001Well, it's 7 pm and I'd like to call the April 24th meeting uh 2025 of the Franklin City School Board. Good evening to everyone and thank you for coming. We do have four people who signed up to speak during citizens time and we look forward to hearing from them. Our expectation is that no one will disrupt our meeting by yelling out or comments or questions. So, thank you in advance for that. Do we have a motion to come out of close session? I move that the school board having been in close session pursuant to a proper motion come out of the close session. Do we have a second? Second. Any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. I oppose. No. Motion carries. Do we have a motion for certification? Whereas the Franklin City School
002Board is convened to close 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 this school board. That such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia law. And now therefore, be it resolved that the Franklin City School Board hereby certifies that to 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 the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered. Thank you. Do we have a second? Second. Any discussion? All in favor of the motion for certification
003signify by saying I. I oppose. No. Motion carries. Would you stand for the pledge, please? I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I believe we have one motion from our close session and that is to approve the personnel agenda as presented. Do we have a motion to do so? So move. Do we have a second? I second. Any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. I oppose. No. Any abstensions? I abstain. We have one abstension. Next, approval of our agenda. Do we have a motion to approve the agenda? I move to approve the agenda. Do we have a second? Second. Any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. I
004oppose. No. That motion carries. Roll call. Miss Davis, please. Dr. Harrison here. Dr. Scott here. Miss Parker here. M here. Mr. H here. Miss Council here. M here. Dr. Clark here. Thank you. We have a full board. Moving to our consent agenda. We have minutes for our March 20th meeting. That's the first reading. We have minutes for our March 13th meeting and that is a second reading. Do we have a motion to approve those minutes? So move. Do we have a second? I second. Any discussion? All in favor of the motion to approve the minutes for March 13th signify by saying I. I I opposed. No. That motion carries. Thank you. Superintendence report. Dr. Carter. Thank you, sir. 32 minutes. 32 minutes. 32 minutes. 32 minutes. basketball school from work and everything. [Music] Amen. It's
00532 minutes. [Applause] Coach, could you please come up? And this will say it goes out. First of all, I would like to read a citation from Emily Jordan. She's senator, state senator from the 17 state. Dear Broncos, I'm thrilled to extend my heartfelt congratulations on your incredible victory in the region championship. Bringing home high school first regional title in 18 years is a remarkable achievement and testament to your dedication, perseverance and teamwork. Your commitment to excellence both on and off the court has brought immense pride to your school, your families and the entire community. This victory is not just about trophy countless sacrifice and unwachie cousins and his staff have clearly a winning mindset shown in your determination to reach the top. Cherishing this moment and let your future endeavors whether athletics, academics or life
006beyond high school. I have no doubt that this is this is only the beginning of your continued success. Once again, once again, congratulations. Enjoy this well earned celebration and know that your entire community behind this senator 17 [Applause] district. Uh, first of all, I I didn't prepare a speech. U, but I want to say thank you for each and every one of you that came tonight to support these young men. Um, I think it's a true testament to what hard work does. Uh, it's a true testament what culture does. And, uh, these young men put in, as you guys know, countless, countless hours of hard work and dedication. And for those of you who followed the journey throughout this season, I've been a long time. When you start telling kids that you've been coaching longer
007than they've been alive, it kind of puts things in perspective. However, these kids never gave up this year. So, if you followed their journey, you would know that to start the season, uh, they were two and eight. And, and if you don't know, that's two wins and eight losses. Um, that's not very good. You know, we win a lot of games off the court, but we're trying to win them on the court as well. But these kids never quit, right? Um, they they fought tremendously hard. They they believed in themselves. They believed in each other. They put a phenomenal run together throughout latter part of January into February. Um and earned a three seed in the region. And once we got in the region tournament, we were playing some of our best basketball. Um and
008we made it to the regional championship game. And I look back over the years, we've had a ton of success at the district level, regular season, uh district tournament championships, regular season, district championships. But we haven't been able to get over the hump and championship in quite some time. We've been there. We knock on the door. Two years ago, we were there as a one seed and lost. Um so, so as as coach AG says, win is hard. Win is extremely hard. But they kept the lead. They got it done in the region. And once we got into the state tournament, obviously I said we were playing our best basketball, but I knew we had a chance to keep going. But as you saw in the video right there, we kept talking about 32 minutes
