001e e e good afternoon ladies and gentlemen oh wow it's a lot stronger than it was earlier today this is good uh we're sorry for the delay we had a couple of uh fairly uh significant events that we had to take care of and deal with in closed session and so for that we apologize do we have Mr Cipher on Zoom with us now Mr cyer are you there chairman may can you hear me I can now took it off mute how are you doing good thank you good soon as I find the notification it says read call to order so in accordance with policy 1- 6.9 electronic participation in meetings from remote locations you want oh I need a motion to come back into open session so moved motion from Mr coach second by
002Mr Coleman all those in favor say I I all opposed you just say no if you don't agree in accordance with policy 1- 6.9 electronic participation in meetings from remote locations Mr Bob Cipher will be participating by phone from Michigan due to work obligations set before this meeting was rescheduled due to inclement weather last week and with that we'll continue on Coach Ike do you have a certification for us God bless you and God bless you yes Mr chair the board will certify the following whereas the Handover County school board has convened closed meeting on this dat pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote in accordance with the provisions of Freedom of Information Act and whereas section 2.237837 resolved that the Hanover County School Board hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge only
003public business matters lawfully Exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the executive meeting to which this certification applies and only if such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the executive meeting were heard discussed or considered thank you we have a motion is there a second second bman any discussion all those in favor say I I all opposed motion carries at this time I would ask everyone to please join me in a moment of silence with a recent passing of Joan Beck Willis who retired from Hanover County public schools in 2004 as the principal of Cold Harbor Elementary School our thoughts are with the Willis family and friends please join me in a moment of silence thank you our invocation this evening will be given by Miss Welsh
004and our Pledge of Allegiance will be led by miss Lynn almighty God as we stand in a a of your goodness and mercy today we invite you to be present amongst us as we gather for this school board meeting guide our discussions and decisions grant us with wisdom and understanding help us make decisions that honor you may we work together in a spirit of unity and love amen amen at this time I would entertain a motion to approve uh the meeting minutes prior to tonight and there are four sets of minutes that we have all been shared and I would entertain a motion Mr Martin so moved there a second miss Lynn we have a motion in a second is there any further discussion all those in favor say I I all opposed the minutes
005the four sets of minutes are approved and with that I think Mr Whitley it's your show for a little bit thank you Mr chairman members of the board Dr peniku it is always a pleasure to bring forth the great news of the school division as you know Mr chairman we will need to postpone our first recognition of the night that's on the agenda to the March meeting due to a scheduling conflict with that said for our next two recognitions please join me in welcoming the principal of Hanover High School Mrs Chris Reese who will recognize the 2024 vhsl class a state boys volleyball player of the year and the 2024 vhsl class 4 boys volleyball Coach of the Year both from Haner High School take it away Mrs Reese Mr Whitley good evening Mr chairman
006School Board Dr penov and Senior staff thank you so much for inviting us this evening to celebrate two incredible Handover Hawks this evening I want to start with I'm excited to honor Handover senior Hilton Sherm Hilton has been named the 2024 vhsl class 4 boys volleyball player of the year Hilton ended the season with assists 148 digs 75 kills 39 Aces and 32 blocks he also received the MVP award and was named all regions Player of the Year Hilton has served as Captain of of the team and has been incredible student athlete Hanover High School will certainly miss him next year as he heads off to new adventures congratulations Hilton it is also my pleasure to recognize Hillary Castle coach Castle has been named vhsl class 4 boys volleyball Coach of the Year coach Castle
007has been the boys volleyball coach at Handover high school for more than 13 years coach Castle has guided Handover to over 144 wins two State runnerup trophies and backtack state of tournament appearances we are thrilled to C celebrate coach Castle okay their next recognition of the evening goes to the recipient of the superintendent's professional development scholarship each year $1,000 is awarded to a teacher whose potential of achieving greater things with and four students in the classroom would be enhanced if afforded a significant professional development opportunity since 1999 the education hver Education Foundation has graciously funded the scholarship that can be used to support tuition books travel and other related activities this year's recipient is a talented and dedicated literacy coach at Bell Creek Middle School who will be using the scholarship to engage in professional
008learning activities in Lubec main this summer here she will attend the help me here qu a writing treat where she will study under writers and Poets Ralph Fletcher and Georgia herd she will mirror this experience when supporting students to become effective writers she will also visit the summer home of Franklin D Roosevelt to learn more about his real life and share the knowledge with the US History 2 class at her school her goal is to develop an increased awareness and understanding of working with students in order to move them to Greater levels of writing Effectiveness please join me in congratulating Mrs Nina Foster Pritchard great job and Mr chairman that concludes my portion of the recognitions and I will turn it over to Dr peniku for a special recognition thank you Mr Whitley tonight I
009have the pleasure of honoring our school board for Schoolboard appreciation month the month of February marks the annual observance of Schoolboard appreciation month it is a time to honor the work of our Schoolboard members and celebrate public education the Virginia school board association's theme of this year's celebration is champions of opportunity it highlights the efforts made by our Schoolboard members to create Pathways for student achievement and innovation in our schools the vsba also wishes to recognize our chairman M Colonel Bob May who served as a delegate member in the 2024 vsba delegate assembly thank you all for all you do and I I want you to know that at each one of your desks you have cards from the schools and the um the student um council members have signed those for you in thanks
010for the work that you do and some have even WR written special notes to you in those yes no and if we could have our school board members come down um Miss Brown will give you your certificate and we would like to get a group picture right midd so I realized we didn't practice this earlier but I realized that I need to be at the microphone to be able to make the next recognition and so with that one of the uh privileges of being the chairman of the Schoolboard is that we get to recognize two outstanding members of our support staff that are really the backbone that keep us going and being on time and always making sure that we're here and so with that that we have we're blessed to have uh in my
011four years on the board I've never never seen a clerk um quite as proficient as as Miss Kate Brown is and when she had to be absent for a while with her father um an stepped right in and hook step and we didn't even skip a beat and so there there are a lot of boards that wish they had that kind of depth and perception to be able to have the support from uh two wonderful clerks and so with that uh we're here tonight to recognize our clerks the clerk of the board and the assistant Clerk of the board and we thank you for all you do to support us all right big smile than team e and with that now we're up to um board member announcements do we have any board member announcements
012tonight anybody like to make any announcements board members Mr Martin yeah I just want to reiterate the apologies that we started with on the delayed start um I know it's probably very frustrating to be sitting there for a half an hour waiting on us to come out we tried like heck to get out here on time time uh please know that we are we we do value your time and we know it's a sacrifice for you to be here and we're trying to get through our closed business quicker and we we will continue to try to improve upon that so I just want to acknowledge that thank you thank you sir anybody else anybody on this side coach yeah I'd like to recognize some of our sports teams uh that at least I attended to
013this past weekend the track meet at uh ATL high school and it was Regional competition and the atly boys and girls won uh relatively sounding especially the boys um quite a few uh Regional Champions individually and also uh from the swim perspective since I happen to be there Friday night and the uh uh Handover boys happen to win that championship and uh both the boys and the girls will be sending swimmers uh uh knock on wood with the weather uh to Christiansburg at the Virginia Tech facility this coming weekend so I'm sorry I wasn't not able to get to wrestling or gymnastics but wrestling was hosted at enrio and gymnastics was hosted at Handover with a lot of mechanics of high school help so it's a lot of partnership going on in the whole County
014within this region of many dozens of schools and I just want to call your attention that you know three of the four uh performances were held at Hanover facilities so that again take your hat off to some of the people that made that happen because it just doesn't snap a finger and and poof it the athletes show up and it all runs itself that's not the way things go so I applaud everyone that did work and work diligently in order to pull those uh successful Regional championships thank you thanks coach I have just a couple of announcements uh the first one is Andrew Rickman a student at Mechanicsville High School signed an academy contract with the Richmond Kickers Andrew is a left-footed midfielder who grew up going to Kickers games and said at the signing
015that he always wanted to be on the field that dream is now now a reality uh the second one is band students across the county gathered at the end of January for the all count high school band festival at Patrick Henry High School students rehearsed on Thursday and held a beautiful concert on Friday conducted by Dr Tim Robble from robley I'm sorry from shannond DOA Conservatory of Music on behalf of the school board I would like to publicly thank our valued partners with the Atley station and Patrick Henry family YMCAs for generously showing the their uh support of our community by allowing our employees who may have been without power last week access to their shower facilities as I have often shared our community support of our schools and those who serve our students is
016part of the secret sauce that makes our School Division so special we are pleased to have have such strong Community Partners as team Hanover County Public Schools and thank you YMCA for your support I know we have uh over 30 people signed up to speak tonight at public comment um so I'm going to try to um make just a couple of comments uh to hopefully give you a chance to think about your comments of what you're going to say but I wanted to let you know first in in the in in addition to the ongoing boundary adjustment process your school board continues to search for our next superintendent of schools last week we held a special meeting with our thirdparty vendor hya to discuss the search specifically we received the results of the community engagement
017opportunities held last month the resulting desired characteristics and the overall leadership report for the next superintendent we are thankful for your engagement and partnership throughout this important process interview use for the position remain scheduled to take place next month of our anticipated vote on the new superintendent in April of 2025 similar to The Boundary adjustment process we encourage you to stay informed throughout this process by visiting the dedicated superintendent search web page on the Handover County Public School website and my last comment deals with the boundary adjustment that uh is currently going on on behalf of the school board I like to take this opportunity to discuss what we all recognize as a topic of significant and continued interest our boundary adjustment process I want to reassure our community there has been no final decisions
018made and we are working closely with MGT our third-party vendor to refine any of the proposed scenarios please also be assured to that we remain committed to a transparent collaborative and thoughtful process as we work to make decisions in the best interest of our School Division we have and will continue to follow a very deliberate process while I encourage you to review the boundary adjustment web page on the Handover County Public Schools website for extensive information regarding the timeline scenarios interactive maps and frequently asked questions the school board would like to share the following regarding the process last spring we determined that a boundary adjustment process is needed as part of a long-term and comprehensive solution towards addressing student enrollment and capacity across all schools in the division including Cool Spring Elementary School accordingly a
019competitive request for proposal process began that included receiving and evaluating bids and conducting due diligence this process was specific specifically administered by Hover County government which oversees the procurement process across agencies in the county including the Hover County Public Schools and is in alignment with established procurement policies and state codes specifically the Virginia Public procurement act MGT was selected through this competitive process this fall we began this process in Earnest by gathering and analyzing data and developing forecasts and boundaries scenarios utilizing mgt's expertise the proposed scenarios were shared with our community at the end of January and robust Community engagement commenced the deadline to complete the MGT survey was last week and we have received the input from mgt's analysis of all the data inputs we are deeply appreciative of our community's engagement in recent
020weeks and throughout this process that will further inform our decision making so what's next we will work closely with MGT to refine the scenarios into recommendations for presentation and discussion at our March 11th work session during the mark March 11th work session we will work together to make a final recommendation that will be presented at our business meeting that night of March 11th we have meetings coming up over the next week within the next seven days actually we have two meetings scheduled where members a committee of our board will work with MGT to further refine the scenarios and come up with any additional options that could be considered to work toward a recommendation for our March 11th meeting please know that even as late as this past Friday we MGT has been working to look
