001will the October school oh there we go I hereby call the October 10th Schoolboard meeting to order uh first on the agenda items tonight and thank everybody for being here tonight being on time I appreciate it um first is the approval of the agenda as presented we've all had a chance to review the agenda um do we have an amendment of the agenda yes Mr chair I'd like to make a motion to amend the agenda I move to amend the agenda to add additional information to the action item listed on tonight's agenda for appointment of the library materials committee specifically to add Sarah long as the name for the Ashland district and to substitute Dr Frank shelp as the name for the South Anna District thank you Mr iberry do I hear I have a
002motion on the table do we have a second a second Mr Coleman with a second is there any discussion hearing none I'll call for the question all those in favor say I I all opposed the motion carries now do I have a motion for the approval of the agenda as amended Mr red with a motion second sir Miss Hawkins with the second is there any discussion all those in favor of approving the agenda as amended say I I I all oppose the motion carries with that uh I think the only thing left now is that I would entertain a motion to go into close session is there someone like to make that motion don't all speak up at one time please Mr chair I so move that we go into close session I hate to
003tell you this but you have to read it verbatim because it has to be recorded into minutes that's one of the things I learned that's why no that's why no one wants to volunteer because they don't want to read I don't yes I I apologize you do you have to do you have it you want me to share it with you oh I got it I don't have it oh here Mr I can can read it he I apologize to this entire board it's okay yes Mr chair I'll make a motion through the code of Virginia Section 22- 3711 a item one Personnel review recommendations of the superintendent for resignations appointments transfers assignments promotions terminations salary adjustments and leades for teachers and other employees section 22- 3711 item a and two consideration of requests of
004religious exemption from compulsory School attendance section 2.2-mm A and 8 consultation with legal councel regarding dispute resolution for special ed matter thank you Mr ikenberry is there a second second Mr Coleman with the second are there any discussions all those in favor say I I I all opposed the motion carries we will now move into Clos session let the record reflect that Mr Whitley came 10 minutes late nice to see you in Jennifer e okay Mickey Mouse says it's 7 o'clock so we'll come back into Open Session I'll call this meeting to order and at this time I would entertain a certification of closed meeting Mr Hunley a return to open session oh I'm sorry I would accept a motion to return to open session please I guess I fli the page one too soon
005I'm sorry I I'd entertain a motion to return to open session Mr chair I'd like to make a motion to return to open session we have a motion on the floor from Mr Hunley I'm sorry Mr ikenberry do I have a second second second from Mr Hunley is there any discussion all those in favor say I I I all opposed now we're back to open session now I would entertain a certification of closed meeting Mr Hunley Mr chair I move that we certify the content of our closed session okay can you read down at the bottom there sorry sorry uh where as the Hanover County school board has convened closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and whereas
006section 2.2 372d of the code of Virginia requires a certification by this school board that such executive meeting was conducted in Conformity with Virginia law now therefore be it resolved that the Han County School Board hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully Exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the executive meeting to which the certification applies and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the executive meeting were heard discussed or considered thank you Mr Hunley do I have a second a second Mr ikenberry are there any discussions all those in favor say I I I all opposed motion carries and at this time as we get ready to go into our formal part of the evening um I
007will are we going to do the have the colors come forward first and then do the invocation how do you want to do it okay after invation okay at this time I'll ask that audience please join me in a moment of silence I have two requests tonight one is from Mr Steven Thompson who passed away recently Mr Thompson joined Hover County public schools in 2007 at Atley high school as a health and public physical education teacher he later switched to the Adaptive physical education teaching at John M Gandy Elementary School Liberty Middle School and the Handover County online school throughout his tenure Mr Thompson coached various athletic teams at Atley High School our thoughts are with the Thompson family and our school community I would also ask that you join us in a moment of
008silence for the tragic loss of life in and around Israel let us pray amen at this time we will have the invocation led by Miss Hawkins thank you Mr chair and if you wish please stand with me and as we pray wise Almighty as we come before you this evening we invite your presence into this meeting it is our hope and desire that all said and done will be to uplift the entire and County School Division and its Community amen amen and this evening for our Pledge of Allegiance we are honored to have with us the following Cadets from Patrick Henry and Mechanicsville Hanover Naval Jr Roc who will serve as our Color Guard this evening left rifle will be Cadet chief petty officer Marcus CR from Mechanicsville High School the state flag is being
009carried by Cadet petty officer first class Aaron Moore of Hanover High School the United States flag is being carried by Cadet petty officer second class Elena Cooper from Patrick Henry High School and our right rifle is Cadet petty officer second class Gabriel white also of Patrick Henry High School colors post [Music] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you be seated I'll tell you LT before you leave I just want to make this point that's very impressive and we really appreciate you bringing the cadets and sharing them here with us this evening and I thank you both for what you're doing for our excellent uh Naval Jor Junior RC program
010at our high schools so we thank you very much it was now moving on with our agenda tonight I'll do entertainment approval of a minutes do I have a motion Mr chair I move approval of our minutes Mr Hunley do I have a second Mr chair I a second Miss Hawkins we have a motion and a second on the floor is there any discussion about the minutes a call for the question then all those in favor say I I I all opposed the motion carries and at this time Dr Gil I believe we're up to recognition and announcements yes thank you Mr chair we have several recognitions uh this evening uh several students who will be recognized by our assistant superintendent Mr Chris Whitley is and we also have one outside presenter this evening and
011Mr chair if you would join me down front thank you Dr Gil Mr chairman members of the board it is always a pleasure to bring forth the fantastic news and accomplish accomplishments of our students and staff tonight's first recognition goes to Atley High School who for the second year in a row has the top Patriotic field design in the United States led by their talented teacher Mr Mark Moran students in the Atley advanced turf grass applications course created the winning checkerboard US flag designed for the 2022 23 homecoming football game that won this year's Stars and Stripes contest from the sports field management association which you will see on your screen yeah very impressive this competition included designs from K12 Collegiate and professional levels congratul ulations to the two-time reigning Champs from Raider Nation who
012are here this evening to be recognized please come forward great job guys congratulations all right he did and Mr Moran don't go far because our next recognition of the night goes to students again from Atley High School who are in top honors at the state FFA competition taking first place in the FFA Turf science team category the Atley FFA was also recognized as a National FFA Superior chapter students as I call your name please come forward to be recognized Evan D Jenna hearnen Preston Milburn and Lela Whitlock and Mr Moran please come forward as well [Applause] congratulations guys I got it I'm gonna introduce it JVG at this time is my pleasure to invite to the podium Mr Antonio rice with jobs for Virginia graduates who will present our next recognition of the night thank
013apprciate it yes sir good evening all right I'm Antonio race president and CEO for jobs of Virginia graduates and we have a wonderful program at Patrick Henry High School um our specialist and I'll bring you up later let me let me brag on you a little bit first um Kelly ble is has been recognized and so what we do with jobs Virginia grad graduates we recognize um students that um are facing barriers to success um I was a jbg kid I was the youngest of 10 had to share a bed with my with my brother smelly feet terrible awful and so um but there was somebody at in in the school system who saw something in me that I didn't see in myself that was my Champion that's Kelly BL that's who she's been over
014there at Patrick Henry High School and it's just the outstanding work that she's done um and so we focus on several areas but the the main areas are graduation contact rate graduation rate employment rate full-time employment um positive outcomes and further education and so I I think you guys are looking at this and so I have a I have a a bit of a sports background I've um I'm a UVA grad I played football at University of Virginia played football for the Dallas Cowboys and and I say that with a tongue and cheek because I was pretty much doing what you all are doing right now sitting and watching yeah best seat in the house it was awesome um all the Gatorade you can drink it was it was great and so um we used
015to have a saying the big eye in the sky don't lie right so everything is being filmed you're why have to watch it over and over again all that good stuff well stats don't lie so contact rate basically is that you're going to reach out every month to your students that have already graduated and check on and make sure that they're doing what they need to be doing you're coaching them up all that good stuff well her contact rate is 100% graduation rate is 100% employment rate is 83% full-time employment is 96% positive outcome rate is 100% and further education rate is 100% the big eye and Sky don't lie and neither do stats and so Kelly was recognized at our um at the national level so I'm the Virginia affiliate but there's a Maryland
016affiliate there's a Nevada affiliate there's a um Utah everything and so nationally her numbers outmatch just about everybody and so she was acknowledged at our at our um training seminar in Kentucky so I have this for but the big thing is we used to have a five of five award um just recently it turned to a six of six and she knocked it out of the park so if you don't mind me asking Kelly to come on up and we can put a round of applause for her and accept these two Awards and so she may not want to address but look I always tell folks go out to the program go out to her school she's got a lot of great things going on um in regards to how she engages her students and
017um obviously it's working because her stats again don't lie so thank you very much thank you thank you oh wow [Applause] [Music] together the final recognition of the evening is for our school board members themselves and so I will uh be handling that each year the Virginia School Board Association the vsba conducts numerous trainings and conferences and Schoolboard members are awarded points for attending those trainings and furthering their own professional devel M and they're pursuit of being the best board members that they possibly can be uh this year all five school board members who are eligible received recognition from the VBA uh only to uh not being recognized but certainly want to point out why are our brand new ones Mr Coleman and Miss Welsh because they weren't eligible this is for last year but
018have no doubt they'll be on the list for next year so uh in order here we will start with Mr red who achieved the certificate of achievement from the vsba Mr ikenberry certificate of achievement Mr May certificate of Honor Mrs Hawkins certificate of honor and Mr Hunley the certificate of Distinction congratulations to you [Applause] all thank you Dr Gil so Dr Gil I believe we're up to uh this is the time for any board member recognitions yes sir so do we have any uh board members with uh any recognitions or comments tonight coach Ike uh thank you Mr chair I'd like to recognize um that we have a replacement uh meeting at Battlefield Park Elementary School coming up on October the 25th at 6:30 for uh building a new school correct Miss Berto correct and
019so that will be at 6:30 p.m. and then there's a virtual meeting at 6:30 p.m. on November the 8th and sticking with Battlefield Park Elementary School I'd like to thank Miss key the librarian and miss michaelb the principal and all of their teachers for their ability to impart impeccable Behavior avior amongst at least 100 plus prek through two children from the hours of 9:00 a.m. to approximately 9:50 a.m. one day a week ago in order to listen to Mr Ben hatkey an author children's author who lives in Front Royal Virginia and has written many many children's books and he does all the artwork too which I often found fairly AST astonishing because he was a history major in college and I was a history major in college but my figures are stick figures where he
020is amazing with a pen and he was amazing that day and had all 100 plus of those children all in front of him in the cafeteria mesmerized and so for the 50 minutes he read two books to them and then he talked about gestures and he crafted out of pictures um what the our language looks like today and kind of played it back that our language came from pictures originally and so he showed the kids how that was done in art form and again I I can only think that he gives his dad credit um for his artistic ability because his dad was an architect so I guess that that meshing of the DNA the history and the architecture ual skills or something happened to hit with him so he's he's very masterful in what
021he does and the connections that he was making uh again reiterates what our teachers do every day and the connections that they do with our children and you could have seen it by their their behavior and just they were just into it and it was just wonderful and then my last uh comment Mr chair um to give a little kudos to Mr D bold at uh Bell Creek middle and he had a um Constitution Day he had a it's a Civics challenge where he was awarding extra credit for kids that could recite the Preamble in less than 10 seconds and so um I would obviously welcome anybody that wants to do that uh we'll give you extra credit right but thank you Mr chair thank thank you coach I any other board members with any
022comments I'll uh I'll make just a couple of real brief ones uh first of all I'm very proud to acknowledge that Miss Gana wia's classroom at Pearson's Corner Elementary School was transformed into an operating room students turned doctors wore scrubs masks gloves and hel hair nets while they solved problems using the order of operations uh that's the kind of outstanding and uh teachers that we have that we're fortunate to have that can come up with these creative ideas and so I I just wanted to acknowledge that uh going on at Pearson's corner I also um I hope John Wheeler didn't leave he did I'm sorry but oh he's there okay I'll just tell you that uh it it is very impressive that uh your uh prospective members of the atlet high school girls basketball team
023volunteered their time and packaged 40 breakfast GO bags for housing families uh first which helps families facing homelessness and each bag consisted of included a handwritten note of encouragement from your players and so I just think that's outstanding and I wanted to acknowledge you and your program for doing an outstanding job of going above and beyond what what is expected so a job well done thank you coach thank you John and you can do that tonight and uh I guess Miss Berto I don't know that you're going to announce it but we did have our first Community involvement uh information last uh excuse last night at beaverdam elementary school um so that's the and coach IE already talked about the second one is coming up so we had our first one for Community input and