009because nobody ever sees what goes on behind the scenes. All everybody sees is 32 minutes that's put on on on the floor and on the scoreboard, but everything we did was in 32minute intervals. We prepare one game at a time. We did not get too far ahead of ourselves. We got to and go back to the regional championship. Alimista is who we beat. That's also the same team that beat us two years ago. So we got our revenge there. In the state quarterfinal game, uh we played Northland for the Eastern Shore, who I thought was one of the best teams in the state. Obviously behind with we'll get to that. North beat Northland in the state quarterfinal game and then we moved on to play Lancaster in a state semiinal game. Lancaster is a team
010that knocked us off in the state tournament two years ago who's also won back state championships. So the kids kept They never they never wavered, not one bit. And then obviously we ran into a buzz on the state championship game. But what these kids accomplished this year and coming into the year not really having any expectations and being able to to continue to build on the culture that's been set for a long time in the program is just a true testament to what hard work does. Um we do have six seniors who going to go on and do some great things, but I'm just so proud of these young men. I'm just extremely proud of my coaching staff puts in a ton of work with these guys. There's a lot that goes into it. You
011know, it's not just basketball. It's life in general. And I talk about it all the time. That's that's the most important game that we're that we're going to play. That's the game of life. So, if you follow the press and you see anything that I say, if you see these kids out in the community, please support. Please give them your love. Please be there for them and keep showing them the right way to do things. That's what we all do. We're one big family. Again, I appreciate each and every one of you supporters. Remember when I when I sat down and had a meeting with you? Okay. So, Coach Cut, will you please pass out their jackets and then have a photo and pass? Yeah. So, so basically we're not going to in a certain
012order. I'm just going to go off, you know, what we have here. But a huge thank you to Dr. Carter, Dr. Rick's chair, Mr. Holt, and school board for putting this together. M Miss Davis and I work extremely hard behind the scenes trying to get these jackets right. Matter of fact, let's I'm going take one out. Everybody can see it. So, basically, they're just like your regular varsity style jackets, the regular wool jackets. They have the uh wool on the front. It has a name of the coach andor the nickname of the player. And then on the back, it has runner up regional champions across the bottom. And I know you can't see in the basketball, but it says Franklin Broncos 2025. And a big thing that goes around because I know a lot of
013people live on Facebook. All right. Uh I get so many calls over the last I'm going to say three or four years and people say, "Cut, what does 310 mean? Unfortunately, in society nowadays, you think negative. First time you know you see something, you think that that kind of sounds a little funny. What's 310 mean? Well, I used to not know what it meant. In case you didn't know, 310 is the address of the hospital. 310 Crescent Drive. So, I put down the bottom of 310 boys. So, coach, you got the presentation. Come on [Applause] over. You ready? [Applause] It was good. I would say the best bookkeeper in the world, but the only reason I can't say that is because I've had some really good ones. Uh, and my daughter did it, my oldest
014daughter did it for four years when she was in high school, so she would probably give me a hard time. with Janelle. [Applause] Number three, [Applause] Daviana. Number four, Christian Grant. Number two, Travis Maker. So, I have uh two of the best managers I probably ever have, and I'm going try to keep that short because I get a little emotional talking about good kids. But, uh, Jabari Mo [Applause] Number 25, Marjlewood. [Applause] Number zero, Jason Reed. your son with a fresh cut. [Applause] Number 10, Noah Paris. [Applause] Number 21, Paris. Number 12, Lavarius Majette. Number 24. [Applause] Number 23, Kamari [Applause] Hicks. Number five, Altavus Turner. One of my other managers, we call him [Applause] and also our athletic director, Mr. Larry Gamble. [Applause] We have a couple other coaches that are with us tonight
015either for work obligations or they do help in spring sports as well. But again, uh thank you for all your support this year and please uh keep these kids going the right direction. Thank you. Mayard, how much you shall [Applause] have? Because you may leave school tomorrow. your choice. [Applause] All right, Dr. Tindle. Good evening, Dr. Carter, Mr. Holt, other board members. Uh, I think I've been set up. That's a pretty tough act to follow. Uh, I have the pleasure um of recognizing tonight our elementary spelling bee winners. Um, I did come before you, I think in February, uh, with our, um, upper grade, but these are our younger students, and I'll tell you what, these kids can spell. Um, we went so many rounds at the elementary level that it was, it was crazy.
