School Board Meeting 3/12/2026

001The Isle of Wight County School Board is now in session. Today is Thursday, March 12th, 2026. We are at Westside Elementary School at 800 West Main Street in Smithfield, Virginia. And we are preparing students for college, career, and life. Madam Clerk, please conduct a roll call. Mrs. Parkins. Here. Mr. Wooster. Here. Mr. Marsh. >> Here. Mr. Ford. >> Here. And Mr. Collick. >> Here. Next, we have the approval of the agenda or amendments for closed session. I move to approve the agenda for closed session to add discussion and consideration of specific candidates for a central office position and approve the agenda as amended. Second. Okay, we have a motion and second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. Madam Clerk. Mrs. Parkins. Yes. Mr. Wooster. Yes. Mr. Marsh. Yes. Mr. Ford. Yes. And Mr. Collick. >>

002Yes. Next, the approval of the agenda or amendments for open session. I move to amend the agenda to add approval of the FY2027 budget and approve the agenda as amended. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, clerk, take the vote. Mrs. Perkins. >> Yes. Mr. Wooster. Yes. Mr. Marsh. Yes. Mr. Ford. Yes. And Mr. Collick. >> Yes. And next I'll entertain a motion to go into closed session. I move to go into closed session to review the personnel report posted on BoardDocs under personnel tab number 18.1 as authorized by VA code 2.2-3711A1 for purposes of discussion and consideration of prospective candidates of Isle of Wight Public Schools for employment, contract changes, transfers, salary adjustments, supplemental contracts, deletions, supplemental pay, resignations of Isle of Wight County Public Schools

003employee, and to discuss a matter involving one exchange student that would involve the disclosure of information contained in a scholastic record concerning students as authorized by VA code 2.2-3711A2. I want to do Sorry. Did you get that middle Uh no, I didn't get that middle And to discuss and consider specific candidates. I did get this middle one. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you. Uh do do I have a second to that motion? Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, the clerk will take the vote. Mrs. Parkins? Yes. Mr. Wooster? Yes. Mr. Marsh? Yes. Mr. Ford? Yes. Mr. Collick? Yes. And Madam Clerk, do we have anyone that's requesting to speak in closed session? No, sir. Okay. And the board will go into closed session. Yeah.

004Okay. Spoke to the mayor and So, we're going to have a motion to amend the motion to go into closed session. I move to amend the the motion to go to discuss and consider specific candidates for essential office position as authorized by VA code 2.2-3711 A1. Second. Okay, motion is second. Is there any more discussion? Hearing none, the clerk will take the vote. Mrs. Parkins? Yes. Mr. Wooster? Yes. Mr. Marsh? Yes. Mr. Ford? Yes. >> Mr. Collick? >> Yes. Now, we will go back into closed session. >> Mhm. >> We're going to come back into open session. Um, this is more administrative in nature. Um, so we are going to um, re-amend the motion to go into closed session. I move to amend the agenda for closed session to add discussion and consideration of specific

005candidates for a central office position and approve the agenda as amended. Got you. I move to go into closed session to review the personnel report posted on BoardDocs under personnel tab number 18.1 as authorized by Virginia code 2.2-3711 A1 for purposes of discussion and consideration of prospective candidates of Isle of Wight public schools for employment, contract changes, transfers, salary adjustments, supplemental contracts, deletions, supplemental pay, resignations of Isle of Wight County public schools employees, and to discuss and consider specific candidates for a central office position as authorized by VA code 2.2-3711 A1 to discuss a matter involving one exchange student that would involve the disclosure of information contained in a scholastic record concerning students as authorized by VA code 2.2-3711A2. Second. We have the motion and a second, Madam Clerk. Mrs. Parkins. Yes. Mr. Wooster. Yes.

006Mr. Marsh. Yes. Mr. Ford. Yes. And Mr. Collick. >> Yes. Now we will go into closed session. >> Mhm. >> The Alleghany County School Board is back in session. We'll have the certification of the resolution of compliance. I move that the closed meeting was conducted in conformity with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act as required by Section 2.2-3712d of the Code of Virginia and certify that only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements were discussed and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard, discussed, or considered. Second. Motion and second, is there any discussion? Hearing none, Madam Clerk. Mrs. Perkins? Yes. Mr. Wooster? Yes. Mr. Marsh? Yes. Mr. Ford? Yes. >> And Mr. Colley? >> Yes. And Vice

007Chair will lead the moment of silence and the pledge of allegiance. >> could we stand for the moment of silence? And now for the pledge of allegiance. 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. And good evening. I want to welcome everyone. It looks like we've got a pretty full house. We've got a very full agenda, so I'm not going to, you know, say say much tonight except uh that Ms. Briggs we are ready for the Isle of Wight Achievers. Yes, sir. Thank you. And uh Dr. Colvin, I believe is going to come up and help me uh up here. So, we'll have him come up. Uh let me just announce the

008vision for Isle of Wight County Schools is to create a learning environment that will enable every child to discover his or her unique gifts and talents. The Isle of Wight Achievers section of our board meeting gives us an opportunity to recognize and celebrate our students and staff for their unique talents and gifts. So, to kind of give the logistics of how we're going to do this, our achievers should already have their certificates. Those that are getting plaques will get those when they come up. So, when I call your name, you're going to come up with your certificate and Dr. Coleman is going to present you with an achievers pin. We're going to ask you for tonight to line up facing our school board and members on the stage. Uh after we get your whole group

009up here, then we are going to have your group go to the backdrop and Mr. David Elliott will come down and take a photo of the group. And family members that are here, that is the perfect time for you to come up and grab a photo as well. We expect that. So, uh we are prepared for you to come up and take photos. So, without further ado, we have quite a few achievers tonight. In particular, we're recognizing several of our Beta Club students. And because we had so many achievers, we are focusing on the Smithfield Smithfield High, Smithfield Middle, Westside, and Hardy students. In the March meeting, we will be doing recognitions for Windsor High, Georgie Tyler, Carrsville, Windsor Elementary in our April meeting. So, this is just half of our division here tonight. They

010were very successful at the Beta Convention. So, uh we are going to recognize the students who earned top honors at the 2026 Virginia State Beta Convention. Uh these students competed against some of the best from across the Commonwealth and represented our division with excellence, creativity, and determination. And we're going to start off with Smithfield High School. The sponsor is Zachary Kempth. And we had second place marketing and communications, we had Anthony Harkins, Emma Maddy, Destiny Kelso-Brown, and Diana Liang. Once again, they took second place in marketing and communications. Okay. And first place division two speech, our very OWN CAMERON HICKS. SO, WE'LL HAVE CAMERON COME ON DOWN and join the group. And we're going to ask you guys to come over here to the backdrop. And Mr. Elmore, thank you for being here tonight to

011represent uh Mr. Kemp who wasn't able to join us. So, y'all go to the backdrop and we'll have Mr. Elliott get a photo. And for those of you that may not know, while Mr. Elliott's getting the photo, uh Cameron Hicks is our student liaison from Smithfield High School for the school board, while Cole Mumford is our student liaison from Windsor High for the school board. So, if you're wondering why they're so up there with the board members, they're representing their schools. So, congratulations once again to Smithfield High. Next, we have Smithfield Middle School. Our sponsors for the Beta Club at Smithfield Middle, Amanda Browder, Rebecca Cox, Jackie Stevenson, Elizabeth Tisdale, and Ryan Nance. If you folks will come on up and get your pin. And we're going to help you uh we're going to have

012you help us to wrangle all of these honorees from Smithfield Middle. So, students, when you hear your name, come on up, bring your certificate, see Dr. Coleman, and you line up here with your sponsors. Uh third place in scrapbook junior division, we have Grace Wigginton, Carson Albers, and Ella Williams. Third place technology junior, Carter Hickerson, Owens Wick, Elijah Elijah Quevas, Skyler Harris, Payton Bloodgood. Third place Performing Arts Junior Small Group, Alice Thompson, Ali Thompson, Tatum McClain, Trinity Henderson, Evelyn Skinner. Second place Cake Decorating. I love this category. You can make a mistake and enjoy it. I just love it. Cake Decorating, Emma Garner. Congratulations, Emma. Second place Campaign Skit Junior division, Atlas Thompson, Ali Thompson, Sadie Camper, Grace Wigington, Sabre Gardner, Silas Skarada, Evelyn Skinner, and Addison Robinson. Second place On-site Art Painting Junior, Sabre

013Gardner. Yay. You're going to Yeah, you're going to hear some names more than once because several of these students were in multiple categories and placed in multiple categories. Second place Pottery Junior, Matthew Goodwin. Second place Quiz Bowl Junior, the team of Von Moody captain, Matthew Mattson, Silas Skarada, and Ori Brown. All right, let's see. Second place US History 8, Carter Hickerson. I think Carter's up here already. Yep. First place Accessorized Design Junior, Addison Robinson, Tiana and Emily Meyer. First place math eight, Cassidy Long. First place digital art junior, Gabrielle Major. And this is the second year in a row Gabrielle has placed first in digital art. Good. Okay, I think a couple of these folks are already up here. First place science seven, Ori Brown. Very good, Ori. First place social studies eight, Silas Scarata.

014Let's see. First place performing arts junior small group finals, Alice Thompson, Ali Thompson, Tatum McLain, Trinity Henderson, Evelyn Skinner. And we also want to recognize Lexi Campbell. Has Lexi come up yet? Is Lexi here? Oh, she's not here. All right, that's okay. Lexi Campbell was elected the Virginia state vice president, which makes the second year in a row the state vice president has been from Smithfield Middle School. Very good. So, we extend a huge congratulations to our Smithfield Middle Beta students and sponsors. And we're going to have you come over to the backdrop for a photo, okay? So, go that way to Mr. Elliott. And if you just do exactly what Mr. Elliott says, it's going to go really quick. And families, don't forget this is the time when you can please hop up to

015get a photo. Just ask that if you will stand behind Mr. Elliott so you're not part of the photo. Wow, I know why y'all placed. You follow direction very well. You did. Right, I mean right in line. All right. Did all family members get a photo? Speak now. Once we release them, there's no getting them back. All right. All right, we're going to consider that done. So, congratulations once again, Smithville Middle. Nice nice job. Now, we're going to recognize our students from Westside Elementary. Our our Westside sponsors are Shay Wildy, Meredith Hilliard, and Amanda Hickerson. So, if you are here, please come on up. We're going to go ahead and get started with the students from the elementary club cuz Westside, the sixth graders are junior. So, fourth and fifth are elementary. From elementary, third

016place in creative writing is Izzy Balance. Izzy, come on up. Third place in the book battle, Gabriel Denny, Bryce Parsons, Brandon Gardner, and Jared Blunt. Third place in musicology, Cooper Barnes, Bryce Parsons, Anna Gees, and Jackson Gray. >> Third place, quiz bowl. Lane Fleming, Grayson Parks, Brandon Gardner, Bryce Parsons. Third place, digital portfolio, Cameron Peel. And Cameron got third place in onsite drawing. Second place, marketing communications, Imani Stokes, Anna Geese, Reagan Williams, and Audrey Jedlowski. Second place, solo dancer and premier performer, Tolson Legg. First place, first place, fifth grade math, Bryce Parsons, who I believe is up here already. Congratulations, Bryce. Yep. First place, fifth grade language arts, Gabriel Denny. First place, speech, Jared Blunt, who's already up here as well. Congratulations, Jared. And first place, digital art, Jackson Gray. Way to go, Jackson. All

017right. Now, I'm going to look at the sponsors. This is your your elementary group. Do you want to do a photo with them? And then, yes. Okay. So, elementary group, congratulations. If you'll go over there with Mr. Elliott, we'll get a picture of the elementary group. And then we're going to have the sponsors. You guys come on over for the photo. Yep, come on. And then we're going to have you pop back over there for our junior group. Look up high. Look here for the speech people. Oh my Oh, he was the second year winning first place in speech? I've just been informed that this is the second year in a row Jared Blunt won first place in speech. So, yes. And since I know his parents, I'm going to say that, so. Yeah, make

018sure they can see your face. Cameron down a little bit more, sweetheart. There you go. Aw, yes. Your parents want to see your face. Look at that. Aw, that's adorable. It is. They're adorable. Congratulations, you're free to go. Yay, nicely done. Good job. Good job. Good job. Good job. Good job. Good job. Yes. >> Second year Jackson got first place as well. And because I know his dad, second year Jackson got first place as well. Yay. So, if I missed anyone, you know how to find me if I missed anyone. Okay, now we're going to do the junior club. All right, junior club, third place US history sixth grade, Annie Kate Hickerson. Way to go, Annie Kate. And Annie Kate also got third place in speech. Good heavens, she was busy. Third place two-dimensional design,

019Aaron White. Very good. Third place trading pins, that sounds cool. Ivy Cole and Pippa Powell. Third place on-site drawing, Ivy Cole. Yes. And the dynamic duo of Ivy Cole and Pippa Powell got second place in 3D design. Wow. First place social studies sixth grade Max Christiansen. First place computer science sixth grade Henry Browder. First place Spanish sixth grade Sophia Pohe. First place health and PE sixth grade Nico Mobley. All right, first place living literature. Some of them have already up here, but if you bear with me, let me get through all the names. Pippa Powell, Sophia Pohe, Catherine Hornback, Adeline Adeline Savage, Sophia Everson, Lucy Roundtree, and Riley Jocelyn. Congratulations. Did I get that right? Oh, yeah. First place quilling Sophia Pohe. And I I think that's all of our Westside. Did I miss anybody?

020No. I got everybody. Well, congratulations junior group from Westside. Way to go. Let's come over here and we'll get a photo with you guys. And I learned a new word, quilling. And that's Is that folding the paper? Folding the paper, making a picture. Folding paper to make a picture out of it. I thought they meant to type quilting and I was corrected. It's folding paper to make a picture. Quilling. So, you to Today you learned what quilling is. All right. And once again, family members, this is the time to get your photo. Come on up. Yep. Oh, wait. Don't Wait, back up a minute. Back up a minute. There we go. All right. And we're getting ready now to do Hardy Elementary. Congratulations, Westside. Nicely done. Nicely done. All right. From Hardy, our sponsors, Heather

021Stafford, Anne Marie Worrell, Jasmine Sabine, Morgan McGraw. Okay. And I know they're coming up. That's Sabine or Sabine? Jasmine Sabine. My apologies. Third place Living Literature, and let me read all the names first. Lucy Pohe, Aurora Giordano, Aspen Smith, John Peevy, and Ruby Brown. Third place Trading Pins, Aspen Smith, Aurora Giordano, and Jeffrey Wilda, who was a club leader. They were club leaders. The entire club contributed. Yeah. Third place Apparel Design, Aspen Smith, Lucy Pohe, Jeffrey Wilda. They were the club leaders. Once again, the entire club contributed. Second place fourth grade Spanish, and second place Elementary Speech, Lucy Pohe. Second place Digital Portfolio. We've got a couple names here. Grant Tillman, Eric Tenney, Lucy Pohe, Aurora Giordano. First place fourth grade Language Arts, Malcolm Hughes. And first place Performing Arts Dance Duo, Caroline Joiner and

022Margaret Peevy. And they received a golden ticket which means they will be going to the national convention to perform during the opening session. That's awesome. Where is that? Where Where's it going to be? In Atlanta again? In Atlanta? Oh, and that will be in Nashville. That's pretty cool. So, please join me in congratulating all of our Beta Convention winners from Hardy Elementary. Nicely done. So, we're going to have you come over here to the backdrop. And you guys are wearing your Beta shirts. Awesome. Mr. Elliott's going to get a photo. Family members, once again, this is the time to come up. All right, family members. All right. Are you done? Congratulations once again. I think we got all our photos for Hardy. Congratulations. Nicely done. And a big thank you to all the students and

023parents and friends and family members who came out to support them tonight. I know the weather was a little sketchy, so we appreciate you being here. We're going to move on to our seniors of the month and we actually are backtracking to February to recognize our Windsor Windsor High Senior of the Month for February because they had a commitment the same night as our February board meeting. So, at this time, I'd like to introduce the Senior of the Month for February from Windsor High School, Lana Janice. So, Lana's going to come up. And Lana, I'm going to have you stand right in front facing the board while I read all this wonderful stuff about you. Lana Janice stands out for exceptional balance of academic excellence, leadership, and sustained service. She demonstrates strong performance across all

024subject areas, pairing intellectual curiosity with collaboration, and initiative as a group leader in the classroom. Her consistent work ethic, resilience, and thoughtful engagement reflect a student who not only excels academically, but also elevates the learning environment for those around her. Beyond academics, Lana's long-term Lana's long-term, pardon me, commitment to leadership highlights her reliability and dedication to her school community. She has served as SGA vice president for 4 years, cheer captain, and an an active member of numerous academic and service organizations. Whether leading peers, supporting teammates, or contributing behind the scenes, Lana approaches every role with maturity, loyalty, and a genuine desire to serve. Her steady presence and positive influence have made a lasting impact throughout her high school career. Quote, "From the moment I taught her in honors earth science, it was clear that she