024then the last one is we're I'm very fortunate to announce that our very own Dr Kelly Webb was recently elected to the Northeast conference on the teaching of foreign languages board of directors which is a high achievement and honor Dr Webb serves as an English to speakers of other languages instructional coach and welcome senator leison for Handover County Public Schools working with multilingual families and making connections she shares her immense EXP expertise in the area of teaching languages with the eso team and with many other Handover County Public School teachers of English Learners so it's another outstanding job and so we take this opportunity to highlight those things that we don't get to talk about very often so thank you for indulging me on that and with that we will move on um Dr Gil
025I believe we are to our consent agenda yes thank you Mr chairman and I did acknowledge Dr Wheeler earlier but I see that the proud principal Patrick Henry High School Mr Martinez is also with us so I certainly want to uh acknowledge his presence and support as well so uh Mr chairman uh your consent agenda includes only two items this evening the Personnel items that you heard in closed session as well as the religious exemptions that you heard in close session the recommendation is for approval Mr chair thank you Dr Gil uh I would entertain a motion from for from a board member for approval of the consent agenda Mr chair I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented Mr ikenberry is there a second second second for Mr red is there
026any discussion seeing none all those in favor of pass of approval of the consent agenda as presented say I I all opposed motion carries and now I believe we're up to public comment time so the school board conducts the public comment segment of its meetings to receive information from the general public on matters related to the Handover County Public Schools per board policy 1-68 the total time allotted for school comment will not exceed 60 Minutes speakers who wish to address 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 their 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 request reest
027that the audience refrain from responding to speakers comments with Applause or other audible expressions of approval or disapproval speakers are allotted three minutes to address the board each speaker's elapse time will appear on the screen and speakers will also receive notification from the vice chair when time has is 30 seconds and then about to expire and all the board does not permit the use of slideshows or other projected materials during this segment speakers are invited to provide printed copies of such materials to the board board the board expresses its appreciation for the Public's input and cooperation during this segment of the meeting as we currently have 24 people signed up to speak tonight I would entertain a motion to extend our public comment Time by 15 minutes to allow all 24 to speak Mr chair
028I move that we extend our public comment time for 15 minutes thank you Mr Hunley is there a second second second by Mr ikenberry is there any discussion from the board all those in favor say I I I all those opposed the motion carries and with that I'll turn it over to Mr iberry thank you Mr chair our first speaker is Suzanne Gallagher followed by Colin borders is Colin borders here okay you don't mind coming up and sitting up front moves things along quicker for everybody if those of you that are on Deck could do that like was I'd appreciate it thank you Miss Gallagher thank you um hi ladies and gentlemen um so today I'm here oh my name is suan gigram from the Henry District um today I'm here I'm reading a letter
029that was submitted to Hanover County Senior staff um by an overwhelming majority of the Librarians from the middle and high school um so this letter um was sent in August after a training session said Thank you for taking the time to explain the Schoolboard policy 65.2 with us during our training as professionals we are fully committed to adhering to Handover County School Board policies and requests we understand that it is the will of the school board to start a deselection process with a list of25 books circulating in the community that was mentioned at a June school board meeting we will reluctantly comply with the requests to complete this task by going to booklook dorg and searching for a title from our section of that list we are going we are doing our best to complete
030our designated books as quickly as possible however we feel obligated to acknowledge that we have the following concerns about the assignment in completing this task with the given procedures we are not following the implementation steps that the Schoolboard outlined in policy 6- 5.2 that was explained during our training relating to the deselection in an ongoing and systematic process these books have not been formally challenged and therefore do not deserve immediate action according to the process included in the implementation document starting with booklook s.org a nonprofessional and biased source as our primary deselection tool goes against our professional training and our professional training most of us at The Graduate level tell us that books should not be judged using passages out of context to make a decision about appropriateness a work needs to be read in
031its entirety this assignment goes against our formal training by state and ala accredited University programs and ethical practices as school librarians again this was signed by a majority of librarians from the middle and high schools in the county um so now I'll add my note um as a parent I liked the existing optout policies for books um and the existing challenge process that existed um I don't understand what is the point of creating this new policy if we're going to force Librarians to do the dirty work um for us instead of following the outl LED process um they were threatened with insubordination if they did not follow the process uh as was as was told in their training in terms of just taking a book out um if you do believe that this new library
032policy 6- 5.2 30 seconds thank you um if you believe that is what the parents really want then I do ask you to make these decisions publicly um as a school board and stand by them instead of asking the Librarians to go behind the scenes and um deselect books before they are challenged or get there um thank you very much thank you Colin borders followed by Kristen Stevens good evening good even um good evening my name is Colin borders I live in the ash magisterial district and I'm a sophomore at Atley high school I'm also a library assistant at my high school I'm here tonight to talk about the book ban and elected School Board Mass ship of books is harmful it may leave students ignorant of different viewpoints in the world around them and
033may also put Handover students behind students from other counties unlike hover County's current policy hrio County's current policy and Hanover's previous policy both state that once a book is challenged no matter the reason behind the challenge it must go through a process with reviews from teachers parents Librarians administrators and Schoolboard members before it can be removed this process ensures that a majority of people with many different viewpoints must agree that said book is not before school libraries H rego's policy is just one example of many more judicious review policies Han County's current policy is that a single person can make a complaint about a part of a book and the complaint can go directly to the principal and then the school board this process completely bypasses the literary professionals Librarians and English teachers who are
034trying to deal with these issues I believe this is a great insult to the staff who have spent much of their adult lives pursuing and studying literacy education that our school board is doing the job of reviewing books instead of them many of our Schoolboard members seem to be saying no we don't know how to perform or no we know how to perform this part of your job better than you over the last few years there's been much dialogue about parental rights there's nothing more fitting to the rights of parents and Guardians than being able to vote on the people who under current Handover policy review these books and whose final decision it is whether or not to remove these books residents of Hanover County should be able to vote on who's involved in implementing
035this policy or who might want to change this policy that is one of the reasons why I believe that we should have an elected School Board also in relation to what we said earlier we the people of the United States of America in order um in order to form a perfect union provide for the common defense promote the general welfare thereof secur the blessings of liberty for um um SEC the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity to ordain establishes Constitution of the United States of America thank you for your time very nice thank you Kristen Stevens followed by Daddy Walsh is Daddy Walsh here oh there you are I'm sorry you're hiding all good thank you Miss Stevens Kristen Stevens from mandville the last time I spoke before this board I read comments
036and concerns from Hanover County teachers and Librarians regarding policy 6- 5.2 you'll hear more of those this evening from because hcps staff still do not feel comfortable coming forward themselves for fear of retaliation in the schools from the school board from the parents and members of the community the latter as evidenced by more than one recent social media post tonight I return to reiterate my concern for lack of transparency from this board to the parents teachers and other stakeholders within this community you will be appointing community members to the library materials committee this evening while I realize there is one representative from each district I have more questions how are they selected did they approach the school board or did you reach out to to friends in the community to see if they were interested
037are there a set of qualifications or reasonable expectations for Community member to be appointed to this committee because this feels like yet another example of the friend of school board and or supervisor cronyism appointment that runs Handover County continuing the theme of transparency last month the school board had a professional development Workshop once again offsite at the cost of the taxpayers when the meeting could have been held at central office where there's access to audio and video feeds so interested members of the Community could watch and listen there was no detailed agenda posted so I had to foer that information and that you all received accolades from the Virginia School Board Association tonight when at that professional development meeting last month you were receiving training from the school board member Alliance amuses me I did
038leave my whiteboard at home but the connection between the school board member Association Family Foundation and its founding freedoms Law Center is concerning additionally concerning when one notices the lawsuit filed in hand canover County Circuit Court by a local citizen with support from the founding freedoms Law Center against the Virginia Schoolboard Association curiously that lawsuit was filed shortly after that Schoolboard member Alliance met with you all and lastly Mr may you sent me a text and more importantly The Librarians and administrators like the guidance on our book policy it appears it is just you and a couple of your friends who have a problem with this policy it appears sir that more than just a couple of my friends have a problem with this policy and thanks to Foya we hear the Librarians are not
039fans of this policy either and my apologies Mr whitly if there was more transparency from the school board perhaps you'd have for Foya Fridays thank you Daddy Walsh followed by Kristen hly sorry Daddy Walsh be them district and I've also talked about bamb books previously so I'm not going to bring it up I guess this time because I feel like in spin my wheels um equity in education aims to give every child the same opportunities and abilities to reach the full potential to help transform the unique gifts and talents and interest of every student so the failure of no longer predictable by student identity racial culture economic or any other social Factor example equality would mean giving every student in school a computer in contrast Acy would recognize that not every student has the same
040resources at home for example some students may not be liable have reliable internet at home or AC quiet space to work so you adjust to help those in need to get the same end goal of other students teachers relationships with students are the greatest importance students traditionally underserved groups especially positive relationships with teachers can provide supportive School environment where the students can overcome barriers and Thrive this also goes with our community who accepts all students no matter their gender religion race or their economic status this is also important to help combat the high rate of suicides in Hammer schools which I've always been so concerned about this also is why these beads should be about students teachers and the community in our school system we are limited to how many can speak within the 60
041Minute time 60-minute time frame of course you added this time the man that spoke before me at the June 2023 Schoolboard meeting about God made man and woman did not have anything to do about the Handover school system it takes away someone else's time to speak it causes damage to our students and families in their Community why allow this how many on the school board have sat and talked with families of color and our lbgt plus students the Handover NAACP had an open form where students spoke about what they were going through and only one Schoolboard member showed up one there are those in the H Community are targeting these families but there are those in this Haner Community have their backs we support them and they're not alone just like my shirt says people
042of quality do not feel equity and to add that statement fear those that are different I've been hearing the saying recently if it ain't broke don't fix it this support to no action no motivation no change in selling for mediocre results if you live by the saying there's no room for inventions we'd still be getting around in a horse and buggy use candles to light your house we' also have no trains airplanes and other and the list would go on why not look for ideas to make life better we want to empower our students to grow their minds create and have a happy life I hope we all want that like The Wizard of Oz please use your brain for learning outside of your comfort zone use your heart for compassion for all students and
043families encouraged to make the right choices to take a stand for every student in family who only want their kids to be accepted for who they are and learn in a good environment 30 seconds okay thank you Kristen Hol followed by Amanda Cronenberg thank you my name is Kristen holty and I am a resident of Cold Harbor this is Hanover County this is not henrio County Chesterfield County Len County we are talking about Hover County right now I believe Hanover County is unique endearing and it's special in many ways that's why a lot of people like to move here because of the good education and the safeness I have been speaking at the Hover County school board for the last two years and I'm always transparent honest and to the point I truly appreciate all
044of you and what you have accomplished over the past two years you have had to deal with a lot of disrespect hateful and just spiteful comments and I just want to applaud you for what you have had to deal with I have also um I have I have an article in last week's mechanics full local it's called the political School boards reality versus rhetoric it's under my uh maiden name Kristen altel but it goes into detail as far as what the process is is in appointing the school board members there's a great deal involved um there's a lot of there's applying vetting and it's not you know just a good old boy process as some people seem to think the it is a very professional and I believe the Board of Supervisors and the school