021at the the scenarios I I cannot reiterate this enough there has not been any decisions made there have been no discussion about a decision we are trying to work through the process and come up with a recommendation that is best suited for Hanover County Public Schools as we shared from the onset of this process we remain scheduled to vote on the boundary adjustment at our April 8th meeting we continue to advise that you may stay up to date on this process by visiting the hcps boundary adjustment website I hope that clarifies a little bit more because we keep getting a lot of statements about y'all have already made decisions we've not made any decisions there's not even a recommendation so I hope that that will help you to alleviate your concerns as we try to
022work through this process deliberately diligently and what's best for our Handover County Public Schools so with that we'll move on to the approval of our consent agenda do I have a recommendation for approval of the consent agenda Co I I I like to make a motion to approve our cons agenda there a second second Mr Coleman any further discussion all those in favor say I I all opposed motion carries and with that we'll move on to the instructional highlight which is B Creek Middle School's math program and so we're just delighted to have this presentation this evening I I will just say during our school tours this year and I'm not trying to embarrass him but during our school tours he gave us a little bit of a Prelude of what he's going to give
023us tonight I assume it's going to be close to the same data and uh this is pretty remarkable and we're very proud as a school system to have principles like this who have taken a challenge of trying to increase math scores and come up with Solutions so with that I have uh fil I've done all I can do to set you up so Mr Sanders it's yours uh good evening Mr chairman members of the board Dr pennycuff uh and Senior staff thank you for your invitation to speak here tonight I am Tim Sanders the proud principal of B Creek Middle School at Bell Creek we ask our teachers to believe create and maximize our students learning while pushing them to succeed each and every day our students are expected to follow our six pillars of
024character which are responsibility fairness respect caring citizenship and trustworthiness actually a week and a half ago we held our semester pillar Awards which we awarded 150 plus students who earn the recognition from their teachers in one of these six pillars at bcms we are fortunate enough to work with 900 students each day you can see that breakdown by grade level here on this slide and we currently offer those students 84 clubs to which they can participate in each month we have eight national board certified teachers on staff with two more in the pipeline and we have 332 students enrolled in our performing arts department that is up from 73 right after covid and we are also proud to say that we are a fully accredited school you can see here that our vision at bcms
025is aligned with hgps Comprehensive plan which is to provide a highquality learning exper experience that equips students with the necessary skills to thrive in all aspects of their lives we aim to provide a deeper understanding of the material while enhancing the learning of struggling Learners all the way through to our most gifted thinkers in the next few moments I'll be sharing with you one of the most important instructional Endeavors at Bell Creek as well as some key instructional strategies we are implementing in these classrooms as we support students and their successes each day I'm excited to talk to you tonight about station teaching and how it transforming the learning within our sixth grade math classrooms but first I would like to give a shout out to miss Burton to miss mamini to miss Bole for
026that Dynamic and dedicated work in their sixth grade classrooms and also to our math coach Miss Denon for her expertise and leadership in this area although not A New Concept and actually quite popular at the elementary school level uh but hard to implement at the secondary level station teaching and is instructional approach where students go through various and different different learning stations each designed to Target specific skills in a way that best fits their needs instead of a one-sized fits-all instruction students experience a variety of te teaching methods some working independently others collaborating in small groups and some receiving direct instruction from their teacher this Dynamic structure allows greater engagement a deeper understanding and a personalized learning experience that helps all students succeed in the pictures here you will see some students engaging in this
027work in one of our sixth grade math classrooms you'll see high levels of collaboration amongst our students and direct instruction being given to a small group of students the students then rotate through and each experience various forms of instruction throughout the entire class period some classes can have two stations three stations four and even up to five stations depending on the uh level of activity happening in the room that day one of the most effective ways to group students in station teaching is by performance on their most recent assessment in this setup students who need reinforcement on a particular concept can work closely with the teacher While others demonstrate Mastery can engage in a challenging problems and real world applications another group might be utilizing technology and reviewing skills at their own pace this strategy
028ures that each student is working at the appropriate level allowing them to build confidence while closing learning gaps another way to structure our stations one that really empowers our students is by grouping them based on how they arrived at their answer rather than just whether they got it right or wrong on their assessment this approach helps students see that there's often more than one way to solve a problem some may use Mental Math While others rely on step-by-step algorithms and some may find a pattern or a shortcut within their work by discussing their thought process as small groups students gain a broad understanding of math and learn from their peers in a meaningful way this mindset not only improves problem solving skills but also Fosters collaboration and a growth mindset amongst our students uh I
029have some data here I know it's a lot to look at uh but what you'll see here is a sample taken from a preassessment at the beginning of the year in sixth grade and then again at the mid yard mid year so data collected rather re recently the assessments cover the key Concepts in sixth grade such as fractions decimals integers and even some equations built in as you can see here the results are pretty remarkable our students showed an incredible 150% growth from the beginning of the year to the midy Year this kind of growth in just a few short months is nothing short of remarkable it speaks volumes about the effectiveness of station teaching and to the dedication of our Educators imagine what this approach continue to do for our students as we move
030forward station teaching is just more than a different way of structuring a lesson it is a way to make learn learning accessible and engaging for all of our students by tailoring instruction to the needs uh and getting them to understand math is more than just about finding the right answer it's about understanding the journey that got them there so in closing our commitment to Excellence in teaching learning and Leadership is at the core of everything we do at Bel Creek middle by implementing datadriven instruction and ideas such as station teaching we are ensuring that all students have the tools they need to succeed I appreciate the hard work and the dedication of our sixth grade math teams our math coach and to our community and the staff for supporting our students each and every day
031I want to thank the board for their time tonight and go Bulldogs uh and I'll take any questions from the board if you guys have anything for me thank you sir any board members questions or comments just a comment that's super impressive and way to go thank you keep doing your thing thank you thank you all right thank you Co thank you Mr Sanders I appreciate your presentation and uh how long have you been in this position uh it was three years in January so I came into here uh one year so I've been three years in the middle of the year right yes sir yes sir well done sir thank you yes sir yeah I had to don't walk off yet I had the privilege of uh on our tours I sat down with
032Mr Sanders after watching his presentation on this and you and your concept and your ideas are something for us all to emulate and we appreciate your hard work and dedication We Appreciate You tackling a tough situation and we appreciate you instilling in your teachers a can do attitude that's allowed this to happen and so I ask you to take back to your staff I know you're not the one in the classroom doing this but you need to take back to your teachers this is well done this is a job well done and we are I can just tell you we at Team Handover are extremely proud of it thank you that thank you sir okay well I'm sorry you have to follow that but miss Stone you want to talk about boundary updates please uh
033good evening Mr chairman Schoolboard members Dr penov um actually Mr may you stole all of my thunder your opening remarks um but it can't hurt to go through some of this again um what we've included here in board docs is just the timeline of the work done to date or um completed to date um as you mentioned uh it was determined during the Spring of 2024 to start the boundary adjustment process there was an RFP issued uh in the summer and um we worked with the county to go through a competitive process the contract was awarded to MGT during the month of October they were collecting data from the county and from the school Division and from they were getting birth records from the Department of Health so it's a variety of data that went
034into uh their analysis and their future uh projections student projections um during October and December we also um worked with the committee to look at potential scenarios and uh tried to develop as many as we could to bring forward to the community and to the school board um during that time and as you know in January there were three scenarios that were brought forward to the community as part of the community meetings um and that was just to receive feedback um we received feedback during those Community meetings and also there was a survey that received feedback that closed on February 10th and then on February 14th just last Friday MTT um compiled all of that data put it together and shared it with the school board um at that time um and we're here tonight
035to talk about just a few of the next step steps forward um the we have two meetings coming up with the school board one on February 20th one on February 25th they both start at 1 pm the entire School Board is um invited they're part of that process um but there is a work group that has been formed um just to ensure that we always have um people there to work on this um and that includes U Mr ikenberry Mr Mrs Welsh and Mr Martin um so they will be at both of those meetings um it's an active process it's a live process um one of the things that we heard from MGT is they have created um study groups that uh are made up of 50 to 100 students um throughout all of the
036county and when you're working on those scenarios whether you're perfecting them or creating new scenarios you have the opportunity and real uh time to really move those focus groups around and then say okay what does this look like what does the capacity look like for Cool Spring Elementary what does it look like for the neighboring schools what will it look like today what will it look like in five years what will it look like in 10 years um so still work to be performed when MGT met when they were at the community meetings they talked about that sometimes when they work with the community the final scenario is something very different from where they start um so again as Mr May shared we're not um at the end a decision has not been made um
037there's still more work to be uh done um hopefully at the March 11th meeting um this work group may come back with a recommendation to the school board that this is the scenario that we really want to focus in on um and then we would go away and between then and the April meeting we would perfect that scenario more and also develop an implementation plan what we saw in some of the survey results talked about how will this be implemented what does it mean for existing students and so that work and that plan would be developed between the March and April date brought back to the school board at the march at the April meeting for a final approval of a scenario and then final approve approval of an implementation plan um so I would
038be happy you take any questions in regards to the process are there any questions from Miss Stone any comments Miss wel thank you thank you um Miss Stone um I would like to say that I did look at the data um and it is it is very very good I'm glad that we have this survey and and this data I would like to say that in my um while I was looking at it I was very um pleased to see that overwhelmingly um the community thinks that a boundary adjustment is necessary and that's the data that we received and that came in and um so you know while nothing's set in stone a decision does need to be made and and we will move forward with that um and this process also really didn't start
039when we hired MGT or even when we decided um that we needed um to hire some somebody it started in September 2023 when we got an email saying that we had a problem a situation at Cool Spring and your school board went to work then and so um you know we we know this is a sensitive topic and and we want to do right by our community but also keeping maintaining the quality of Education in h County thank you anybody else coach yeah kind of tagging on to what Miss Welch said but from a different angle I also appreciate the emails that we've received that um you see the big picture that the school board didn't create this problem either and again um I do appreciate those kind of comments that you have seen that
040we are a school board we're we're not people that approve zonings or anything like this or where to build developments or anything like that that's not what our job is and again just keep in mind our appreciate y all being able to see that that broad spectrum again we're we're about schools and I I recognize and I'm I'm very glad you recognize that too so thank you thank you anybody else yeah Mr Martin yeah I was um in a prior life I was a college basketball referee for about seven years and this process is feels very similar um regardless of what we decide to do it's going to make a lot of people unhappy yeah um so it is it's very challenging we understand that we all I have kids in the schools many of
