern. And as of April 1st was my second year as permanent superintendent and we've noticed that this has been a a situation from the previous superintendent and we've been trying to desperately put a stop to it and we are going to put a stop to it. There are no more
071social promotions. There are no more passing from year to year. Yes, we we gave them grace during the co COVID pandemic, but those are those days are over and really the city of Franklin really got crippled from from the pandemic. But we have been talking about uh making sure that students do not get passed along grade to grade. So that so there are no post there will not be any uh just passing them along this year. There will be no social promotions. I have a question on that one because I was told whether a child does their homework or not or doesn't decides that they just don't want to do the test, they still get a 50. Please explain that to me instead of a zero. Explain to me why are we giving them a
07250 that they don't deserve. Okay. So, if you get a zero, if you say for instance, if you get a zero, it would take two A's. If you get a zero and a A, that's 50%. If you get if and so that means you would have to take you have to make two A's just to make up that one missed assignment. So the 50 is basically saying that you have a a F and then you take and then the next grade that you make, you make an A that will average out to a C. So that's so that's the thought process behind that. We've been looking at this grading policy and we've been we're trying to get some consistency across the board. Miss Tommpkins, do you want to you want to address that because you're
073the one that's been working on the committee to to kind of bring that toward the board. So, wait before you do, excuse me, hold on a second. Before you do, Miss Thompson. Yes. Because I thought that 50 came along with No Child Left Behind, but that's not even the law anymore. We dropped that years ago. We dropped that years ago. So if they get that zero, that zero is what they deserve. Unless they come to school and work for it because I wasn't given grades when I went to school. I wasn't given grades. Miss Tomkins, can you can you address what we're looking at? Yes, I I will address that. One of the things that we have to do is develop the grading policy. And I'm working on getting a committee together to bring a
074proposed policy because sometimes what we see is what has been a practice, not a policy. And sometimes people who've been here before or for long times continue to do what has always been done because in absence of a policy we we people are people practice some things that that may or may not be in the best interest of students. We are identifying that we are identifying and we are hoping to bring a policy real soon so that we are consistent across the board. But our grading policy has to be approved by the board to ensure that there is consistency in all across all grade levels. So not to put you in overdrive. So we'll have that before September. Yes. Yes. Um one of the things is we do not want to go into another school
075year without having a policy on day one of the 2526 school year. Thank you. I appreciate you. How many long-term subs are currently teaching in Franklin Public Schools? Dr. Miner. Well, I'm not prepared to answer that question. I do not have that data in front of me. We do have some long-term subs in um Franklin City Public Schools. I will tell you that we did have two teachers. um one teacher that started the year on maternity leave and at the end of her 12 weeks she did decide that she was not going to return. So there's a long-term sub in her position. We had another teacher that um went on maternity leave and a week before she was supposed to return, she decided that um her and her family decided that she would um become
076a stay-at-home mom. We have a few of our teachers that are I teach teachers because as we know right now the state of education is a lot of people are not graduating with an education degree. So a lot of people are career switchers. We have um partnered with I teach to get those people certified so that they can be certified to teach but with that there will there is some training but the actual total number I do not have that with me tonight but I can get it to the board. Pandora's box. Hold on a second. Yes, ma'am. Yeah. Okay. Long-term teacher assistant, substitute teachers, and everything. Dr. Carter, when you came here, you changed a lot of titles. You gave titles like director, director of math, director of science, and all of this. So,
077with us having a math teacher missing, can you explain to me if or has he ever been in that classroom to actually see what was besides Miss Tomkins? Cuz I know you do the teacher planning and everything. So, I'm not going to point fingers at you, but this director of math, has he ever visited that particular classroom to see what those children were learning in math to see if they were on the corre curriculum? has and I'm saying him. It could be a she too. I'm sorry. That person. Yes. So, our math curriculum specialists, they are um they are the ones that create the pacing guides and create the curriculum um in for our teachers. They do have a schedule. All of the curriculum specialists have a schedule. They are um they're supposed to be
078in the classrooms. They have a schedule and they work with their supervisor on that schedule. So, they should be in the classrooms, but if we're finding that they're not, that is something that we need to know. So, we need to know, are they being held accountable? I'd like to know if they're being held. Well, I do know that they do have a calendar and they're supposed to be in the classroom and they do have their meetings with their supervisor. Miss Tomkins will will can add some specifics. And I am the supervisor of all the curriculum specialists. They do have a schedule. I've monitored their schedule. If there are issues or concerns, they are immediately addressed and where we have uh some substitutes in those classrooms, we have put a special schedule together for those folks
079to go in and co-e and work directly with those teachers. So once we know that, then then we make those real time corrections. I understand what you're saying and I'm not holding you accountable, but I can pencil whip a schedule also. Mhm. There's not, that doesn't mean that I physically stepped into that classroom or I've even seen a guidance counselor because a child walked past their office. Hey baby, how you doing? Child said, hey, they jotted down that they spoke to the child for 15, 20 minutes. Child got a good life. That's pencil whipping. I don't want pencil whipping. I want to physically know that that person, individual has been in that classroom. This is where we're failing. I need Well, well, I can say that I know that they've been in there because I
080go in and when I go in, I take pictures and I stay a while and I see what's happening. If there's something that has to happen, I can't guarantee that every single time they're in there. But when I look at the schedule, I do popup visits if a principal and the principles know what the schedule is. So, for example, if I've said that this particular specialist will be here from 9:30 to 11:00 and I go in and I check and on Tuesdays and Thursdays they're in there, but let's say the following week because I'm one person, I need everybody involved in that. But if it's not reported to me, then I then I have to assume and trust that what we have established is what's currently happening. If it isn't happening, then I am I