045board are professional in many ways um I support the HB County school board's adoption of the Virginia Board of education's model policies and the proposed revised policy 7- 1.7 restroom and locker room policy I'd like to say that um service on the school board requires much more than a passion to serve service on the school board requires skills and business experience that few possess that is why prospective candidates for the school board are thoroughly vetted by the district supervisor and the rest of the Handover Board of Supervisors we want only the most qualified school board members serving in a position that pays only $88,000 a year there's been a misconception as far as how much uh school board members are paid but is $8,000 a year I would also like to comment that I have
046documentation as far as the books that have been removed there is a it is it's very explicit the pornography in these books and I see the reason for it them being removed there's also a book book that was removed I can't even say the chapter because there are children in this room so I applaud the school board I I respect you and I I appreciate everything you've done over the last two two years in protecting the children that has been your focus protecting the children and I greatly appreciate you thank you thank you thank you Amanda Cronenberg followed by Ki Burton thank you hi hi my name is Amanda Cronenberg and I live in the ashin district and have two School AG daughters last Thursday when this meeting agenda came out my oldest daughter who's
04715 created a survey that she sent to her friends and friends of friends and acquaintances in high school she cannot be here tonight but she wanted me to share the results of her survey with you question if you were looking for sexually explicit material what resource would you go to First do you know not one of the dozens of respondents said library book for reference cell phone which is totally allowed in school was the answer for 61% and computer was 28% question in what form have you been shown sexually explicit material can you believe that again no one said library book I mean listening to people talk you would think that school librarians were handing out copies of 50 Shades of Gray to kindergarteners as they entered the building question question on a scale of
0481 to 10 with one being totally comfortable and 10 being totally uncomfortable what's your comfort level with using someone's preferred pronouns the average rating 1.77 so it seems like the kids at least are pretty darn comfortable referring to other students in the manner they prefer question on a scale of 1 to 10 with one being totally comfortable and 10 being totally uncomfortable how comfortable are you with trans kids in the bathrooms of the gender with which they identify the average rating 1.88 so maybe it's not the kids that have the issues my daughter added a couple of free response questions to her survey and typical teenage fashion some were funny some were vulgar some were thoughtful and sincere and others were heartbreaking I'm going to share a few responses with you to the question what
049issues do you think the school board should have as their top priorities how disgusting our bathrooms are the bus driver shortage actually fixing our bathrooms which suck improving technology paying teachers more more funding the Arts more College Prep in schools earlier on expansion of curriculum for gifted classes and more electives addressing mental health issues better mental health programs with safe spaces free lunches vaping substance use students overdosing a drug dealer at Oak Middle School bullying and harassment addressing sexual misconduct protecting students from the threats of school shootings and the following response sums up what I think a lot of kids and some parents are feeling there's a lot of issues that should be at the top but they probably only look at the stuff that isn't even that important because that's how the world is
050with every problem they focus on something else that's not really important instead of worrying and dealing with the actual problems 30 seconds you've been focusing on Banning books while schools must beg ptas for funding to get adaptive playground equipment for special need students you've been focusing on oppressing St TR students while two Handover high schools are asking for donations for their food pantries for students who don't have enough to eat my daughter and I would be happy to discuss the issues of importance that were reported in her survey if you would like now I realized this is not a professional study that has been peer-reviewed but neither has book looks and you've approved that as a resource so I figured that you'll accept this too thank you thank you K Burton followed by Ashley borders
051Ashley borders here okay thank you good evening my name is krie bdan um I am from the beaverdam district and I am reading a letter from a middle school language arts teacher in Hanover County Public Schools from what I say from now on is her words I have a degree in English and over a decade of teaching experience I have been publicly recognized by Hanover County as being outstanding in my field and I'm often called on to help Mentor teachers or lead content specific professional development I say these things to lend weight to the words I am sharing today my perspective is that of a dedicated education professional who has been recognized by our school system as such the current book policy has caused me tears frustration and sleepless nights yes I am disheartened that
052the countless hours I have spent reading researching and bargain shopping for appropriate books to add to my classroom Library have been wasted yes I am demoralized to hear that my expertise in my field is being discounted of course I am overwhelmed with the requirement to inventory my classroom Library which has over 600 carefully selected titles that have now been evaluated against a new County approved source however the distrust and suspicion that this policy has injected into our community has affected my ability to work cooperatively cooperatively with parents and that has been enough to make me think about leaving my profession here are some of the things I have to consider before speaking about a book Choice with a student what topics does the students parents consider controversal can I trust the students when they tell
053me that their parents are okay with a particular book I could call and ask the parents myself but would that lead to a book being challenged because of a topic I didn't realize was controversial if I give a student a book that has a swear word in it will parents call the school board if a book mentions sex will I be labeled a porn Pusher I actually heard a parent of one of my former students call language arts teachers that very term during a Schoolboard meeting I don't ever want to ever experience that again so do I just stop recommending books to students altogether how can I do my job like this how can I partner with parents to help kids learn to enjoy reading if the whole thing is fraught with suspicion how did
054we get here why did we take parent choice away from the actual parents of my students and put it in the hands of the people who shoot the loudest not once in my entire career have I ever had a negative interaction with a parent over a book choice I have had Parents ask for alternative titles for students and I obliged I have had Parents ask for guidance to find books that avoid specific topics and I gladly compiled a list of suggested titles I've always worked cooperatively with parents regarding book choices in the past the current policy has changed all of that it was built a culture of Suspicion and fear between parents and teachers and that erodes trust I want to reemphasize that this that it is the policy that is the heart of the
055distrust the policy caused controversy that did not previously exist it took conversations usually handled between parents teachers and administrators and twisted what have been civil discourse into the current political spectable thank you thank you Ashley borders followed by Amelia banan okay thank you hello I'm Ashley borders I'm live in the ashin district I'm here tonight to share the remarks of a dedicated Handover school teacher these are her words I am an hcps elementary teacher and I'm writing about the impact of your book and Library policy on my classroom over my 24-year career I have carefully curated a wide range of roughly 1,400 wonderful and engaging books for my students to read those books are now sitting in my basement due solely to your new book and Library policy I have a library now of books
056in my classroom for my students and it includes the collection that the county has provided me in my 20 years here which amounts to a poultry 80-ish books because of your policy my classroom library has gone from 1,400 to 80 items I took my collection home here's why I took my collection home because your drastic policy change remains unfunded according to the policy teachers are required to catalog each and every title in their Library including the number of copies as well as a minimum of two professional reviews for each title in addition we are required to notify our admins if any books are removed from our collection ctions due to damage or old age we must also update the catalog for each and every new title we add to our collections I am a 10mon
057employee I already work an obscene number of unpaid hours for you I will not be giving my time to execute this Draconian policy when I am made a 10 and a half or 11-month employee and given a device and the app that will catalog my review and review my collection I will consider bringing my library back I took my collection home because I'm not trusted by my employer I have a bachelor's degree in Early Education and early childhood education as well as a master's degree I have taught for 24 years I have taken several courses regarding the selection of children's literature I know how to choose books that are appropriate for the age of my students yet you don't trust me to make decisions based on the expertise I've gained through my education and career
058I took my collection home because you don't understand you do not understand the scope of a li of a classroom Library nor how many highquality picture books are published each year you do not understand that classroom libraries can easily add 10 new highin books a month through the use of Scholastic book clubs you do not understand that you haven't given us the time or tools to accomplish this I took my collection home because the solution for this additional work and cost you have created has been pushed under the backs of volunteers I will not expect volunteers to scan my book use their own devices and time to employing your ignorance informed policy in my classroom 20 seconds I took my collection home and now I have 80 books for my class thank you thank you
059Amilia banan followed by Marie Dyer hi my name is Amy banan I have resided in the chiah hamony area of Hanover for over 30 years I'm a graduate of Hanover County Public Schools a parent of Haner County Public Schools children and a former public school educator I'm here today to address a matter of utmost importance the impact of book bands and related policies on our teachers and students over the past few years we have witnessed an alarming increase in teacher separations in our district bardocks list teacher separations every month analyzing the past six years of teacher separations the trend line has shown a significant increase in teacher separations in the past three years while the student enrollment trend line has decreased over the past six years teachers separations have increased at a higher rate as
060a member of the community and former County employee I've observed many qualified and award-winning Educators leaving our schools for other nearby school districts or leaving the profession altogether it is crucial to consider how some of the policies and decisions made by this board may have contributed to this concerning Trend why are teachers leaving to go to other school districts what about your board has contributed to teachers leaving Hanover County most recently this summer you gave yourselves unilateral authority to remove any book from any school at any time for any reason from my understanding you made this decision in a silo not including experts in the field of Library science that you employ your school librarians our school librarians are Masters in the field of Education holding Master degrees in library Sciences or certification by completing
061the required Master Level cour work not including them in matters of book selection is like not letting doctors in the decision-making process for Medical Treatments additionally one should wonder what prompted this extreme policy revision when you had an existing policy in place according to information obtained in the Freedom of Information Act in the past four years since 2019 there have only been five books in our school system officially challenged using the pre-existing policy of the most recent books that have been banned in our school libraries none of them went through the existing policies policies are best when involving all the stakeholders and when given utilizing expert advice why are you not following your own policies and procedures who's to say you're not going to change a policy or procedure a month from now furthermore the
062constant threat of book bans and censorship has created an atmosphere of fear and self-censorship among our Educators they should not have to second guess their choices in a classroom for fear of Retribution these professional Educators hold degrees and credentials that allow them to create creative and dynamic learning environments for our students 30 seconds the hand of her promise says we are empowered Learners respond ible citizens globally engaged communicators and resilient individuals your unspoken policies of teacher censorship do not uphold these values teachers are told not to speak out teachers are told not to Advocate teachers are told not to comment I want Hover County Public Schools to be able to walk the walk and talk the talk our children deserve the best thank you thank you everything okay yeah sir okay Mr chair um I'd
063like a minute yes I'd like to um comment on M banan's comments that um over the course of the last uh seven we on Mr ik please stop the time uh Madam clerk thank you thank you m go ahead Mr U Mr May and I have met with um approximately 15 16 schools most of them Elementary and we've yet to have a teacher refrain or feel threatened have a discussion with us uh freely excuse me I'm having a a comment you had your comment Tom and we got a lot of very positive feedback about things that they don't agree with we've heard from principles the same thing things that they might not agree with and we're very receptive to that so when you're making comments that this fear of ret retribution it's not coming from
064okay us okay let's continue on we'll continue on uh M Mr no hold on hold on no no ma'am you had your time you had time thank you thank you Miss Dyer M Dyer followed by Charlie hog my name is Mary Dyer and I'm a Mechanicsville District resident in regards to the book policy it sends the message that you do not care about our skilled Educators and Specialists while you may have met with Elementary School um teachers or Specialists um at the secondary level there there is really strong need um it seems like you want control and no checks or balances there's no one on the list of names that you have come up with for the material Review Committee who has any education or EXP experience with curriculum library English um have any of
065the board members gone to their school librarians other than the Elementary in their districts to observe or ask the actual Librarians how is this going what does this look like in the real world dayt day and then taking that feedback and said hey we need to make these changes you are beholden into your special interest in whatever God you claim to serve serving gods of judgment serving gods of political groups like The Family Foundation it is time that our children are the ones served even the ones who don't look speak or worship like you if Christianity is the basis for your policymaking then we have yet to see it there is nothing Christlike being done by this board and there hasn't been in many years our kids and dedicated Educators deserve so much better it
066is a shame that your legacy will be eclipsed by the decisions you have and continue to make on this board but you re what you sell thank you Charlie Hogue followed by Marne Clump is Marne Clump here thank you Tom Charlie H and I'm from the ashin district and my remarks are based are are related to uh elected school boards and uh first of all I'd like to congratulate the board on on the recent uh data points that have been collected regarding Handover schools in general and compared to the other uh counties relating to uh the points that the kids have scored regarding of math Etc pull your mics up youall have a lot to do with that as well so um that's very much appreciated so in a seminal book published 30 years ago