041the folks up here do as well and it potentially impacts us so we don't take it lightly we know it's uh very sensitive um and and ultimately whatever we decide we know there's going to be a group of people that are not really happy with us thank you Mr Martin anybody else okay thank you Miss D thank you and with that I think we are going to talk about another very popular uh discussion Point uh unscheduled remote learning days miss gri good evening Mr chair school board members Dr Penny KF um I'm excited well okay excited probably isn't the right word um I am glad to bring you what our plan is for the upcoming weather that may or may not happen this week um when we recognized that we were in a situation where
042we had exhausted our opportunity for making up instructional days within our calendar um Dr peniku had staff begin working very quickly on an unscheduled remote learning plan in alignment with the guidance that has come out from the state um much of this information has been shared with the public already we wanted to make sure that everybody was prepared uh should we have another event and you'll even see a couple of these slides are just a tad outdated because we had a little bit of weather last week so why are are we doing this it is in order to maintain the instructional Integrity of our school system we could have done that by having Saturday makeup sessions or taking away some of spring break or extending our school days we recognize that those would not be
043popular options with our community and we recognize that we can accomplish a great deal with some remote learning if it is structured appropriately and so while we always want our students with us face to face we feel that the plan that we have created for the remainder of this year is a good starting point and that we will continue to improve upon that should we need to implement a similar plan next year so here's where our slides are slightly outdated because the we are here is actually we are there and so we are at the point where we have as as I said exhausted our makeup days um and then we are heading into some other strategies so the first strategy that we used last week is to take two of our exam days that
044were previously early release days and turn those into full instructional days we will be coming out with a bell schedule for those two days for our secondary students so that the students and their families understand how we're going to arrange exams on those two days and then the two days that follow there did not need to be an adjustment for day eight but day nine is on the horizon and so when we get to day nine uh we will begin our remote learning days and as we have said we have put out quite a bit of information into the public but I'm going to go over some of the highlights so the elementary plan is activity based but not necessarily Technology based because our students do not take their devices home with them those stay
045at the schools for use and so the information will be pushed out through parent square and other options uh so that everyone gets the same set of information work will be completed for a participation grade and because we are counting these days as instructional days with the state we will also be using work completion as a proxy for attendance the secondary plan is similar although we will use technology uh we will be using our schooly platform for our secondary students that's where the teachers will be housing the assignments we do recognize that we still have pockets of our County that do not have the same access to broadband and so we are making sure that in our schools today and tomorrow that we are giving our students instructions as to how to download assignments um
046Google Docs whatever that might be to their Chromebook in advance so that they have that available to them if they do not have Wi-Fi or Internet access at home we will be announcing a days and B days as we go through should we have multiple opportunities to engage in unscheduled remote learning we will make sure that we are balancing our a days and B days so stay tuned to social media so that we know which day it will be and then the teachers will will be working on staying on Pace with the curriculum that they have in front of them our teachers are responsible for making sure that they have their laptops at home and that they are available for our students and their parents to contact them throughout the day um we want to
047make sure that even though we are not doing synchronous learning that if a student should have a question about an assignment that they can get an answer on that particular day rather than having to wait our teachers do have the opportunity to use Google meet should that work with both the technology that the teacher has and then obviously it would be optional for the students as we know that there's a varying degree of access to Internet throughout the county so we do understand that the Wi-Fi access may be something that is either intermittent as we saw with the last storm or something that is just not out in some of the corners of our County and so there will be flexibility with assignments and due dates to make sure that we're giving all of our
048students the opportunity to be successful on the assignments that are given so again we are talking about that flexibility the adaptability of both our students and our families we're asking for everyone to take a deep breath have a lot of patience and Grace we know that this is not the way that we prefer to learn but we do believe that this is an opportunity for Learning and so it's not just something that's checking a box it's something that's important for our students to master the subjects that they are undertaking this year and with that I would be happy to answer any questions as long as it doesn't involve me giving a weather forecast for the rest of the week we're going to call on somebody else for that uh anybody else any deny us anybody
049you said we're at day six right no that's where we were when we published this then we got some snow last week so we're we have gotten through day eight and we will be on day nine when the next something happens if if something else happens if not wi any other questions can you go back to day nine that graphic just so that everybody sees this so the next one is day nine correct not where it says next M it do not this was published before our weather last week so everybody's aware of the inevitable no it's not inevitable it's inevitable is is I think it's important to note yeah um we there is specific guidance from the state on what we have to do on how many days we can make up and miss
050and things like that so this plan is a detailed plan worked together coordinating with the state guidelines for us to be able to continue to educate our students is that correct that is correct okay thank you any other questions statements alrighty the Hagrid uh Whitley do you have anything you want to uh you it feels like you should follow now okay all right now for the elementary are you going to go right into the elementary recess schedule I am excellent all right uh Mr chair board members Dr Pena for the 2025 26 school year hcps will extend the elementary school recess block from 30 to 40 minutes to support students physical and mental well-being to accommodate this change while preserving instructional time student arrival will be reduced from a 30 minute window to a 20-minute
051window aligning with pre-pandemic practices morning meetings in grades 2 through five will also be shortened by five minutes allowing for more time for core instruction principles will have flexibility and allocating instructional time based on student data to ensure that key content areas receive appropriate emphasis these adjustments maintain a structured and balanced schedule schule that prioritizes both academic excellence and student wellness we went over this um presentation and this hand out in the work session and so this is a recap for the public who may not have been involved in that earlier today as you can see there are some tables in here that will give the appropriate guidance for our principles to create their comprehensive schedules this has been shared with them and they are very excited for the opportunity to make individual decisions based
052upon their own school's data while ensuring that our students have the opportunity for exercise fresh air and a break from learning throughout different portions of the day and I'd be happy to answer any questions are there any questions from the uh board members Mr cyer you got anything I would just like to say thank you to Dr piku and the administrators for taking such a hard look at this okay thank you thank you and and our our next steps you want to just talk about that will you walk away please well our next steps are already in process as we are looking at creating schedules we're already in that process for next year with all of our principles so they've received this information as well we are looking at where there need to be some
053small shifts with our resource teacher schedules um we are waiting for the boundary adjustment to make some of those final decisions about Staffing and sectioning and and things like that where our students with disabilities and what their IEPs require um so there will be some heavy lifting that happens at the end of the school year after the April meeting um but I'm very confident in our principal's ability to do that work and consult with central office to be able to to create the best environments for our students excellent thank you you got to point across that wared thank you all right and with that I believe that we are through with our information and discussion section and now we're into the public comment um just before we get started we have over 30 people signed
054up to speak tonight there is no way we'll get through 30 people in an hour so our plan is that we will do um the first 20 that we or whenever Madame clerk stops us after an hour and we will uh go through the rest of the meeting which tonight there's not a whole lot of other things in the meeting other then uh probably a presentation U that everybody is actually waiting on is from uh um our distinguished architect um so that'll be following the public comment session and then once we're done before we adjourn we'll go back and open back up public comment time for anybody that's still here that wants to have public comments tonight so with that I will now read our public comment intro which is the school board conducts the
055public comment segment of its meeting to receive information from the General Public on matters related to Handover County Public Schools per board policy the total time allotted for public comment shall not exceed 60 Minutes speakers addressing the school board are requested to follow these guidelines as each speaker is recognized by the chairperson the speaker is asked to clearly State the speaker's name magisterial district and the subject of the speaker's remarks speakers are asked to address their comments to the board and not to the audience the board requests that the audience refrain from responding to speakers comments with Applause or any other audible expressions of approval or disapproval the time allotted to each speaker shall be 3 minutes each speaker's elaps time will appear on the screen speakers will also receive notification from Mr Vice chair
056when time has expired although the board does not permit the use of slideshows or other protected materials during this segment speakers are invited to provide printed copies of such materials to the board the board expresses its appreciation for the Public's input and cooperation during this segment of the meeting and with that appreciate that so I'll name the first person then I'll say you're on De I thought you were walking out on me I was getting worried it's the second time tonight okay um Joshua Paramore are you here you're up tonight and on Deck is Kimberly Foley hello my name is Joshua parore from the Mechanicville districts and speaking today about the um treatment of our children in our schools good evening everyone uh since we opened with a prayer it seemed appropriate for me to
057continue on with the message from the word of God will you please turn your Bibles to Matthew 1913 and 14 then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them but the disciples rebuked them Jesus said let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these yet there's a contingent of citizens in our County that would label some of our Handover County children as evil as enemies now these children are primarily of LGBT identify as lgbtq Plus or are children of color now Christ had something to say to his people about treating your enemies Matthew 5:43 says you have heard that it is said You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy but
058I say to you love your enemy and wouldn't this be especially true of the children that have been placed in your care yet feels that this school board continues to treat their enemies with hostility in the pursuit of political priorities the sudden firing of our superintendent with no explanation forcing a new superintendent on us purely out of political partisanship ridding our current school system of equity and transparency refusing to investigate and address rampant bullying committed by students and staff and banning books that might offer the smallest bit of comfort to children that desperately need it in prioritizing these political policies and agendas over these children's well-being we are harming the most vulnerable students placed in your care and make no mistake these actions and inactions are causing real harm to the children in our County
059each board member that votes for these cruel policies and each person supporting the people appointing these board members is responsible for the harm that has befallen these children and here's the thing about harm it leads to anger resentment fear and uncertainty and other stumbling blocks paced in the placed in the paths of these children and ultimately who will these children see as responsible for these stumbling blocks 30 seconds Christians the Christians of Hanover County Drive the decisions made by this school board and in our County and because of these decisions supported by Christians harm is being inflicted on these children and that harm turns into stumbling blocks and do you know what Christ has to say about those who would cause children to stumble it is better to tie a millstone around your neck and
060cast yourself into the sea Matthew 186 thank you Kimberly Foley followed by Adam packet good evening chairman may members of the school board and Dr pennycuff um my name is Kimberly Foley I'm a resident of Kings Charter in the Ashland District thank you all so much for your service to Handover um and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak on shockingly the essential issue of Elementary School boundary adjustments um families and neighborhoods across the district have deep ties to our schools for my family and my three boys that's schol Spring Elementary my husband a lifelong Kings Charter resident attended Pearson's corner for kindergarten and was in the first first grade class at K spring we chose to settle here on the same street where he grew up because of the strong school system