025is a student of rare character and drive. She brings passion, resilience, and leadership into everything she does, whether leading a group in the classroom, balancing rigorous academics with countless extracurricular commitments, or serving her community. She is the kind of student who steps up without being asked, supports others quietly and consistently, and uses challenges as motivation rather than excuses. It has been a privilege to watch her grow into a confident, compassionate leader, and I have no doubt she will continue to make a positive impact wherever she goes." And that's from Ms. McManaway, science teacher. After graduation, Lana plans to attend Virginia Tech in the fall, where she hopes to major in communications. I love it. Congratulations. Congratulations. So, Lana, we'll have you come over here to get your photo. I think we're good. Oh, we're all

026good. Okay, congratulations once again, and thanks for coming tonight. All right, now we're going to move on to our March Seniors of the Month. And the Senior of the Month for March from Windsor High School is Kilial Bozeman. Is Kilial here? Oh, we don't see Kilial. Okay. Well, I tell you what, um let me go ahead and read her nomination and we'll see if she can come in April. But, um Kilial stands out as a student who seamlessly blends exceptional academic achievement with focused artistic dedication and personal discipline. She maintains maintains outstanding performance in the classroom while meeting the rigorous demands of the Governor's School for the Arts. Her strengths in English and history highlight her analytical thinking and communication skills, and she approaches every challenge with thoughtful reflection. Um beyond academics, Kilial demonstrates leadership

027and responsibility within her artistic community as a member of the National Arts Honor Society and treasurer for the 2025-2026 school year. School counselor Ann Feight shared, "Her long-term goal of becoming a pediatrician speaks to her desire to serve others, and her disciplined study habits and quiet strength position her well for success in a rigorous pre-med chemistry program." Kilial plans on attending Old Dominion University in the fall with the hopes to bridge to Eastern Virginia Medical School to major in medicine, and we wish her well. We hope to see her in April. Congratulations. And our Smithfield High Senior of the Month for March is Cameron Hicks. Cameron exemplifies excellence in every arena she enters, pairing sustained academic discipline with intellectual curiosity and a strong internal drive to succeed. Her high level of achievement reflects focus, resilience,

028and a deep commitment to performing at her very best. Beyond her academic accomplishments, Cameron represents Smithfield High School with passion, elegance, and professionalism, serving as a role model for her peers. Her ability to balance rigorous coursework with high-level extracurricular involvement demonstrates maturity and time management skills well beyond her years. Cameron's impact is especially evident through her dedication to Beta Club. She's competed at the Beta State Convention, as we know, for two consecutive years, earning exceptional scores each time. Um Cameron not only achieves at a high level, she raises the standards of excellence within the school community and embodies what it means to lead through both character and accomplishment. Quote, "Cameron Hicks represents every single facet of what it means to be a Smithfield Packer. Her commitment to this academic community is visible in all that

029she says and does. I am proud to call her a member of Beta and hope that she inspires others throughout her life in the manner that she does at school." And that's from Mr. Kemp, history teacher and Beta Club sponsor. Cameron plans to attend William & Mary this fall. Congratulations, Cameron. We are so proud of her. Oh, wait. We got fam don't Now you know. Are we good? All good? Congratulations, Cameron. All right, we have one more. We have one more. Very important, we have an ABCD award to give out. So, each quarter, Isle of Wight County Schools recognizes a support staff member who has truly gone above and beyond the call of duty through our ABCD award. Nominations are submitted from across the division and reviewed by a panel that selects the quarterly recipient.

030For the 2025-2026 third quarter, we are proud to recognize Ms. Lori Lipford, vision and hearing instructional assistant. Come on up, Ms. Lipford. That goes for her. Mhm. And we're going to have Ms. Lipford stand up here while I read these wonderful things about her. Ms. Lipford exemplifies the very spirit of this award. She demonstrates an unwavering commitment to student success, working each day to ensure her students have the tools, encouragement, and individualized support they need to thrive. She is proactive in identifying student needs, collaborating with teachers and staff, and helping create a positive, inclusive learning environment. Her compassion, strong work ethic, and dedication make her an invaluable part of the Smithfield Middle School community. Beyond her direct work with students, Mrs. Lipford's leadership extends throughout the school and broader community. She's an active volunteer with

031the PTA, a dedicated supporter of the Isle of Wight County Education Foundation, and a valued member of the Smithfield Middle Hospitality Committee. Whether strengthening school-community partnerships or lifting staff morale, often by sharing homemade treats, she consistently looks for ways to serve others and foster connection. Mrs. Lipford's collaborative spirit, focus on students, and genuine kindness make her an outstanding ambassador for Smithfield Middle School and Isle of Wight County Schools. She truly embodies what it means to go above and beyond. And as part of this recognition, Ms. Lipford is receiving a $50 Visa gift card generously provided by our community partner, the Women's Club of Smithfield, as well as a personalized plaque created in the Smithfield High School Makerspace. Please join us in congratulating Ms. Lori Lipford for on this WELL-DESERVED HONOR. AND ONCE AGAIN, IF THERE

032ARE ANY FAMILY MEMBERS THAT WANT TO hop up and take a photo? And we'll be posting these on social media in the next couple of weeks. So, as Mr. Elliott finishes up his photos, I will tell you that's going to conclude our All Awhile Achievers. Once again, congratulations to all of our honorees. Thanks to those who came out to support them, and thank you board for indulging us in the numerous ones we had tonight, but it's a good issue to have. Okay, next we're going to have Smithfield Middle School's I on Instruction. Test. Thank you. Good evening, Chair Colic, board members, and Dr. Kramer. My name is Tatum Rainey, and these are my classmates. In eighth grade English, while reading and analyzing The Giver, we participated in the Great Listen, a national movement where students

033interview elders and preserve their stories. Tonight, we want to show you how this project represents deeper learning and student ownership in action. As we read The Giver, we explored the question, what is the role of memory in shaping identity? In the novel, memories are removed to eliminate pain and difference. That made us wonder, what would happen if we lost our memories, too? To explore that question beyond the novel, we turned to our own families and community. My friend isn't here, so I will be reading her part. In this project, we conducted primary source research by interviewing grandparents, parents, and mentors. We developed our own questions, asked follow-up questions, and just really listened. Then we wrote reflections analyzing on how life experiences shape identity, just like we analyzed characters in the novel. Finally, we created a

034playlist to share our community stories and upload them to StoryCorps. The recordings are collected and stored in the United States Library of Congress for many future generations to enjoy. This wasn't just an assignment. It allowed us to engage authentically with literacy and create something meaningful. In the novel The Giver, the community removes memory in order to eliminate pain and difference. In this world, only two people are allowed to access the memories of the past, the Giver and our protagonist Jonas the Receiver. In this world, oh, whoa, I just repeated the same word. Um As we analyze the novel, we asked ourselves, what happens when identity and memory is taken away? This question led directly into our interviews. This project, oh boy. This project allowed us to think critically, communicate effectively, and make real-world connections. We

035weren't simply reading about history, but preserving it. That was terrible. We owned the process of learning through shaping our questions and highlighting the stories that resonated most with us. I chose to interview my grandfather. Afterwards, I reflected. Memory is important because it holds our past and makes us who we are. During the interview, I learned about his first job in a steel mill and how his house had been robbed when he was young. I interviewed my mom and I learned the details how she immigrated to America alone as an exchange student. I reflected that without memory, we wouldn't understand sacrifice, resilience, and growth. In the novel, the community avoids hardship by erasing memory. In our world, we saw memory gives life meaning. This project wasn't just about learning other stories. It was about growing ourselves.

036I chose to interview my dad, a fighter pilot. I reflected not only on what I learned about him, but also on my own growth. I realized I sometimes assumed I knew what he would say and moved too quickly through topics. I learned that good interview good interviewing skills come from respect, curiosity, and patience. My friend Kinley is not here today, so I will be reading for her. She interviewed her 70-year-old grandmother. Her grandmother commented on what great questions she was asking, and you can hear the connections that she makes between her grandmother's story about the Dust Bowl and what she learned in her history class. If you're interested in hearing this interview or any of the others mentioned here, click on the blue link. Isle of Wight Isle of Wight County Schools strive to challenge

037and empower students through deeper learning and literacy. This project did exactly that. We strengthened our speaking, listening, writing, and research skills. But more importantly, we strengthened our relationships. We didn't just complete an assignment, we preserved history. We deepened our identity. We connected generations. Authentic literacy builds connection, identity, and academic rigor. While Jonas carried the memories of his community alone, we chose to carry to preserve the memories of ours together. Thank you. What questions do you have for us? That's a lot. One thing that resonates with you from your interview, anybody. One thing that really stands out from the interview. Yes. This assignment really stood out to me because I've always been interested in my family's history, but I never had I never really had time to ask my family about it. So, when I heard

038about this assignment come up in my English class, I felt like what Kinsey had said I was preserving history by asking my dad about how he immigrated to America from Italy and how he experienced life not having to learn a new language. And I felt like it really stuck out to me because I mean, it's it's just really awesome how learning our parents' identities and history and preserving it. So, yeah. Anybody else? I feel like a lot of people take their parents' history for granted and this project really helped develop students and grow as individuals and not just saying, "Oh, this doesn't matter." And like similar to Alex said, it's really key to have patience and a lot of curiosity and learn just to develop yourself as a person and a person who's being educated.

039A quick question. Um how has this project helped you guys think about preserving your memories moving forward? Um I like thinking about it now, I really want to try and remember things from my childhood and the way I grew up. So, if my child wants to you know, ask a question about this or have an assignment like this one, I can answer and I can be honest and truthful and clear about my answers. Well, that was very nice. Thank you. And Madam Clerk, do we have anyone that's going to request to speak tonight? >> Yes, we do. Okay. In accordance to policy BDDH-E, presentation of information on any subject will be concluded at the discretion of the board. No person will be recognized to speak more than once. Citizens scheduled on the agenda to speak

040will be permitted 4 minutes maximum time for their presentation. Delegations will be requested to limit their speakers to two. Persons speaking are asked to be specific, state the issues state the issues for the board's consideration, and attach a copy of your prepared remarks. If you have prepared remarks, they should be given to the board clerk. Please do not approach the board members. Any matter relating to specific students will be heard by the school board only in a closed meeting. And first we have Jessica Brannan. Thank you. That's it? Good. Okay. Good evening, school board members, Dr. Kramer, student liaisons. Thank you for your time and for your service to our school district. My name is Jessica Brandon, and I teach at Windsor High School. I've been an educator for over a decade, seven of those

041years here at IWCS. I was honored to serve as teacher of the year in 2019-2020, and I currently serve on the employee advisory council. I sponsor student government, booster club, Duke Academy, and serve on the school improvement and leadership teams. I share this not to list accomplishments, but to establish this. I am deeply invested in our schools, and I'm here tonight for our students and for our staff. Let me begin by asking a simple request, one that teachers are often asked to reflect on. Remember your why. Why did you run for this position? Why did you choose to serve this board? I hope your answer is the same as ours, to serve our children and to make IWCS the very best it can be. That why must guide every decision, especially this one. The need

042for increased funding is not a matter of opinion. The data speaks clearly. The question before us is not whether the need exists, but whether the need for us to act boldly enough to meet it. I am asking you tonight to do two things, to vote yes on increased funding and to advocate passionately and persistently with our board of supervisors. Your support is the first and most crucial step. Without it, meaningful change cannot happen. Let me offer an analogy. IWCS is a growing family living in a one-bedroom home. The family has grown, the roof is leaking, there's mold in the walls, repairs are overdue, and while the family is financially stable, most of the budget is allocated elsewhere. At some point, that family must reassess its priorities. They must decide that a safe, functional home is

043not an option, it's foundational. That is where we are. According to state data, we have the fourth highest local composite index in our region, essentially one of the wealthiest localities in our area. Yet, we remain one of the lowest-paying districts. While many districts allocate 40 to 45% of their local budgets to our schools, our allocation has hovered closer to 30% for years. A shift in 30 to 35% would generate nearly 5 million additional dollars to our schools. A 5% adjustment, millions for our students. is not impossible. It's a matter of priority. The community understands this. A recent poll showed overwhelming support for increasing teacher pay. People recognize that strong schools strengthen property values, attract families, sustain communities. When we invest in educators, we invest in our children. And when we invest in our children, we

044invest in our future. But salaries are only the beginning. Stipends for extracurricular activities have not increased in nearly a decade. It grows harder each year to find coaches and sponsors. Substitute pay is one of the lowest in the area, leaving teachers to cover additional classes during their planning periods. Maintenance staff have been reduced while building needs continue to grow. We're asked to choose between HVAC and bus garages as if both are not essential. And we're beyond half measures. Incremental change will not stop the bleeding. Partial raises, temporary fixes, and postponed maintenance does not only bandages the system that needs structural support. Our schools are performing. Windsor High School was ranked second in our region and 19th in the state based on accreditation scores. We're doing extraordinary work. But dedication doesn't pay the mortgage. Passion does

045not cover rising grocery bills, and excellence alone does not retain educators. We have great schools because of great great people. The question before us is whether we will sustain greatness or slowly allow it to erode. If we do not make significant changes now, we will continue to lose talented staff, programs will shrink, facilities will decline, and ultimately students will feel the impact. Remember your why because the staff and the students, we never forget. Thank you. Greg Brown I'm not touching that. All right. Good evening board members, Dr. Kramer, ladies and gentlemen. I want to speak about the proposed budget, but first I need to briefly address the recent protest at Smithfield High School. Specifically, I need to express my disappointment in the reaction of some school board members to that protest. Our slogan for Isle

046of Wight schools is preparing students to be college, career, and life ready. Political and civic engagement is undoubtedly a part of life and an important part. Yet, in our recent county elections last year, two of the five offices only had one candidate running for them and one office had no candidates running for them until Mr. Ford bravely stepped stepped up and put his name in. Many of our local civic and volunteer organizations continually struggle to find enough committed people to do all the work necessary. And you can find a new article every day bemoaning how our children are checked out of real life and buried in their smartphones. And yet when we have a number of students who are obviously paying attention to the world around them and are willing to step up and express

047their opinion in the real world, the first instinct some of you have is to hammer them down as hard as you can. How can we expect our young people to develop into informed and active citizens if we threaten to punish them the first time they express their views? I completely understand your personal political opinions may be diametrically opposed to the views expressed in the protest. However, attempting to use your public office to silence their voices only makes you look insecure and demeans your office that you hold. Do better. Finally, I do not know what went on in the board's closed session immediately after that protest, but I do know that shortly after that meeting Dr. Kramer announced that he will not be returning next year. If your words and actions have contributed to Dr. Kramer's

048decision to leave, then you have imposed an unnecessary burden on the citizens of Iroquois County and been highly unappreciative of all the good that Dr. Kramer has done here. DR. KRAMER INHERITED A SCHOOL SYSTEM WITH A sizable budget deficit and with crumbling infrastructure. In his time here, he has with your support balanced the budget and made major progress in getting our list of infrastructure needs whittled down. He has also gone above and beyond to communicate with and listen to students, teachers, and parents of Iroquois County. He will be missed and will be very difficult to replace. Dr. Kramer, thank you. Turning towards an issue that we likely agree on, I was very heartened to hear in the work session last week that our school board supports the proposed budget including the requested additional funds for

049teacher and staff pay increases. The slides showing the historical funding data were eye-opening for me, especially the dramatic decrease in local funding during the COVID pandemic. Ideally, at that time we would have used the increased federal funding to free up local funds and work on the massive backlog of capital improvements that were desperately needed. Since we as a county did not do that, we got to the position we're in now where we have pressing needs in both the capital improvement and human capital areas. I would like to thank the superintendent, his staff, and the members of the board for all the work they have done in trying to meet all of these needs and ask that you unanimously support the proposed budget and advocate for it to the board of supervisors. Finally, I want to

050ask that as we go through making difficult decisions about how to divvy up funding, we don't cut out the things that make learning fun. Field trips, the gifted and talented night, before and after school clubs like Beta, and the gifted STEAM day, those are the things that make kids excited to go to school. Let's make sure that we leave room in the budget for items like these. And to correct the record, also second year in a row, Aubrey Brown first place in science. BROOKE BOND. GOOD EVENING, CHAIR AND members of the school board. My name is Brooke Bond. I'm a parent of three students in Ala White County schools. Um I've got two here at Westside, and I've got one in kindergarten at Carrollton. And I serve on the executive board of the Westside PTA.