067polit politics markets and American schools John chub and Terry Mo argued that locally elected School boards are not the most effective and efficient approach to educating America's youth chob and mo warned that institutions of democratic control meaning locally elected school boards often fail in carrying out their core missions instead empowering vocal and well-organized adults at the expense of the educational needs and interests of students who do not get a vote in local elections if school boards are asked to choose between a policy that improves student achievement and one that benefits teachers the pressures of seeking reelection perversely encourage Schoolboard members to prioritize adult employees over the education of students these Dynamics are likely Amplified in large urban districts where teachers unions tend to enjoy stronger organization and access to Greater political resources in short elections
068divert valuable time from students elections are expensive elections attract teacher Union control elections ensure well organized groups over are over represented thank you thank you Marney Clump followed by Sarah polter Bridges thank you hi my name is Mary Clump I'm in in the beer Dam District I'm going to read a letter from an educator from Hanover County Public Schools as an educator every day I encounter situations that do not align with my values but I tolerate them because I understand that we are all different and that diversity in thinking feeling and learning makes for a positive School environment though I am not religious I am silent during public prayer though I believe conflict can be can be resolved calmly I continue to help students and parents who are distressed and disregulated though I am not
069conservative I will help the student with the Trump sticker on their Chromebook with as much patience and kindness as I'd help the next this is what we sign up for when we take a job in education we commit to working with every student despite our own beliefs and values we understand that in order for students to learn they have to feel safe respected and heard it's basic brain brain science we are clearly not in education for ourselves we are here for the students every single student so I'm curious as to why we would even consider adopting policies that intentionally cause harm to our students in a county that takes pride in Student Success and achievement why would you choose practices that hurt alienate segregate and disregulated one of the most vulnerable populations we serve how
070will we navigate these incidents of bullying yes bullying dead naming and misgendering students is by definition bullying by doing so you are seeking to cause harm to V to a vulnerable population I'm also curious about the selective moment of free speech that you intend to grant us as employees we've been cautioned not to express our views opinions and politics openly uh last December I watched as custodians scraped safe space stickers from teachers windows and doors teachers who are no longer with us because of this action did you not consider our freedom of speech then I asked someone to read my statement tonight not because I am afraid to speak up or fear or fear fearful of Retribution instead what I truly fear is that because of this divisive time in which we're living that you
071as a school board are actively contributing to there will be a student or family out there who might see my face or hear my words and no longer view me as someone they can rely on the idea that a student may truly need assistance and not be permitted to seek it is heartbreaking yes with policies like those you are proposing in place you're creating an unsafe learning environment for all students and an unsafe working environment for all staff I hope you will consider these concerns as you make your decision tonight I did want to say that I recently took the citizenship test in the United States to become a citizen one of the questions that was on there is what is freedom of religion you can practice any religion or not practice a religion 25
072seconds religion needs to stay out of the classroom thank you thank you Sarah polter Bridges followed by Patricia Hunter Jordan Miss Jordan here um is Lindsay Paulson here okay thank you good evening my name is Sarah Bridges I live in the beaverdam district I have two student two kids who have been students in Hover County Public School since kindergarten they're now in middle and high school this past weekend I had the honor of representing the Hover County NAACP at the equality Virginia Commonwealth dinner the Richmond Convention Center Ballroom was filled with all kinds of people people of Many Colors genders backgrounds ages faith many and many different life experiences the one thing missing from that room was hate there was only love in that room when I walk into a space like that my body
073feels at ease I am no longer hyper sensitive to my surroundings I'm no longer plotting my exit I relax I stop fidgeting I breathe deeper and the time seems to fly by you may feel that way in this room in our schools at school sponsored events the homecoming parades this past Friday perhaps I do not feel safe here in these public places in Hanover even Outdoors nor do many of the people here tonight nor do their kids who attend Hover County Public Schools despite their hypers sensitivities despite their anxious Minds despite the fact that they are merely kids in a world where grown-ups are supposed to protect them they put themselves out there they try out for school teams hoping and praying like all other kids that they are good enough to make the cut
074they are so very brave it does not matter how much they practiced how much they prayed how hard they worked to make the cut that child will never make the cut in this board's eyes because the body part that child uses to go to the bathroom is what this board decides which team those kids belong on it makes no sense you see when you repeatedly make decisions that purposefully and directly harm students you are entrusted to protect you and anyone who is emboldened by your harmful decision decisions are endangering Handover families by targeting transgender kids prohibiting them from using the bathroom of the gender they identify with prohibiting them from playing gender segregated Sports and other activities along with kids of the gender they identify with you are creating harmful Solutions in search of a
075problem the tail wagging the dog as they say these efforts to restrict the rights of transgender students are not motivated by privacy concerns they are motivated by fear fear of what you do not know or understand fear of something that doesn't conform to your world but we are in your world and the world is much larger than Hover County and we are wonderfully made there is no evidence of an increase in public safety occurrences in any of the hundreds of jurisdictions that have extended legal protection protection to transgender people however the evidence is clear if you can't use the bath bathroom you can't fully participate in school and it impacts your health and wellbeing thank you thank you Lindsay Paulson followed by Rita Dowling hi I am Lindsay Paulson I reside in the South Ana
076District today I will be writing a letter from a high school librarian Hanover County public schools has long held that our schools are a direct reflection of the diverse community in which we serve we are proud to be a part of the fabric of our community and take very seriously our responsibility to educate students and to create graduates that will be responsible and productive citizens caring neighbors effective co-workers and future business and Civic leaders this is a statement posted on our school's website on our County School Systems website unfortunately our employees are struggling to provide those learning opportunities for students to achieve these outcomes the school board's vote in June 2023 created a domino effect books were demanded to be pulled from the shelves of our high school libraries more titles were threatened by way
077of a small group of community members new school and classroom Library Acquisitions and deselection procedures were hastefully drafted at the school board office for schools to implement without any input from the County's highly qualified Librarians or classroom teachers and most tragically the students are impacted new book purchases have been delayed for school libraries due to the newest acquisition procedures the County's beloved reading Olympian books are delayed in ordering classroom Library orders that were requested last spring are being placed on hold hanb Librarians take their jobs very seriously we value reading learning critical thinking and inquiry we also respect the rights of families or individuals to choose what they would like to read or not read long before this newest attack on the freedom to choose books to read Librarians and Hanover were selecting books that
078were a good fit for the diverse communities The Librarians were also open to working with parents to ensure that the books their child were reading were a good fit school librarians still do this today we are here for our community we are here to provide all students learning opportunities through books and information we are part of the Handover promise to create empowered Learners globally engaged communicators resilient individuals and responsible citizens reading thinking critically and writing are powerful tools to build each of these components in Hand of our graduates libraries are essential resources for growing readers critical thinkers and writers we should be considered assets when creating new policies and procedures that will become part of our professional responsibilities we are the unheard voices fighting to ensure all students provided access to the tools they need
079for their future Hanover Librarians under the will of the school board are required to implement new purchasing procedures that are estimated to add almost 40 hours of working time annually the review process for challenge book goes against our professional training to consider a book in its entire context by reading the full book we need to let the Librarians have a voice thank you Rita ding followed by Grant Cronenberg hi I'm Rita d I live in Mechanicsville I'm reading from yet another librarian as a hore County Public Schools librarian I am disappointed and saddened at the state we find our County in this fall this divisiveness must stop the school board has said that they want to focus on the kids teachers and Librarians want to focus on the kids too since we all want the
080what is best for our students let's try to focus on our commonalities instead of our differences let's try to put aside political views books and Library Arians should not be political as Hanover County Teachers we are repeatedly reminded that instruction is the number one goal you may not think of school librarians as teachers but we are we actively teach Hanover students important lessons about many topics including how to choose the right book and how to evaluate information to determine if it is a trust if it is trustworthy or not unfortunately the new book policy is so cumbersome it takes time away from this essential instr instruction teachers and Librarians are spending our time jumping through hoops to have new books approved and current books removed and and that takes valuable time away from planning for
081instruction and teaching our students these important lessons they need to learn in August secondary teacher Librarians were asked to start their deselection process by reviewing the list of books circulating in the community to determine if they contain sexually explicit content many of the books do this many many of the books on this list do have some sexual content but are age appropriate for high school students and that age appropriateness was not even considered those books are on the chopping block anyway as many books recommended for young adult students and currently in our high school librarian Library libraries do include some mention of sex or sexuality where will this deselection process stop calling it deselection doesn't change what it is censorship also the fact that that school board members have repeatedly called the books they voted
082to remove and other books with sexually explicit um content pornography is one of the most discouraging parts of this whole ordeal when looking at the definition of pornography intent is key Mariam Webster defines pornography as the depiction of exotic Behavior as in pictures or writing intended to cause sexual excitement none none of these books were written with that intent 30 seconds sexually content sexual content does not make something pornog por pornographic in closing in implementing this new book policy we are taking valuable time away from instruction and we are removing books that are are in fact appropriate for high school students all because our school board has incorrectly interpreted both the definition of poronography and the intent of the Virginia law related to parent notification for instructional materials let's put our differences aside and think
083rationally about this policy let the teachers and Librarians do what we are trained to do thank teach students and provide access to age appropriate materials for our students thank you thank you grant Cronenberg followed by Michael Burton uh good evening my name is Grant kenberg I live in the Ashland District I'm the father of daughters who are in uh 10th grade and fourth grade I'm here to speak tonight about the overcrowding at Cool Spring Elementary the school's population is currently over 800 which is about 40 students over capacity and Cool Spring is projected to be about 150 students overc capacity in a few years now I know that the current student population does not meet the definition for overcrowding in the school regulations because the population doesn't exceed capacity by more than 20% but the
084school is in fact overcrowded first if capacity is X and the population is more than x then common sense says that the school is overcrowded more importantly than that however is the proof of overcrowding is obvious if you walk around the school for instance my daughter's music class is currently being run out of a converted Janitor's Closet that is overcrowding also because of the exorbitant number of students there are times PE classes have to run two at a time that means you have 50 students in one gymnasium that is overcrowding Additionally the school has only two school counselors and one person to serve as the school's registar despite the explosion in population not to mention more to come in the future this is basic unfairness relative to the population and Staffing at other elementary schools
085now this issue frankly was apparent I think to all a year ago when we saw the population numbers at Cool Spring and noted the significant development that has taken place along Atley Station Road the last few years meanwhile an adjacent Elementary School Capa has uh is over a 100 below its capacity now what was the proactive response by the school board when multiple large subdivisions that would feed into Cool Spring were approved to my knowledge nothing what was the um response by the school board when it was Apparent at least a year ago the Cool Spring would be significantly over capacity in just a few years again it seems nothing now we do have uh a plan now to install temporary learning Cottages so rather than taking proactive steps and making some long range planning
086to better distribute the student population given the large influx of new students to the Atley Station Road area the school board's plan is to spend money to create temporary accommodations money that could have gone to other needs if the school board was looking ahead and considering the basics of running a school district and providing the best educational environment for our children instead for the last year plus the school district the school board has spent much of its limited time on anti-trans policies and book Banning I know those issues meet with the ideological interests of a good number of you on this board as well as some recently departed members of this Bo 30s and with the most fervent uh interest of a segment of parents but those actions are not relevant to creating the best