016So, uh, we do have, uh, grade level winners and then we have our overall elementary winner as well. Um, and I know that I know at least two of them are here. So um first uh and all of them are getting this certificate of achievement. It just says awarded to with their name and then what grade champion spelling be they were sorry. All right. So the first one uh is for our second grade champion and that was Aubrey Kain. Tell your parents come up here too so they can get up. Sorry we made you get up. All right. You want to hold on to that? Smile at Mr. Cows. All right. Congratulations. [Applause] And our third grade champion was Trinity Jordan. We will hold on to hers and make sure she gets it. And I
017I am going a little out of order, but it's for a reason. Um, and our fifth grade champion was Harry Van. We'll make sure he gets his, too. Thank you. And last, but certainly not least, uh, our fourth grade champion, who was also the overall elementary school champion. He will get a certificate of achievement. And then he will also get his trophy. And it says Franklin City Public Schools Elementary Spelling Bee Champion 2025. And that is Camden Sutton. that. You want to hold that too or you want mom to hold? You got it. We meet again. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] And I do want to recognize we did have 16 17 elementary spellers. Um, and that's hard. They were up on that stage at the elementary school and they all had their chairs and there were
018plenty of people watching them and I went up to talk to them beforehand and I said, "You guys okay? You have any questions?" And he kind of went through the rules and one of the little girls said, "My hands are sweating." I said, "It's okay, baby. I don't even have to spell them. My hands are sweating, too." So, they were they were very cute. They were very sweet. So, we want to give credit to all of them who were brave enough to stand up there on that stage and do that. They did an awesome job. um she will be we will be bringing um another student back before you uh probably at one of the May meetings. Our student that we sent to the regional spelling bee um we have something special for her that
019we're going to give her in May because she actually was the runner up for the region. She came in second place. She she couldn't be here tonight, but we so we wanted to make sure that she could be here when we officially recognized her, but she did an amazing job. It was um and it is you can go on WHRO and watch the spelling be um if you'd like to see it. It's out now. So, thank you. And then I get to stay up here uh to present something else for you. Um earlier this year, the HR department um under Dr. miners uh toutelage did a climate and culture survey of our staff. Uh and one of the things that overall the staffs of the the three buildings said was that they really wanted uh
020a lounge that was not a workroom, but they could go and eat lunch and have a refrigerator and a microwave and a just a a calming place that they could go uh and be. And so, um, I may or may not have volunteered for it. Um, I think I probably did, but, uh, Dr. Carter was nice enough to, uh, let me kind of run with this. Um, and so I present you with some of our staff lounge renovations. U, we had lots of people who helped us. And we called in the Cavalry the last two days because we really wanted to be able to open the lounges tomorrow. We were hoping uh before spring break but or when they came back from spring break, but we had a little snafu with Lowe's and a delivery
021and so um we had to do it but um if you want to go through. So this is uh Mr. Cow's and Dr. Walters. Uh, we had a lot of furniture to build. Um, and our our maintenance department built all of the tables and the chairs and all of that kind of thing, but this would be part of our trouble with Lowe's because we thought the cabinets were all coming together in one piece and they came in about 3,200 pieces. Um, and so there were there was a lot of building furniture the last few days. That would be Dr. Miner and I. Dr. Walters is hiding behind the cabinet on the other side of me. But Mrs. Miss Weissick and Miss Tommpkins. I did not take this picture. Dr. Miner took this one. And our
022phenomenal maintenance crew who hung boards and signs and lights and everything else. We even had family helping us. This is Dr. Miner's niece who came to help us. Miss Tom Hopkins with Power Tools. So, this was uh in an effort to keep the teachers out while we worked on them because we really wanted it to be a surprise when we unveiled the final project. So, we had to put our caution tape up for them uh when they came back from break. So this is the elementary school. Um the first these are the before pictures. Um these were taken before right before we started loading everything in. And these are the after pictures. And I would like to mention too that we did um as much as we could uh we tried to participate with our
023partners in Franklin. Um so the furniture did come from Schulles um and they were very helpful. Um the um cabinetry and all of that kind of stuff. Um well, and the yeah, cabinetry and the refrigerator and microwave all came from Lowe's. Um and that went well except for that one. You'll notice um to the right of those mailboxes above the white board, that's a neon sign that says Franklin City Schools. Uh and all of the schools have them. And then thanks to Dr. Ricks, they will all also have one that is their individual school name. Um, so those are in the works and then our technicalmies before. So you can see that Miss Phillips had had done an awesome job with what she had um to set up something. She really kind of got things
024started uh at at JB King. And then this is after And on this one, if you if you've been in this room, you know that that countertop uh that's kind of in the middle used to be blue uh in most places and then it was a little chipped and there were some other things and there was a board above it that didn't look the greatest. So, um this was kind of our in the middle. We didn't really have time and that kind of stuff to get a whole new countertop built. Um, but we did do some new tile and then some bead board behind it um to give that a new look as well. And then the high school and I I did interrupt a a meeting and they were nice enough to let me
025take pictures. So, uh, Miss Greg and Dr. Scott are in a couple of these pictures. And then the after. I think that's it. Is that the last one? Yeah. Um, and I would like to to recognize too, uh, when these cabinets came in in hundreds of pieces, um, we were a little panicked when we started opening boxes and, uh, so, uh, Dr. Miner and Miss Phillips put their heads together yesterday and the cabinetry at the high school was all put together by our building trades class. Um, and they were, yes, the original plan had been for them to travel to the other schools, but we were in such a hurry that when we called in the cavalry, we got the other ones done. And they were a little upset this morning. I had to have
026a phone call with them to explain that they had not done anything wrong. Um, but that we were just in a hurry because when they heard they weren't going to the other schools, they they were afraid that they had done something wrong. but they did a a great job uh at the high school. So, thank you very much. Thank you, Dr. So, Dr. Tendo, they'll be open for business tomorrow. Yes, sir. All right, Miss Sito. Good evening. My name is Joanne Orchantisto. I'm with Egleston Services, which is a 70-year-old nonprofit primarily in the Hampton Roads area. We provide employment services, day and residential services to adults with disabilities. um brain injury services in terms of a clubhouse and case management. And we also offer several businesses and government contracts where we employ persons with disabilities.