081immediately address it because our kids are a top priority. So, how does that get reported to you? The principal can email me, can call me. They all have my cell phone numbers. Anyone can report it and and let me know. Send me an email. Here's my concern. I haven't seen my specialist. The teacher can say, "Hey, I need help. I haven't seen my specialist." So they have access to me if they have a need or if their need is not being met. So in addition to that, just from personal experience, we have core classes and there they are they are critical and we have long-term substitutes in those classes. From personal experience, eighth grade, algebra 1, I remember because I'm that far from a dumb individual. I had a long-term substitute for over half of
082my school year. So, guess what? I didn't really learn algebra. We had a packet. I'm not gonna call the substitute out because I still remember that individual. But, um, the best part about for me was finding X. You understand? So, when we have these substitute teachers again, because I experienced it, right? And it hampered it put a it put a hindrance on me for math through school starting at 8th grade. right? These people have to be able or be knowledgeable, have some type of assistance readily available to them in order to fill in for those classes. And I'm not saying the other classes don't matter, but when we're looking at English and we're looking at science and we're looking, you know what I mean? At espec I'm still mad about math, right? Like I am
083still at 40 mad about math because it didn't have to it didn't have to be that way. You understand? And if we're already failing as it is or there's already an issue with teachers having a long-term sub and I'm even at the elementary school teaching them multiplication what second third grade now whoever is in those classrooms need to know what they are doing and being able to to do it because if not it is a straight failure. I agree all the way around. I'm just saying I had to vent that out cuz I'm struggling. No problem. Do students have to pass drug screening for CTE? You want to take that, Dr. Ricks? And talk about the camp scholars a little bit as well. Yes. Um, camp Foundation is offering our seniors um a scholarship for
084industry certification at Camp Community College. Uh, an associates degree. Um, and with that scholarship that they are offering, there are specific criteria. One of those criteria is a is for them to pass a pass the drug test. They can pass the drug if they pass or fail the drug test in the fall. they have the opportunity to retake the test in the spring with specific um supports in place. We have TDT services that offer substance abuse um support counseling. We also have our family engagement team that provides um counseling and advising services for them as well. And then again in the spring they'll be able to take the test again if they fail. So that's what the camp scholars and pretty much some of the CTE industry certifications or jobs like you know if they
085go to the shipyard with certain skill set they will be drug tested um with the nursing field they could be drug tested and in anytime and with any field they can randomly be drug tested if it's if it's requested. Do we drug test our teachers that we want to drug test our children? We do not we do not drug test teachers if something occurs that that there has to be an investigation or something then that that may I understand when something occurs but that beginning packet why aren't we drug testing our teachers we want our children to be drug free why not our teachers be drug free you know how crazy it is and I'm going to say it because I've been living here in Franklin for 20 over 20 years that when these children
086you're drug testing them and they see their teacher buying cracks from somebody right now or they're buying a bag of weed from somebody. We're holding our children accountable. Why not hold everyone accountable? And if that's the case, then start with the school board office going to the teachers, the principles, and everybody else. Let them all be drug tested. Well, currently, again, in our HR packet at this time, that that there's not a requirement of testing staff. If there are if there are things reported and there is an investigation, if there are some things that happened, then that those requirements are um required based on individual cases. M Miss Boon, uh that would be that would be something that would have to be school board approved and also uh that's normally not a common practice in
087the state of Virginia with the with the other school systems. So that would be a that would be quite a precedence, but we'll take a look at it. program anyway that offers you a job to take a test. That's for myself as well. If I go to their pre I have to take the drug test first. So those are programs that they're requiring the kids to go and take that pre drug test beforehand and it prepares them for the real world as well. So I don't know what the big deal is because councilmen use drugs too and they said football games for the high school students rituals before I don't know why don't they all right please next question. In what grade or grades have the overage students been retained? Please repeat that, Mr. Holt.
088In what grade or grades have the overage students been retained? um with the overage. We're still diving into the data of that cuz like I said, we just did the brief overview. But I can say at that some may not necessarily have been retained. It could have been. We have a host of students that have been out during the pandemic that may have lost a year. Parents kept them at home, then returned them when school did fully open. So we have some cases that falls into those categories too. So as we dive deeper into the data again we just realizing it and we just had our team to to provide a um data analysis of a spreadsheet with that information but we're going to we definitely have a plan with the committees we mentioned as
089one of the interventions to really dive in deep into that data and see what we need to do with those over age numbers. I'm not sure we can answer this one. It says, "Why are so many Why are so many staff in Franklin not living in Franklin?" Yeah. Uh, I would say I would say that we don't require a residency requirement because we have to compete with other districts for teachers. And if if you put that kind of restraint on on a staff person, there's no way in the world we would recruit anyone to come. They they have a right to live where they want to live as long as they make it to work on time. There's some questions about elementary school. We wanted to concentrate on high school tonight because of the because
090of the graduation situation. We will deal with the elementary school at the next meeting. That's all the questions that we can legally answer. Um, do we have a motion from the board to adjourn? Hey ladies and gentlemen. Hey ladies and gentlemen, there is absolutely a truth that for the protection of people, there are some things we are not allowed to say. And that's not that's not us being ugly. That is not us being ugly. It's not us not wanting to be transparent. is that we take seriously the oath of office that we took and that there are some things that must remain confidential and we would be legally liable if we were to answer questions that are were legally not allowed to ask to answer. So I plea I I would ask that you respect
091the legal requirements under which we operate. The very best way, the very best way is to meet with the board member one on oneonone and bring your concerns one on one. Do we have a motion to adjourn? That's a move. Do we have a second? I second it. We have a motion, a second. All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. No. We're adjourned. Thank you. That was good.