051Tonight, I am here to reiterate the urgency of approving the proposed school budget. Last week, we heard emotional and deeply personal accounts from teachers, staff, and families about the real challenges our schools are facing. Those stories were not exaggerations. They're the reality of what we're seeing in the classrooms every day. Dr. Kramer's proposed budget reflects the actual cost of educating students in Ala White County, and it prioritizes the needs of our classrooms, our teachers, and our students. At some At the same time, the timing of Dr. Kramer's announcement that he will be stepping down raises concerns across our community. Since his appointment, many in this county have seen renewed momentum and forward progress within our schools. Dr. Kramer has built strong relationships with teachers, students, and family and is widely respected throughout this division. Because

052of that, the sudden leadership change feels at odds with the progress our schools have been making and has naturally led to the speculation that his decision may have been influenced by the reaction from some members of this board to the recent student demonstration at Smithfield High School. Regardless of whether that speculation proves to be accurate or not, it highlights the importance of transparency and ensuring that the focus of this board remains where it belongs. On the long-term success of our schools and the well-being of our students. Our community is paying close attention to the decisions being made and the priorities that they reflect. As this board begins the process of searching for a new superintendent, the community deserves clarity about the cost of that search and if additional costs are incurred, those costs should be

053reflected in the proposed budget discussions. Teacher pay and proper funding for our classrooms should never be sacrificed because of this board's inability to retain a superintendent. Right now, the priority must remain where it belongs, funding the real needs of our schools and supporting the budget that reflects the true cost of educating the schools the students of Isle of Wight County. Because at the end of the day, the students in our classroom cannot afford for the adults in this room to lose sight of what matters most. Thank you guys for your support in the budget. And thank you, Dr. Kramer. Sarah Katowinski Good evening. My name is Sarah Katasinski and I'm the parent of a child in a self-contained autism classroom in this district. I want to begin by briefly telling you about my son, Chip.

054Chip is 7 years old. He has level 3 nonverbal autism, ADHD, sensory processing disorder, expressive and receptive language challenges, and is yet to be toilet trained. Despite these challenges, he is full of personality. He loves to laugh, wrestle, be tickled, ride on swings, and anything that puts him in motion. He has even taught himself the ASL alphabet. Chip was diagnosed at 18 months old, began therapy shortly after. What I learned through those early years is something incredibly important. Even though Chip has a much harder time learning and understanding the world around him, he can learn with the right supports. Supporting him now is critical because one day he will not be a small child. He will be a full-grown adult with level 3 autism. The skills and safety we help build we help him build

055today will shape the rest of his life and the caregivers who will work with him for the rest of his life. That brings me to my concern tonight, staffing in self-contained special education classrooms. Under federal law, the free appropriate public education schools must provide the services necessary for children with disabilities to make meaningful and to make with children with disabilities to make meaningful educational progress. Virginia regulations establish minimum staffing ratios, not recommend not recommended ones. They say autism classrooms may have one teacher for every six students and one teacher and one paraprofessional for up to eight students. However, that ratio assumes that paraprofessional is assigned to that classroom full-time actively supporting in instruction and supervision. In reality, many of these many students in these classrooms require support throughout the day like toileting assistance, hygiene care,

056and behavioral de-escalation. When an instructional assistant is pulled away to provide necessary supports, the classroom can effectively become one adult supervising seven or more students. The Virginia Administration Code requires school divisions to provide sufficient staffing to ensure each student's IEP can be implemented. If students' needs require more support, staffing must reflect that. As of this morning, I understand that across the district there are 26 self-contained special education classrooms and only eight of those classrooms currently have two instructional assistants. That's 18 classrooms with up to eight children operating with only two adults. That's 144 children in this district. While those numbers may technically meet minimum ratios, they do not always reflect the complexity of the needs in these classrooms. I fully recognize that the school districts operate under tight budgets and difficult staffing realities and I

057appreciate the work being done to support these students. >> One minute. >> Because of that, I would respectfully encourage the district to move toward a model where self-contained classrooms are staffed with at least two instructional assistants. I would also encourage a review that a review that looks at the actual support needs of the students in these classrooms, how often the staff must leave instruction for toileting or crisis support, how much instructional time is lost when only one adult is available, and whether current staffing models reflect the real demands placed on these teachers in classrooms. Children like Chip deserve classrooms where they can learn safely and meaningfully, and educators working with them deserve an environment where they have the capacity to teach, not just the capacity to manage. Because adequate staffing is not just about compliance,

058it's about safety, dignity, and the ability of every student to truly learn. Thank you. Dan Elmore. Dr. Cramer, Mr. Collick, members of the school board, my name is Dan Elmore, and I'm a career switcher in my third year teaching Virginia US history and AP US history at Smithfield High School. I've been mentored by many great educators, including Matt Floyd. We lost him a year ago almost, but his podium sits in my classroom next to my desk, and he's been urging me to speak up tonight. First, I want to thank the board members present last week for supporting Dr. Cramer's proposed budget and teacher salary increases, and I hope that that continues. Smithfield High has lost gifted, tenured teachers to neighboring divisions simply because those districts pay more and they respect teachers' planning time. Moreover, we

059know of colleagues in neighboring divisions with interest in transferring to Isle of Wight County schools, but are hesitant due to current salary disparities. Second, I rise to speak regarding the recent event at Smithfield High. On February 27th, our students organized a walkout protest. Rather than a chaotic event as on at other schools on the news, our administration worked with student organizers to schedule it during Packer Block. It was handled quickly and efficiently. Students remained on premises and supervised. Teachers and staff neither encouraged nor discouraged student participation. The small group of students who behaved inappropriately have faced consequences consistent with school policy. For many of us, a perfect balance was struck. Students exercised their First Amendment rights in a safe environment with minimal disruption to instruction, exactly as set forth in the Tinker v. Des Moines

060Supreme Court decision. It is disheartening to see keyboard warriors on social media and even some board members questioning the motivations of our administration, teachers, and staff. It makes me wonder if the theme of the protest aligned more closely with your specific political views, would the criticism be this loud? It's a problem throughout our country. We can be better than that. A school board member once said, "Our positive culture keeps teachers here." But that culture is eroding. Questioning the integrity of teachers and staff without proof is at best unfair and counterproductive. For all the keyboard warriors out there, if we could really brainwash your children, it would be to get them to stop talking while we're talking, stay off of YouTube, and do their work in the time that plenty of time that we give them

061to do it. And if you are so concerned about our schools, move beyond social media. Come, see the everyday wins. >> 1 minute. >> Better yet, we always need substitute teachers. It's frustrating when board members show up for a high-profile incidents, make decisions that directly impact classroom instruction, but are nowhere to be found during the small everyday wins and struggles of routine learning. Regarding the changes to policy JFB for first review tonight, the timing suggests a knee-jerk reaction. We are majoring on the minors by over-legislating rare student expression, while pressing needs, like a reliable second copier for, you know, the largest school in the division, or even adequate special education staffing, go unaddressed. Furthermore, I question the board's adherence to its own standards. Was the protocol followed or uh this procedure? And lastly, thank you

062to Dr. Kramer. You've shown you are for the success and safety of students, teachers, and staff. We wish you and your family every blessing. Thank you. REVEREND W. L. WILLIAMS. YES, this is this is just fine. I can be heard without it. Good afternoon. Board chair and members of our Isle of Wight County School Board and our super- our current superintendent uh Dr. Kramer. I'm going to try my best to stay with my script cuz I don't want to be ugly in any way. God's got me. And and I'm better than that. I will not trouble your souls very long tonight. Just want to share with you an experience I witnessed when the racial makeup of the school board favored a particular group and the fear it can generate. A few years ago uh many

063of you were not around then. Maybe uh Mark was around at that time. But a few years ago the Isle of Wight School Board consisted of a majority of African-American black members. Citizens of the county who were outstanding and honest and God-fearing people with no intention of doing wrong or harm to anyone. But systemic racism caused some of the community to think otherwise. So a wolf prowled when out from the news media led by uh the one and only Smithfield Times that notified the majority in the community that we've got a majority of African-American blacks on the school board. We had better do something quickly to change it. Those who feared the board's racial makeup feared losing their power, prestige, and privilege. So I'm not alarmed by the fact that this current school board is

064focused on maintaining a clear racial majority rather than focusing on setting up a system to provide our children with a world-class cutting-edge education for all students. I believe you are more concerned with maintaining the advantages that are given to you through power, prestige, and privilege or privileges sustained by systemic racism, which some of you call fair competition. I'm not at all surprised by the fact that some of our current school board members decided in December that they will not renew Dr. Kramers' contract in June. And I just bet you that they will find someone who look and think like they do to replace Dr. Kramer. And and and brother Ford, watch out cuz they're going to set you up to carry the motion. That's what a majority can do when they have an unfair advantage.

065Oh, how ignorancy can blind us to opportunity that perhaps may be good for all. You have the chance now to set up a system that will perhaps give all students a chance at a quality education. Someday you're going to grow old as I am and you're going to need a caretaker. And I just hope that caretaker who can't read, write, or know how to do math is the one who's you have to watch out. Who has to give you your medicine. Think about that. Valerie Butler. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good evening, not afternoon. Chair John Collick, Vice Chair Jared Ford, and Superintendent Dr. Kramer and other school board members. I'm here tonight because of the forced resignation of Dr. Kramer. It raises serious concerns in this community. Dr. Kramer was not just another superintendent passing

066through. He was a leader who listened to teachers in the classroom, to students whose voices are too often overlooked, and to the community that depends on strong public schools. Under his leadership, this school division saw real progress, including meaningful fiscal improvement and a renewed sense that decisions were being made with students and staff in mind. But strong leaders sometime create discomfort. Not because they are failing, but because they are independent. Dr. Kramer was not a puppet. He was not someone who simply nodded and carried out whatever direction came from the dais. He brought professional expertise, honest feedback, and independent thinking to the job he was hired to do. That is exactly what a superintendent should do. When a superintendent who is respected by staff, students, and much of the community is pushed out, the public

067has every right to ask why. What problem was so serious that it justified removing a leader who had helped stabilize this division financially and built relationships throughout the system? What measure message does this send to teachers and administrators who want to speak honestly about what our schools need? Decisions like this do not happen in a vacuum. They affect morale, stability, and the trust that the public has in this board. If the expectation is that the next superintendent will simply fall in line rather than lead, then this community should be very concerned about the direction of our schools. Dr. Kramer served this division with professionalism and integrity. He deserves transparency and fairness in this process, and frankly, so did the public. I want to thank him for his leadership and his willingness to do what good

068leaders do. Think independently and put the long-term interest of the school division first. And I hope this board reflects carefully on the precedent it has set tonight because our students, our teachers, and this community deserve leadership that values integrity, expertise, and courage, not compliance. Thank you, Dr. Kramer, and I wish you much success in your future endeavors. Martha Jackson, District 3, to uh the board members, to our student members, to Dr. Kramer, to all of those in the audience. Dr. Kramer has guided the district through a pivotal pivotal period in education and a crucial time, recognizing the importance of timely and responsible leadership with safety and student achievement as two of his top priorities. Through listening tours, Dr. Kramer acknowledged the unique perspectives and experiences of team members, fostering respect and understanding. He promoted collaboration

069and emphasized shared goals and helped unify our district schools. Dr. Kramer's commitment to the community was evident from the start of his tenure, regularly participating in events and activities that benefited everyone, whether attending Rotary meetings, honoring veterans, engaging in National Night Out, supporting local sporting events, or interacting with families and children, especially during school openings. Dr. Kramer maintained high visibility and accessibility across the region. Dr. Kramer implemented advisory student, parent, community, and business groups to ensure their interests and concerns were considered. This approach helped everyone feel that their voices were not only heard, but truly understood. As a strong advocate for public education, Dr. Kramer reshaped the educational landscape for the benefit of all children, ushering in a new era of innovative and relevant leadership. Dr. Kramer's dedication is reflected in a demanding work schedule.

070Meeting after meeting, meeting after meeting, meeting after meeting. Did I say meeting? Extending into the evenings and weekends. Despite having to navigate numerous board requests, many of which were not always beneficial to students and educators, Dr. Kramer remained clear-headed and focused. Challenges arose daily, but Dr. Kramer consistently set the district's directions bar high, reevaluating and adjusting plans as new challenges and opportunities emerged. This ensured our district and school division remained committed to providing high-quality education. Dr. Kramer excelled at connecting with a wide range of stakeholders, including teachers, staff, parents, students, and community leading leaders by actually listening even to those who had no interest in our school, gathering input, and ensuring all voices were heard were heard in the decision-making process. Dr. Kramer demonstrated a deep understanding of the community's needs and expectations. Visib- visibility

071and accessibility were essential drivers of his success in these areas. Dr. Kramer's ability to build strong relationships enabled ongoing collaborations and foster trust throughout our district. This commitment to open communication and responsiveness created mutual respect, empowering all groups to work together toward share- shared goals. We will miss Dr. Kramer's presence and the positive impact he brought to our community. My prayers are with him and his family as he embarks on new endeavors. I am confident that he will continue to strive for excellent and achieve nothing but the very best in the field of education. Thank you. Okay, next we'll have the reports from the student liaisons. Cameron? We'll let you I'll go first. Just give me 1 second, please. >> Good evening, everyone. I hope everyone has had a good day so far and a

072good opening to the weather. Oh my goodness, I'm sorry. Okay. Good evening, Mr. Chair, Dr. Kramer, school board members, and members of the community. A lot has been happening pretty fast over the past few weeks, not just at Windsor, but around the entire county. First, I would like to thank Dr. Kramer for his tremendous service to this county over the last 4 years. With his resignation, we lose a vital part of our county. We lose an exceptional voice for our students and staff. We lose a tremendous leader, and we lose a man who has worked tirelessly to ensure the success of this amazing county. Dr. Kramer had no reason to come here, but solely a desire to add a positive impact on a community in need of support of all kinds at at Dr. Kramer

073not only achieved the goals that this community expected from him, but he elevated Isle of Wight County to our greatest potential and is the perfect model of what a superintendent should truly be. A person willing to unite and advocate for the needs of students and staff. Dr. Kramer has supported the students and staff of Isle of Wight County and has not bent the knee to any board in this county. And that is something that I know that everyone at Windsor High School appreciates more than anyone here or in this world could fathom. He has not only got us on a fiscal right path, but Dr. Kramer has had a profound social impact on the county and the people he has served. I have not only grown a deep respect and an admiration for Dr. Kramer's

074leadership over this short time as as Windsor High School's liaison, but I hope to one day just have a fraction of his leadership skills and an ounce of his integrity. I think that in the process of searching for a new superintendent, it is the board's absolute duty to look to look for the exceptional skills that Dr. Kramer has shown for the last 4 years. I want to personally thank Dr. Kramer for his profound service to his community. To speak on a higher level, many teachers at Windsor High School appreciate the role Dr. Kramer has played in allowing them to teach the way they know best rather than taking that from them. This effort has directly impacted not only student and staff success that we have seen in recent test scores, but has improved Windsor's morality

075more than any regular community member would ever understand. So, thank you Dr. Kramer for all you have done for this county and all your reputation will do for this county. But truly, thank you. We at Windsor High wish Dr. Kramer the best, but I guess it's time for me to run for superintendent now. ON A LIGHTER NOTE, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK DR. COLEMAN for his update on the awning and vestibule that he gave has given me personally. My peers and I appreciate the transparency from him and his team who works tirelessly to prioritize the safety of our students and staff and being effective on projects that would ensure it. I look forward to eventually seeing their hard work turn into reality. Thank you, Dr. Coleman. I want to thank our technical support team for

076getting the castle back up and running after our Wi-Fi went out Tuesday and partially Wednesday. I would also like to know if the additional parking lot in front of the senior {slash} staff lot made it into the proposed budget for 2026-2027. Today, all of our juniors had to walk through the sleet pelting us in our faces and wind that was up to 35 mph. This is a very important topic of conversation to my peers tonight and was shown through the effort of Miss Wall and Miss Carroll in putting this in the proposed budget. That's all I have for tonight. Thank you. Okay. Camera? Good afternoon, everyone. I would like to begin by thanking the school board and Dr. Kramer so much for the opportunity to be the March Senior of the Month. I really do

077appreciate the recognition and I feel so honored and just grateful for this chance. I also want to thank Mr. Kemp who nominated me. He was not here tonight. And then Miss Briggs and anybody else who may have had a role in helping to make this happen. I really do appreciate it and it means a lot to me. Uh moving on from myself, one other thing that happened this last month, which we've heard a number of speakers talk about already today. Uh on Friday, February 27th, there was a walkout at Smithfield High School to bring attention to the way that ICE, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was going about apprehending illegal immigrants. The walkout itself took place during the middle of the school day during Packer Block. And from what I've been informed via