027And last year we sorted over 1,800 people. This year through funding with DAR, we're able to provide brain injury services in a broader region than we had before. It now includes the city of Franklin, Isa White, Sussex, Southampton, and the Emporia area. So that's why I'm here to talk to you all is case management for persons who have sustained a brain injury who who are over 18. So kids don't drive and get in bad accidents where you sustain a brain injury. Don't fall asleep when you're driving. Those are things that have happened to folks who are brain injury survivors. In an instant they have a brain injury. It could be a stroke. It could be an aneurysm. It could be something from toxins. Um, anything can occur. We can fall down a flight of stairs.
028We can sustain a concussion playing basketball. You probably, some of you probably have at some point. Um, in Virginia, there are usually 15,000 people who sustain a brain injury every year. They wait a year, if not more, for services. So, what is case management? What can we do to support your community out here? We can provide guidance, education. We empower people by linking them to services. Our case managers can help link folks to housing, transportation, employment, health care, filling out social security forms, filling out Medicaid, Medicare forms, legal aid, just trying to get people linked to services that they could use and supports that they need. It's provided at no cost because we're we are under a grant with DARS. Services begin by assessing needs and working together to develop personal goals. In terms of
029case management, it promotes self- advocacy, independence by supporting people with brain injuries in making their own decisions and living their best lives. Many of them are isolated. They don't trust people. They've had broken promises. They've lost their family. They've lost, you know, maybe if they're an adult, they don't have they're not living with their spouse anymore. They're not with their children anymore. They're very isolated. We do support groups virtually. Um, sometimes they can be done in person, but we have in the past few years been doing those virtually within our clubhouse that is in Norphick. The what something that we have found very helpful with school systems is having members talk to older teenagers um particularly kids who might be in driver's ed who might be in sports and just having those conversations as to
030what has happened to them that they are now a brain injury survivor. Truly, we had someone who fell asleep at the wheel prom weekend. He was tired. He fell asleep. He now has a brain injury. Other people have fallen off motorcycles. They didn't have helmets on or maybe they didn't have a bike helmet on or they've suffered, you know, massive injuries from a car accident. So, you know, that's something that if you were interested as a school system, we could work with you at your high school level. Again, we provide case management for folks over 18. You probably do have students who are over 18. Maybe some of them have sustained a drain injury. Maybe there are community members. You have a whole boatload of people here who are community members who maybe know someone
031in the community. I left some information about our program. People do a very simple self assessment and we would go from there. Um that's it. Okay. Thank you, [Applause] Miss Morrison. Dr. Carter, school board, community members, good evening. I'm going to be presenting the March financials as well as one proposed budget amendment. Okay, so this is our general fund. 75% of the year has gone by and we have spent 71% of our expenditures. If we look at the uh revenues once again, state funding is has been based on a lower average daily membership than we actually have. Um in April, the April 16th state aid payments have come in much higher and the Virginia Department of Education has let me know that those higher payments are going to continue. So the state funding line will
032resolve before your end. I've also been in very close contact with the city's finance staff and the 330,000 and the 874,000 will be resolved by the end of this year. Next slide. Okay. We've spent $9,700 in our textbook fund so far this year. In our nutrition fund, we've collected 74% of our revenues and spent 66% of our expenditures. If we could go two slides, one more. Okay, this one depicts our federal grants. And the reason we've only collected 72% of our revenues is because the roof replacement projects for the high school and and middle school uh elementary school are in this federal funding number. And we do have some outstanding reimbursements that we will get before year end. And that's this puts us at an overall total here. Okay. The I'll go through the March
033vouchers. Um and if there are any questions about those, I'd be glad to entertain them. That concludes the financial report. I do have one proposed budget amendment this evening. So, our title one allocation for grant 2023 to 2024 increased by $1,999.60. I'm proposing this budget amendment this evening to adjust our books accordingly. Do we have a motion to approve the budget amendment due to additional revenue? I move. We have a second. I second it. Any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. No. Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you, Tracy. Dr. Ricks. Good evening. All right. So, I'll be discussing our FHS senior cohort. And you notice previous data we stated that as of 317 we were at 50% of our senior graduating class in danger of graduating. Currently as you can graduate
034danger of not graduating. Um as you can see on April in April 1st of April we reported that 45% of students were in danger of not graduating which was a total of 34 over 75 students in danger of not graduating. We are currently as of 423 2025 we're 25% of students in danger of not graduating. That's 19 out of a total of 76 students. All right. So our senior cohort continued interventions that we have that we're continuing. Um we still have our approved verified committee credit committee. We also um have we're working with the Virginia Department of Education for our request for our special permission locally awarded verified credit accommodation for our sped population. Um we are also continuing to develop support plans to support students with behavior challenge who have been elevated to graduate