061however I'm sure there's many families behind me that can say the same story we are all incredibly lucky to have Hanover County Public Schools regardless of the elementary school the middle or the high school our children attend and we have all of you to thank for that that said and it's going to sound like I'm preaching to the choir Co Springs overcrowded and there's an uneven utilization of District facilities one of the reasons you the board starting last September as you said Whitney conducted it chose to conduct the boundary adjustment exercise over in stalling and room learning Cottage and other things a sentiment I fully agree with from your seat though I know it must be hard when responsible taxpayer decisions never make anyone all 100% happy I want to express my sincere appreciation that
062the board has clearly and transparently demonstrated their commitment to serving the county in its entirety not one area while using datadriven guiding principles now the blue scenario from my view does directly address some of the concerns and the and guiding principles that have been communicated to the community by reducing Co Springs enrollment to 90% ensuring a sustainable balance in contrast the purple scenario pushes Pearson's corner to 96% capacity even as there's a possibility of Pearson's replacement on the horizon I would like to call your attention to actions that were taken 35 to 40 years ago I've provided um agreements um from from County records um citing these changes in 1986 the Kings Charter Community was developed under a planed unit development agreement requiring requiring its developers to contribute $175,000 to purchase the land Cool Spring
063now sits on um the section you have listed in the purple scenario which again I know is not final at this time is actually the same section that was developed at the time King's Charter was suggested to be overcrowding Pearsons from a taxpayer responsibility perspective the blue or green scenarios do make the most effective uses of our resources fully utilizing a brand new facility that's been funded by taxpayers the purple scenario leaves Washington Henry at only 64% capacity which is a pretty inefficient use of public Investments effectively the purple scenario contradicts those main guiding principles for conducting this exercise in the first place thank you thank you Adam packet followed by Jennifer Newman good evening school board members uh and thank you for your time and effort you dedicate to our schools and children's education
064my name is Adam packet and I am a resident of Kings Charter in the Ashland district and proud father of two boys who attend Cool Spring Elementary uh like many parents here I deeply care about the school Community my children are part of and want to ensure that any boundary adjustments serve the best interests of the greatest number of families um I understand the need to address overcrowding at Cool Spring and thank you for listening and bringing the Cottages in this year it's been incredibly helpful I can't tell you enough uh thank you enough for that um but I urge you to consider the long-term impact of these changes on students and families the blue scenario makes the most sense of the proposed scenarios it efficiently balances School populations uh while keeping neighborhoods uh together
065and minimizing unnecessary student disruptions uh one of my biggest concerns actually my my number one concerned with the purple scenario is how it could negatively affect families by splitting up a neighborhood and potentially creating a ripple effect of overcrowding at other schools down the road uh while Pearson's Corner uh May remain a smidge under capacity in the short term the projection does not fully account for the school's plan rebuild uh beginning uh in a couple years the blue scenario however offers a more sustainable solution ensuring that student populations remain at manageable levels throughout these transitions um I would also like to remind that the board of the plan unit development agreement between Kings Charter and Hanover County in the 1980s where King's Charter contributed $175,000 for the land for Cool Spring addressing the known overcrowding
066at Pearson's corner back then I one what's best for my boys neighborhood and every student in Hanover County I believe the blue scenario offers a fair thoughtful solution the balances the building capacity maintaining Community stability and prioritizing the well-being of our children appreciate your time and consideration and I trust that you will decide how best to support our students and families I also love the additional 10 minutes of recess I think that's so incredible for these children I got my wife texed me too like thank you for that thank you thank you Jennifer Newman followed by Danielle geast Daniel Gees there you are okay I'm sorry you were wait country good evening chairman May Dr pennycuff and board my name is Jennifer Newman I'm a resident of the Chickahominy district and a milestone neighborhood and
067the proud parent of a ninth grader at Atley high school I'm here tonight to express my concerns about the re uh redistricting proposed for our Middle and High School boundaries and I'm asking the board to please allow all existing Atley students to have the choice to remain at Atley High School School through their graduation the high school years are a crucial time for our kids to prepare for college and they would lose so much traction if they had to switch schools impacts could include losing teacher and counselor relationships which are so important for recommendations extra curriculars leadership opportunities and friendships and social connections one of the key principles of the boundary adjustment process was to minimize impacts to students and I understand and support the logic behind the boundary changes but request that we minimize
068the impact to the existing atly high school students if these boundary changes had been made before my daughter started Middle School we would have celebrated we are part of the small group of Ky Creek students who do not attend Oak Nolan Handover and it was a very painful adjustment leaving nearly all of my daughter's friends from elementary school and it took her a couple of years to really find her people and established strong friendships to start that whole process over in the middle of high school would be extremely disruptive and emotionally taxing mental health issues are prevalent among our kids and we should do whatever we can to help create stability and not add unwarranted and unnecessary stress and hardship based on the data presented by MGT it does not seem like ATL is at
069risk for being overcrowded in the next few years so by allowing them to stay through graduation really wouldn't put that much of a hardship on the school I captured a few of my daughter's comments because she filled out the MGT survey and I had her cut and pasted over for me so this is a qup from my daughter I think it's a good idea for KY Creek to go to Handover in the future but please let students already at atlast stay if they wish to I would be devastated if I had to switch schools it's hard for me to make new friends and switching would be very difficult if I had to move it might also make it harder for me to learn and have a good high school experience I already know so many
070teachers at Atley and involved in extra curricular activities and clubs it would be very hard on me and other students to start all over please don't ruin high school for me and other students and make us miserable okay that's the end of her part so I'll close by saying I'd also ask for you if you could to share your plans for how the middle and high school changes will be implemented as soon as you can as you can imagine this level of uncertainty is creating a lot of stress in our households and has been a big distraction the proposed middle and high school U boundary changes are the same in all three of the scenarios that you shared so it doesn't seem like this necessarily has to wait till the very bitter end to be
071communicated so thank you for your consideration and for supporting a solution that can not only solve for the long-term boundary changes but also the short-term support for our students thank you Danielle GE Follow by Elizabeth Baron crog hi my name is Danielle gist and I'm a mother of a ninth grader at Atley High School I also live in Milestone but I'm in the Ashland District the other half of Milestone is in the Chickahominy District um and our neighborhood is proposed for the resoning um to Handover High I wanted to know how our Milestone Community felt about the proposed resoning so with the help of individuals in our community I shared an informal optional survey with my neighbors to find out how other parents were feeling um the survey was not affiliated with the Milestone HOA
072I received 60 five unique responses from parents with at least one student in sixth through 11th grade attending either Chickahominy Andor Atley High School um these responses represent about 35% of the total student count from mgt's Middle High School resoning map for the section that includes Milestone and top otomy from the survey 86% of parents would like to have the choice for their current Middle High School student to stay and continue through their Chickahominy atly path when asked what concerned the parents the top answer was social interactions over 50% of the parents ranked it as a 10 out of 10 in the level of their concern many parents noted that their students previously experienced a significant change in their peer group due to the move to ciry to Chickahominy let me share some comments last
073year there were 125 kiry fifth graders less than 20 went to Chickahominy making friends was difficult with only one friend in one class our students have already had to separate from their elementary school friends when they went to CMS from kiry this would be a second time changing their Social Circles and peer groups both of our children went through this scenario when leaving Cy to go to Chickahominy they forged ahead making new friends and finding their place to do this again to these same students during the critical high school years will have a significant negative impact socially and academically the next top concerns from parents were academic interaction teacher counselor relationships Sports and class scheduling availability of seats 45% of parent 45% parents ranked Sports at a 10 out of 10 in level of concern
07430 seconds parents noted how students had formed strong bonds with both teammates and coaches and were concerned about leadership opportunities at a new school our Milestone Community has come together sharing our concerns with you remember that the numbers that are listed in the MGT presentation represent accomplished middle and high school students with strong bonds academic social and extracurricular in the current School settings as parents provide us the choice to allow our Middle High School students to stay and continue at Chickahominy and Atley until they graduate thank you very much thank you Elizabeth Baron crog followed by Bob Nelson hello my name is Elizabeth fenro and I am a seventh grader at Chickahominy Middle School I'm here tonight because I live in the Milestone neighborhood and I love my school and my friends and I don't
075want to have to say say goodbye to them for the second time I believe that all students already attending any middle or high school should be given the opportunity to decide whether or not they wish to stay where they are it's not please don't take them away from the schools they know the friends and teachers they have built relationships with and the sports and clubs they love the neighborhood I live in has already had to leave their Elementary friends behind and start over I walked into my sixth grade classes not knowing a single person this is because of the very small number of students that live in Milestone and Tau otomy that went to Cy Creek and later on chck homon and Alley I spent the entire year working hard to make friends in my
076classes and I grew to love my teachers and peers very much chor became the highlight of my day because of the sense of community that I found I also earned a leading role in the School Musical Newsies we practiced every day and really became like a family I've come a long way from being told that I and only 15 out of the 122 fifth graders from KY Creek would be attending Chi homon instead of going to Oak alongside the rest of my friends there is still an emptiness in my heart from feeling like I wasn't special and that no one cared about these 15 kids I still remember the day when every single teacher and all my friends got the tour o' while I sat in a half empty classroom doing nothing this sadness when
077not a single teacher came on my tour of chiah homon is still with me I was heartbroken to have to leave those friends that I had known for years behind I have had to try very hard to make new friends and the thought that I might have to leave them too really upsets me once again these same 15 sth grade students are being told they might have to change schools forcing only this limited number to start over again the thought that unlike the rest of chick Harmony I will not get to sing the eighth grade songs and chorus or enjoy eighth grade fund day or the eighth grade dance with my friends or be able to sing and dance my heart out on the chicka homon stage as I've watched the other eighth graders do
078once again I will walk into a different classroom 30 having no friends all those other kids would already have their friend groups figured out and I would be the outsider again my hope is that I and the rest of the Milestone and TD otomy students will be able to graduate together with our CMS family completing our Middle School journey and ready for the next chapter although small in number please consider allowing these current students the chance the choice of continuing their current educational path or opting into the proposed changes thank you thank you for your time have a good evening Bob Nelson followed by Elizabeth Weber good evening chairman May and school board members my name is Bob Nelson I reside in the ashin district and the Honey Meadow subdivision the honey Meadow subdivision opposed
079Taylor Farms resoning eliminating 43 homes that's results in less of a problem at Cool Spring Elementary honey Meadows was part of the solution my concerns con my comments concern cool springing enrollment and redistricting I sent a do to you on February 10th it reviews September 30th enrollment for the years 2019 to 21 that's the primary focus tonight the document shows actual and projected K-5 student enrollment in September 2021 actual Cool Spring enrollment was 722 students 94% of capacity Cool Springs had major increases of 60 students and 100 students in 2021 compared to prior year projections moreover in SE May 2018 the School Division knew that new homes in the honey Meadow subdivision had 0.9 students per home impact on the three schools well above the 0.5 student per home planning assumption that data was publicly
080available as a result of a major rezoning case in the South Ana District the large enrollment increases at Cool Spring compared to projections was the direct result of new home construction near the schools the School Division had an enrollment problem in September 2021 but did not address the issue until the fall of 2023 two years later families have purchased new homes along Atley Station Road based on proximity to the three schools but never once in over 25 years did the School Division indicate that access to Neighborhood schools would be denied residen should not pay the price for County Planning failures and inertia redistricting will be enormously disruptive and burdensome it's the wrong response an eight classroom addition to Cool Spring eliminates the need for redistricting most elementary schools have additions six were completed in the