087learning environment for students the school board's slow response to overcrowding at Cool Spring does make me wonder if the school board was actually independent from the Board of Supervisors and directly accountable to the citizens of Hanover County would the school board have raised these issues would have would it have asked for more funding instead of such independence though the school board members at this moment are beholden to the political as political appointees to the supervisors who appoint them and but perhaps hopefully that will be changing soon thank thank you Michael burden followed by Mark killingstad hi again Michael berdan uh beaver beaver dam uh what is it District uh my wife spoke and read the anonymous words of a hver County Public School's teacher and didn't quite get to finish so I will finish and
088then add my own thoughts uh because she likes when I always do that at home uh I want to reemphasize so continuing her the letter I want to reemphasize that is the policy that is at the heart of this distrust the policy caused controversy which did not previously exist it took conversations usually handled between parents teachers and administrators and twisted what had been civil discourse into the current political spectacle please please reconsider the current book policy we have tried it and not only is it not working but it is detrimental to our students their parents and our teachers thank you so that's that's her remarks and I thought they were important more important than than M could have to say I I used to be previously a teacher in Texas I was a a bilingual
089elementary teacher and on one occasion I was upset about something that was going on in the district and I went to the Schoolboard meeting and I got up in front of the school board and I spoke and I spoke as directly and clearly and vociferously and accusatory as any of the parents here at my school board whom I served as a teacher and it never once entered my mind that I should do so anonymously because I trust Ed that my school board would see the love of my students that brought me there and the concern for them apparently that's not present in hanur County our teachers don't feel that way I haven't been to every Schoolboard meeting like some of the parents here that are perhaps more devoted than me or have more time but
090I've never heard of a current teacher coming and voicing concerns in opposition to what the board is doing and Mr ikenberry responded to one of our commenters saying well that's not our problem or well that's not because of what we're doing or something of that nature and that's not leadership that's not stepping up and taking accountability and saying goodness Heavens no one gives us feedback publicly they're concerned having comment after comment read anonymously by your teachers and Librarians about policies that are giving them headaches and grief and making them consider leaving their profession that they love and the students that they serve that should be terrifying and you should be proactive about finding ways to get teachers and Librarians and administrators to feel confident and safe to come and voice their concerns because we want
091to hear from them too as parents and this is the best form to do that 30 seconds the book Banning policy it's been said there's not I don't have anything to add on the book Banning policy uh it's just we trust our students in the hands of our teachers and we look for the school board to trust them the same thank you thank you Mark kingstead follow about Charlie wadell raise the mics up I really don't think I need to do that but if you want me I will no you're fine okay thank you uh Mark killing statom District thank you I had a whole bunch of other remarks but we're shifting gears here all right I wasn't able to come to the last meeting because we had some family stuff going on so here
092I'm am now two months ago after the public comment session Mr red expressed his concern stemming from conversations with teachers that they wouldn't have time to provide an inventory of books that they used to teach from he further stated words to the effect that teachers didn't want to have to get approval for every book they used to teach from now as a professional educator and course developer during a previous career One does not simply teach from whatever Source they want to it has to be approved and directly support the approved curriculum I find it upsetting that Mr red brought this to our attention in the way that he did and not address the potential use of unapproved books directly to Dr Gil as a policy issue since he is a superintendent I'm also concerned that
093no one on the board saw this as a problem that needed to be addressed I won't even get into the discussion on the problems with the curriculum because I've only got three minutes and we're losing time moving on I've listened to a lot of people so far tonight say that nobody in this room other than a professional teacher that works for Handover has any idea what's going on or should have any say in what our kids teach or learn so I'm going to throw a little bit of education for them I find it repugnant that a government employee of the school system thinks that they are the only ones qualified to teach or develop curriculum since the teachers and their Union don't understand where policy where policy changes came from then allow me to educate
094the polic policy changes that are going through the systems right now are a result of parents waking up during the coid policies that showed us what them the professional educator was indoctrinating our kids with we saw it we got fed up and we started pushing back the problem is now they've been playing games in the dark for so long that now it's being exposed what they're doing and they don't like us calling them to the carpet we're having you as the board make them do their job I also take issue with any employee that says I'm not going to do what I'm supposed to do because I don't like the policy change in the world that I grew up in you told your boss that guess what here's your slip have a nice day get
095the packing and if the Union's stopping it well I'm sure there's an Avenue to go through the union to hand them their slip and get them to packing now to my other comments oh my God I don't have enough time anyway 35 seconds your student code of conduct it's a piece of junk you need to rewrite it you need to go through it and you need to start sticking by it and holding people accountable to it okay dress code oh my God it doesn't matter male female they're all violating it and no one's doing anything about it okay school events I'm sorry but when a 1940s one piece bathing suit covers up more than what some of the girls were wearing at a homecoming dance please come on now I understand young men are supposed
096to act appropriately but when you're showing your wares and the way that you are you're going to get some problems by some young men that weren't raised right thank you sir yep thanks for the time Charlie wiell followed by Connie Piper Mr chairman members of the board Dr Gil members of the school board staff parents fellow citizens I'm Charlie wiell live in the Henry District I see the first amendment it's alive and well tonight I bring you a breath of fresh air I'm here to speak on tu subjects the first of my first is one of my favorites the njrotc program and you met some of the students in uh Le the Mechanicsville and the Patrick Henry they're the best and the brightest last week I had the opportunity to sub for one of the
097instructors and during those instruction periods they had the chance to meet with staff sergeant Allen an army recruiter after this uh presentation I had the chance to talk with staff sergeant Allen about the ASVAB scores which are the armed services vocational aptitude battery and I asked him about the scores of the Mechanicsville high school students the Handover students and how they compared to the other uh schools in the region Sergeant Allen staff sergeant Allen told me that they are eager to recruit from Mechanicsville High School eager to recruit from Hanover because we have excuse me I get emotional because I know these kids these are the best and the brightest they're our future they try hard I bring this to your attention to recognize the success of the njrc program and to cast the spotlight
098on Handover schools because we are a success we have graduates on a High graduation rate we have graduates that get to their first choice of schools and scholarships the ASVAB scores prove it and as the gentleman earlier said stats don't lie Bravo to all of you including the staff for excellence second reason I'm here tonight is to comment on the two proposed policy changes that uh come under uh tonight's agenda category L the policy on restroom and locker room um policy and the extracurricular activities I urge you to ratify those policy statements I'm aware of the government uh limitations that you operate under on these I'm also amazed and somewhat appalled by the State of Affairs in today's society with all the gender dysphoria the need need to even have policies address in where and
099who can use which restroom and how to differentiate between who can participate in women's sports is frankly counterintuitive the need to even have policies to respond to gender dysphoria is distracting from the State admission of any academic institution those those who do demand special privileges and accommodations and they have no interest in academics it's merely a social agenda that has no place in schools every school should focus on teaching core subjects Career Development and academic success for every student parents need to be involved in their students academic life children are not fully mature which is one of the reasons of the age majority is 18 children often have desires that may not be in their best interest part of the parents job is to sometimes protect their children from themselves a parent job is to
100navigate those difficult decisions they should not have to negotiate with the school board for those policies thank you thank you Connie Piper followed by Kimberly thirston hello my name is Connie Piper and I'm a parent and resident of the beaverdam district some of the decisions that have been made by this board lately cause me to shake my head and wonder what the motivating factors for the decisions are whether intentional or not it seems to come down to privilege the Botanica encyclopedia defines privilege as an advantage that other do not have here are a few recent examples you appoint a naming committee for the new elementary school and then you completely disregard their suggestion in favor of your own name Your Privilege is showing you dissolve the equity advisory committee again your privilege is showing you
101choose to hold your work sessions at various country clubs Your Privilege is showing you completely rewrite the library policy the requests for reconsideration policy and give yourself sole authority to remove or add any material materials to school and classroom libraries without actually talking to the Librarians and teachers who have specialized training in book selection and who will be directly impacted by your changes your privileg is showing you remove 19 books from all school and classroom libraries without even reading the books Your Privilege is showing of the 19 books that have been banned so far five of the 19 roughly 26% are by Jewish authors and six of the 19 roughly 32% are authors who identify as lgbtq you your privilege is showing you create a policy that allows for the removal of books from all
102school and classroom libraries without anyone including the person lodging the complaint to actually read the book Your Privilege is showing there is no requirement for the members of the appointed Library committee to have any educational or Library background even though it is this committee that will decide if books are removed from school and classroom libraries Your Privilege is showing you can't see that removing books that reflect students identities provide opport opportunities for imaginative rehearsals and help to heal trauma might not hurt kids but might actually protect them your privileg is showing you waste thousands of taxpayer dollars paying salaries of teachers Librarians principes and Schoolboard office staff to complete a mountain of paperwork as a part of the new book selection and deselection process your privilege is showing you are causing teachers and Librarians to
103take time away from serving their students to fill out a time-consuming en cumbersome spreadsheet every time they add or remove books from the school and classroom libraries Your Privilege is showing you require teachers and Librarians to use a known biased website booklook s.org as part of the selection and deselection process you don't believe that you are Banning books because parents can buy those books for their students if they wish for them to read them your privilege is showing you remove the parental rights of all parents to best decide what materials are suitable for their children by listening to the opinions of a few parents Your Privilege is showing you will likely just regard my comments tonight as you have those of the multitudes who have previously contacted you because you don't believe in privilege Your
104Privilege is showing thank you thank you Kimberly thirston followed by Dana Fox Dana Fox here she's here okay thank you good evening my name is Kimberly thirston and I reside in the Mechanicsville District tonight I'm not here to talk about any of the controversial topics that have been talked about this evening I'm here to bring to you a safety concern that I've had since the beginning of the school year um and that is about our crossing guards that we have at our schools and I can only speak about the three crossing guards that are at my Children's Schools but they have been missed find someone to fill those roles because there have been so many near misses at Bell Creek Middle School and Mechanicsville High School it is petrifying for me to drive down Lee
105Davis Road and watch these students try to cross from CVS or the dentist office where their parents drop them off and they try to cross fix it I don't care if you have to hire more people if you have to get the sheriff's office involved find someone to do this because it is Despicable that you guys have not taken care of that already um I do want to give a huge shout out to the uh uh transportation department uh staff worker that showed up at Laura Meadow to do the job um there um he did a wonderful job I was a little concerned on some mornings that I thought he was going to get hit because he uh was did not have a whistle and parents or drivers did not pay any attention to him
106but huge shout out to him for showing up and doing that um I received a text message from a parent in the Henry District tonight um whose child received a concussion um uh while she was in school and she um is an athlete in one of our schools and she has been put under protocol for the concussions and she has to now travel to the next High School School up to get to an athletic director um the request from her is that we find the time in the budget process um to hire more athletic directors um I know I didn't sign up for the budget comment um but um if we could get even a part-time athletic trainer to be at our middle schools with our students um I think that that would be a
107huge help um and again on that note that I did not sign up for the budget time um please allow for more time in the budget process for Parental involvement um I know that it's a busy time in the in the uh winter when we all are going through that process um but more parental involvement and citizen involvement um is always a good thing thank you thank you Miss thirst before you leave you you said athletic director you me athletic trainer sorry yes a I just want to make sure because I got really confused thank you Dana Fox followed by Andrea Casey is on okay thank you good evening school board members and Dr Gil my name is Dana Fox and I'm a resident of the beaverdam district I also live in the heart of
108beaverdam I'm a mother to one Patrick Henry student two beaverdam elementary students and two more who will be attending beaverdam in the next couple of years I serve on the Handover CTE advisory committee and I am the beaverdam Elementary PTA past president and current vice president of advocacy I'm here tonight to advocate for a new school building for beaverdam elementary and not just a renovation last night I had the pleasure of attending our first Community engagement session about upcoming renovation for beaverdam I'm excited for the project but I have some very serious concerns I'm encouraging this board to revisit the plan for beaverdam to be the construction of a new building not just a renovation all of the other schools in the same CIP are slated for a new building except beaverdam on the Handover