035early without meeting academic requirements. CPR will be offered again on April, April the 24th for our seniors that are still missing CPR, which is a requirement. The teachers and curriculum spe specialists are currently remediating. So, they're remediating along with the teachers um pulling students out of class and remediating before testing. End of the month focus for CTE right now is the workplace readiness readiness tutoring sessions that are still occurring. Industry certification tutoring sessions are ongoing. And we also still have our so academy enrichment Fridays for our grade level 7 through 12. So those are currently the continue interventions that we're continuing right now to work with that 19 those 19 students who still we're trying to work to get across the stage for graduation. Could you go back to that one? No. Number three, developing
036a supportive plan to support students with the behavior challenges who have been elevators to graduate early without meeting academic requirements. Please elaborate on that one. Yes, we noticed when we begin to dive into the different different cohorts that we had students that were being elevated to the next grade level, but they weren't academically prepared. So, we saw deficiencies in their grading, also in their course requirements. So now we have we're going back and looking at each cohort and we're developing appropriate plans to support them with the gradu with graduating at their current at their current with their current cohort. For an example, some students may some students may have been pushed to graduate in 2025 now in which they still they still had a year which they could have still been in school and their
037actual cohort could have been school year 2028, but they were pushed along. So, we're going back and looking at those cases with the the student services and Miss Tommpkins with the curriculum team and we're going back and working through those cases. So, so what we've got 19 19 kids we need to get right 19 currently right now that's within 2000 within the 20 2025 cohort that we still have to get across the stage and all these things are going to I mean do we I mean like how many just need CPR or how many needs I mean there's more specific data for each child correct yes there's more specific data for each child we're looking at it by student based on what they need and we have put in individual plans. So if it's if
038it's a student that just needs CPR, it may be right now I think we have about just a very low number of students that just need CPR. So we have offered it and said this these are the days that we're having CPR. And also if we need to get that child to the school, we have we have our parent and family engagement specialist to travel to pick the student up and bring them to school to get the CPR. Thank you. if we need to. So, how many out of the 19 are receiving this certificate that is not a diploma that won't even help them as they get out of that 19 there were six there was a total of six students um that we submitted to VDOE for that for the special locally um the
039local credit accommodation the state um the state sent us back some information requesting some additional information but they are working with us and we're going to resubmit that information from our exceptional education department and they're working with us to support those students with graduation. Okay. So, when we go beyond graduation, do we just drop them or we're going to assist them? Do we help them with employment? What do we do? Cuz isn't that a part of the CTE? Yes, that Well, yes, we will. We will continue to support those students. Um we have some and then you'll see in my camp my next slide camp scholars we have a host of those students that are in that program and we will also we have also have jobs for Virginia program that's working and monitoring those
040students um postgraduate we also have our Miss Whitley who is our career transition specialist helping those students as well. Thank you. I just want to be clear on something though, but the whole goal for what what is being worked on right now is to have these students graduate with meeting the academic requirements. We're not looking for a complete way around them graduating without having the academic requirements. Correct. Correct. And we we're going to be working this summer. We don't have an actual policy for early graduation. So, however, our team will be working on that summer to make sure what that looks like so that it can be consistent across the board. Um, because even though some students may now we may have a few that may require may be ready academically, but that doesn't mean
041that they're they're ready in terms of leadership in terms of social or emotional development. So, we have to look at all those factors when we're pushing a kid to possibly graduate early just then and that's beyond just the academics. Okay, thank you. All right. So, my next slide will be on our pre-amp scholars. And as you can see, um the camp foundation in partnership with Franklin City Public Schools has granted the senior cohort of 2025 a full scholarship to complete a post-secary pathway into an associates degree or a certified industry certification at Paul Damp Community College. And as you can see the criteria on this spreadsheet, the criteria for that for the for their scholarships is an attendance intervention. In the fall we had in the fall we had four out of 40 students attend
042receiving an attendance intervention and that's to help them to stay on track with attending school. As of right now in the in the spring, we still working with one out of 41 students. And as you can see, that's just one student. So that number has decreased. And that's what we wanted to see. We wanted the students to be active. That was that they had to be active and attending school to receive this scholarship. Academic interventions, we had one out of the 40 students for this scholarship receiving academic interventions. At this time we have 0% because that student have worked hard and made that achievement. For discipline interventions, our teams work with our students that had discipline because that was a required criteria. Right now out of those 41 students, we have 0% that's having those
043discipline challenge for this scholarship. So they meet the criteria drug testing. Now this was huge and our team really work with these students with intervention. We had 21 out of 40 students that was receiving interventions for drug usage. And you can see that was 53%. By the spring, we have only eight students out of 41 receiving still receiving interventions because those students stepped up to the plate in the spring, took the drug test, and passed it. And that's reduced to 20%. And that's something to clap for. volunteer and work hours. We had 12 out of 40 students. This is another big accomplishment. And we had 30% of students that did not have either volunteer hours or part-time working hours. In the spring, all 41 of those students either have a part-time job volunteering in the