0811980s and 1990s cool sh spring should be added to that list thank you thank you Elizabeth Weber followed by Melanie razac good evening my name is Elizabeth Weber I'm in the Ashland district and the subject of my remarks is the School boundary adjustments my family has lived in Hanover for over 30 years my husband and I attended Co spring in Washington Henry and then chamon and Natalie we were actually at chomy in 2001 when we went through the redistricting to Oak and Handover so we understand um and recognize that this is not an easy decision and no solution is going to make everyone happy but it is necessary we appreciate that a Professional Organization was hired with the experience to help you make the best decision for our entire community so we thank you for
082that we ask that you please remember why this boundary adjustment is occurring which is because of the overcrowding of Co spring if the purple option is chosen the overcrowding of Cole spring will be shifted to Pearson's corner resulting in a 96% capacity which will then lead to nearing full capacity at chikami and Atley simply put the purple option does not solve the problem the process has been stated to ensure that we continue to serve our students and Facilities that are used in the most effective and efficient way possible the purple option creates an uneven utilization and will not effectively utilize a newly built School schools that are overcrowded negatively impact our community hinder the educational experience and the overall well-being of our children as we've seen at Cool Spring classrooms become cramped leading to discomfort
083and distractions that make it difficult for our students to focus crowded schools place an immense burden on teachers and staff more students will require more work which can lead to burnout reducing the quality of instruction and support they can provide as a community we must recognize the quality of Education directly influences the future success and wellbeing of our children therefore it is imperative that we address this issue with a long-term data driven solution the blue scenario will alleviate and sustain overcrowding immediately and in the long term it will responsibly and effectively use our taxpayers dollars it will ensure safer and more efficient transportation and it will not divide a 40-year-old established neighborhood continuing our community Integrity as our hand County School Board I ask you to please use and apply data in your decision consider
084our community roots and The Guiding principles of balancing utilization and avoiding Island zones please our thank you please keep our hardworking amazing teachers comfortable and set up our kids and our community for long-term success thank you thank you Melanie razac followed by furri bdan this Mr ban here no um Isaiah Dabney Megan barer or Barger um oh boy hea thank you all you had that's all you had to say she got it from there thank you okay Melanie uh good evening my name is Melanie ryac and I'm in eighth grade at sorry the English is not englishing today uh tonight I'm here to address the school rezoning which I know has become a very important topic to many Handover residents Melanie I'm sorry you sto you paused there pause the time did you say you're
085an eighth grade student somewhere uh yes I'm an eighth grader at chah middle thank you you left that out I just was trying to make sure I was following you thank you no that's on me um so I'm an eighth grader at Cham middle and my siblings um I have two younger siblings and they're Fifth and second graders at KY Creek Elementary and were residents of Milestone which is now zoned to go to oakal Middle um I'm here tonight to ask that Milestone isn't redistricted which I know is a bit much to ask but I would like you to hear me out and if that isn't possible at least let the students who are going to go to Chick homon next year or atly next year those students to continue attending there um first I'd
086like you to hear my personal story and in only the past five years I and many students in my neighborhood have gone through a lot um as you all know five years ago we faced the corona virus pandemic and for the rest of that Year everyone was confused and scared didn't know what to do myself self-included when I was in the fourth grade I spent the entire year learning through zoom in my closet and I spent almost the entire year isolated from my friends who attended in-person school um and by the time I was in the fifth grade and back face to face I had my two very best friends in my fifth grade class they would be going to oakill next year I was absolutely miserable the entire year now skip ahead three years
087were in the present day and I'm an eighth grader at chikamin Middle School I've made some incredible friends and I finally feel comfortable in my own skin I have extra corcs that keep me busy throughout the week including the School Musical which we're currently practicing ing um I have classes and teachers and friends I look forward to seeing every day and a school that I just feel so happy and comfortable in and speaking of that chiah hom is now a place that my siblings are comfortable in um they attend Choir concerts they attend my musicals and they go to charger day every year they know they're going to chiah hamy next year they're comfortable with so many of the people and the environment and like the fact that they might not be attending is hard
088for both myself and my siblings to comprehend I don't know what's going to come out of my meetings but I do want my voice to be heard in this thank you thank you EA followed by zat Nissa who knows good evening members of school board neighbors and fellow parents my name is Hita Panik paril and I'm from chiah Harmony District thank you for giving me a chance to address the school board again and I'm not a public speaker yet I stand before you to address the proposed hcps School resoning the three proposals out of which two impacts 300 more students than the third one one and replaces kids from one of the closest neighborhoods to Cool Spring Elementary I stand before you not just as a resident of Jiles but as a mother who carefully
089chose this community with one goal in mind to give my children the best education possible we invested in our homes our families and our futures based on a promise a promise that our children would attend Co Spring Elementary a school that we planned for sacrificed for and built our lives around now with these resoning proposals that promise is being broken our children who today can walk or bike safely to school will be put on buses adding unnecessary time to their day and burdening an already strained transportation system these proposals do not follow the very principle the board set forth principles meant to minimize the disruption and prioritize our children's well-being instead they separate the neighborhoods arbitrarily disregard natural boundaries and force families into uncertainty and for what to displace students from a higher performing school
090to double the cost of transportation to appro young children from their friends teachers and Community all for a short-term solution that that does not even address future growth we are not asking for favoritism we are asking for fairness we are asking you to uphold the commitments made to us when we chose this community we have offered Solutions through polls and staff an extension at Cool Spring Elementary a plan that truly resolves the overcrowding without displacing our children we plead to be heard tonight I ask you no I urge you to stand with us protect our children honor our your own guiding principles and choose a path that strengthens rather than fractures our community thank you for hearing me out thank you zet Nissa followed by Dr Kiran toari and what magisterial district are you from
091chah Harmony thank you good evening everybody uh members of the board I am a Gile resident and mother of two children who love Cool Springs Elementary School and I'm here to present their concerns they want to walk to the school and are requesting you please don't take that opportunity from them and we all recognize that school capacity needs to be addressed but what we cannot accept is a plan that creates more problems than it solves I'm here to talk about the facts the blue and green proposals failed to meet The Guiding principles outlined by this very board they increase Transportation costs lengthen commute times and disrupt hundreds of students and yet there is a viable solution that the that achieves the same goal without these consequences expanding the Cool Springs Elementary School why does this
092make sense first it provides a permanent solution ensuring we don't face another resoning crisis in a few years when new Housing Development like Charleston Ridge second and even more uh add even more students second it minimizes disruption the goal should be to impact the fewest students possible something these MGT proposals fail to do and let's talk about Transportation the proposed shift to Washington Henry Elementary School would not only Force students on buses Who currently walk but it would also cost taxpayers nearly twice as much in transportation expenses in a time of budget constraints this really makes sense we should think about it the solution is clear a Cool Springs expansion alliance with the school board's guiding principles minimizes harm and provides a future proof solution to overcrowding the Jes Community is not asking for special
093treatment we are just asking for responsible decision making I urge you to consider this carefully the right decision is the one that serves students families and and taxpayers not just today but for future I walked around many of us G's parents walked around in the neighborhood and we asking our neighbors what do they think we are 460 plus resident um uh houses living there and uh over a weekend roughly around 270 parents gave their consent in the form of signatures and we submitted the petition it's an ongoing we'll go to more parents we didn't had enough time we have submitted that to the board in email that please listen to us please listen to our concerns and do what is best for our children that's all we want thank you thank you Dr Kieran toari
094followed by Christen halty hello I'm Kiran tiari um from chah District uh good evening member of the board I come before you tonight with one simple questions would you send your child into a school that is actively being constructed because that's exactly what this proposal would do to our children let's start with the OBS while constructing construction is happening where will our childrens's go their playground gone their out their outdoor spaces turn into construction site their dream already deemed below today's standard because of the outdated selling height now for to accommodate even more students without any improvements let's talk about our safety risk the noise alone will disrupt learning but but worse the exposure of construction material and potentially Urban contaminants could harm students Health the last time the parents raised concern about the mold
095in school what happened but um yeah what happened has this old building been properly inspected has year quality testing been conducted or are we expected to just have the someone's word for it again because that's a risk and uh we are not willing to take to um with your child's health this is not just about resoning it's about the fundamental responsibility this board has to protect to students under care we cannot in good concerns place our children in aging deteriorating building with known structural concerns while construction is happening all around them if we move forward with this plan we are choosing to prioritize convenience over safety cost over children's well-being and short-term fixes over long-term long-term Solutions our kids deserves a safe stable learning environment one that does not require them to Doge construction zones
096to breathe in questionable year we have responsibility to do better and tonight we are requesting that the school board uh do hear this thank you thank you Kristen hty followed by Angel May good evening school board and administration my name is Kristen hty of the Cold Harbor District thank you for letting me speak to you tonight first of all I want to say I appreciate you happy School Board appreciation month and also happy Schoolboard clerk appreciation month you're very much appreciated you know the one good thing about having an overcrowding is a lot lot of people are moving to Hanover County you know they appreciate our appointed school board for all it does so that's the one good thing about um having overcrowding the other good thing is it takes time to build when people
097say expand Cool Springs Elementary it made me think it takes time to plan to extend a school I mean it can take several years just to do that so I really sympathize with what you have to what the decisions you have to make as far as the boundary goes I appreciate you as a an appointed school board for being transparent patient and tolerant of everyone I also do not believe biological males should compete in female sports nor should boys should be allowed in the girl in the girls safe space as far as the gymnasium as far as their uh the gym or the locker rooms I request the school board stay strong to your beliefs and morals and continue to put the children first for they need to be protected from those that want to
098indoctrinate hurt confuse and manipulate those children to rebel against their parents and be put In Harm's Way such as sex trafficking boys men do not belong in girls women's bathrooms locker rooms and sports girl girls women need to have the Safety and Security that they will not be violated by a boy man coming into their private space boys men's taking part in girls women's sports take away from the hard work of women and the future of those girls women financially and mentally girls women need to be encouraged to participate in their Sports not beaten mentally and physically by those boys men um that are stronger and and able to compete or or have a longer uh stamina I just want to thank you for letting me speak to you tonight and hopefully we won't get
099any more snow this week I'm tired of the snow myself thank you thank you something we all can agree on thank you Angel May followed by Charlie hog H hello good evening one second is Charlie here hey Charlie okay um her tap saho okay thank you Miss May thank you um thank you members of the school board for letting us speak tonight uh I am speaking on behalf of Giles to support purple I have one question for you what happened to the principles you set forth for this resoning process you said you would minimize student impact yet these proposals disrupt entire neighborhoods over 800 plus students uh near Giles will be having issues you said you would consider Transportation yet you are forcing kids who can currently walk to school into buses increasing commute times