109County School Board website is a statement of equity and I quote the school division is committed to taking deliberate action to match all students with the resources tools and supports they need to maximize their potential how is it Equitable for our for other projects to be completely new facilities what does that say to our staff families community and most importantly our students that our school isn't deserving of a brand new building the Western Corridor students will move from one aging facility to another which is Liberty Middle and then to another which is Patrick Henry while other students in the county see at least one school in their K12 Journey that was built after 1980 my children are walking the same Halls their grandparents walked that's not Nostalgia that's sad where is the equity to go
110back to your website quote you need to take deliberate action I am the chief operating officer in a neighboring School Division my background is in construction management and my career is focused in K12 facilities I'm simply speak I'm not simply speaking as a mom or a PTA board member I'm speaking from years of experience and as a Content expert information shared last night indicated that the project would run the course of essentially three Summers which mean completion is likely for fall 2026 we can build a new SCH School building in that time also shared last night was the 15 sanitary line and other challenges that lie ahead those are just what is known and I imagine there will be much more uncovered that will be costly add to that the long-term cost to still maintain
111a building that will be a hybrid of Ages we have the space to build new while teaching and learning continues in the old building this nearly eliminates what will be significant interruptions for students and staff over multiple school years I implore this board to please reconsider the project planned for beaverdam elementary it is early enough in the process that the current budget can be allocated towards a new building based on our enroll of 314 students which is a third of the new Ashlin Elementary we could potentially use a smaller prototype and likely wouldn't have a budget increase 30 seconds beaverdam in our community flies under the radar and we like it that way quite honestly usually the only time other folks in the county hear about us is because Mr Whitley blames us for the
112snow days I do not want our opportunity for a new school building to fly under the radar we should not be the only building getting just a renovation bees also deserves the best thank you thank you thank you and Andrea Casey good evening Mr chairman and honorable board members I am Andrea Casey I'm the uh president of the South Ana district and I'll be speaking in support of the governor's model policies and on behalf of the Handover County Republican committee uh we reiterate and support Hanover County school board's codification at a minimum to the governors and the D dooe published versions of the 2023 model policies on the Privacy dignity and respect for all students and parents in Virginia's public schools as Allowed by the code of Virginia in doing so we request the following
113article as outlined in appendix one in the sample policy be given special attention referencing article 3 item G the established policy for student partic participation in sex specific school activities and events and use of facilities as Vision two states where state or federal law requires schools to permit transgender students to share sex segregated facilities such as bathrooms and locker rooms with students of the opposite sex parents should be given the right to opt their child out of using such facilities and the child should be giving access to alternate facilities to promote that child's privacy and safety given this provision for the sake of transparency and consideration for the parents and children we respectfully request that all parents of Hanover County Public Schools be given specific notification of the above child opt out policy along with
114appropriate required optout document for their exec ution if they should desire to do so we very much appreciate your efforts and actions in this very serious Manner and I do thank you for all of your dedication and hard work for putting our students and our community first and making us such a successful school system here in the state of Virginia thank you thank you Mr chair this ends our public comment that had signed up and now we turn our attention to uh the budget public comment period we have two people that have signed up Brennan Neil it's Brennan Neil and CC Bishop wow are y'all good tag team talking this will be great we'll be speaking together okay um so Mr may members of the board Dr Gil I am CC Bishop I'm president of
115the haa and I am Brenan Neal I am president of the Hanover professional Educators HP uh so our remarks this evening don't constitute a formal budget proposal once more our associations will survey our members later in November and return to you in December with our 2024-25 budget presentation where we may ask you to consider additional requests but these are our preliminary comments our associations are grateful to the school board and to Dr Gil for this year's 7% salary increase as well as other good faith efforts to reward handovers hardworking employees however teachers are concerned about the continuing impact of inflation on our salaries the resulting loss of purchasing power has affected many of our colleagues experienced Handover Educators continue to be paid less than their peers in surrounding school districts in part due to salary
116compression any decompression money should be targeted at steps 25 to 35 on the teacher salary scale to compensate our underpaid veteran Educators uh instructional assistant and other classified employees are also affected by salary compression we request that decompression funding be used to record reward those experienced workers as well our associations request that each teacher receive a completely unencumbered planning time each day and that teachers continue to receive compensation when asked to substitute during those planning periods we ask for additional esol teachers so that our multilingual students can receive um more support some of our ESO teachers are spread across three buildings and as you know our multilingual population is growing quite quite rapidly um we also request additional instructional AIDS at all levels and that these uh workers receive additional specialized training because these IAS
117are working with their most vulnerable population they need the training to do so our associations also ask for stiens for our dual enrollment in advanced College Academy teachers to recognize their status as adjunct faculty with Reynolds Community College our associations are very grateful to this school board and Dr Dill for covering the bus drivers with vrs and the salary enhancements to ease our driver's shortage and reward our hardworking drivers we also ask the following steps to be taken continue to pay the 5% employee share of the vrs contribution for the second year in a row add more personal days uh possibly on a sliding scale establish a salary step scale with salary decompression establish a safe driving bonus be given the day off when children are not in school to work secondary jobs and continue
118to install air conditioning in as many buses as possible to accommodate the earlier start to the school year 20 seconds we are hopeful that Handover County will continue to absorb increases in the County's self-insured Health Plan and will not pass those on to faculty and staff our association ask for additional funding for the prep program so our retired teachers can continue to be the best substitute teachers we have thank you very much on behalf of VP and haa for considering our requests and we thank you for everything you do for our schools thank you Mr chair that's all we have fellow board members I I failed to tell you but in your note package um their comments are in there so you can see what they as I was trying to keep up with what
119they were saying it it's clearly in there so we have it to review so I I share that information with you thank you U Mr Vice chair that will close our public comment section and now we will move on to both our sections uh the the um budget section and the uh public comment so with that we'll move on to instructional highlight Dr Gil yes thank you Mr chair our instructional highlight this evening is our annual update on this what we term the student experience this include includes not only student achievement as it relates to so data and graduation rate but the experience throughout from our youngest Learners in prek all the way through graduation in addition to that miss dharun our director of accreditation and accountability will also cover the items required annually by
120Schoolboard policy 1.1-kb of the board Dr Gil's senior staff once again Dr Gil has stolen my introduction so we can move on to the next slide thank you um each of our schools in Hanover County is fully accredited this achievement is a product of the work and effort of not one role or person but of the school Community consisting of teachers custodians bus drivers cafeteria workers parents school and division leaders all focused on one thing our students and providing the best environment for learning um just a note the vooe um is beginning a process to to revamp the accreditation system under which we are currently accredited this work is just starting at the state level and we will keep you posted regarding any changes to the pathway for accreditation as information becomes available um hover
121the hover promise embodies our vision for our schools and the commitment we have to each student to be prepared for their future the profile of a hand Handover graduate graduate sorry contains four key components a globally engaged citizen empowered learner responsible Citizen and resilient learner within each of these components are a set of I can statements these statements are the skills that students can demonstrate in their classrooms as they progress um from kindergarten through their senior year the I can statements guide teacher planning align the profile follow of a Handover a graduate with content standards to create an Innovative and relevant learning opportunities preparing our students for life this past spring the school board approved and adopted our new comprehensive plan gold one provides high quality and relevant instruction that prepare Stu prepares students to
122be life ready productive individuals supporting our efforts in creating students who can um 154 preschool students participated in the Handover preschool program in the 2223 school year the Hanover County preschool program is designed to promote development and learning for our youngest Learners through a multi-pronged approach that includes development of School Readiness skills and social competencies through attention to health education Family Support Community collaboration and parental en involvement our elementary school students focus on mastering the core content skills in Reading Writing math social studies and science however the elementary experience would not be complete without the robust programming provided in art music physical education and of course visiting the school library several of our elementary schools also continued or are now implementing the house system the system is designed to encourage students to build a positive
123connection to their school having mixed grade levels or mixed grade groups allows older students to form leadership skills and gain experience in mentoring younger students benefit from the experience and the encouragement of the students in the higher grades the start and style event was held for the first time in August of 2022 this event was created in order order to provide an opportunity for students to select a first day of school outfit approximately 400 students participated in the event the event was staffed by community volunteers and Hover County Public School students and staff it was so successful that it was held again this August serving even more students hover strives to assist children in developing uh life skills by a acquiring and effectively applying knowledge attitudes and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions set
124and Achieve positive goals feel and show empathy for other students um establish and maintain positive relationships and make responsible decisions the work towards supporting our students in providing a climate that is conducive to learning has been a consistent goal of the division the commitment to this effort will continue in our new comprehensive plan under goal four identify design and Implement systems that support a positive educational climate and Community for example the universal screener is a tool used to support student employee wellness and is implemented in the fall and the spring in order to check in with students and staff to see how they are feeling and provide followup if requested school-based teams consisting of teachers counselors School nurses School psychologists and administrators prepare monthly activities for students to create a healthy learning environment focusing on
125topics such as kindness community service caring and responsibility in the spring of 2023 students participated in our state assessments also known as the S so's in the content areas of math reading science and and social studies our eighth grade students participated in a writing assessment as well the performance of Hanover County Public School students exceeded the state performance in math reading social studies and science the Middle School experience is a unique one as so much change happens uh for students during the three short years in middle school students begin the past to specialization they begin to explore and identify things of interest in addition to the core content middle school students are given the opportunity to explore new experiences through the elective offerings and Fine Arts chorus band strings agriculture Theater Arts technology pre-engineering and
126World languages to Aid in their growth middle school students also engage in career exploration allowing them to learn about different career paths that match their talents and their budding interests this work helps students to be prepared to select Pathways in high school that will support their future goals Han County Public Schools offer students several Pathways or a combination of Pathways in the high school from which to design their experience based on their interest and goals such as Career and Technical education the Fine Arts the performing arts jrc and advanced coursework through AP um classes or the IB program we also have dual enrollment just to name a few excuse me our new comprehensive plan lays out objectives and strategies under goal one to enhance and maximize the learning experiences not only in literacy and numeracy
127but in rigorous and advanced learning opportunities as well as career um preparation approximately 1375 10th 11th and 12th grade students took at least one advanced placement course during the 2223 school year advanced placement courses offer students who are seeking rigorous and demanding curriculum the opportunity to challenge themselves students may elect to take the AP exam at the end of the course and potentially earn college credit based on their qualifying score the Reynolds Advanced College Academy or ACA provides high school students with the opportunity to earn an associate degree while completing the requirements for their high school diploma students who participate in this program take college level courses during their Junior and Senior year through a cohort model that they enter when they're in the ninth grade students report that while the program is challenging and
128the experience is rewarding it ALS also helps to prepare them for my page stuck together you got I know drum roll please for Life After High School there you have it approximately 40 AA graduates earn their associate degree at Reynolds Community College in May 2023 prior to earning their high school diploma as part of our fourth graduating class another pth way for our high school students to select is the international baloria program also known as the IB Program approximately 511th and 12th grade students were enrolled in at least one international Balor course during the 2223 school year this program is a comprehensive option for any student seeking a rigorous course of studies this two-year curriculum adds to intellectual rigor and high academic standards by fostering a strong strong emphasis on the ideas of international understanding