044community or volunteering with our jobs for Virginia program. That's why that's a 0%. So, that was another major accomplishment. And we go, can we go to the next slide? Next slide. So, I would like to say tonight we're still before I read this, we're still working with those eight students and we're working with camp because there are some other scholarships that we can work on with those eight students that did not meet the criteria based on the drug testing. So, we're still working with them and we have not given up on them. So, congratulations. Franklin City Public School is proud to proud to announce the nomination of 33 33 students from the senior class of 2025 for the camp foundation full scholarship. This prei prestigious prestigious scholarship provides full funding for students to pursue a
045post-secary pathway at Paul Damp Community College leading to either an associates degree or certified industry certification. We are excited about the opportunities create for our students and their futures. We extend our thanks to everyone who helped make this possible and let's continue to support and celebrate their success. And again, it took a great team, great student service team. I mean, I couldn't thank the the best team that we have. So, we have a great team and I appreciate the team and the parents as well and the administrators and all the support. Any questions? It's obvious that the intervention programs are really working big time. So, thank you, Dr. Rick. Thank you, Miss Tomkins. Good evening, school board, Dr. Carter, all those assembled here today. It gives me great pleasure to follow up on all of
046the success that we have experienced tonight. And this brings us right to what our mission statement is. I won't read it in total, but I do want to talk about the fact that this mission statement was not just developed by central office. This was a community effort. We had parent support. We had the community. We had school board members. We had students. And as we were developing this mission statement, the students felt that we were missing something. And they had an opportunity to help craft what you see here about having more hands-on opportunities, more realworld experiences within the classroom. And we listened. And that's how this mission statement came about. So when you look at this mission statement, it is a mission statement that we honored the students, but we also honored what the community
047said they wanted when it came to what they wanted as an educational experiences and opportunities for students in Franklin City Public Schools. Next slide, please. So with that, we wanted to revisit our strategic plan. I was the facilitator for the strategic plan and had great leaders for each of the pillars that we had. The one that I'm going to present tonight is give you an update on where we are with objective three, which is instruction and academics. Some of the things that we wanted to have in terms of our um in terms of our academic and instruction objective was to adopt and modify our pacing guides and adapt and modify our weekly uh guides and resources for teachers that we were able to accomplish. So on the first day of school, all of our teachers,
048even before they when they got back for teacher pre-ervice week, we had a pacing guide and we had a path with resources for teachers to use so that they can begin the first day of school starting to craft their lessons. We also wanted to make sure that they had diverse opportunities that their that their abilities and their talents. And so working with the um student support services, you see all of the opportunities that our students have at our JPK um technical career and technical uh center. And also one of the things that we have accomplished is walkthroughs where we as central office go in and monitor what is happening instructionally in our buildings and we are able to provide immediate feedback based on what we are seeing to help support our students. So as we
049are going through I just wanted to be made clear that we are using the strategic plan and we are modifying it based on our needs but also checking off that we are accomplishing the goals that we set forth. Next slide please. So now I want to talk a little bit about data and why it's important for us to revisit our strategic plan when it comes to academics and instruction. As you can see, this is SP Morton. There are 23 data based on 2223 school year. We're all at a level three. That simply means that our students are not meeting the 70% or 75% pass rate. Next slide, please. So the next year 2024 there has been some movement. There was some increase in reading, math and science. We continue to have gaps which is one
050of the reasons why we need to ensure that highquality instruction happens in all of our classrooms. Next slide please. JPK. This is their data from 2019. JPK was fully accredited which means they were level one in all categories for grades 6 through 8. If you take a look at the next slide please for 2020 they were still in all red which means those students excuse me thank you green students were performing at a high level. So when these students left JPK to move to the high school, they were prepared. The data shows that they ca that they left with high reading scores in the 80s and in math. So when they left 8th grade, they were prepared for high school work. They were also almost a blue ribbon school. So you don't get that distinction
051or even a path to that distinction unless you have high achieving students and teachers who are teaching in alignment with state standards. Next slide please. So in 2019 we see that Franklin High School was accredited. However, when you take a look at the gap groups that's very important. It means that not all of our students were making the mark. So we need to retweak retool our instruction. Next slide please. There was a further decline in 2020. The reason you see the accredited um marker here is because this was during the pandemic. If you were accredited the year before, you maintain accreditation during this 20 year. So math, we see that we I'm excuse me, we had a gap in math, but we were also not meeting the 70% mark in math in the um 2020