100and doubling costs Giles is one of the closest communities at a walkable and bikable distance we have houses at Giles as close as 25 miles from Cool Springs Elementary while as the section of King's Charter which falls under purple option category is 2.8 8 miles from Cool Springs Elementary limiting the time and cost required on the bus the blue and green options directly contradict the guiding principles presented at the January 14th school board meeting increased Transportation time in busing and removal of our neighborhood school's significant impact on multiple neighborhoods and the creation of an arbitrary boundary that does not adhere to Natural berries or major roads the options go against the principles that guided the process addition Ally the proposed plans feel designed to Target the Giles neighborhood we bought and Built Homes here specifically
101for Co Springs Elementary as a commitment made by Hanover County and which was marketed and sold by Ryan's homes and East West Community this proposal undermines those commitments and C stats on future promises made by the county regarding the school assignments I'm pretty sure Hanover County was aware of the marketing tactics by these Builders it was posted everywhere it was in advertisements all over the newspapers so I ask again what happened to those principles were they just words on a page because if they truly guided your decision the blue and green proposals would have never made it this far additionally I'm also concerned about the longer times my child is going to be on the bus you're going to have to pick him up probably around 700 a.m. and he probably won't get home until
102after 4 also the traffic in front of Giles is insane they're planning on putting a roundabout now you're talking about buses having to go around the about to get into drals and to get out how many school buses are going to be passing by it's already difficult for us to get in and out of Giles on both sides whether you turn left or turn right 30 seconds if this board ignores us tonight you aren't just rejecting our voices you're rejecting the very values you claim to uphold you are telling every family member in this country that their trust is in the system was misplaced thank you thank you pause there Madam clerk just one second please so so we've had it said three or four times tonight and I just want to clarify something another
103um expansion of Cool Spring does not help Chickahominy and atle who are both at over 95% full right now so I I hope that the citizens understand we are trying to come up with a comprehensive plan that deals with more than just Chickahominy okay so suggesting us to be able to consider just expanding Cool Spring doesn't solve the bigger problem and I ask you please read what we say read what I put out earlier we are not trying to come we're trying to come up with a solution that will best help everybody okay we are we we and again we have no proposals I mean we can keep going tonight we're going to keep going for another a couple hours on this but I'll just remind you we have there is not a single recommendation
104yet been made to the school board not one there are multiple scenarios out there and there's even more there's an indigo one now and I just share all that with you please you have got to work with us and let you know that we understand it but we're not trying to make a snap decision that's going to do anything other than as I read in my per eloquent statement I thought try to come up with a solution that's best for all of Hover County Public Schools okay so I I needed to clear clarify that point pretty quickly expanding Cool Spring is really not an answer because atly and chiah hamony are both over 95% so if you continue to throw in more numbers and more numbers all you're doing there is no chance of expanding
105either Chickahominy or Atley High School okay so you have to know that in us in our work please thank you I'm sorry now we can go back Mr Vice chair I had to get that off my chest is it off Mr aoo followed by Erico PLO very good short but sweet thank you Mr Sue thank you um good evening to all the honorable school board members and my name is pratab sahu I live in chahani District um I am here today to talk about the boundary adjustment and school region options um as honorable chair says that we hear you a lot about that expansion options so I'm sorry to say but I have the same thing in my note yeah so so yeah let's let's work as a team and collaborative way for a common
106objective how it beneficial for all the um students and all the local communities and all not just to disrupt the um transportation like there there will be a lot of um hurdles we might face if we do this plan but yeah let let me go through my my notes um I might not be able to complete my speech Within these three minutes allowed time but I hope the school board has already received my context from a prior email so as a homeowner we trusted that the promises made when he bought our houses would be honored but this rejoining our neighborhood doesn't just affect our children's education but it also affect our investment property value and the Integrity of this school system so we attach to cool Springs Elementary School and it was not just a
107clear understanding but also an expli explicit selling point made by Hanover County and developers and also the builders right so so hey there is a community coming with high rating school you can move there so a lot of things happen here and there but we we have no clue and and the community have been approved by the Hanover County like Way Long back maybe 14 years back I don't know what the plan was taken that time but yeah sorry to say so what we can do um and and by doing this what the message we are sting to the upcoming families and the and the children's education like it's it's it's totally disg graded overnight this is not just about the education it's about the trust right so so again sorry to say but I
108have to say our top priority is to keep all the kids at Cool Spring Elementary School as much as as possible the options are available but if we can't then definitely we would like to propose to expand the school gpin elementary school by adding some additional Cottages 30 seconds yep sure or by the time school board will decide how we can expand that school building right which is not an option for now so by saying this our next preferred option is the purple boundary adjustment this options affect approximately 600 plus students whereas blue and green options impact significantly more around 800 plus students right and I request you all to please not take this lightly and rethink a long-term solution rather than a short-term strategic plan thank you sir I'm not sure how the survey
109data is accuracy still 11 second is there can I speak no you're done thank you Eric thank you you can use your glasses I don't care you got something to hand out to us give it to the clerk please uh V VJ and ready you're on Deck okay he's actually I thought your hat was cooler than your glasses so oh hey well actually um before I your time go ahead all right that's all right yeah so uh my name is uh Eric PLO um I'm part of the Chickahominy District um first and foremost I want to say I'm proud to um plant my roots here in Handover County um you know I'm I don't want to say my neighborhood I just I'm the only time I'm going against another part of Mechanicsville is when Mechanicville
110Hornets are playing um the blue star Cowboys are you know atlast playing Handover or Mechanicsville um but I'm I'm here to ask you guys today to maybe I'm urging you to pause um all resoning decision um until a f until a full digital audit of mgt's data models is conducted um I found numerous inconsistencies data errors um that uh I think we need to look at um a lot of us we went to those meetings um it kind of became like uh you know no longer neighborhoods we were districts in The Hunger Games it was you know team purple Team Green Team blue and everybody was getting worked up um I think we all obviously um know how important mental health is to our children I was military for 15 years I got out most
111people say why didn't you do 20 years I got out because the mental um just moving my kids multiple times and I promised them I wasn't going to do it again um as you you see if you guys have this um one thing that I noticed with the survey um when I took it you know I know that mistakes happen making surveys but this could be a a major mistake in um people's emotions going and you're automatically if you're strongly disagreeing with something it's all it's usually at the bottom um what I caught was that there was two strongly agrees and no strongly disagree um that did get fixed um but uh you know how many people took the survey maybe thinking that was uh strongly disagree it might have just misconstrued the data a
112little bit um also I mean I'll go over this real quick I got 53 seconds so um transparency is just everything we're just kind of you know we're looking at all these data models and we're not data an or analysts and uh you know it takes time to digest um as we slow down and start looking at stuff we have questions about um you know is the school capacity functional capacity 30 seconds RFP that I received through the Foy a is 768 um on mgts it said the capacity was 760 so that little bit of deviation you know it builds after a while it's like using compass and not um you know taken into effect uh I'm sorry the glass went off taken into effect like uh magnetic north you know you can come off
113a little bit with little mistakes like that so I ask you guys to maybe give us a little more time to look through the data thank you thank you VJ followed by Meridia ristic yeah good evening Mr chairman board members Dr pen pikov senior staff my name is Vijay Chen and I'm from chah Harmony District uh today I here to actually talk about a fact-based analysis of MGT Consultants contract violations uh so I'm here to present an objective analysis of MGT consulting's failure to fulfill its contractual obligations in the school boundary adjustment process and I want to actually detail out some of the facts out here now failure to provide flexibility for raising fourth and fifth graders the contract explicitly requires MGT to include an option allowing Rising fourth and fifth graders and their siblings
114to remain in their current School the proposed boundary adjustments do not provide this flexibility requiring families to transition abruptly and the other point failure to analyze Transportation impact the contract mandates an evaluation of attendance zone changes on bus routes and travel times along with contingency plans to maximize Transportation efficiency no comprehensive Transportation impact report has been presented instead available data shows increased commute Times Higher Transportation costs and an increased Reliance on bus transportation for students who currently walk to school failure to provide a comprehensive demographic analysis the contract requires an analysis of demographic effects including total enrollment instructional functional capacity raise home language and free reduced lunch status additionally mg is required to evaluate Financial impacts related to transportation and Staffing no complete demographic or financial analysis has been presented making it impossible to assess
115the full impact of these changes on different student populations the lastly inadequate Community engagement and data transparency the contract requires MGT to collect and assess Community feedback however many residents have reported limited opportunities to provide meaningful imp act or meaningful input the lack of transparency in mgt's reports raises concerns about whether data was properly considered in forming these proposals given these facts I urg the school board to require MGT Consulting to fulfill its contractual obligations before considering any resoning changes making decisions without complete data contradicts the purpose of hiring a third party consultant does not and does not pro serve the best interest of Hanover County students all taxpayers thank you thank you Mr Mr chairman we have time for two more speakers he said we have time for two more speakers y m ristic
116and Alexandra Cox is Miss Cox here hold r one second Miss Jennifer Thompson okay thank you uh dear school board members thank you for your time today my name is Maria rtic and I am resident of the king's Charter and a concerned parent at chahini District of Hanover County I'm here to voice my deep concern regarding the proceed proposed School zoning changes that would divide our neighborhood and disrupt the stability of families like mine I have one child attending Spring Elementary and another at chahini Middle School our family has worked hard to establish a routine that support their education after school care and overall well-being any zoning change that forces my children to attend different schools would create unnecessary stress or ch ch challenges and disruption to their daily lives like many parents I have
117carefully chosen after school care as a safe and structural environment for my children if our neighborhood is split and we are reassigned to different school we will lose access to this critical service leaving us without an alternative this is not just about convenience it is about ensuring our children have consistency and Security in their education beyond the logistical impact breaking apart our neighborhood would harm the strong Community ties we have built schools are more than just buildings they are places of learning friendship and stability frequent reassignments can negatively affect children's academic progress emotional well-being and Social Development this decision also raises concern about fairness every child deserves the opportunity to remain in the school their families have thoughtfully choose splitting CH King's Charter will create unnecessary hardship and long-term challenges for students and parents alike
118I respectfully urge you to consider the following keep King shter assigned to one school to maintain Community Unity allow families to remain in their curent school to prevent disruption to child care and establish routines prioritize the well-being of students and families over zoning changes based solely on capacity numbers I ask you to make this decision with the students best interest at heart our children deserve stability and our community deserves to stay together thank you for your time and consideration thank you bless you Jennifer Thompson followed by Bridget Charles Miss Charles here one second Miss Thompson is Carol Sonam or s name here okay one second you're on Deck is Andy hog here okay just stay put Jenna childis okay and Tina steber Tina oh stay put well I'm just checking okay those are all the
119speakers that have signed up tonight okay Miss Thompson you're on okay good evening hang on Miss Thompson please after this okay go ahead sorry had a plan problem U my name is Jen Thompson and I'm here with Meredith and Lane and we are part of the Henry District we're gonna talk about something different no just kidding we're up here about the boundary adjustment you got us all excited so tonight I stand before you as a proud member of the class of 1994 from rolepoint elementary I speak not only on behalf of my children but for generations of families who've called R Point their school families spanning from the classes of 1989 to 2024 and more importantly tonight I stand with members of the future class of 2028 where whose educational Journeys will be shaped by