078students and fellow staff members, because I myself was not present, a lot of students participated. To reiterate Mr. Elmore's words from before, no one was hurt. The students were supervised. This was not a rally, nor was it chaotic or violent. And the reason why it wasn't is because of the way our school board handled it. Addressing the event with understanding and professionalism, remaining neutral and indifferent, affiliating with neither one side or the other, and taking steps to allow students to express their First Amendment rights. That's all about that I have to say about the event on February 27th. In other news, I want to give a shout-out to Mr. Vidal. He is the employee of the year for Smithfield High School. Um Mr. Jorge Vidal is a school security officer at SAHS. He only started

079last year, and the reason why he did is because of efforts by Dr. Kramer, by the school board to give us more security officers. Uh in his short time at Smithfield High School, he's done the best to promote a peaceful faithful and peaceful uh learning uh education environment. And I cannot wait to see what he continues to do in the future. And finally, to conclude, when I heard that Dr. Kramer would not be joining us next year again, I was just as disheartened as many of the people who spoke today. In the interest, however, of keeping this brief, I will have more remarks regarding his impact on me and all that he's brought to the county at a later meeting. Uh I would also like to wish a happy belated birthday to Dr. Kramer. His

080birthday was this Monday. And I want to wish my co-liaison, Cole Mumford, a happy birthday cuz on the 18th, he'll be turning 17. Uh but outside of that, that's all I had to say for tonight. So, thank you. All right, thank you. Next, we're going to go into the presentations from the superintendent's staff. >> Good evening. Uh before you is a resolution requesting that the County Board of Supervisors reappropriate uh 288,433 of funds that we returned to them at the end of fiscal year 25 and um reappropriate them back to us. Of that amount, 40,375 is um from state textbook funds. Mr. Chair. Yes. Mr. Berry, could you tell us why we're doing this at this stage in the year and it hasn't been done earlier? Uh because the audit hasn't been completed. Normally, we

081wait um until the audit's done and then we would do it like in January. Um but instead uh I waited until I knew that the county agreed with these numbers. So, even though the audit hasn't been completed, they do agree with the numbers. Okay. Thank you. That's it, Mr. Chair. Okay. Any questions? And I'll entertain a motion. I move to appropriate the resolution to request uh reappropriation of fiscal year 2025 general operating surplus funds and textbook funds from county local funds. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, Madam Clerk. Mrs. Parkins. Yes. Mr. Wooster. Yes. Mr. Marsh. Yes. Mr. Ford. Yes. And Mr. Colleague. Yes. The next is a resolution requesting that the County Board of Supervisors uh appro- re-appropriate carryover funds. So, these are grant balances

082that remained at the end of fiscal year 25. And it's very important to note that there are no county local dollars in this. This is all state, federal, and other um local donations that we get. So, that total is $578,535. Any questions? Yes, sir. Mis- Same question. Is this also delayed because of the ongoing audit? Yes, sir. Okay. That's it. I move to request to re-appropriate fiscal year 2024-25 carryover funds in the amount of $578,535 to the fiscal year 2025-26 budget. Second. We have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, Madam Clerk. Mrs. Perkins? Yes. Mr. Wooster? Yes. Mr. Marsh? Yes. Mr. Ford? >> Yes. Mr. Collick? >> Yes. The next item is a request for you to amend your current fiscal year 26 budget for the $14 million of

083school construction assistance program grant funds that we received. So, we merely need a a motion and approval to amend the current year's budget. Mr. Chair, thank you for entertaining me some more here. Uh just for clarity, Alouette County has already adopted this in their budget. Is that correct? >> So, this is a formality. They approve it, then we have to put it in ours. Yes. And have we determined where and how we're going to expend this $14 million? Uh Dr. Coleman will be able to better answer that for you or Dr. Kramer. >> Sure. We are actually, uh, Mr. Marsh, working with the county. Uh, they are actively looking for land as we speak and we think that once the county has acquired land, which we can use these funds for, uh, will allow us

084to then, uh, spend the remainder uh, of the funds. And these dollars are really good question and you could help, uh, with this as well, Mr. Berry. We need to have these dollars encumbered, uh, very soon. Um, the date of that is >> June 30th. So, we are working feverishly with the county, but we need the county, uh, to acquire land. They are, won't mention where, uh, but there are two, uh, locations that they're actively looking at. Understood. And and again, these are rhetorical questions, but for the sake of the folks watching, short story is we were awarded $14 million in grants and we have to figure out how to spend it, so. And And if I can probably say, third largest in the entire state of Virginia. Isle of Wight. And and this has

085been discussed in previous meetings, but that 14 million is a percentage of an estimate of the project, so it it may be less than 14 million when it all settles out. >> Right. I think it's 20% of total cost of the project. Understood. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Okay. Uh, is there any prediction on, um, you know, how much we may use of this 14 million on just the land itself? I literally just had that conversation with the county administrator this week. Um, certainly will not venture uh, what we think because we don't know just yet. Um, but I think we'll have a sizable amount remaining after we have paid for the land. Uh but they're still in negotiations and still in conversation with uh developers who have those uh plots of land. Okay. Another item

086that um we will be using these funds for is to hopefully at your next meeting is to award a contract to the architect engineering firm. Uh we put out an RFP, I think it was right before Christmas, and we've gone through this, made some evaluations, and we're negotiating currently. So I believe we hope to bring that contract to you at your next meeting. And Dr. Coleman, did I not say something correctly, sir? So please correct me if you need to. No, sir. You're Okay, thank you. Okay. All right. Okay, I'll entertain a motion. I moved Oh. I moved to request the to amend the fiscal year 2026 budget for a school construction assistant pro- program, SCAP, in the amount of $14 million. Second. We have motion, a second. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none,

087Madam Clerk. Mrs. Parkins? >> Yes. Mr. Wooster? Yes. Mr. Marsh? Yes. Mr. Ford? >> Yes. And Mr. Collier? >> Yes. And next we have the 2026-27 school calendar. This is coming before you for second read for approval, hopefully. I'm available though if you have any questions. No questions. Okay. I move to approve the 2026-2027 school calendar as presented. Second. Motion, a second. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, Madam Clerk. Mrs. Perkins? >> Yes. Mr. Wooster? Yes. Mr. Marsh? >> Yes. Mr. Ford? >> Yes. And Mr. Collick? >> Yes. And next we'll have the early retirement incentive program or ERIP. Good evening. Um yes, so I'm presenting on the ERIP uh program that we have for employees. Um this is the annual approval by the board for me to be able to offer this to

088employees who are retiring on July 1st. Um this gives a great opportunity for our school division to capitalize on experienced veteran teachers who are coming directly from our school district and have spent a significant amount of time with our district to have them come back and they um they in exchange for health insurance cost uh substitute in our school district for 25 days. Um and they can pick up our employee-only health insurance. Um and they can do this for up to 5 years. And you all can provide extensions if that is requested, but in general the program is for up to 5 years. And again, we continue to pay their employer portion of the health insurance, they pay their employee portion, um and they exchange that for the substituting days. I'm happy to answer any

089questions, but this is an action item for you all to vote on so I can start offering this to potential retirees for this year. No questions, Mr. Chair, but a comment. Uh we do this every year and I think it's pretty cool benefit. So certainly benefits the retirees and the school division. I actually mentioned this to my sister who teaches in San Antonio and she was like, "That's cool. I wish we did that." So Yeah, absolutely. It is a great benefit for the retirees as well um because many of them who aren't yet 65, as you all know, health insurance is probably the the largest reason that employees stay employed for as long as they do because of the cost of health insurance. So this gives them the option to leave the profession when they

090feel good about that, um, but also to stay connected to the school community that they've already served. Do other school divisions offer similar programs? I am not aware of one, but there may be. Thank you. Mr. Chair, thank you. I move to approve approve the early retirement incentive program as presented. Second. We have motion a second. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, Madam Clerk. Mrs. Parkins? >> Yes. Mr. Wooster? Yes. Mr. Marsh? Yes. Mr. Ford? Yes. And Mr. Collick? Yes. And next we're going to have the approval of the FY 2027 budget. Mr. Chairman, may I ask the appropriate staff to come to the dais, uh, please? Mr. Berry, Mr. Sullivan, Dr. Coleman, Ms. Sketch. We are prepared to entertain any questions, uh, you chair and members of the board will have for us

091so that we can help you, um, get you an answer so that we can approve the budget. Any questions? Mr. Marsh. I Got it. I don't have any questions, just comment and I'll say it again just for the sake of saying it. Um, nearly everything that's been presented on the superintendent's proposal has been with the exception of the compensation, has been carried over for the last couple years. There's a few new ones exceptions, but the additional full-time positions, the sped positions, they've asked for that for the last couple of years. Um there's some follow-on agenda items that are only going to uh ex- expand on the needs for those positions. Um so I've got zero reservations about anything that's been asked for. The compensation study, I think, speaks for itself. This is what we need.

092Um are we going to get it all? Don't know. That's that's the county's heavy lift. They're going to have to determine what we get. And then, ultimately, they're going to flick that onus back on us once they give us a number. And then it'll be incumbent upon this board to figure out where whatever we get goes. So I'm you you've got my vote. I I would approve as presented tonight. And that's all I got to say. Thank you. No questions here, either. Um just want to make the comment to the to the staff to say thank you for all the hard work that you've done in putting this budget together, the budget proposal. Um and we recognize the talent, we recognize the dedication and commitment of our staff and and and faculty, and we want

093to honor you guys through approving this budget. So, thank you. Well, this is probably the first year since I've I've been on the board that I haven't looked at anything and said, you know, that probably needs to go or this needs to go. Um this uh 100% behind every single thing on that budget. We asked for the compensation study um several years ago when he was on the board of supervisors, Mr. Greist asked a question, are we paying our teachers enough? Well, nobody knew. Nobody could answer what is the right pay for a teacher. We did the compensation study. Now we know. Okay, so we asked for it. We we need we need to stand by that. SPED Okay, I've got a son in special needs. You know, um very very low functioning. He's got

094to be in a classroom and have one teacher with him the whole day. I cannot imagine him being a classroom without at least three adults. Okay, um it it just it's uh impossible. Yet our people here are doing it every day. We've got to give them some assistance. We've got to do that for them. So, I am behind the proposed budget 100%. Everything. So, thank you for your hard work, Dr. Kramer. I appreciate the hard work that you and your entire staff has put into this and um answering all the questions that we had as they came up. You know, some of them may have seemed uh mundane, but uh they were important to get answered so that we could get to this where we are today. Thank you. And with that, I will take

095a motion. I move to approve the fiscal year 2027 budget as presented. Second. We have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? Madam Clerk. Mrs. Parkinson's. Yes. Mr. Wooster. Yes. Mr. Marsh. Yes. Mr. Ford. >> Yes. And Mr. Colleague. Yes. We're going to take a uh about a We're going to take about 10-minute break and I'm going to have to excuse myself. So, Mr. Ford is going to take over chairing the rest of the meeting. >> Yeah. >> Mhm. >> Uh we want to go ahead and read uh read journ this uh meeting. Um and now for reports from the superintendent staff. And Mr. Vice Chair, we'll start with uh item 16.1 Windsor Library presentation. Mr. Vice Chair, Dr. Kramer, school board members, 16.1 Windsor Library presentation. Uh I have with me

096tonight Mr. Tony Wilson. Uh tonight we'll be sharing a brief overview of the proposed new Windsor Library project, which is being led by the Isle of Wight County through the Department of Public Works. The presentation you will see provides an early conceptual look at the potential site, building concept, and a preliminary scope of the project. Mr. Wilson. I'm right here. Yes, thank I thank you so much for having me tonight. Um when we had our kickoff meeting, uh Dr. Cole was kind enough to uh remind me that the board had turned over as far as the school board, and also that uh it would be a good idea to come and seek proper approval of the project since it's on school property. So, once again, uh thank you so much for having me. Um You

097hit it for me? There we go. Okay. All right, cool. Um if we look, it's going to be at the Georgia Tyler uh site. Um if you look at it, it's going to be pretty much across from the uh Windsor Center. That's where we're trying to put that. If you want to go. Um here's a conceptual view of what we're looking for. And this is just one low-level conceptual view. We're going to try to develop some more concept concepts as far as when we can see or if we need a a BMP. Um it'll be a 5,000 square foot building, 48 additional parking places, which will be I believe welcome for that area. Um you can hit it. Um this is what we're looking at. A pre-engineered building that'll have either a a water table

098or some type of wainscot type brick. Uh naturally, the overhang won't be as large as that, but it'll be What we're trying to do is bring it into touch with Georgia Tyler, have the architectural design match the colors, the bricks. And also some of the uh if you look at the school itself, it has some pretty distinctive characteristics on it. We want to try to, you know, incorporate that into the library. And so once again, it's a 5,000 square foot pre-engineered building. Um it's uh pretty much designed to capture Georgia Tyler and uh fit into the area. In inside, it'll be more of an open concept library, so it can be multiple uses as far as rooms, you know, with accordion doors and stuff. Uh areas to purchase, you know, let's say somebody wants to

099do a home closing and go to the library, they'll have an area, you know, a vestibule area to do that. And once again, the 48 parking places. And uh the preliminary budget is 2.5, so um we're in the survey process right now. So um once I get the survey done, we'll begin to design and once again, we'll have our stakeholders, which will be you. And it's been a pleasure to work with Dr. Coleman for a few years now. So, is there any questions I can help you with? I've got a few questions for you. Okay. Uh Dr. Coleman, I know we've talked about this before. This proposal for the library is going to be on school property, correct? Yes, sir. It'll be on school property across directly across from Windsor Town Center as it stands.

100Okay. So, my main concerns uh would be number one, security issues. Mhm. Um as far as, you know, persons coming And granted, you don't expect nefarious acts for people going to a library. I'm not implying that. However, let's just say you've got persons coming on, they've got access to school property. Um you know, you've got potential for, you know, controlled substances, firearms, things of that nature. How would a situation like that be mitigated if the building is situated already on school property? What do you think? Um Windsor Town Center is there now and I think that's proven that while it can happen, it doesn't happen often. It's very low risk. Also, remember, we are the county, you are the schools. We have a sheriff's department. They're readily available all along with the town uh force.

101Also, this is the informational that he's bringing you tonight. This is not for an action item. And there's something that you would like for us to look into a little bit more. Uh Mr. Brinkley, uh for the sake of security for the division, can actually look into more of a designated plan working with the county. So, that's something else that we can get for the board before action item decision is made? Yeah, that would be great if you could do that. And and please don't take me wrong. It's not like I'm in opposition to it. These are just natural concerns that pop up. So, I have nothing else. Mr. Vice Chair, Mr. Wilson, so you work for Isle of Wight. Yes, sir. And the Windsor library, currently the library is owned by the town. That's

102correct. >> But the building's owned by the county. >> That is correct. Some months back, this school board said that we'd give up this property by the school so you guys could build a new library for the county or the town. So, assuming this all comes to fruition, is it going to be a Windsor library or a county library? >> Actually, it's going to be a Blackwater library because the county has an obligation to provide libraries for that through the Blackwater system. So, it will be a county owned building um on school property. And and less, of course, you want us to parcel it out. Um I feel like it's a good partnership with the Windsor Town Center. So, having it on school property and we we take care of the asset would be the

103best way forward. Well, as a resident of the big bustling town of Windsor that doesn't have a downtown, I think this is pretty cool. Um the the library today is neat, but it's it's just kind of in an awkward spot. Well, when you when we went out to bid a originally I had a 23 square foot design to put an addition on that library itself. Well, when the bids come in, it was upward of a million dollars. And if we're going to invest that kind of community money in our community, let's be physically responsible and build a nice library. It's going to last not only today, but 10 years down the road, perhaps. Sure. Uh Dr. Coleman, assuming this comes to fruition, what are we going to do with the Wildcats football field over there?

104At this time, we're looking at a couple of different options. Um of course, uh Virginia High School League IWC S sports comes first. We're always open to work with the community members, just like the Smithville Packers and the Windsor Wildcats. Um the field will have to be changed just a little, but at the same time, uh we have some workarounds. We have reached out to the Wildcats. I think they have changed over and who's the president at this time. Uh and that's the town uh Mr. Saunders and uh myself and Mr. Wilson have reached out to him just to talk a little bit about the field and everything that exists. Um but in the end, uh we're trying to work together as we did the first time when we actually prepared the field for them.