052school year, which was based on 18/19 data. Next slide, please. So as we continue to take a look at being accredited with conditions, it simply means that we have some gaps. We have more work to do in the area of science, career and technical as well as taking a look at how are all of our students performing. We want all students to be successful and the only way that that can happen is if we have alignment between what happens in the classroom, how students are instructed and making sure that what is taught is what is tested. For example, when I take a look at those students for locally awarded verified credits, I put the final signature and I begin to ask questions. So, if we have a student who had an A in a particular
053classroom and that student took the SO 13 times and still could not pass. I have questions. I also reviewed another example where a student had a B+ in a class and had to take the so 12 times and still did not pass. So when we talk about misalignment there is something that happens and so we have to ensure that no matter what if we believe all students can learn then when we see such discrepancies we have to address them and ask the question and when you see that level of disparity in um in student performance as well as how they perform in the classroom it indicates that there is misalignment with what is taught and what is tested. Next slide, please. 2024, as you can see, we have other areas with our dropout, our college
054and career um readiness as well as in science. Next slide, please. So, what are we doing? As Dr. Rick's already shared, we have lots of opportunities for our students to close those gaps, but tier one instruction, which means getting it right the first time, is the only way that we are going to have consistent progress for student performance. We can remediate, but remediation is not going to solve all of our problems. We have to get it right in the classroom. And that comes from effective monitoring. It comes from timely feedback from administrators. It comes from looking at the standards and lessons being aligned to what is tested. We have all the resources available to our staff as well as parents. Everything is on the website. We want to ensure that the first time is how
055our students are going to perform. So we have summer programs. We've had our read 180 lab which is a reading computerized adaptive program which gives a diagnosis of where students have deficiencies and develops and the program is developed around their specific needs. We also have computer-based programs for math. We have our tutors to teachers program after school. We have our allin tutoring now with our SIG grant for preK through eight. We have enrichment Fridays for preK through 12. So in terms of us providing opportunities to close these academic gaps, we are doing that. But the first line of defense will always be at the school level. Next slide, please. Any questions? All right. Thank you, Miss Tomkins. Thank you. That concludes my report. Mr. Hall, thank you, Dr. Carter. Miss Tomkins, now we come to
056citizens time and I'll read the instructions. Speakers have three minutes. Your time will start. When you start speaking, there are three lights on the podium. When your time starts, the light will be green. When you have one minute left, the light will turn yellow. When you have 30 seconds left, the yellow light will start flashing. When your time is up, the light will turn red and you will stop. So, our first speaker, Pam, thank you. I know the deal. I know the deal. Pam Lee, good evening. First off, thank you all so much for acknowledging the Franklin High School basketball team. We are just so proud of them and so proud of the coaches and congrats to all the fans and everyone who has supported them. I stand before you tonight not just as a
057concerned citizen, but has a voice for many who feel unheard, overlooked, and increasingly disillusioned by the decisions that are being made by Franklin City Public Schools. We have watched, spoken, written, and pleaded for transparency, fairness, and accountability. Instead, we have been met with silence, misdirection, and decisions that defy logic in equity. Tonight, I brings forward some questions that you all continue to avoid. Salary inequities. Why did central office staff receive raises as high as 13.4%, Dr. Carter? 8% Miss Tommpkins while the rest of the staff including building administrators, teachers, and support professionals only received 3%. Yes, there were retention bonuses, but those at central office were significantly larger, and some received extra stipens for duties for mentoring and strategic planning, which is duties that should already be a part of their role. How is this
058justified? Number two, misuse of funds on cell phone pouches. Dr. Carter and Dr. Walters reported that $20,000 was spent on these cell phone pouches at FHS. According to a lot of folks, many have been lost, destroyed. Students know how to open them and phone usage remains the same and unchanged. There is no accountability system in place. Is the board aware that this money has effectively just been wasted? Are you satisfied with just believing what Dr. Carter and Mr. Holt claim that the issue is resolved? Number three, low morale and low morale and staff attrition. An average of nine nine to 10 staff per day are calling out sick at Franklin High School. A math teacher has already resigned and more are reportedly planning to leave. Yet doctor reported Dr. Miner reported that over 95% sign
059letters of intention to return. What happens when the actual return falls short of that? Who is going to be held accountable? misleading staff report that the last meeting it was stated that a 100% of JP King CTE Academy teachers were returning yet the band director and the culinary arts which both work there are not returning I think we need a full independent audit conducted by an outside agency one that evaluates salaries allocations stipens and bonus distribution and overall spending the community has made it clear that we do not trust the board or the superintendent to police itself Every member of this school board has been asked by the city council to resign. Have you all considered that? If resignation is not on the table, will you at least consider electing a new board chair for
060the 2526 school year? Finally, who do you believe you're accountable to? Is it Dr. Carter? Is it Mr. Hull? Is it the citizens? Is it the educators? Pam, that's it. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Don Benjamin. Good evening. My name is Don Benjamin. I reside at 1208 Clay Street, Franklin, Virginia. I am here tonight with some more questions. According to Virginia Department of Education data, Franklin High School was accredited from 20145 through 201920, six consecutive years, and again in 2022 23. There were no accreditation ratings given for Virginia public schools for 202021 and for 20 21-22 due to CO. Franklin High School was accredited with conditions for 2023 24 and 202425. Franklin High School is the only school in our division with this record of success. In a previous schoolboard meeting, central office staff stated