120the decisions you make in the coming months World point is more than just a place of learning it is where we grew up where lifelong friendships were made and where families from the Studley area have built a tight-knit supportive Community as we approached the 50th anniversary of the opening of rural point in the fall events have been planned to honor the history and traditions that have made World Point such a special place these deep rooted connections are what make this area unique however the proposed boundary changes are deeply concerning to our families all three scenarios as proposed offer no alternative for us sending our children to Pole Green Elementary uprooting them from the stable nurturing environment they've known and severing vital connections to friends teachers and a community they cherish we ask you to consider
121the broader impact these changes would have on our families particularly concerning Transportation Pole Green Road is already heavily congested and adding more school related traffic will worsen an already strained situation we request that you preserve the stly road area including Williamsville road to summerh Hill Road the neighborhoods of Summer Plains and the colonies and hanovertown Road Road within the Roo Elementary Zone under the proposed scenarios Royo will continue to have a school bus picking up children that will go right past our homes these proposed changes are not just about where our children will attend school they're about preserving the legacy of RPO Elementary for the future of our children our community and the preservation of Legacy we've worked so hard to build we ask you to carefully consider the lasting impacts these changes could have
122before you today you'll find the names of individuals who stand with us in our effort to keep Ro Point as it is a map outlining the affected area heartfelt comments from families in our community and photos capturing moments when earlier generation of Royal Point students now adults came together as rolepoint Indians as well as today's Generation Now rolepoint road runners all showcasing the unity that has always defined us now our turn to you our leaders to listen to our concerns and understand the profound impact these changes could have on our future and our community thank you so much for listening to me tonight and I appreciate you thank you and thanks for bringing your family and we enjoyed seeing the new Road Runner I'll just tell you that a year ago coach I do you
123have a motion for me yes Mr chair I'd like to make a motion to extend uh public comment for four more speakers we have one two three four more speakers second second we have motion by coach Ike a second by Mr Martin any discussion all those in favor say I I all opposed motion carries we will extend the uh public comment time for another 12 minutes roughly to allow the next four speakers okay we have Carol next and then Andy hog is next and Then followed by Jenna bless you Jenna chis and then finally Tina steenberg I'm Carol seny from the ashel and District Kings Charter subdivision my first thing and I'm going to end up repeating half of what the other folks said is please do not split a subdivision a subdivision is a
124a family and you've heard the trauma that can be caused by splitting the subdivisions as well as busing the kids the other thing is is I've heard a lot of talk about the mental health if something forbid should happen like what has happened across the country with mental health children as a result of the boundary adjustments the school board would be the first to be looked at because the adjustment the boundary adjust adjustments could cause stress on the children as a result you need to have the boundary adjustment completely justifiable and 100% necessary with that said there are so many variables I agree with the other gentleman that MGT did not consider they are just using some statistical analysis and it actually I don't think any of the three scenarios should should be used um
125it does not exclude the capital plan the 19 or 2018 Capital plan has five schools on it that were supposed to be repaired or replaced within five years by 2024 they have not happened the 2024 plan has um information that Beaver Dam should be um replaced and nothing has been mentioned about that um uh pages one and two that I gave you have those statistics and I've cited where I got them from the next thing is that the the Planning Group is allowing developers to continue giving them um permits to develop and MGT did not take it into consideration they did survey the developers and there are 270 homes actively being built right now seconds um the oh the one thing that I suggest is that we do not change any boundaries that are not
126over crowded which means I think that we need to leave the uh High Middle School and High School alone if you look at Cool Spring it's obvious Cool Spring is overcrowded and is really the only school that needs to be adjusted thank you so so you made two comments I gotta make sure you know the correction on beaverdam elementary school has been awarded a contract to be rebuilt and is in the it has been funded and is active and so is Battlefield Park so your information was not exactly correct but we have let contracts for both of those schools to be built and you're going to hear about Washington Henry if you stick around for a few minutes we're gonna be rebuilding Washington Henry too thank you okay you're welcome Andy hog followed by Jenna
127chis then Tina steber good evening thank you for allowing me to speak you're kind of stealing a lot of my thunder wanted to talk about that no I'm here as a father everybody here I hate to ask you Andy I always stand closer or tilt the mic up your choice you're good there you go thanks I'm coming to you as a father a parent of two children at Cool Spring Elementary as much as everybody else in here is doing the same um we're here speaking about uh students that were you know being moved in middle school at this point and how it's breaking their hearts and having to split up from their friends now we're talking about moving a thousand kids all around the County to different schools think about the impact that that's going
128to have currently and that's in all scenarios blue green and purple uh in Indigo most likely and tangerine or whatever other color we choose um creating more Transportation issues creating more you know just all kinds of things across the county um the numbers in the U utilization for Washington Henry which I believe we're going to speak about shortly uh for a school that's yet to be planned or built so as asking students to move or move there to a you know an a lot older School in the next year or so just doesn't seem feasible for anything to happen there um the proposals also as presented intentionally or unintentionally have pitted neighborhoods and communities against each other at this point we have people yelling for purple we have people yelling for blue green whatever it
129is and it's creating friends to fight against each other for no reason other than that we want the best for our children right now I just ask that you guys think about about taking a pause thinking about what's happening and understand that it's not just one neighborhood it's the entire community at this point thank you guys so much thank you thank you Jenna chis followed by Tina sber yeah Jenna yeah I was gonna say would you P that down now that Andy's done would you mind pulling that down thanks uh good evening Mr chairman members of the board Dr Penny cuff and Senior staff my name is Jenna childis I'm from the Ashlin District I did inaccurately put Chickahominy but I think I was dreaming about chamon Middle School at the time but I'd like
130to share my thoughts regarding the redistricting options based on the information shared as a parent of children attending Handover schools I have reviewed the blue green and purple options I strongly believe the blue option is the best choice with reasons rooted in The Guiding principles provided by MGT and the school division's executive team number one the biggest priority for the division is space utilization now and in the future currently Cool Spring is overcrowded the blue option will immediately reduce usage to 90% of capacity and ensure balanced utilization across all schools ranging from 74 to 92% now and in the future the BL the blue option will utilize the plan space for Washington Henry rather than lead the space underutilized at 64% post renovation blue ensures no other Elementary School I.E Pearson's Corner would be pushed
131near maximum capacity as outlined in the purple option selecting blue ensures sustainable capacity management for chikamin middle and atle high school for years to come number two the blue option minimizes the number of students impacted by boundary changes while achieving utilization goals across the School Division although the total number of students impacted is lower in the purple scenario than the blue moving the smaller number is counter to the overall space utilization goals and causes overcrowding elsewhere the blue option minimizes the number of students affected while accounting for space utilization needs and minimizes impacts of neighborhoods blue keeps students who live in large planned communities together number three to ensure Transportation efficiency the blue is the best option Giles crany Island and Atley Manor are approximately three miles away from Washington Henry taking 8 to9 minutes
132while King's Charter is 5 to six miles away taking 11 to 14 to Pearson's Corner number four the blue option avoids creating Island zones the purple option effectively splits King's Charter as well as sections of Rutland leaving half of these neighborhoods detach from one another splits such as these have several social and emotional repercussions for children and are not in the best interest of communities the blue option keeps Ailes crany Island Kings Charter and Rutland communities together ensuring Community integrity and cohesion number five respect the planned unit development agreement the request for rezoning of agricultural land to residential King's Charter was approved by our Board of Supervisors in 18 in 1986 a putt agreement recorded in 1987 documents a sum of $175,000 contributed by the developer towards the acquisition of a site for an elementary
133school which would in fact serve King's Charter students on completion the acquisition of land and construction of cool Cool Spring was a result of this PUD for approximately 900 single family homes in Kings Charter that origin story suggests that separating students in Kings Charter as proposed in the purple plan runs counter to original agreements in conclusion I believe that the blue option is the data-driven decision for that our school board must make selecting blue will alleviate overcrowding create sustainable space utilization system wide effectively utilize building space in the current financial investments of the division maintain Community Integrity ensure Transportation efficiency and honor planning agreement previously established select blue thank you for your time I don't know what you do for a living you honestly could be a speed reader I could just tell you that
134right now that was amazing you ever thought about doing auctions yeah exactly all right one more actually I was going to say something different I um my name is Tina steenberg I'm in the Ashland District I did want to make one comment your mic up a little bit there you go I wanted to make one comment as far as I understand it you are not responsible for zoning nor developers and consequently it seems to me that I understand these parents being upset I would be as well um I don't M or grown at this point but maybe they should address those ISS issues to the people that are making those decisions and the promises that were made to them because I would be upset as well I understand that but I wanted to First say
135thank you to the school board and to Dr peniku for putting students first it is not easy to stand for policies when a minority is fighting those policies every day and I go to Schoolboard meetings so I know that's true however you can take heart from recent elections and realize that many of us support the things you've stood for academic success should always be the first goal of a school system Civic and moral values are also critical every child should be given the equal opportunity to succeed academically and emotionally while not depriving others of those rights thank you for protecting girls rights to safe and fair Sports also finding ways to facilitate critical reasoning independent thought and creativity is very valuable to a free Society any efforts to Foster independent thinking will provide great rewards
136in the future a well-rounded childhood and school experience should always be a school board's goal music Sports art and debate help mold successful students and adults thanks for caring about all of Hanover's students and creating a great opportunity for their success and please continue the hard work and know that many of us are behind you and I would also say that both of my kids graduated from Handover schools as did I and my children have done well and I thank the success to the Hanover County school system thank you thank you thank you and with that we will close public comment time thank you Mr chair I just want to thank everyone tonight for being civil and getting along together even though we have differences and we're going to try to work those out we're
137actually you've uh provoked some uh cells in our brains already tonight since we've been communicating a little bit behind the scenes or underneath this little ledge here and um yeah we're still looking for answers we truly are we don't want to disrupt neighborhoods we don't want to move kids and displace we we don't want any of that we know other school divisions have done this other count surrounding counties do these things and we're trying to hold true to what we can hold true to so I just want to let you know we're working hard at it and I appreciate your um obedience and patience thank you Mr chair thanks Mr Vice chair with that we'll move on to our action agenda and our first one is uh consideration of the proposed policy and regulation revisions
138and uh I guess there's no you're okay because that you're you're the only thing standing between you and the uh and the preferred public speaker for tonight the uh invited public speaker so go ahead rewarding that the general assembly has done with um Vapor Products and nicotine and then the other one including gambling um in substance use education I'm happy to answer any questions that you have um but otherwise I would ask that these be approved do we have any questions for Miss Han if not I would entertain a motion to approve we approve both of them simultaneous we approve them together yes so I have a look for a motion motion to approve the proposed revised policies together thank you coach Ike with Miss Welsh on the second any discussion all those in favor
139say I I all opposed motion carries thank you thank you and now without any further Ado we'd like to have have an update on Washington Henry Elementary School and consideration of a cup thank you Mr chair Dr pennycuff and the board um Josh Bard CB warb associat Architects we're gonna do a let's see if we can do this I'm not used to raising it uh first I do want to thank you for extending uh Elementary recess that is a that is a big uh big positive for the entire community uh so tonight we are going to uh do a brief overview of the Washington header elementary school and in the action item we are asking for the ability to submit the conditional use permit uh for Washington Henry uh this is also called a cup