105So, you think there's enough room? There is enough room on the field as it exists. Uh I'm interested in seeing more about the 48 spaces that's going to be provided and uh interested in talking to Mr. Brinkley a little bit more about the uh safety and security aspects of the scenario. To uh Mr. Marshall's question, can you take us back uh Dr. Coleman to the site concept? I think it shows um in the gray area that there seems to be sufficient space. This is space for future turf field. Um so, all of that is space that we would be able to use for athletic purposes. Yes, sir. You you can't at this time right in the upper right and I don't want to get too much into the details, but the baseball field that currently

106exists there. Um Absolutely. You have to take 10 ft off of the outfield fits. So, therefore, we have to look at some sort of temporary uh outfielding for that, but that's a workaround that we can do and find out the cost associated with taking that extra 10 ft in order for the field to fit Um exactly the way that it is on that on that plan. Also, we'll be moving the field goals. Just different things that we'll have to work with the town to ensure that it works properly. Thank you, sir. Seems to me that the 48 additional spaces is a win-win for IWCS because I can't imagine a time, I'm sure there would be, but I can't imagine a time when there'd be 48 spaces occupied by the Windsor library. Now, um Now, there's

107several times during the I guess you could say there during the year where Windsor's having events. And when those events occur um at that location, there's so much traffic. Uh women's auxiliary or something of that nature. Well, um a good example is uh basketball on Saturdays. If you've been to the Windsor Center and they have in Georgia Town in the Windsor Center, all the parking places are taken up currently. Um while they may not be enough in the future to harbor all those, you know, people participated in recreation, the 48 will definitely help. And this is just a concept as far as shifting the field and making everything work together so we can coexist with the Wildcats and along with the parking, um I'll definitely when we get something that's preliminary and not just conceptual,

108definitely would love to bring it back to you and and let you see where we're going with it. And like I said, Dr. Coleman will be with me uh every step of the way. Well, I think it's fair to say that this governing body is well versed in the challenges in getting a project like this on the county's capital improvement plan. Uh wish you well, sir. Um I'll do my best. Mr. Vice Chair, just one question. Um do I'm sorry, sir. Hi. Uh do we know what we would do with the former Windsor library or do we sell that property or how would that look? Um well high high level that is the plan. We own the building, they own the land. It could be a cost participation. I haven't once again talked to the

109town of Windsor. They're our partner in it but we can discuss that and maybe offset the cost and the burden to the community. Yes sir. Thank you. Yes. Um have any operational plans been determined for this uh for the library and I'm assuming that it's falling under the Blackwater brand that it will operate like all the other Blackwater libraries such as who has access, time of open, you know, operational hours, those kinds of uh Um to the best of my knowledge it would operate just like Windsor library currently with the same operating hours and until unless Mr. Neil's here. So Mr. Neil's here. Mr. Neil? What was his name? If you could do an introduction for Uh I'm sorry. This is exactly the director of Blackwater libraries uh Ben Neil. So How was it? Okay.

110Okay. Uh so so thank you Tony. I wasn't planning on speaking tonight. I was here for support. I but to answer your question Mr. Mr. Ford, it would operate like the rest of our branches. The only difference is that we would have much more space to to to hold programs for the community. Uh if adults want to have a book club at the current Windsor library they're in tiny seats in the children's area and it's hard for for children and family to be browsing books during that time. Uh and uh as Tony said we're looking for a lot of open space where people can uh meet with a tutor. They can uh come to our library program and any number of other things. But but everything should operate the same. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

111Uh no further questions. All right. Uh, moving on to 16.2, delivering specialized instruction and special programs presentation. Good evening, uh, school board members, Dr. Kramer. My name is Kristen Daley. Uh, I am a special education coordinator with Isle of Wight County Schools. Good evening. I'm Janetta Moody. I am the behavior analyst for the division. So, tonight we're here to share some information about our division special program classrooms and the instruction that is provided that occurs in these classrooms. Um, do you guys want to take it? So, uh, special programs that are highly structured, small group environments designed for students with moderate to severe disabilities who require more individualized, intensive instruction than a general education setting. Uh, they provide, uh, that they can provide. For some students, the typical general education environment, um, even with the

112push-in, um, and pull-out services that special education teachers provide, um, that does not provide the intensive personalized instruction that they truly need. Therefore, they are referred to the special programs. Uh, these classrooms, uh, provide tailored, uh, they're data-driven, they have therapeutic supports, um, they, uh, are functional and are behavioral, um, skills-driven. The classrooms have low to, uh, student um, to teacher ratios. Currently, we're averaging around 3:1 ratio, um, and they're also very sensory-friendly, um, and they provide adaptive materials for the students. This will give you an idea of who we serve within these classrooms. Currently, in Isle of Wight County Schools, about 16% of students with disabilities require a more restrictive placement than um in the general education setting. This percent This percentage is currently representing about 146 students. Um all of our Isle of

113Wight County Schools, with the exception of Carrsville, has special program classrooms. Uh we are currently averaging close to around seven students um in all of um per those classrooms. Uh these classrooms um also within those classrooms averaging 7%. This isn't just all just kindergarten or first grade, they're a multi-level uh classroom, so that could be a K2 or 3-5. Uh at Westside, it could look uh like 4-6. So, it um it varies for grade levels as well. So, when we talk about what makes a specialized classroom, one of the most important things is the structure of the classroom. So, if you just look at these pictures, you can immediately see these classrooms do not look like our typical classrooms. They're set up for small groups, individual work with students and teachers. Um they even have

114what we call carrel desks that allow for students to be able to work and focus with decreased distractions. That way, they're better able to focus on working on what they need to do. If we talk about structure that incorporates the physical structure of the classroom, we use the furniture and the setup to provide boundaries for students. That way, we can accommodate all of the activities that occur within the schedule during the day in that room. And this also helps reduce some of those problem behaviors to set the stage for learning for those students. Um the other component is the material organization. We need to have all those materials readily available. That'll minimize the breaks in instruction and allow them to keep moving. It also assists the students and staff with locating and then returning items

115to proper locations, and it does really increase the independence that our students are able to have in those classrooms. So, in this um these pictures, you'll see that there's uh examples of individual schedules as well as classroom schedules. Uh we utilize these um to help with those routines um for the specialized instruction. Um go to the next slide. Um why do we use this? So, um these uh examples of routines we have provide clear examples for students and staff. Um they ease some of the anxiety of change transition through the day for our students. Uh they show when preferred activities will occur. So, if a student is doing a more difficult uh activity at that point, they will have that visual to show that, you know, that recess is coming up or that their drawing

116activity is coming up. So, they know what to anticipate for that. Um they also can help students understand the length of the school day. Again, that piece of there is an end to the school day and when to expect that. So, a lot of times these uh visuals will be a takeoff, so they can actually see the day moving on and see that bus or the car coming closer. Um they provide uh routine and consistency, which are both essential for students um success. And you'll notice that a lot of them with our picture schedules, um this is a great way to explain what will happen next, and particularly for our students students um with uh language delays. This will help. Um in these pictures, um this is an example um of a picture exchange system

117um that a student uses um to communicate. Um the next one is an example of uh uh a reinforce visual reinforcement. So, you can see that the expectations are visuals, um which provides um them to what to what the expectations are for within that classroom. Not sure if the video is going to come up. There it is. And we're all going to cross our fingers that may No. The video that it worked it didn't, but if it did come up, it is a uh video it's okay. Um, it's a video of a teacher modeling a communication device with an iPad. Um, a lot of our students um might not use their voice um as myself and you do. Um, they uh use a device. Oh. Someone's working on it. Um, and with that um it

118just doesn't come naturally either. So, it's up to our teachers as well as our instructional assistants within our classrooms to teach how to use all of these examples. Like how to use the picture exchange system of how to take off those um and with the iPad. So, um our instructional assistants and teachers really model this by using them as well. So, to reinforce the behavior of our students. And then, hold on someone's working on our computer. It's all right. We don't need the video. Thank you. All right. I'm just Okay. Okay, so the next part that makes it a specialized classroom has to do with the emotion and the behavior regulation. So, for a lot of our students behavior is a form of communication for them. They engage in some challenging behaviors often as a

119way to communicate their wants, their needs, things that they need to get or obtain. So, when we teach things like functional communication, that might be verbally through speaking, it might be as Miss Daly shared through those augmentative devices, um visual supports, that helps decrease those challenging behaviors because we've given them a way to communicate those things to us. So, we also explicitly teach our students to recognize their emotions and then be able to apply coping strategies. Again, that builds independence and further decreases those challenging behaviors. So, when we start looking at that with behavior and communication skill growth for our students, one of the things we utilize is called the STAR curriculum. It's a STAR autism curriculum. It's structured, it's research-validated, it's a system that integrates communication and structure, direct instruction directly with behavior support.

120So, what it does is it provides detailed lesson plans, assessment tools, progress monitoring. It helps students build language, social skills, functional skills in the context of the classroom, and it supports that individualized instruction and database decision-making. And what that does is that all makes it well-suited for our self-contained, our specialized classrooms where the communication and the behavior skills are primary instructional goals for our students. So, it assists with teaching our students the skills that they need to be ready to learn in our classrooms. We especially use it with our younger students starting all the way in our preschool of our early childhood special education classrooms. We also have a curriculum called MUSEUM. Um this is a video modeling, um online curriculum, um where it has uh discu- discussions, interactive work, lesson plans for uh teachers

121um to um share with their students. Um it works on understanding and managing emotions, how to communicate effectively amongst peers as well as teachers, and how to resolve conflict. So in a lot of these videos, it has options for the students to choose from and some of them are this some of them are there's no wrong answers, but they're give you choices for them to work on how to resolve those conflicts. And so ultimately really working on how to build stronger peer relationships because a lot of our students at times with disabilities really can struggle with that piece. So it's a combination of that multimedia instruction and active practice making it practical and engaging approach to teaching students behavior and that communication skills. And And so we also use a curriculum called Teachtown has different

122areas that you'll see later in that the presentation, but this one has social skills. And it is also a video modeling. It's more for our younger base students. Museum is more for our upper elementary whereas this could be used as our lower elementary. And it is specially specifically for students with moderate to severe developmental and social challenges especially for those possibly on the autism spectrum disorder or other complex learning needs. It provides lesson plans. It has the animated videos promote student participation to teach the social skills. It has puppets and manipulatives too for students to interact with. And then next the curriculum we use is called Zones of Regulation. And what that is is a systematic evidence-informed self-regulation framework that it is designed to help our students do things such as recognize their emotions or

123their states of alertness throughout the day, understand how their behavior connects to those states and those feelings, and then that helps them to learn the strategies needed to regulate themselves appropriately. It has four color zones that visually represent each one of those levels, and then it sets them up with tools and strategies to use when they're in each of those zones to help them get back to where they need to be again to be ready to learn. We also use a curriculum called The Zones of Regulation. It is also a framework. We use it particularly with younger students, but some older students do really buy into it as well. It's a structured approach that focuses instruction on four key self-regulation skills. So, that would be stop and notice, make sure you're pausing before you react,

124observe your thoughts and body signals, your emotions. Then you want to plan and choose a strategy based on how you're feeling, organize by preparing your thoughts and your body, and then try it. So, implement that strategy and adjust as needed. This um framework is really, really popular with our younger students. It incorporates these characters that you can see in the picture. Each one represents a different emotion by its color, and then they use these characters through the books, through videos, through songs, and it really just helps students be able to understand the language associated with emotions while they're having fun engaging with the activities. And of course, also in these classrooms, we're not only working on our behavior, communication, social skills, we're working on academics as well. Um there are students that are able to

125follow the general curriculum as our students in our general education classrooms, but there's also students that have require an adaptive academic curriculum, and those we make sure that our it's aligned with our standards of learning as well. But this would meet our students' diverse needs and be able to uh meet their diverse learning needs. Um this curriculum is called TeachTown. Um another piece of it it's uh so it's TeachTown On Core and um with this um I am able to pull some data and from our uh pretest scores that they have an average improvement of 65% um compared to their posttest. So there is some data to show that there they do really improve a whole lot um from their um pretest to posttest using this curriculum. And we also um utilize um life skills

126and I wanted to highlight that these two pictures um this is um our new space at our Smithfield High School. Um this allows us to really bring um working on life skills to life. Um it is our kitchen as well laundry you see and there's also some mock shops um that our teachers work on throughout this uh workspace um to really bring in um practicing those real-life skills at school. Um this is an example of um also we have the online curriculum um to work on our transition skills. You can see just the average day life skills of um you know shopping laundry cooking um but it really video modeling plus what would you do when they were how to um bus a table. So there's employment skills that they work on too. And from

127there we also um bring our students out to the community which we call community-based instruction. Um so we immerse them within our community to hopefully employ them um by the time they graduate with us. Um that's our presentation tonight. What questions might you have for us tonight? Uh start by saying thanks. I think I I appreciate you guys you ladies putting this presentation together. It's enlightening. I don't think maybe I'm just naive, but I don't think most people understand everything that goes on inside the walls of the schools. Um I certainly didn't understand all this until I saw it. Um I'm curious about parental engagement and I'll just I'll use myself as an example. My third grader comes home from school and he's got homework and I can sit down and we can go over

128it and I can help reinforce it and read books with him. To the various curricula that you were referencing, does that afford you a chance to do that sort of parental engagement? So there are take-home activities for homework. A lot of our students still require a good amount of parental help completing those activities, but there are things that to be sent home. There's books that the students love bringing home. There are printouts to send home to continue their reading practice. But I would say our special programs classes have a lot of parent parental involvement in them. That's good to hear. And then the adaptive curriculum somebody gave me an answer to my question about that and I appreciate that. If you've got a student that's in one of these special programs is it fair to

129assume that progress is focused more on improvement vice mastery of various standards or is it the same across the board? I I I don't really know how to ask that, but So uh uh from what I'm gathering you're asking um so for all of our students they do have individual education programs. So we look at um they're progressing in their IEPs, but as well, we always want them to be working on continued progress in the academics, too. They might be taking um the standards of learning or they might be taking a alternative assessment, but that does show growth throughout the year, both of those. Got it. >> have confused you more. Sorry. That makes sense. >> Okay. Thank you. That's all I got, Mr. Mr. Vice Chair. Thank you. Um I I got an opportunity

130to briefly um visit Hardy Elementary and see a few of the uh special program classrooms. Um I just just curious, do the other classrooms in the other schools uh look just like those in Hardy? Have you guys had a chance? I Yes. Uh they They're They're very similar to um the ones at Hardy. Yes. Okay. I just want to, you know, make sure that we're all operating on that same standard because the the classrooms that I saw were exceptionally uh well put together. Uh um you know, and you know, the the overall goal is to, you know, offer faith to students in the least restrictive environment. So, it was very strategic um and the placement of all of the um activities and tables and, you know, all the way down to the to the small

131details are uh were were very very well uh executed. So, thank you. No more comments. Thank you. Thank you. All right. For 16.3 special education annual annual plan draft. Good evening, members of the board and Dr. Kramer. Tonight, we have the 2026-2027 special education annual plan for information. This is our 611 school-age and 619 preschool grant uh that we apply for each year. Uh after tonight, it will go to uh, the public for comment, and then we will bring it back to you guys next month for approval. Do you have any questions about the application? Mr. Vice Chair. I mentioned when we talked about the budget that I was going to ask questions specific to this. Is there anything in your draft plan that you cannot or will struggle to accomplish given the current sped

132staffing levels be it due to unfilled positions or simply non-existent positions? Well, our positions are filled, so I would say it's due to the non-existent positions. Um, and yes, at uh, one portion of the application actually asks school divisions to identify barriers to being able to provide services for kiddos with disabilities. And our our our biggest barrier right now is just the retaining and the recruiting of teachers. Um, and so the ask with the budget to, for example, increase the number of teachers in the inclusion setting so we can so that we can better support co-teaching would align with this, uh, in terms of helping to retain the teachers that we have because that additional support is very needed. Um, so yes. Thank you. Any other questions or discussion from the board? All right, thank

133you, Ms. Meeker. >> Thank you. Meeker. All right, for 16.4, uh, employee health insurance survey feedback. Good evening again. Um, so I'm here tonight to provide you all with some information that was gathered from our employees um, concerning health insurance and where we currently stand with the health insurance benefits that we offer and potentially some thoughts as we go into the renewal or um, looking at the RFP process. Um, so we knew this year that we were going out to bid for our health insurance benefits um, and we have considered multiple different options. Uh, Ms. DeBerry spoke briefly on that at our last board meeting um, about the budget. Um, and so we are considering uh, both self-insured options as well as the local choice. Um, and we're going to in the next month be

134able to bring you all the information from that, but we wanted to give you a little bit of um, background information in terms of our employees current satisfaction with health insurance benefits as a one of the key components of compensation um, and benefits programs that attract and retain our teachers. Um, so to start off with uh, again for the background information, we want to understand the employee experience when it comes to medical insurance and identify areas of improvement. Uh, we know that benefits are critical critical component to the total compensation package um, and our survey's focus was to determine the satisfaction, accessibility to care and then cost to value value alignment and overall benefit importance. Like, what are the benefits that our employees care about the most? As far as participation in the survey, uh,