129and responsible citizenship hcps also offers a robust CTE program that provides the opportunity for students to experience different career Pathways in depth our popular programs range from careers in health to HVAC to culinary arts to cosmetology many of our students select a combination of CTE courses and advanced learning opportunities um creating a customized experience that not only supports their personal interest but prepares them well for the path they choose post high school as an extension of the CTE courses many of our students participate in school coordinated School coordinated workplace experiences that are related to the students career goals Andor interests the these work-based experiences are implemented in a partnership with local businesses Industries or other organizations in the community and take the form of internships clinical experiences apprenticeship school-based Enterprise and co-ops the online school
130served 250 students during the 2223 school year and 4th through 12th grade virtual learning is a unique experience teachers in the online School strive to provide a relevant um education that is engaging for all their Learners um yep it's also in a synchronous format once again our students demonstrated their love of the Arts whether in the area of Performing or Visual Arts the hcps performing arts program strives to provide all students with a high quality music and arts education which engages and inspires them to develop a lifelong love of Performing Arts increases their self-confidence creativity imagination and provides opportunities for self-expression the visual arts programs provide Rich experiences for students to incorporate critical thinking and commun communication skills allow for Innovative approaches in making connections to the world of art while exploring the application of
131different mediums and materials excuse me preparing for the future in Handover we have dedicated resources to helping students prepare for the future this process begins in the elementary school as students learn about their community and jobs within their community in the middle school students begin to develop more focused interests as they experience different uh elective options and our middle school students also participate in career exploratory lessons and career cafes uh with the career counselors that are designed to explore the 16 career clusters and the numerous Pathways to job attainment after high school as students move into High School their interest become more specialized and the student is able to begin planning for the future through the career counselor students learn about many Pathways available to them such as College apprenticeships two-year colleges the military are
132going straight into the workforce as well as learning about um scholarships that are available and how to apply for those scholarships our career counselors strive to make sure that our students have postgraduation plans excuse me that will help their definition of success and here's our graduating class 95.6 of the graduating class graduated on time 62.1 earned an advanced diploma 3.3% earned an IB diploma 30% earned a standard or other diploma and 1% earned a g and their plans for Life After High School 65 plan to attend a four-year College 177% Plan to attend a two-year College 3% plan to enter the military 4% plan to go to an alternate alternate education program such as an apprenticeship or trade school 10% plan to enter the workforce and less than 1% were unsure of their postgraduation plans
133looking forward um policy 1-1.5 requires an annual Equity report and will be presented to the board yearly um you'll be provided with Equity data report for the 22 23 school year that contains data sets that provide more in-depth data related to this presentation our new comprehensive plan provides us with a blueprint not only for meeting the needs of our students but expanding opportunities and enhancing the learning experiences for our students in order to help each child meet their personal goals are there any questions are there any questions from the board members Mr Coleman thank you for your presentation I had a quick question around the military uh the number of folks entering the military what's the historical numbers on that has that 3% has it gone down has it gone up where's where where has
134that been um it I can provide you with you know five years worth of data if you like sure but it's it's typically right in that area um some years it's more like 2.9% um I know one year recently I think it was 3.6% so it's it's right in that that area okay yeah thank you sure anybody else any other questions I miss tier and I I thank you so much for uh providing this information to us um the the detailed report is that is that what you sent us already or are you going to send us that with the comparisons and stuff I believe it was is that included in this we'll get it to you it may be I just can't see what's in here I'm just asking that I I don't know
135if this was your slides or if that was the details that you were just talking about that's the only reason I asked that question it's it's actually a separate report I actually provided it in the spring but it was um because we hadn't finished with the 22 23 school year um some of the information was missing so at this point it is now a complete report and we're going to attach it to this rep yeah I don't want to ask you a whole bunch of questions if I can go in there and see it in the report that's why I was asking the question okay so thank you anybody else have any other questions that's good all righty thank you very much it's wonderful we appreciate that excellent all right Dr Gil I believe next
136on our agenda is our uh anti-bullying prevention uh month and I would like to read the resolution and then I would uh entertain a motion how does that sound Dr Gil sounds great to me sir whereas School bulling has become an increasingly significant problem in the United States and Virginia and whereas over 20% of the youth in the United States are estimated to be involved in bullying each year even th as a bully or as a victim and whereas an estimated 160,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade Miss school every day due to a fear of being bullied whereas bullying can take many forms including verbal physical and most recently in cyber space and can happen in any spaces on and off school grounds whereas it is important to Virginia parents students teachers and school
137administrators to be aware of bullying and to encourage discussion of the problem as a school community and whereas the vsba has developed model policies to encourage positive behaviors and to eliminate bullying behaviors now therefore the Hanover County School Board recognizes the month of October 2023 as vsba bullying prevention month with the intention that the issue of bullying and its prevention be discussed in Handover schools and classrooms during that time you've heard our proposed resolution I would entertain a motion for the adoption of this as our um bullying prevention uh Proclamation Mr chair I move that we adopt the um bullying prevention resolution as you have read thank you Mr Hunley is there a second a second Mr red is there any discussion from the board Mr red yes um you know the first three bullets
138up here I can accept these at face value cuz I'm not really familiar with where they got those numbers and whatnot but I certainly agree with the next two uh that it's bullying takes many different forms uh and parents teachers and school administrations need to be aware of it uh so I fully support this um Proclamation I've read it pretty closely I'm I don't generally sign my name to something I'm not going to be pretty pretty sure I'm signing so I can agree with this and I support this well thank you Mr red are there any other board members all right we have a motion on the floor and a second and discussion has now ended all those in favor of the adoption of the Proclamation as read say I I all opposed the the
139eyes have it the motion carries uh I board members please do not run out after the meeting we need to sign this before you leave please thank you all right uh Dr Gil I believe we're up to uh their budget development calendar so miss Bera I think it's uh it's up to you or somebody else uh oh uh just a quick setup yes this is the calendar that Miss Bera presented to you for first read during the month of September there have been a couple of Minor Adjustments actually I believe how it was our Director of Finance Miss Harman who presented it and we'll go over some very minor modifications and after which the board is satisfied with those we will ask for your approval no wonder you weren't getting up Miss Bera it's me
140again you had me fold well good evening Mr chairman and members of the board so as mentioned this is for a to approve the fiscal year 25 budget development calendar this calendar was reviewed at the meeting last month there are a few changes that we do want to bring your attention one is the um public hearing that we did hold tonight also uh the presentation of the school board's budget to the porter supervisors will will be on February 21st um I would also like to just highlight some of the other dates on this calendar as well um the superintendent's proposed budget will be presented on January 16th there will be a public hearing and work session on January 23rd and then you'll be voting on the proposed budget on February 13th um so if you
141have any questions I'm happy to answer them now does anybody have any questions on the calendar only I should ask that and it Ain that just the calendar just the calendar anybody have any questions all right so I would uh entertain then miss Haron I believe if this is right I need to uh we need to adopt this uh Dr Gil so at this time I would uh entertain a motion for the adoption of the budget development calendar as presented Mr chair I'd like to make a motion to adopt the calendar as presented just now Mr ikenberry and I see Miss Welch is ready to second that yes I second that Mr chair thank you Miss Welch on the second I we have a motion on the table and a second is there any discussion
142no discussion all those in favor say I I all opposed the motion carries thank you you all right and now uh Dr Gil we're at the appointment of the library materials committee yes correct Mr chair I'll turn that back over to you as I'll run with it thank you um we um I I wanted to make the public aware that we did have have an an agenda modification at the beginning of our when we first opened our meeting tonight at 5:00 and we have added two names into this which is which is being displayed not being displayed now um and it's added the name of Sarah long for the ashin district and it's added Dr Frank shelp in South Ana uh to replace uh Aaron delger um I wanted to just make one comment about
143this before we the board U moves on this is that this is in accordance with our policies that we worked on in June and then I believe we passed in August if I'm not mistaken and uh we have we have all seven of us have sought input from our community for uh recommendations for this committee and these names have now been presented and are here and so with that I would entertain a motion that we adopt the seven names that are recommended here for our library materials committee uh in accordance with policy 65.2 as amended Miss Hawkins M uh Mr chair thank you very very much um I recommend that we adopt these names for our um Library materials committee as presented thank you is there a second second second by uh Mr Hunley now
144that we have a a motion and a second on the table is there any further discussion see no discussion all those in favor of adoption of the seven names as presented for the library materials Committee in accordance with policy 6-5 do2 vote by saying I I all opposed the motion carries unanimously thank you and now I believe we're going to do a review of our model policies uh or review of proposed policy revisions and am I right okay good I was just making sure who was getting up so Mr chair we have number of policies for first read this evening they are in different areas so Miss Baker will tag team with Miss Seward taking Miss Baker with human resources policies and then uh Miss Seward will have the latter half Miss Baker good evening
145Mr chair school board members and Dr Gil um as Dr Gil said I will be kicking us off and then turning it over to miss Seward for the remainder of the policies tonight I'm here to share with you 57.9 it is employee absences due to um us implementing vrs for our transportation employees we need to make slight wording adjustments to this one particular policy changing it from the words full-time to eligible um and then per eligible contract year very small adjustment but this provides our transportation employees with personal leave to be consistent with our other vrs job families thank you are there any questions from the Ward members okay with not hearing him then this will lay over for 30 days and we'll take it up next month that's it you're going to run away
146now I'm sit all right so next uh proposed is on the effect of criminal convictions uh so is that you miss it can be well yes yes it is I did submit that let's see we can just get that up there so this is just a minor change to 5- 2.4 it is the result of recent action by the general assembly and it brings our policy into compliance with both our current practice and the code it's just inclusion of those words solicitation there you can see it com straight out of the code of Virginia certain criminal convictions are of course a bar they would prohibit individuals from being able to work within the School Division and the general assembly expanded the list of offenses to include solicitation as well of certain specific offenses okay that's
147thank you m yep that's it for that one the last three I have are all interrelated you've heard a lot of conversation about the proposed rather the VOE model policies that the Department of Education has released and I have been instructed to draft or to sort of analyze what we already have in our policy manual and compare it to the vooe model policies uh that were released by the Department of Education I've done that and I found that a large portion of the content that is included within the proposed model policy icies is already in your policy manual so you wouldn't need to go back and make those revisions there are a few things that are not in your policy manual so I have made some draft revisions to three different policies for you the
148first one is 7- 1.4 Student Records to include some of the provisions that are contained within the model policies that specifically relate to Student Records and how staff refers to Children within the building and and let's see so the the very first change there included the word pronoun so that indicates the staff will use the child's pronoun consistent and gender consistent with their identity when addressing the student um if the parent has been involved and made that decision along with their child otherwise the school staff will refer to each student in the same manner by which they're identified in their students official record says that students can be called a nickname commonly associated with the name that's in their official record except for instances such as a foreign language class that language is taken verbatim
149from the model policy additionally there below you will see language that's also sorry just up there just those other two paragraphs there at the bottom of the page that language is also taken directly from the vooe model policy that was not in your policies before so I've added it there at your request and that is it for the last other than updating the legal references at the end of that particular policy 7 -1.4 the next one is 7- 1.7 you can see that there's really only one particular change in here because a lot of what's in this model policy has already been included within your policy from the last time you did a deep dive into this policy and added a lot of um information in the policy so the bulk of what's in the
150videoe model policy is already in here so the only change there was for consistency sake when the phrase sex is used uh it is intended to mean by biologics biological sex to match up with the vo model policy and the final policy deals with the extracurricular activities this includes the remaining provisions of the vooe model policy that were're not already um embedded within your current policy so you can see there that it indicates that Sports participation that is already sex segregated will continue to be sex segregated by biological sex reasonable modifications be permitted to the extent required by law all of these policies have been updated to include the reference to the model policies and the legal reference section also changed shall to will as we've been doing with the rest of our policies so