140um the uh this is requirements um because the an educational use is not permitted uh pretty much in any um in any zoning in the county including Agriculture and in this case residential there we go uh so tonight we're going to talk about existing conditions uh go over the proposed construction plan we're going to talk about the proposed site plan the floor plans uh the elevation and then also the project schedule um so just a quick recap again you're looking the uh the actual property that you own at um Washington Henry is two Parcels uh that is separated by Shady Grove one of them is 14.2 and the other one is 9.4 uh these are both Zone residential the elementary school the playgrounds um and the running track or on the the parcel to the
141left hand side and then onto the right hand side is pretty much just a wooded area with the uh the storm water basin uh so how do we propose to construct the new school uh so similar to what we're uh doing at um uh what we did at Ashland and we're doing at beaverdam and Battlefield is to construct a new school uh behind the existing building while it's while it's in operation uh with the safety security fence uh once the new building is open uh we're going to move the students and the and staff uh from the existing Elementary School to the new school uh then we will demolish that existing school and then uh create the uh the parking for both bus and and cars uh so this is the uh the plan that
142we're looking to submit this Friday uh so the uh so shady grove is is up and down and then M Drive is running um is running horizontal uh so the positive on this site there's many positives one of them is that we can actually enter uh so cars would enter on the top on the upper side of shady grove come down we have a an extremely long Car drop off uh Car drop has become a challenge um not just here in Handover but with um any of the schools uh that we get to work with all throughout the Commonwealth uh it was increasing as we hit covid once we hit covid uh we had an explosion of the amount of parents that have a desire to drop and and drop off and pick off their
143their students um couple things I do want to note is that the bus drive and the Bo and the and the drop off is on the on the far left hand side that entrance and exit would be off of M Drive uh the cars would enter off of Shady Grove and then exit onto man so the idea is that the the overall traffic flow of um entrance and is pretty much going to see the same as it currently exists um there on the site um something that is important is that the existing school can remain in operation the entire time of the new school is being built you can see in in red is the existing school that uh that would be demolished and then the uh car and Bus drop off would happen okay
144don't go any further I'm sorry you got to go back because we're having please the yep where's the Bus Loop is what she's asking me and I'm trying to make sure that I understand it you have a can um is it it doesn't make me um so the Bus Loop is on the leth hand side so it's that Loop that goes off of man runs up and then goes around the back of the building so where were they actually debark the students is what I'm trying to understand where were the students un load the bus great question so one of the thank you so so as we uh worked on the design we met with uh with with both Safety and Security and also with your Transportation uh one of the things that they asked
145was in the afternoons um really in the mornings in the afternoons but the the students for the buses and the cars would enter and exit at different points of the building uh so what we have is the buses the students would actually exit out of the classroom wings and go to the buses and the students for with that uh for car pickup would enter out of the entrance and then go to the the car so they two different areas Josh I hate to ask you walk to the front and point you can so so where are the bus the buses are coming in that the long Loop right there right got you that makes sense okay we we just couldn't understand the Bus Loop you were talking about because we don't see a loop per
146se we see the lines parallel there but we couldn't understand what a loop was unless you were talking about them looping all the way out on the northern part of the building sorry that's what our confusion was creates a really nice separation then and again what we what we heard was not to have cars or buses exit on a Shady Grove so we so we're again we we think we're making significant improve improvements on the overall traffic coach and maybe more car Loops like they discovered at Ashlin yes so this because during drop off they they created more car Loops in order to get more cars in and slow things down and get things for the kids to get out out and boom gone absolutely so what we counted is is a maximum of 55
147cars at any one time currently here uh we have more than double I think it was around 126 that we can that we can have in the new drive so we're more than doubling the amount of cars that you currently have in your in your on a daily basis thank you I'm sorry we slowed you down no um and these are all questions also that planning so we had our initial meeting with planning with vot with the whole group uh they have they gave us a few comments you know kind of flipping the uh uh pardon me flipping the the the trash um a little bit closer to the school and getting rid of a couple Gates but overall we received very much a positive uh feedback from from everybody in the group and and
148again so this is with some small modifications this is what we're submitting to uh for the cup again the cup is the next steps are community meeting and then Planning Commission and then supervisors and then we submit for Land Development okay any other questions on and and you'll bill the new facility the building itself independently and then you will build the the driveway that's on where the the current building site is after the school year is over where we could tear the building down and put in the new asphalt yeah the the goal for this would be to be done at the end of May early June um with uh with the new construction so that way basically soon as soon as you let out of the students we can move all the stuff over
149um and then have the entire summer to be able to um to get everything C up and you know and demolish the existing building and then build the new bus and car and car Loop thank you any other questions on the site anybody else um so so the building right now uh this is the current design as you can see it's a modified prototype of Ashland Beaver Dam and Battlefield Park uh so the this is a u it's about 102,000 square feet two stories uh two CL classroom wings uh the Main Street design with on the right hand side is going to be going from bottom to top would be minist your gymnasium um student space including music and then your cafeteria with with adjacent stage uh left of Main Street is going to be
150your two twostory classroom wings uh we're looking at four deep uh so K through five four deep and then two and and then two prek classrooms uh this is just the second floor uh Media Center will be on the second floor your art classrooms I said and then the remainder of them would be the uh classrooms and um these uh orange uh small group spaces uh so this is the the front elevation of the of what we're going to be submitting on on Friday uh we are developing the other the other relations I don't have those for tonight but this is the elevation that we're going to be that we are going to be submitting keeping in mind that this is the first step in the process so then so said we're going to get
151feedback from the community from the we continue from the design team for anybody on the board member who want any of the board board who wants to give comments uh and it will evolve ideally the the the final elevation that gets approved in the June May June time frame by the County Supervisors that is what we need to have as our final design you know so so again we have room and we have time this is the first we think really really good concept for everybody to start with anybody have any questions if you if you look at this it there there's a lot of reminiscence or or homage to the um to your historic Courthouse okay and then overall schedule is said we're presenting tonight we're asking to be able to submit um we're
152um we anticipate that we're going to have Community meetings sometime here in in March or early April uh we're going to wrap up schematic design and the big key steps for cup is we're hoping that we're going to be able to get in front of the Planning Commission in April and the Board of Supervisors in May um uh or June and then uh and then begin Land Development with the goal of of putting this project out to bid sometime in the November or early December time frame um when we think that is that puts us in a really good range for a 16mon construction schedule to be able to get us in June of 27 okay any questions comments thoughts okay are you done I'm I am done just ask I said all we asking
153is for any further questions from up here I would entertain a motion that we approve the new Washington Henry Elementary School uh for consideration to get a conditional use permit Mr chair I'd like to make a motion to authorize that Han County Public School staff submit the cup application for the Washington Henry Elementary School by submission by the date of February 28 2025 thank you coach Ike is there a second second Mr Martin with the second any further discussion all those in favor say I I this Mr Cipher are you still there yes sir I'm here do you agree with the proposed to put the cup out there I do thank you thank you it carries congratulations thank you Josh we appreciate you as always next we would like to do the the 2026 superintendent's
154proposed budget and look the accountant gets up and people rush out of here because it's like all they wanted to do was hear the Keynotes speaker yes they know it's going to be boring if it's numbers and all of that but um no Mr chairman Schoolboard members Dr penu we're here tonight to seek approval of the superintendent's proposed budget um what we have here is a summary of all the uh funds as presented you can see that uh the operating fund is increasing by 15.7 million or 6.3% School nutrition 1.1 12.1% and Capital Improvements down 83.6 because it demonstrates that uh we no longer have in year one uh the construction of Washington Henry and uh beaverdam uh as you know the original budget was presented on January 21st of this year and then we
155had a public hearing on January 25th um and we've responded to any request and had opportunity to meet with all of you to walk through the budget documents and respond to any specific questions um so I'd be happy to take any questions tonight or you have any questions anybody from the board have questions all right with that Mr Martin may I have a motion yes sir I make a motion to approve the FY 2026 superintendent proposed School operating budget in the amount of 265,000 all those in favor say I I Mr cyer I thank you all those all those opposed motion carries you're on a roll don't stop now Terry yes so next we're seeking approval of the fiveyear capital Improvement plan uh that totals over the five years 139.0 million or 14.3 million in
156fiscal year 2020 says Mr Coleman Do you have a a motion for me yes sir I do like to make a motion to approve the fiscal year 2026 fiscal year to to f fiscal year 2030 Capital Improvement plan in the amount of 139 m788 th000 for all five years including 14, 261,000 for fiscal year 2026 thank you do I have a second second miss Lynn with a second any discussion all those in favor say I I all opposed I thank you Mr Cipher all those opposed motion carries okay next we're looking for approval of the fiscal year 2026 School nutrition fund budget in the amount of 10 point I've been cheating and saying 10.3 million rounding it uh and you all are giving me the entire number so I appreciate that thank you um any
157questions for the board miss Lynn do I have a motion I'd like to make a motion to approve the FY 2026 School nutrition services budget in the amount of 10,298 57 thank you is there a second second second from Miss Welsh any other discussion all those in favor say I I I Bob I all those opposed motion carries okay so this budget is now officially the school board approved fiscal year 2026 budget and we are scheduled Dr pennycuff will be presenting that Wednesday at the Board of Supervisors meeting the meeting begins at 2 pm and I think we're third on the agenda so thank you all very much thank you Miss Stone and I'd encourage all board members if you're available Wednesday afternoon to come out um to um watch Dr piku present this on
158our behalf I'll do an introduction uh of Dr PFF and um I miss Stone you kind of you kind of ran away on us but I just got to tell you it's a great budget and we appreciate the hard work that was done um putting the priority on our teachers and our staff and I applaud us to be able to do what we've been able to do and it truly is a partnership with our Board of Supervisors for them to be supporting us and listening to us as we've gone to them with the needs to do what we can do for our teachers and um it is sometimes the news doesn't cover it really not really completely for us um when it goes out but we've been able to really make some pretty significant strides
159for some people especially the midterm teachers that have been here for a longer period of time and trying to um write some wrongs that occurred when we had to compress our works work uh the the compress the the timelines for our teachers so I just thank you I think it's a great job by the board and I really appreciate everybody working hard on this and we can take a I I would like to thank we were able to do this in our smaller meetings but um Don Hardman and Melanie Terrell who did all the real number crunching putting the document together with assistant from the communications team Justin and Chris so um it is a full team approach um I'm just the one that's standing up there at the podium and Don I saw you
160slip in the back and I was going to acknowledge that we thank you for being the number cruncher and getting the numbers right we really appreciate it so with that I think we're up to a fiscal status report facility usage report and calendar of board related events board members I remind you that those are in your packets for your review um schedule of topics for next Schoolboard meeting Dr peniku we have the recognition of the Sports Backers active living leadership Allstars program that will be carried over from this month to next month we also will have a math update in March and we'll continue our work on the code of conduct and those are the things we have on the agenda for now I bet you more comes on it before we get to there
161that seems to be our Trend so um with that are there any other any anybody got anything for the good of the the board Mr Cipher anything not sir thank you you're welcome all right with that uh Mr Coleman I would entertain a motion yes sir I propose we adjourn there a second second by miss Lynn any discussion there never is all those in favor say hi hi we are now adjourned bye Bob enjoy Michigan yes her thank you enjoy the snowstorm