13567% of the staff that responded uh, were instructional staff, 21 were support and 8% were administrators. Um, there was about 390 responses to our survey. Um, out of the we also asked for um, employees to give us feedback on the years of service that they had. We felt like that was important as well to get an idea of the responses. Um, it was a pretty even distribution across all levels of experience. Out of those who did respond, 44% of them have our HSA Healthkeepers $2,000 deductible plan, which is our high deductible plan that partners with our HSA account for our employees, and it's also a Virginia network. So, we offer two different types of networks. One is um Healthkeepers, which is primarily in the state of Virginia, and then Key Care, which is a nationwide

136access network that provides you consistent care outside of the state. And then, we also offer two different plan types, which is a high deductible $2,000 deductible plan that is associated with an HSA, and then a low deductible plan of $500. And the employees can mismatch those two different options with each other. Um, so it's a total of four different plan types. And then, as far as coverage goes, they can have an employee, an employee plus spouse, an employee plus children, or an or family plan, depending on which type of coverage that they need for themselves and their dependents. Um, 90% of those who answered the survey also participate in our dental, and 81% participate in our vision. As of right now, our health care is unbundled. So, you can receive medical, you can receive dental

137and vision. You can bundle all or you can take advantage of all three of those, but you're going to pay a different premium for each one of those individual pieces of care. Um, one of the benefits of this is of this is previously we had a vision and health insurance that was bundled together, but the only thing that was covered in that vision policy was your annual visit um for an eye review um or vision review. However, with the new plan, it does offer more extensive care when it comes to if you're actually utilizing that vision insurance for glasses, contacts, that sort of thing. Um, and then the past we had a separate dental policy, and we do have quite a few of our employees who who advantage of just the dental or envision because

138they have health and medical insurance through a spouse. Specifically those um who have the advantage of Tricare, some of them will pick up dental envision through us as a supplemental. Um so a key strength that was that was clear in the survey was provider net- network and access. Uh employees felt like 73% of employees felt like that they per- that provider access was high, that they felt like they could find doctors that are health insurance. Yes. Mr. Vice Chair, just that's plan today. Yes. This is all about the plan today. >> on the Okay. Mhm. Thank you. >> Yep. Um in the current network meets or exceeded expectations for the vast majority of staff, reducing a major barrier to care. Um also something to to note, our current plan has ba- both an HMO and

139a PPO option. Um with the PPO option, that does allow um our employees to seek refer- re- seek care by specialist without needing a referral. Um and so that's definitely something to consider as we go into the RFP or looking at the bid process. Um that if you go with an HMO plan, you are limiting access to specialist without going through a PCP to get a referral to that. And so that's something that the plan that the majority of those that completed the survey, that HSA plan, doesn't require that you seek that referral before receiving care from a specialist. Um so some of that might have to do with the fact that people feel like access is is w- well provided to them. Another key strength, when we asked um some of the survey questions

140were about how much employees felt empowered to make decisions, how informed they felt about their benefits based on the current process that we w- we go through with employees. So of course our new hires go through an open enrollment period when we're hired when we hire them. We do those in small groups through our orientation sessions Um and then also every year we go through open enrollment which is coming up for months for us. We usually start that the end of May beginning of June in order to have our effective plan date for July 1 because our employees their insurance plan runs from July 1st through June 30th. So we're currently coming towards the end of a plan year. And so that open enrollment process we do a variety of different options but the staff

141gave us feedback that they prefer in-person sessions or one-page summaries over long emails and videos. We also gave an extensive list. These are not all of the things that were included in there but we gave an extensive list of types of benefits beyond just health insurance but health insurance included in that that we as a division offer or could offer. For example, we discussed built-in holidays into the school calendar, personal vacation leave accruals such as the amount of those that you receive, health insurance, sick leave accruals, and then prescription drug coverage. And these were the top-rated ones and then we'll show you what percentage of the people completing the survey rated these in the highest. So interestingly enough, the holidays built into our school calendar that you all just approved 77.8% listed that as one

142of the most important benefits that they feel like Isle of Wight offers maybe in comparison to other districts. I actually have a teacher stop me literally I was washing my car Wednesday afternoon and a teacher pulled up in my driveway. Can't get away from being a school board member. But that was the comment that they really this particular teacher really appreciated the calendar and the time that was baked in there. So It is a huge when I am making a job offer it is one of the things that I directly follow the compensation with because I do feel like it offers a great benefit um, for a work-life balance. Um, in addition, the same it kind of goes ties in with that. They also are really thankful for the personal and vacation leave accruals or

143or believe that that's a highlight um, and something that we should really focus on either maintaining or even improving. Um, and then sick leave accruals as well. But in health insurance rates ranks in that that third third spot. So, um, as you can imagine with probably all health insurance, the biggest pain point is the financial squeeze of what insurance cost. Um, the cost is the primary driver of this dissatisfaction. Only 10% of employees feel that the cost of coverage strongly aligns with the value provided. Most employees, 36% are neutral on overall satisfaction largely largely due to the financial pressure of insurance. Uh, we asked employees if they could identify just one thing that they would choose uh, that for us to focus on for improvement. 39.7% said that they would request that we improve premium

144costs or the monthly amount that they pay for to have access to their health insurance even if they're well. 37.4% then shared that it would be deductibles and co-pays, which is the other side of health insurance. Of course, you have the premium side that you pay um, to ensure that you have coverage when you go to the doctor and then the deductibles, the co-pays, and the out of cost are going to be what you pay when you are not well. Um, and so health insurance policies when we'll bring those options to you all to consider um, in the next month, it's all about looking at the balance between well, yes, you might have a low premium, is your out-of-pocket or when you go to the doctor deductible going to exceed and cost you more. Um,

145and so it is a balance to consider those things um between well, we might want premium Everyone wants low premium cost until they're not well, and then you want the rich coverage uh that particular that a higher premium would provide because otherwise your deductibles and copays are going to be high. Um and then the the third highest option that was suggested um it was only 12%, but it was the third most suggested improvement was the employer HSA contribution. Um prior to 2019, uh we were contributing $1,200 uh annually to every employee's HSA account um that was enrolled in the HSA plan. In 2019, it was uh moving forward after that, there's only been $600 contributed annually by the school division for the HSA plan. So we as a school division, so with the HSA, there

146is a annual max. Many school divisions contribute to that plan. Um it is one way to encourage employees to select an HSA plan. A high deductible plan typically costs the division, the employer less when an employee selects it, and so that is an incentive in order to get employees to select that. The HSA is works like a medical debit card where you can um contribute money pre-tax, so it's a tax-sheltered option for you to lower your taxable income, put that onto the HSA card, um and then use those funds for your out-of-pocket or your deductible. And so even though your deductible is higher, it essentially is is not because you have that um tax-sheltered money to support that. And especially if the division is then providing an annual contribution to that, it's extremely helpful in

147getting a lower um health care cost. Questions about that? First and foremost, I struggle to wrap my head around all this. It It's health care in general it just blows my mind. >> complicated. Yes. >> The slide that we're looking at, were there other options that the employees had to choose from? You listed the top three. Oh, yes. How many other ones? Ooh. About ballpark it. I'm just trying to figure out how much that 80% really weighs. I want to say there was There was like eight to 10 maybe. There was a lot of questions with a lot of different options. I see Ms. Briggs is trying to pull it up for me to see if we can So it's significant. Yes. Mhm. >> Okay. Bottom line, the cost of health care is a priority.

148Yes. Okay. So you said there were roughly 390 respondents. Uh 297 I think were the respondents. Yes. >> 297 took the survey. >> Mhm. We've got over 800 employees. Yes. >> Of those 800 employees, about how many are eligible for taking advantage of the health care program? So we have about 400 of them that I believe this is accurate. I might just correct myself next month when we come to you, but I think we have about 450 that take advantage, but that doesn't include all of their dependents. So employee-wise, we have about So those who received the survey, there was about There is approximately 450 that take advantage of our health insurance right now. So 200 Also, say 300 out of 450 people took the survey. Mhm. Okay. Yes. So that that's Yeah. Does Does

149survey give you Dr. Kramer and whoever else is going to study this, does it give you enough information to give this board a recommendation when the RFP settles out? I mean, it definitely gives us a better idea with where people stand when it comes to what they're satisfied with right now. Um the one really difficult I think what you I don't want to minimize what you said in terms of wrapping your head around this because health insurance is so complex because there are so many variances to every plan. And so when we bring other options, one thing to remember is you only know what you know. And if you've only had this level of health insurance care for this cost, um or if you've had, you know, not so great health insurance and it's cost

150you more somewhere else, ours might seem really good. Um and I so I think that It's hard for employees to They can say what how they feel um based on the coverage that they currently have, but unless they've experienced a variety of different coverage, it's difficult for them to truly give feedback on how well they feel protected with or served by this health insurance. Um so it did give us glimpses for what's important to them so that we can make sure that we are maintaining those, are looking for those characteristics in future plans. Uh but there there is going to be when we bring you the different options, there's going to be such variety in what they offer and for what cost, it's very difficult to compare some of them. So if I apply for

151a job, I'm going to be a teacher, and I sit down with you and HR, Mhm. and you say, "Here's your health care options." What tools do I have as a prospective or a new employee to learn all the intricacies of this. Yes, so one is our HR department. That is one thing that we do is we help walk them through. Um the other part of that is we do partners with Pierce Group. That is the consultant you've heard Mr. Berry talk about that's taking a look at the RFPs and what was given to us. Um Pierce Group specializes in health insurance enrollment and also through different coverage option options. And so we currently partner with them and they advise us on what is the best cost benefit based on because what you're balancing is

152cost for richness of plan or the richness of your coverage. Um and you don't want to get such rich coverage that it's so expensive you no one can afford it, but you also don't want to get such cheap insurance that it's not going to protect you when you need it. Um and so Pierce Group is helping analyze that with us and they also when we have a new employee, they when we do open enrollment in um both in the spring and also in new hire sessions, they send benefits consultants to sit down with each employee so that they can talk through like this is my specific health care concern or this is the medication I take. On this plan, what is going to be my out-of-pocket cost versus what is my out-of-pocket cost on this

153plan? When we aren't during those two phases, they have a 1-800 number that we provide to all of our new employees that can contact them and ask those very specific plan concerns because I can give the overview, but they can give you really the the this is what this is going to cost you at the end of the day based on what your specific health care needs are. Um just to piggyback on that a little bit. Um are we able to organize the respondents by, you know, year teaching or, you know, year of experience? So maybe there trends for the zero to five year teachers, five to 10, so on and so forth. >> Yes, absolutely. We have all of this is just kind of an overview, but it when it gets to that point

154and we're looking at the different plans that were were offering, we can talk about those as well. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Any other questions? All right. Thank you. Mhm. And for the financial monthly reports, 16.5. Good evening. Uh a couple things just want to point out on the um financial reports this month. If you noticed on the revenue for the general fund or operating fund, you'll see that under budget balance for uh fees and other revenue, it shows a negative number. And what that is um illustrating is that we have exceeded the budget um for that category of revenue. Um in some of the areas were um for like uh summer school tuition, regular day school tuition. Um we've also received uh over $20,000 in a couple of rebates. Um one is from our uh

155bank card, our purchasing card that we use, and we received another one from Amazon. So, that area's looking good. Um and then when you look at it, it'll show that the expenditures are exceeding revenues year to date. There's no reason for any concern there. Um I'll be bringing another resolution to you probably at the May meeting um because our ADM is higher than what we budgeted. So, we'll be getting additional state funds. So, I will be bringing that back to you to um amend the budget for that. May I just add, Mr. Vice Chair, uh Mr. Berry, please correct me if I'm wrong. Basically, our enrollment is up. Yes. And as a result of that, um that's going to be adjusted. So, that's a good thing for our district. Compared to where we budgeted. Health

156insurance fund is is still healthy. Um we're putting more money in than we are um taking out of it, so that's still looking good. And we continue to monitor the cafeteria fund. Any questions? Just to kind of reiterate the whole special ed thing, I think there's a line item on the check register out of division tuition for $20,390. How many students does that pay for? One. Okay. And I I will We don't have to get in We won't get into any details. I presume that's some sort of a special service that we can't provide in Alleghany County school. Yes, sir. Okay. Uh and my last comment is just a big thank you. I've been sitting up here reading these check registers every month, line by line, for over 3 years now. Either A, I've learned

157how to read them, or B, you've improved the level of detail, and I think it's the latter. So, thank you. No other questions, comments? Thank you, Mr. Berry. All right, 16.6 operations update. >> Good evening, Dr. Kramer, board members, Ellen Couch, and Matt Fyke, coordinator of transportation. We're going to be presenting to you this evening. All right, so just wanted to give you a few updates. The first one is wonderful news. We're finally out of VDOE JO with uh child nutrition. So, we closed our annual federal review. Hallelujah. And uh we will not have another review until 2028. There were minimal findings, all of which have been corrected. And uh we had impeccable financial records um courtesy of Ms. DeBerry. So, I want to thank Dr. Coleman and Dr. Kramer for all of their help.

158And um that is a sigh of relief to be done with our annual review for a while. Um just wanted to give you an update. I've had the opportunity to um be a part of a cohort through the um Department of Education with the Chef Ann Foundation. And we actually I went to some training this summer with them, and they've been here and visited our wonderful schools, and talked about the macaroni and cheese served at Smithfield High School was some of the best he'd had in any of his school visits across the country. So, um check out the macaroni and cheese at Smithfield High School. Um so, some recommendations they had were to create salad bars at both of our middle and high schools. We're in progress with that. I've written a grant through the

159Chef Ann Foundation. So, hopefully those of you listening with students at the middle and high school, hopefully next year we'll have um salad bars for you all. Bulk milk for students. Uh you know how you get those cartons of milk, and you know, they kind of look a little wonky. Well, we have won a grant um through the National Dairy Alliance to have bulk milk. Uh we're going to start that at Smithfield High School. So, in a couple weeks, you'll see cups with students going up to the dispenser to get their white or chocolate milk. So, it's going to be colder, taste fresher, shelf life is longer. So, we're very, very, very excited about that. Um we also had a recommendations from the Chef Ann Foundation that we need to purchase additional equipment to allow

160for effective cooking. One of the main um equipment purchases they feel we need is a steamer for Carrollton Elementary. If you go into our kitchens, which many of you have, Dr. Kramer and Dr. Coleman have been with us. When you tour our kitchens, the equipment is old. Carrollton Elementary, for an example, 1993 the school was constructed, nothing's changed with the equipment. I could tell you that if you went in the kitchen and saw the stove, it's the color of Mr. Vike's shirt. It is old. We need to replace some equipment across the division. Um so, that was one recommendation they had. And then changing some um guidelines for our wellness policy, which we will do when Chef Ann comes up again in 2028. This graphic, this slide, I did not create. Dr. Coleman created it,

161but I do really like it. Um we have had the opportunity, and I wish um Mr. Collick was here because he um brought this to our attention. We have applied for a $1.5 million grant um through the House Appropriations Committee. It's through the community project funding. I've worked closely with um Mr. Brittle and Mr. Judkins at the Land Lab um to complete this application. The purpose of these funds will be to uh construct and build a processing facility and warehouse out at the Land Lab, so that then we can process, purchase local and purchase local produce that in turn will go to all of our schools in the community and the district for them to eat our local product produce, not only just lettuce, but from local producers of sweet potatoes, sweet corn, strawberries, and

162other items. So, we're hoping we will get this grant. Um we won't know for a while, and we've applied for some others, but big supporters for this are our local farmers. All right, for the transportation updates, we're going to talk about Zonar MyView. Um now go back about 12 months or so, we've talked about MyView here and there, um but really we're just going to kind of dive in with an overall presentation. Um and certainly I'm excited to share some uh details about it, a little bit about how it works, and then some uh feedback from our community stakeholders. Um so, real quick, just in summary, I know this came up. So, Zonar MyView, this is a tracking of our assets. So, our school buses are being tracked. The students are not being tracked. Um

163now, you see the bus, you see it coming, you get a notification that's in your area, you know your child is on that bus, but there is no formal sign-in sign-off system or anything like that. So, we're just um certainly just kind of taking a step in the direction tracking our assets has really been a major help. Um so, it's now fully implemented, so we did phase it in uh multiple phases through the school year, so um it is fully um in, and I'll give you some of those statistics here shortly. Um I've been using it um the entire time, so like the parent piece, so certainly um I think some of the most helpful things with Zonar MyView, so you actually get a little uh push notification to your phone when the bus enters

164your alert zone, and you can certainly set the size of the alert zone. Uh you'll see on the next slide. And then, when the bus arrives at school, um so, the bus just pulled up at Georgie Tyler, you get the notification, you know the bus is there, and then the bus leaves the school, you get notification as well. And that's also helpful because um in the afternoon, you would assume the bus leaves the school at the same time every day, but every once in a while something happens on the bus ramp, or uh there's a delay of some sort, you know, so you can check the app and see, "Oh, the bus hasn't left the school yet. They're running behind for whatever reason." Um and and like like I said with the app, the great

165thing is you can really kind of customize it for your own needs, AM versus PM, or specific days, um and you'll see See a little bit more in the next slide, as well. And um the tracking access, this is not all day. You can't see where the bus is all day. So certainly the school times are built into the app, and you can always see the access of the bus during those times. So looking at some of the screenshots, let's start on the left. We'll kind of work our way to the right. So one of the first things you do after you get in, you get registered, and you verify your student, your child's student ID number. You have to confirm the school. It's a multi-tiered system to get into it. You have to have

166the code, I guess, first and foremost. So then you get in, you create your alert zone. As you can see there on the left-hand screenshot. So this is generally going to be the neighborhood where you live. So when the bus enters that circle there, the radius, you can toggle on for the bus down below. So you'll get an alert if you want to know when the bus enters the zone in the morning. You can toggle it for a.m., but you don't necessarily have to toggle it for the p.m. because you pick your child up from school every day. So like I said, the the great feature, you can customize various aspects of this. You have to have a little bit of a knowledge about where the bus comes from. Like what direction does the bus

167enter the neighborhood? What direction does the bus proceed through the neighborhood, and then how does it exit? So you really kind of have to customize that alert zone. And I can tell you, I live very close to one of the schools in the school division. And if you're not careful, when I first first started playing with this, my zone was too big, and I got the alert every time the bus went to the school. It wasn't picking my child up, but if it enters that that radius there, you get that alert. Then slide um Okay, so we'll talk about the the survey. So certainly we sent this out January and February. We had about 100 participants, which is really good. Favorable results. So they had the opportunity to agree, strongly agree, disagree, or strongly disagree.