151if you have any questions about any particular Provisions anything that you think isn't in there and should be or vice versa I'm happy to help Mr red yes sir um on the policy 7- 1.4 down in paragraph 13 or item 13 if you pull that up on your slide there it's coming I think 1.4 it only has 10 on this one 10 there another 13 somewhere oh well have I got the wrong number um Student Records yeah Student Records it's in the list of are you talking about the bull the number 13 13 on the Student Records yes sir when when the School Division can disclose information from UC let's drop down to where the let's see one two three fourth fourth paragraph it says upon request of a student and parent I think if
152you look back at the doe policy it says that the students parents has instructed in writing that another name be used or pronoun I would suggest that we say upon written request not just request because that means upon request could mean verbal request by student and parent I I think it probably should say written request if we're going to I can tell you that that is how it's being implemented is a written there's a form that's filled out and the uh the school administration along with the counselor sits down and has a a conversation with the student and the parent together uh about how they can best support the student so there there are forms that would have to be signed so while the word written isn't in here you're right that is how it
153is being implemented but of course happy to make whatever amendments the board thinks appropriate um I would feel like we'd want to we'd want our policy to say what we mean um so I would say upon written request would be my thought um that's up to the board if if yall want to agree or disagree but we keep on going to the in you know that second sentence well the sentence continues and it goes on and it says and gender cons consistent with the students's gender identity on other school records or documents and it says and and I think that word and should be left out of there shouldn't it because on other Student Records or documents when addressing the student not and when addressing I don't know am I being picky here no I
154think the word Ann could come out upon request of the student app parent School staff will use the name pronoun and gender consistent with students gender identity on other school records or documents when addressing the student right otherwise School staff will refer to yes we could strike the word I think the word and should be you should strike that they're the only two things I had in that that section thank you Mr red anybody else any other board comments any comments on any of the other policies I I just want to make sure miss steart I want to make sure I asked the question uh that this is a regular practice that we do we we take when the when the when the legislature and the governor signs a bill into law we review the
155law and then you make you or whoever the appropriate staff is make recommendations of policy changes that we might have to make based upon guidance that has come out of the state is that a safe statement that we routinely do this historically I have reviewed model policies that have been proposed and advise the board when there are differences and then it's up to the board to determine what changes you make yes sir okay so this is we're following a normal established practice is what I was really trying to get to on this one as well as anything else when usually we do them in July or August because we get so much go into effect on July 1 okay any other concerns comments questions okay thank you Miss with to lay over for 30 days
156and uh we will make decisions a month from now and with that Dr Gil I think we're going to hear about some new course recommendations yes thank you Mr chair annually the board hears new course recommendations PR prepared by our hardwork and curriculum and instruction Department with an input from lots of others here to present the request for this coming year which would actually be the 2425 school years our chief academic officer Miss gri thank you Dr Gil Mr chair board members I'm excited to bring to you a handful of courses that our staff has identified will serve the needs of our students well at the secondary I'm just going to take them one at a time the first is Visual Arts SLB um that's code in the IB world for whether a course is
157offered over the course of two years one year what this is going to indicate to us that it fulfills a um we have SL and and DL classes this one would be in SL which is a little bit lower uh intensity of a class but we're going to take this over the course of two years so that the students have ample time to fulfill the requirements so it will be incorporated and blended with the other visual arts classes that we have in the IB world the next two I'm going to take together are two coming from Mr roing um and they are going to help support the way that we need to move forward with our AR program um as we discussed briefly with you we are looking at some reorganization according to state regulations
158required um with required hours these two courses will be able to um help our students to maintain enrollment in that program as we head through their 11th and 12th grade years and provide them with many other opportunities uh that will help them to find and seek jobs later on and then Human Geography has been an it's an AP class um it is seen as one of the entrylevel AP classes so it is appropriate for our younger students um as a a good entryway into advanced course placements uh that will help the students to earn college credits and engage in very rigorous uh coursework towards the beginning of their High School career and then the last one is a slight variation of the Algebra 1 class that we have it is being um developed in order
159to align better with the way that the state is asking the progression of courses to take place in mathematics and that information has just been released to us so those are the courses we are happy to answer questions tonight or bring back answers to you next month when you approve or disapprove the cles thank you thank you Miss gri is there any any comments or questions from the board wow you did a great job thank you Miss gri okay next do we uh under information and discussion Dr Gil do you want to preface this or you just very briefly uh board had requested and we were happy to provide a hiring and Staffing update in all roles as well as as where we are at this point in the career in the year rather as
160we are now uh well over a month into the school year almost two months and here to provide it our assistant superintendent for human resources Miss Baker hello again Mr chair school board members and Dr Gil I'm here to provide a recruiting update presently we have four classroom teacher vacancies these are all new vacancies to us we have a preschool teacher at Mechanicsville Elementary and itinerant PE teacher for elementary a special education teacher at Liberty Middle and a special education position at Bell Creek Middle we also have a librarian opening at uh chah hamony middle I did share this one with you last month uh we did make an offer to a candidate who declined our position so we are back to the drawing board and looking for more candidates on that one in mid
161August I shared with you that we had about 31 instructional assistant vacancies presently we're down to 14 so we're going in the right direction we have one job offer pending currently next I want to share with you some information about our bus driver recruitment so we are still hovering right around 52 bus driver vacancies um I want to give a huge shout out to the brag on a bus driver campaign um it was huge through our social media platform thank you Mr Whitley and team and we received a lot of great feedback on our bus drivers and they received a lot of wonderful Kudos that they they truly deserve we also announced about a week ago a sign on and referral bonus so if you refer a bus driver it will be a $2,000 sign
162referral bonus for the employee and a $3,000 sign on for the bus driver since we launched this campaign we've received 12 new applications so we're thrilled um currently we have two people finishing their CDL training we had two new applicants start yesterday for their training we have three candidates that are pending their fingerprint results and we are very optimistic that these 12 new applications can join our October 30th training session um we had a job Fair on October 5th at the Atley Public Library on October 26th we have a job fair scheduled at the Mechanicsville Public Library on October 21st we will have a table at the American Family Fitness Family Day try to say that three times um and that's the mechanics full location we continue to advertise on indeed we place our buses
163and bus banners strategically across the division and of course we still have all of our positions posted on our own website and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have thank you thank you thank you Miss Baker it was wonderful does the board have any comments or questions for Miss Baker I I I just want to comment on one thing Miss Baker and I just want to tell you that uh I really believe that um you know we owe a whole lot of kudos to the the the bus drivers that we currently have they're doing an excellent job we appreciate them we are not forgetting about them as a board as we move forward uh going into our budgetary process so I want to give some love to the bus drivers and to all
164of our employees as we begin this budget process we plan on spending some serious time as a board working together to try to come up with and support some of the stuff we heard tonight in our budget presentation so that we can try to make sure that everybody understands that we really are trying to help solve some of the issues and give us the people that we need to have um the IIA that's a wonderful story that we went from so many down to where we are today and that we can continue to fill those positions as the year goes on they are very valuable especially at the elementary school level they are very valuable and are welcomed uh every minute of every day I've I think I Mr iberry and I have visited 15
16516 or 17 I've lost track now schools where we've actually sat down with the principles and it is just so well received having those IAS when they can have them and so that's just a real kudos to your team and so I just wanted to make sure that we all understand that that your board um hears you and that we are going to work to try to do the very best we possibly can with the money if we ever find out how much we get um going forward then we will we will work with you to try to encourage uh this continued success that you're having so I wanted to just draw that to everybody's attention tonight and so with that thank you thank you so much and we would like to have this like
166on a regular basis just so you know that now and I'd like to introduce you also to Dr Parker oh hi Dr Parker Dr Parker leads a lot of our recruiting efforts so I think she and I will be tag teaming in excellent excellent thank you thank you Dr Gil Mr thank you sir oh Mr Mr I coach I got some um well since we're still in the category of information and discussion and um I've unfortunately and it's it's it's my fault I've gotten accustomed to the screen those of you that don't know this we have a screen right here here that y'all have and I've grown accustomed to it but when Mr red was asking questions um my screen wasn't lit and I was lost to be honest with you and so I actually
167had another question about with Miss Seward regarding policy 7- 1.7 yes sir and if I you may have permission of course and there's a clause early in that policy I believe on the first page that allows um for students to um use a single user facility if they request that and that kind of matches the governor's um language of an opt out what which we've received an awful lot of email about um over the course of the last couple months my question is do we have a form for the child Andor parent to fill out that allows them to use that single facility and not the communal facility no sir there is no form and again this is this is just a draft policy revision for your consideration the current policy that's in place today
168does include a provision that says single user facilities and common areas of a school may also be used by any student So currently as of today a student can use a single user facility without having a parent sign a note and they can use it for for any number of reasons they want a little privacy they can go to that single user facility they do not need a parental note so the opt out provision seemed duplicative of a process that you all already have in place okay that answers that but I'm trying now hypothesizing um a possible large number of students that might want to request that single user facility and and um can we accommodate that I I couldn't speak to facilities but this this has been in place already today and I've not
169been made aware of any concerns with children waiting outside for you know for longer than a few minutes as as anyone might expect to outside of a restroom but I don't I'm not aware of any problems with the way it's currently uh been implemented with single user facilities in the hallways that the students already have access to okay all right thank you thank you anything else that's it all right Dr Gil now we're on to you yes thank you sir um your materials for Board review is just your monthly packet your fiscal stat status report facility usage and calendar board related events nothing out of the ordinary and your next meeting's topics I will announce that the school board will be holding a work session more details to come on October the 24th and then
170of course our next regular meeting will be on November the 14th we will be bringing back the five policy revisions that you heard this evening as well as the new course recommendations uh for your consideration we also hope that during the work session the board has indicated that will be working on on overall goals as well as budget goals as we kind of enter all things budget season Mr chair thank you yes Dr Gil you you actually stole my thunder as I closing here and I I do want to comment that uh the rooms that we currently use for meetings either this one or the ones in our school uh at the at the at the Schoolboard office the central office as I call it um those two rooms are used for a lot of
171things especially during a school day to include testing and other outside activities and so a lot of times when we're trying to do things like have a work session those rooms have not been available so that that is a that is a a statement that I heard here tonight so I wanted to make sure that everybody knows that that um the rooms and this room and the other facilities that we have access to are not always available at our uh beck and call because we do care about testing and educating our students and doing the things that we use them for so I did want to make that point Dr Gil so anything else uh does any board members have anything else tonight oh Dr Gil uh just one other announcement Mr chair that uh
172neglected Mr Hunley whisper to me that the school board will be U visiting on its uh annual School tours over three days and be dividing up the schools and we always look forward to those events and I get to highlight all of the the many great things going on in our schools and those will be starting over the course of the next month plus thank you Mr chair and I'll tag team you and say that uh at least one of the visits will'll be eating in the cafeteria with the students and eating the cafeteria food so I just share that with you and we look forward to that that day occurring is that right all right that'll be at Mechanicville High School I wasn't going to tell that surprise but okay now they know so
173all right any uh anything else any other board members Mr red um well I guess we're moving along here uh I got a call from Mr Sutton yesterday and uh he mended us on efficiently adjourning our meetings since he's you know in retirement now from the board uh he extended a great he told me he says I extended a great deal of effort in training you John red I'll make sure I don't because you were sitting beside me so uh he's expecting that uh we will adjourn the meetings efficiently and effectively like he has trained us yes sir I'll make sure I call on you let me make sure no other board member has anything else to say Sir does any other board members have anything else to bring before tonight anybody at all all
174right with that Mr red in honor of the illustrious wise man of the East do you have a motion yes and I think uh Mr Sutton is listening tonight uh so Mr Sutton I moving that we adjourn is there a second second all those in favor say I I I motion carries that we are adjourned say called me yesterday like