061that Franklin High School has not been accredited since 2019. Per the Virginia Department of Education, the information shared by central office staff about Franklin High School accreditation is incorrect. As I pre previously stated, no accreditation ratings were given to Virginia schools for 202021 and 2021-22 due to co and per the department of education, Franklin High School was accredited in 201920 and in 2022 23. Was data incorrect? Was this incorrect data a result of Franklin leaders not being able to understand so data and accreditation? or is it a blatant attempt to discredit Mr. Phelps and his record of so performance? Either way, this seems like a poor reflection on Franklin central office leaders and school board. According to salary information received via a recent FOYA request, Dr. Carter's salary for 202425 is $190,000, not including a
062$4,575 retention bonus. This salary is a $22,500 or $13.4% increase from 2023 24. What increase did building administrators and teachers get? Did they also get a 13.4% increase? How does the school board justify this type of raise when all schools are accredited with conditions for the second year in a row with Dr. Carter as superintendent? Why was Mr. Pheltz with a track record of success removed midyear as principal in the same year the superintendent received a $22,500 raise? What does this say about our school board and shared accountability? Thank you. [Applause] Na Reed, good evening board audience. I had a question. Why is it that the kids got to go back to school in August and they get out June 13th? That's a problem. I got another question. Why is it that SP Morton has
063no school and the high school is virtual? It starts at SP Morton. The elementary school starts everything. That's number one. Why is it that these high school kids still have to go to school virtually and these elementary kids don't? Dr. Carter, do you really care about our kids or they just a paycheck now? Mr. Phelps been the principal for how long? How many principles was at SP Morton, including Dr. Tendle? How many was at JP King? But then we just seen some things on the screen, right? That was really irritating to me. Don't forget about CO. Co affected a lot of people. Some of these kids have parents are not educated, so they might struggle. They don't have a foundation. So, how is it that you guys sit here and say, "Oh, we got our
064kids or have our kids." You just want to be faces and seem like you care about our kids. But you don't. One thing I don't really appreciate today. I had two kids get written up today. Quiet kids, good kids. They got written up during lunchtime for sitting in the classroom with another teacher during lunchtime. Make it make sense. Mr. Ho, do you care about our kids? Cuz I feel like you don't. I really feel like you guys are just here just to, you know, just sit here for what? To the boys, I'm proud of y'all. If y'all don't think y'all got an army, y'all got an army. Keep going. Everybody is here for you whether you have a mentor or not. There's kids that don't have a two parent home. They might not have a
065mother, father, grandparents. But Mr. Phelts, he was somebody that was there for them. But you know what's crazy? Rise Hill is banned from the city of Franklin schools. That's silence, right? I'mma tell y'all something. Y'all taking away all the good people through the people that the kids look up to. One day you're going to regret it. Thank you, [Applause] Carrie Johnson. Good evening. I wanted to start by saying um well done on the remodel of the teachers lounges. I do find a little skeptical that you did a culture and climate survey and what you got out of the culture and climate survey was that the teachers wanted a new lounge. Anyway, what's happening in this division isn't just discouraging, it's disgraceful. Trust has been eroded, professionalism abandoned, and accountability is nowhere in sight. A few
066weeks ago, you all boasted about the high retention rate of staff. Yet today, we're looking at a couple dozen vacancies. We're a division of around a thousand students. How do we have that many openings? And why are we offering relocation assistance for somebody to move over 250 miles unless we are extremely desperate and afraid that we're not going to be able to fill those schools? Why don't we use some of that money towards the teachers that are already here? And regarding the vacancies, how many of these were posted before the current employee was even informed? After all, that is what happened to coach Hill. You reassigned principal Felts who led the high school for a dozen years and then stood by while central office released a data report that sele and again tonight that selectively
067painted the high school in a negative light. Meanwhile, the elementary school has a lower so pass rate in both reading and math and has for multiple years, but there's been no push for leadership change there. Why? Then a student athlete wanted to celebrate his football signing somewhere other than the high school so that both this way both Felts and Hill his mentors felt welcome to attend. That moment should have been a win for the school division and the community. Instead, you labeled it unauthorized and then turned around and issued Coach Hill a no trespass order. You punished a student's joy. That's just vindictive. You say your student focus, show us where because students are watching, staff is watching, and families are losing faith. You aren't using research-based strategies or data driven decision-making. There's no teacher
068voice and no real community collaboration. Just top down control and then silence when questioned. That's not best practices. That's not leadership. This division has a retention problem, a trust problem, and a reputation problem. It is past time to own the damage that's been done and to step in to repair it. We are tired. We are informed. And we are not going away. [Applause] comments from board members. I just want to say how incredibly proud I am of our basketball team. You guys are just the rock stars. Anybody else? We have a motion for adjournment. So move. Do we have a second? Second. All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. No. We'rejourn. [Applause] We