168So 83% of them the respondents, they use MyView every day or very close to every day. Um, 82% agreed that it was easy set up phase. Um, and then navigating through the app once you get in, navigating the features, the zones, um, and the uh, the push notifications, 72% agreed that uh, it was easy to use. It was user-friendly. Um, how many people needed support setting this up? They would have reached out to me or they reached out to the the parent user guide online. Only 8% of folks needed assistance. So, if you have the um, ability to use like a basic cell phone app, you can probably get onto this and jump jump into it and hit the ground running. Um, majority of parents, supermajority, 85% would recommend MyView to uh, other parents. Um,

169and then first and foremost, uh, the very end there, 90% of the respondents would like to see MyView uh, moving forward. So, so the great thing about this, um, I'd like to thank the board for the financial support for this and thank Dr. Kramer. This was uh, something that he um, wanted us to take a look at. So, certainly we appreciate that support. Um, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about it. Did you have a earlier question, Mr. Marsh? >> I I hate to go backwards, but I have a question. Um, Dr. Kramer and Mrs. Couch. >> Yes, sir. Sure. >> willing to send me some more specifics about the grant that you applied for? Maybe we could drop a line to Delegates Waxman and Clark and say, "Hey, keep a lookout

170for a while White County schools." It's a federal grant. >> Oh. It's federal. But, yes. And we did reach out to Emily Jordan, um, when we knew we were going to apply just to get some, you know, information from her, but she really didn't know a lot about it because it was on the federal level. Got it. Thank you. I'm willing to share though, if you want some additional information, just let me know. I'm just going one one question for you, Mr. Blake. Since you've had this in operation um obviously you've had time to get used to it, use it. What is the accuracy level in real time as far as pinpointing where that bus would be? Great question. So, um it's very accurate. Um some of our individual buses, I know cuz I have

171the expertise, I have the administrative side of it. Some of the buses lag a little bit, um but like the my son's bus for example, I track it on there and I know where it's supposed to be at all times, of course. But basically it's probably 15 to 20 seconds off, I would say. Um now the the thing that some folks get held up on, um the second one from the left you can actually adjust how often it refreshes. So, like if you have it only updating every 2 minutes, you're not going to get accurate results. But, um I will tell you uh Mr. Wooster something that uh is to be considered, this um this data operates off of cell service. So, when you go to parts of the county where the cell service isn't

172so good, it does lag, unfortunately. Um but probably 98% of the county we're good to go with it. Okay. I mean that's expectable when you're running on, you know, cell service towers and signals. I was just curious since this has been operational how good it how accurate it was. Uh that sounds good to me. Sure. Thank you. Appreciate it. Yep. And lastly, we have the Windsor High School awning/vestibule. One moment, Dr. Colman. Oh, go right ahead. Sorry. Um did we have any future plans for MyView for expansion? That is something that we had discussed as we were getting into it. Um certainly we can have internal discussions about that. Um there would be a funding piece to that. We did not necessarily request that funding for FY27. Um the the funding proposal is to um

173have the funding for MyView for FY27, but um certainly we can talk about that moving forward. >> And what features would that add? So, essentially each bus would you get up on the school bus it'd be like a tablet type thing. Like almost like a little kiosk. It has like a scanner. Um, and then the child would have a card they would scan in to the bus. And then when they go to leave, they would you know, quickly scan and then could go down off the bus. So, that would be the student tracking system piece. Um, and that the tablet would have other features as well like the driver could pull up the route. The driver could do their attendance um on there as well. Um, so there's a lot of there's a lot of,

174you know, things you can do with the technology with that. Thanks. Dr. Coleman, I do apologize, but that sparked another question for me. Going forward with the MyView when we're looking at getting new buses in, are we looking at getting the MyView installed on those buses at the same time or would that be something that we would have to add later on? The brand new buses, so one of the first things we do when Mr. Sullivan in-services the bus, we get it ready for use. So, we make sure that bus is equipped with a GPS tracker and then I do my thing with MyView and I make sure that it is up and operational. Um, so the first day that new bus is on the road, we are tracking it using MyView. So, it's it's

175up to speed before it hits the road. Okay, so before they're fully operational, everything is done. >> That's right. Yeah, and consider the mechanical stuff. So, we have to like put in the bus radios. We make sure they have like the first aid kit. We make sure they have, you know, just all of the standard things that that a bus needs when it's in service. Okay, I appreciate it. Thank you. Sorry, Dr. Coleman. You found Mr. All right, lastly we have the Windsor High School awning vestibule. The project is currently in the design phase with architectural engineering drawings uh approximately 55% complete. Um as you already know that this has been going on for quite some time. It had to be redesigned several times to try to fit into, once again, a budget as it

176exists, but at the same time the layout that we need to support the weapons detection devices. Um Ooh, the next phase of the project will be just the finalization of the plans, and then hopefully as soon as that is over we can start moving forward with the uh with the permits that is necessary for this plan and just move forward. But I just want everyone to see that we are moving forward with 55% through the architectural design phase, so there is progress being made for that. Um now overall this design will utilize more of a uh incorporative design concept. In most schools we might have a separate vestibule or at Smithville High School a larger area to work with, it's just not that large of area to work with. So we're going to have to

177do more of a uh conceptual incorporate design. Are there any questions concerning the Windsor High School awning vestibule? All right. I I do have a a comment about the uh uh farm to school initiative. Um I'm I'm very I'm very I'm sorry to go back, but I'm very interested in in in learning if there are any aspects of this that carry on during the summer when students are out of school. Great question. Uh we are hoping to do some things that way. We would be like flash freezing, um so we can storage things storage things, but in the um to be able to do that we have to have the facility and the equipment. So fingers crossed, Mr. Ford, we get this grant or one of the other four we have applied for, and then

178we'll be rolling all year long. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Um if there are no questions or comments, um now for the security update. All right. Thank you, Tim. Good evening, Vice Chair Ford. There we go. Good evening, Vice Chair Ford, board members, Dr. Kramer. Uh wanted to provide some information. Just Just I'll be quick with the with the security update. Just want to give you all some updates as far as where we stand with the weapons detection systems. Uh as you know, we've rolled them out at both middle schools. Uh when we started, we were running anywhere from 25 to 30-minute throughput times. Uh as the students got used to it, as staff got used to it, uh now currently at Smithfield Middle School, we are getting all of the students in in approximately

17911 minutes. Uh and at GTMS, we're actually at a 6-to-7-minute mark of getting students through. Uh I would love to be able to take credit for this, uh but if you all were to come out at at arrival time, the staff at both locations are just phenomenal. Uh not only are they accepting the extra duties and doing the the extra things, but they're doing it all with a smile on their face, and they're keeping the keeping the students upbeat, and they're they're they're promoting it. Uh so, they're they're really doing an outstanding job there. Uh in addition to that, uh I would like to thank you all uh for the contract school security officers that we have in the buildings. They are playing a very integral role in this. Uh not only in assisting with

180the throughput times and the the positivity of the students coming through, but being able to keep those systems manned all throughout the day, which covers all of our late arrivals, uh all of our visitors coming into the building for any reason, they are now being screened all throughout the day as they're as they're coming into the schools. So, that's that's something that has been very beneficial. Uh, the other thing that I wanted to touch on, uh, this was a discussion that we had back some time ago. Uh, there was some concern this past year as to whether the SRO grants would be continued. Uh, so we have gotten word that the SRO grants are going to continue through DCJS. Uh, with the exception of Previously, they had been four-year grants. Uh, they were grants that

181were set out for four years. Uh, and currently right now in IWCS, four of our schools are grant-funded school resource officers. Uh, so they have been renewed. Uh, and I've spoke with, uh, Sheriff Clark and his staff, Lieutenant Johnson, uh, and they have put in for that grant again, uh, for those four positions. So, we don't have to worry about the the Sheriff's Office having to come out of pocket out of out of their budget for those four positions. Uh, while they are still coming out of their budget for the other five within the division. So, we will be able to maintain those those school resource officers in all nine of the schools. So, that's a that's a a major major win and a major help from the state. In addition to that, they also

182offered up this year for FY27, uh, SSO grants. Uh, so I have recently applied for the SSO grant for six positions, uh, to be covered by the by the state grant. Uh, and we should find out the awarding on that by July 1. Have the SRO grants been approved or applied for? They've been applied for. Okay. So, we they have not been awarded to the county yet, but they have been applied for. And the time frame on that is the exact same because they're both actually coming out of the same funding program. So, they will they will find out at the same time, roughly end of June, 1st of July, as to whether we will be awarded those. So, push come to shove, end of the fiscal year, they don't get awarded, we lose funding

183for how many SROs? That would be four. Four. Got it. Uh what percentage of their salary is paid by those uh those grants? Uh for their salary, I believe it's I believe it's actually 100%. Uh I do know that the that the county is able to use some of the equipment, even their vehicles, as the local match. Uh so, I'm I'm pretty certain that it's 100%. I can find out for certain, but I'm almost positive that it's 100% of their salaries. Yeah, you got the thumbs up. >> He would be the one I was going to ask anyway, so. It's about 100,000 a year. Okay. Another thumbs up. >> Yes, it is. But on that on that same note, I have talked with Sheriff Clark and his staff, and they have assured me like regardless

184whether the grant goes through or not, they would they will find a way to keep keep the SROs in every building. So, uh we don't have to worry about that, but obviously this this funding from the state would be would be very helpful. Uh and just lastly, with the with the addition of the contract SSOs, with weapons detection rolling out in now four of our schools, uh it has required some some additional equipment, some things that were needed uh with the security officers, obviously the radios, having communication with building admin. Uh so, we've gotten we've gotten nine additional radios, which will also put some of those radios that they are currently using back into the individual schools, so they will have some extras. Uh carts for spring sports bags. Uh as you can imagine, spring

185sports with the baseball bags, the softball bags, having to search each one of those uh is very time-consuming and really, really hurts our our throughput times and getting students into the building. So, we've purchased the carts that are used for as soon as they come into the building, the the sports bags are put into the carts and they're rolled to a secure location for the remainder of the day until the end of the day. Uh, so we we're not having to search each and every one of those bags. And of course, just some of the other things that that comes through with that, we we go through a lot of gloves as we're searching as we're searching bags. Uh, so just some of the additional equipment and we have we have found the funding for

186that and and made those purchases as as has been needed, so. Yeah, that's all I have. Does anybody have any questions? I I did go to Georgia Tyler several weeks back at morning and I watched it and and it was impressive. Principal is out there, Ms. Luck was she's on it. And she did tell me that some of these knuckleheads, because when the kids come through, they'll carry their laptop or their binder above their head. She told me that some of these knuckleheads were trying to sneak vapes in. So, >> three rings. So, that is something that we that we ran into at the high schools when we were doing that. So, what we have started doing with that is doing the binder searches as they come through if they're if they're holding the binders.

187The the SSOs, the staff that are they they they are opening the binders up and it was funny because the the the people who were giving that information were the students who who knew that other students were doing it. One of the other things that we run into and you probably witnessed it some at GTMS. At the high schools pretty much every morning they're coming in, they're able to hold the laptops and the binders up above their head. But with the middle school, several of them are not tall are not tall enough to hold them up over the over the range of the detectors. So, it is taking a little more time and in passing those around, but the staff has been amazing and they've worked through it and like I said, when you're moving

188that many students through in 11 minutes and 6 minutes and still being able to provide that screening and get them into class on time, it's it's entirely due to the staff. Thanks. All right, thank you for that information. And now for the report from the superintendent. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. And good evening, everyone. We will start with our Isle Award recipients as we often do. And the award recipients are the Inspire Award recipient is Mr. Queasy KJ Wimbush. The Succeed Award recipient is Ms. Heather Guilford. The Lead Award recipients are from Food Lion of Windsor. And I might add, we had a chance actually go to the Food Lion there. And the manager and Ms. Briggs, I failed to write her name down. Do you have her name? Ms. Goff? Okay, Ms. Goff was

189a manager there to my immediate right. And we stopped the store for a couple of minutes and they all the employees came and jumped in the photo. So, huge shout out to them for all that they're doing in the Windsor community. And then the Empower Award recipients are Mr. Eric Cooprider. Yes, right back there. Yes. Ms. Haley Cooprider and Dr. Tracy Stiff Johnson. And congratulations to all of our Isle Award recipients. And let's give them all a round of applause. Moving on, the Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce member spotlight. Thanks to Wait for you to catch up there, gentlemen. There we are. Thanks to the Isle of War Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce for featuring Isle of Wight County schools as their February member spotlight. So, we were featured. Uh we appreciate the

190Chamber's continued partnership and the important work they do to promote and support local businesses, strengthen our community, and highlight the efforts of our schools. So, we know that we are an integral part of this community and we appreciate the Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce for uh featuring us uh last month. So, thank you. Moving right along, although Mr. Feike has left, uh kudos to Mr. Feike and Mr. Sullivan, the transportation CDL graduates. Isle of Wight County schools transportation conducted a round of CDL training for new bus drivers during the first semester of the school year. As of last month, all four trainees passed their DMV road skills test and are now certified to drive school buses for Isle of Wight County schools. Congratulations to these four gentlemen, Mr. Stevie Martin, Mr. Keith Tynes, Mr.

191Winston Hundley, and Mr. Steve Forney. We're thrilled to report that three of these gentlemen are now driving full-time routes with Isle of Wight County schools, and the fourth has been working as a sub driver making valuable contributions as by covering CTE shuttles and extracurricular trips. Once again, congratulations to these new drivers and we would like to recognize them for their accomplishments and welcome to the Isle of Wight County schools family. Absolutely. And now my advisories, and this was mentioned by a few individuals earlier, our parent advisory board on February 19th, I had the pleasure of meeting with my parent advisory board members. Again, we discussed division-wide wide concerns uh that they share and I get their input as well, and we discuss timely topics and some of the examples are the budget, uh compensation study,

192etc. And we do have one more meeting scheduled for this year. And next, the student advisory also held on February 19th, that same day, at the pleasure meeting with my favorite group as I call them, my students. Again, we discuss the division-wide concerns that they share as well. They will provide me topics that they would like to discuss and we provide them with timely information. Additionally, we do some leadership development work with our students and you see our student advisory, our I'm sorry, our student liaisons are also members of the student advisory. So, both Cameron Hicks and Cole Mumford are featured there and provide invaluable input for me monthly. And we also have one additional meeting remaining this year for the students as well. Next, King George County Schools visited Isle of Wight. So, thank

193you to our colleagues from King George County Schools who visited Isle of Wight County Schools on February 26th. Their team, including administrators, teachers, and some of their school board members, spent time touring our career and technical education programs and learning more about the opportunities available to our students. We were proud to showcase the innovative work taking place in our schools and appreciate their interest in the programs that are helping prepare our students for college careers and the workforce. Opportunities like this, we think, share sharing ideas and collaborating with other divisions strengthen public education across the Commonwealth. And I might add that this is their second um trip to Isle of Wight County Schools. So, they are very impressed with what it is we are doing here. Uh, I think they were here about 2 years

194ago at the agricultural uh land lab um looking to replicate some of what we're doing. So, uh I think it's important to note that we're doing great work and people from as far away as King George are recognizing that work and are coming here to learn from our educators. Next, uh the Sands Anderson professional development on March 6th, Isle of Wight County Schools hosted educators and administrators from across region two for a professional development session led by the Sands Anderson PC School and Education Law Team. The training uh titled The Discipline Toolkit Best Practices for Virginia Public Schools provided participants with guidance on student discipline including legal considerations and practical strategies drawn from both general and special education settings. We appreciate the opportunity to host colleagues from across the region and to support ongoing professional

195learning that helps ensure our schools maintain safe and supportive learning environments for our students. Next, our Rookie Teachers of the Year. Our Rookie Teacher of the Year program recognizes exceptional educators in the first 3 years in the classroom who are already demonstrating excellence in teaching, commitment to student success, and dedication to professional growth. These educators were selected by their leadership teams for their ability to engage and support all students, create positive and effective learning environments, design meaningful learning experiences, and pursue continuous professional growth. Uh please join us in congratulating our 2025-2026 Rookie Teachers of the Year. And I will quickly mention their names. Rebecca Harrison at Carrollton Elementary, Taylor Garden at Windsor Elementary, Little More Ing at Hardy Elementary, Sharbreia McDonald at West Side Elementary, Armon Greeby at Georgie Tyler Middle School, Gabrielle Parker at

196Smithfield Middle School, George Lee the III at Smithfield High School, and Lauren Gwaltney at Windsor High School. Thank you for the passion, dedication, and care you bring to our students each day. The future future of Isle of Wight County Schools is bright because of educators like you. Yes, ma'am. I just want to interject, too, that two of those rookie teachers of the year are graduates of Isle of Wight County Schools who returned here to teach. Thank you, Ms. Briggs, for that. And last the last item I'd like to share is an announcement I shared with the board and the community yesterday afternoon and evening. So, the elephant in the room here, so I think I would be remiss without mentioning this. As most of you know, on yesterday, March 11th, I informed Isle of Wight

197School Board that I will not be seeking another contract after my current contract ends on June 30th of this year. I would like to clarify a few of the wonderful speakers from earlier. I am not resigning. My contract is just coming to an end on June 30th of of this year, and I'm not seeking another contract. I started my tenure here in Isle of Wight as superintendent on August 22nd, 2022. And as I've said, serving as the Isle of Wight County Superintendent has been one of the greatest professional honors of my 34-year career in public education. Students, staff, and community members, as I reflect on our time together, I'm filled with pride in what we have accomplished as a school community. But I do believe that this is the time to move on. Given that

198my four-year contract comes to an end at the end of this school year and after thoughtful reflection, it has become clear that the best path forward is for me to conclude my service at the end of the school year. This decision will allow the board time to plan for the future leadership while ensuring a stable and successful completion of the school year for our students, staff, and community. Over the course of the next few months, I look forward to continuing our work together and to having the opportunity to personally thank many of you for the relationships and support that have meant so much to me over the past 4 years. Isle of Wight is a very special place and the vast majority of this community and the community members have been beyond kind and supportive

199of me during my tenure here. I will take with me lifelong friendships and wonderful memories. Thank you for your trust, your partnership, and your unwavering commitment to our schools and to the young people we serve. But before I move on, uh we still have work to do over the next few months that I will be here. Uh in conclusion, I wish Isle of Wight nothing but success and prosperity moving forward. Uh with that, thank you, Mr. Vice Chair, and that concludes my Superintendent's report. Dr. Kramer, I got to say over the last I don't have any elaborate prepared remarks, but I will say that over the past almost 4 years now, you've always been a voice of reason and you've offered me balanced and alternative perspectives and you've talked me off the ledge on numerous

200occasions. Um I hate to see you go. I wish you well. Thank you. And I and I would uh like to second those uh sentiments. Um I haven't known you for that long, but the from the work that I've seen, you've been nothing but uh uh an advantage to this Isle of Wight County schools and and making sure that our students are prepared for college life and their careers. Thank you. All right, action items, action on closed session items, the personnel report. Could we have a motion? Mr. Vice Chair, I move to approve the personnel report as presented, a copy of which can be obtained from the school board clerk. Second. With all votes the motion being heard, can we go ahead and take a vote? Mrs. Perkins? Yes. Mr. Wooster? Yes. Mr. Marsh? Yes.

201And Mr. Ford? Yes. 18.2, the exchange student. Mr. Vice Chair, I move to approve the enrollment of exchange student 2627-01 to Smithfield High for the entire 2026-2027 school year. Second. motion and second heard, clerk, could you take a vote? Mrs. Perkins? Yes. Mr. Wooster? Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Ford? Yes. All right, action on old business, consent agenda, meeting minutes, field trips, donation memo, and financials. Do we have a motion? Mr. Vice Chair, I move to approve the consent agenda as attached and presented. Second. Motion and second heard, Madam Clerk. Mr. Vice Chair, if we could, sir, Yes. could we read the donation memo? Let's read it. Give me a second to pull it up here. You want to do it, shall I? No, you you got the honors. I think it's important to recognize our

202donors each month. So, thank you to the Isle of Wight Education Foundation donating $6,829.95 to Carrollton Elementary School, funding 11 teacher grants. Uh thank you to MEB Group for donating $41,921.18 to an outdoor learning space at Carsville Elementary School and big shout out to the principal Outland for helping facilitate that relationship. Uh let's see here. Westside Elementary had $100 from the Eyed Rooster worth sandwiches and condiments. Q Daddy's donated $150 worth of barbecue. Rings Ringo's Donuts donated $40 worth of donuts and Smithfield Bakery donated $80 worth of sandwiches and salad all for the Eagle Up Local Love event. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. >> Yep. Thank you, Mr. Marsh. And thank you to those uh organizations and groups that have donated uh to our our uh schools and our students. Can I have a motion?

203I think we already have a motion, sir. Can we have a second? Up. Just the vote. Take the vote. All right. Mrs. Perkins? >> Yes. Mr. Wooster? Yes. Mr. Marsh? >> Yes. And Mr. Ford? Yes. All right. Action on new business uh 20.1 policy for first read. Mr. Vice Chair and Mr. Marsh before Miss Briggs, do you mind coming forward just in event that uh there's some questions. And Miss Gates, would you join us as well? Mr. Vice Chair? Yes. Do you mind if I Go ahead. make a few comments? Um I guess another elephant in the room was the protest student led protest at the high school. Um it became clear thanks to Mrs. Briggs that there is no existing policy to specifically address student led protest. And Ms. Briggs, you'll keep me honest

204here. There was a policy hanging on the website that had been archived in December 2023. That policy was Doesn't matter. GBB or something like that. Correct. For some reason it had been voted on at a board meeting. It's on your minutes from December 2023 to delete it. The It was a local policy. It was nothing At the time we were under VSBA's policy services. It was not a VSBA policy. We'd made a decision to eliminate it because it was really covered by the student code of conduct policy. Somehow, regrettably, it did not get scrubbed from the website. So, it was still hanging out there showing that it was last updated in 2018, which was the immediate red flag cuz I would not have let something go that long. And if And if I may add

205that the reason that um as Ms. Briggs said is that it's covered under the code of conduct and and I would like to read that what that code of conduct um part is that says that that covers this issue and it's um it's BS BSC 1115, but it's inciting or causing a substantial disturbance to the operation of school or the safety of staff or students. So, that right there covers um a a an an unplanned walkout. Um so, that's why we didn't need to have that policy any longer. Thank you for clarifying that. So, the baselines already set for expected student behavior. And in conversation with you earlier this week, I forget it was last week, I don't know when it was, this policy that's up for first read, JFBB, essentially puts the same boundaries

206as what's in the code of conduct today back into a policy. So, there's really nothing different. It just puts it into a policy. Correct. Okay. And so, and and I'll turn it over to the group up here, Mr. Vice Chair, but I I personally I'd kind of like to In times past, we've put policies up for the first read, and people have come out of the woodwork with comments and suggestions. I'd like to know what that feedback looks like. I did have conversation with Chairman Collick, and he and I agreed that community feedback, stakeholder feedback on this in particular, is going to be invaluable in how we at least how I decide to vote on this policy. I I'm not sure what else to say other than I look forward to some feedback from stakeholders.

207Mr. Marshall, if I may ask, Mr. Vice Chair, if I may, what are you recommending? What are you directing staff and I to do, sir? Are you asking for some kind of survey to be provided, or what? I'd welcome a survey. I don't know if the group thinks that's worthwhile. It's I I At the end of the day, here's here's here's my opinion, right? So, whether or not a student-led protest occurs, regardless if it's um How do I say it? Regardless of whether or not it's destructive or violent or any of that, the fact that it happens at all, I'm curious to see what the feedback from the community stakeholders take on that is. I've got my own take on it, but I want to know what everybody else's take on it. If you follow

208social media, and I try to avoid that at all cost, you're all over the place, and people are getting fire engine red over the topic. I'd like to know something that's not as the one gentleman said, keyboard warriors. I'd like to get some sort of feedback formally. I I would agree with that that we need to have a, you know, some feedback from our constituents. Um also, I think uh the piece of the policy and what happened that day, uh the language of dis- disturbing school operations and instructional time should be clarified. That there was time that was actually that it's actually set aside for extracurricular activities as such. Um just so that there's a clear understanding that nobody's missing any kind of instructional time. I To your point, sir, I think regardless of the

209final disposition of this policy, adopted or as is, changed, whatever the case may be, I think it may warrant some sort of a formal definition as to what instruction time is. Is that from bell to bell? Does the Dukes or the Packers time, that block, is that instruction time or not? I think I think we have to define that. Otherwise, there's a perpetual argument where people are splitting hairs. Yes, I can clarify that part. It is definitely part of instructional time. Packer block, um at Smithfield wind time that winds our high school, it is used as instructional time. It is counted as instructional time. Now, the difference is it may not always be super structured instructional time, meaning a teacher is delivering instruction. It may look like small group, it may look like a teacher

210and student working one-on-one. It may look like kids working on projects or homework, um but it is counted as instructional time. Mr. Vice Chair, if I may. Yes, sir. Um just to kind of piggy piggyback on what you were saying, um I I have no problem stating that I feel this policy is needed. However, I would like to see it restructured, per se. Um like you mentioned, the instructional time is from bell to bell. The cell phone policy that we have goes from bell to bell. I fully believe in supporting the First Amendment rights of the students and everyone within the schools. However, I'm also a firm believer that when you are in school, you are there to learn. Now, we cannot restrict First Amendment rights, but we can control when an expression or protest,

211if you will, were to occur. And I would say outside of the bell-to-bell realm. So, it at this point, I don't know if this needs to be made into a motion or not. Um but what I would like to do is actually take this policy in and of itself, work with it, build on it, um revise if needed, wherever needed, um and run it through our school board attorney for legal verification. Prior to actually putting it up. That would be my choice. But I don't know if a motion is needed to do that right now. I I don't think we need to take a motion on that in my opinion. I I will say that in conversation with Chairman Colleague and our attorney, he said as written and and for the record, this is a

212a a example policy from the School Board Member Alliance. They they provided this. He said that as written, it is legally sound. And he he mentioned on a couple of occasion, the first reference to Tinker versus Des Moines, uh which someone also mentioned this evening. So, I think that's probably the focal point of the policy with respect to First Amendment. And and I can't I can't speak to the legalities of it one way or the other, but I I say if you want to take a turn on it or wha- whatever the maybe give staff to take a turn on it and kind of help define what instructional period is and make some recommendations for us, bounce it through the attorney. It's the first read, so there's we've got time to work on this. Yep.

213Yeah, definitely. I mean, there's plenty of time to work on it. Um, I will tell you when you're talking about feedback, um I did get you know, a lot of feedback, you know, both then and after it occurred. None of it was positive. Not a single one. No. I Yeah, I I I can't say the same for me. I got positive feedback um in my in my email and via text and personal conversations. Um, but I I I do now understand that there are difference of thought on this subject. You know, it's a little bit layered in in in complexity, and so it deserves the time um and our contemplation on how we actually move on this on this policy. So. Yeah. Yeah, I couldn't care less what the topic in question is. Yeah. There's

214just a time and place for everything. Understood. Understood. So, if I would recommend, Mr. Vice Chair, if we could get Superintendent to facilitate some sort of a survey, kind of solicit some feedback. Maybe take the next month and maybe massage this. Mr. Wooster, if you've got some specific suggestions, maybe you could feed those up. We could see what we can kind of massage into the policy and we'll bring it back after the survey, maybe. Can I ask for clarification? If that's your request, Stephen, I will certainly work. Do you have any Go ahead. Just clarification. Are you thinking this survey would be for staff, students, parents? What are your thoughts? >> say a community survey, but stakeholders. Okay. Yep. Put Put Put it out to everyone, the general public. Okay. We can do that. And

215I know it's budget season and there's a lot going on, so. Well, you guys did a great job tonight by approving the budget. So, we'll we'll we'll move forward here. If there are no more comments and concerns on the first read, we can move to the policy for second read. Mr. Vice Chair, I'd like to move to a policy to approve the policy for second read as presented. Second. All right, the motion and second has been heard. Could we take a vote? Mrs. Perkins? Yes. Mr. Wooster? Yes. Mr. Marsh? Yes. And Mr. Ford? Yes. All right. Um to the board member comments. 21.1 Board Committee reports, participation in activities, acting in an official capacity, and board member comments. Um, I had a question with our approval of the budget, should we go ahead and cancel

216next week's meeting? Yes. >> Do we need to motion to do that or something? I don't think we need a motion. Um, we'll just cancel the meeting. Yes. In fact, we had already a little bit ahead of you on that one. We were already planning to do that, but thanks for asking. Mr. Vice Chair, I've got one thing. I uh last week's Sunday Was it Sunday? Saturday? Sunday, March 8th, I went to the Smithfield um Oh, goodness. It was the Arts Center. And it was the student art month, student art show. It's pretty cool. I don't know how many pieces from all the schools in Isle of Wight County schools. I I don't think it was just Isle of Wight County schools. I think it was NSA and IWA, too. Uh, there's a lot of

217kids in there, so it was neat. It's good to see some talented kids' art hanging up on the wall. Yeah, it's good. And you're too kind to brag. You had uh someone in your house who had some art in that uh exhibit, correct, sir? >> Yes, sir. My youngest son has his had a piece hanging on the wall for his third year in a row. >> All right, congratulations. All right, I've just got a couple of things here. Um it goes back a little bit, but on Saturday, February 21st, I had the opportunity to ascend the attend the District SkillsUSA welding competition, which was hosted at Smithfield High School. The competition consists of individual projects as well as fabrication projects where students must work together as a team. Each project must be completed in a

218specified assembly order and according to project designs with very specific tolerances. Mr. Miller's students took first and second place on individual projects and third place on fabrication team. Again, more recently on March 10th, I was honored to attend the State Welding Competition hosted at Portsmouth TCC Skill Trade Center. There were approximately 45 students from across the area competing in this event. Of those 45 students, one student from Mr. Miller's class was competing. I'm proud to say Chase Breeding showed up and showed out bringing home third place for Smithfield High School. Chase, if you are listening, give yourself a pat on the back and be proud of your accomplishment. Mr. Miller, as always, congratulations on a job well done. I would also like to give a shout-out to both Chef Horn and Chef Hagen for their

219expertise in the culinary education department. The complete information can be found on the Isle of Wight County Schools Facebook page. However, I would like to highlight the students' accomplishments. While competing against nearly 250 culinary and hospitality students, our students came away with first place in management competition and second place in culinary competition. These accomplishments are a direct reflection of the dedication and commitment our team of our teachers that go above and beyond to support and guide their students. Excellent job and congratulations to Chef Horn and Chef Hagen. For my final comment, which I'm sure everybody's waiting for, I would like to say that I truly enjoy attending the competitions and witnessing the knowledge, skills, and capabilities demonstrated by our students. Not every board member's schedule can accommodate attendance at every competition. But, please feel free

220to notify all board members when a competition is being held. And that is all I have for this evening. Thank you, Mr. Woosley. All right, if there are no more comments or questions, um I will go ahead and adjourn this meeting.