001[Music] All right, here we go. Alawway County School Board's in session. >> Madame Clerk. >> Mr. Collic >> here. >> Mr. Mr. Cunningham >> present. >> Mrs. Perkins >> here. >> Mr. Worooster >> here. >> And Mr. Marsh >> here. >> Mr. Chair, I move to approve the agenda for close session as presented. >> Second. >> Motion in a second. Any discussion? >> Madame Clerk. >> Mr. Collic. >> Yes. >> Mr. Cunningham? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Perkins? >> Yes. >> Mr. Worster? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Marsh? >> Yes. Motion passes. Mr. Chair, I move to approve the agenda for open session as presented. >> Second. >> Motion and two seconds. Any discussion? >> Madame Clerk, over to you. >> Mr. Collic? >> Yes. >> Mr. Cunningham? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Perkins? >> Yes. >>
002Mr. Worooster? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Marsh? >> Yes. Motion passes. >> Mr. Chair, I move to go into close session to review the personnel report and addendum posted on board docs under personnel tab number 18.1 and to discuss a personal comp personnel compl complaint of a specific employee and to discuss personnel leave request matter 20125-10 as authorized by Virginia code 2.2-3711A1 2-3711A1 for purposes of discussion and consideration of prospective candidates of Alawite Public Schools for employment, contract changes, transfers, salary adjustments, supplemental contracts, deletions, supplemental pay, resignations of Alawite County Public Schools employees, and to discuss student matter CAe-1026 that would involve the disclosure of information contained in a scholastic record concerning students as authorized by Virginia Code 2.2-3711A2. >> Second motion and a second. Any discussion? >> No. >> Hearing none. Madame clerk. >>
003Mr. Collic. >> Yes. >> Mr. Cunningham? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Perkins? >> Yes. >> Mr. Worster? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Marsh? >> Yes. Motion passes. Madame Clerk, do we have anyone signed up to speak? >> No, sir. >> Okay. Uh on that we'll go to close session. Everybody ready? >> Let's go. >> Alawak County School Board's in session. >> Mr. Chair, 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. >> We have a
004motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none. Madam clerk, >> Mr. Collic, >> yes. >> Mr. Cunningham, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perkins, >> yes. >> Mr. Worster, >> yes. >> And Mr. Marsh, >> yes. Motion passes. >> Mr. Vice Chair, would you be so kind to lead us in the silence in the pledge? >> Would everyone please stand for a moment of silence and 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. >> Thank you, sir. Good evening. It's October 9th, 2025, and we're here at Westside Elementary School for our regular school board meeting. Uh, we'll kick it right off. Mrs. Briggs with Isawide Achievers. Good evening. And we
005have a new procedure that we started last month for our board members during achievers which I believe we're continuing that this month. So I'm going to ask our board members uh Dr. Kramer to join us down here on the floor near the backdrop and our achievers are going to come up. They are going to get to shake hands with everyone and they'll stand with our um superintendent and board members in front of the backdrop and Mr. Elliot will come up and get a photo after we have read their accolades. So, let me start by saying, oh, thank you. Thank you. Good. Uh, the vision for Isle of White County Schools is to create a learning environment that will enable every child to discover his or her unique gifts and talents. And the is of White
006Achiever section of our board meeting gives us an opportunity to recognize and celebrate our students and staff for those unique talents and gifts. So, we are going to jump right in and we are recognizing a student from Smithville High School and Dr. Coleman is going to join me up here and he's going to hand out the pin for this student. So, we have Smithville High School senior Emily Miller. Come on up, Emily. Has been selected as a STEM student. What's wrong? Wrong. No, no, the pin. Okay. I'm so sorry. Um, now I lost my my track. All right. Selected as a STEM student ambassador with the National Institute of Aerospacees Center for Integrative STEM Education for the 2526 academic year. She was chosen in June from a highly competitive pool of regional high school students
007for this prestigious role. As a STEM student ambassador, Emily will work to promote STEM fluency and competency across the region, sharing engaging career aligned content for audiences of all ages and contributing to the development of an inclusive and collaborative STEM community. To prepare for her responsibilities, Emily successfully completed a rigorous hybrid training program this summer, included an introductory webinar in July, inerson training also in July, and a series of independent workplace readiness modules developed by the Virginia Tech workbased learning programs. The National Institute of Aerospace based in Hampton, Virginia, is a nonprofit and research and education institute that partners with NASA universities and industry to advance the aerospace innovation and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. And we want to congratulate Emily on such an outstanding accomplishment. Congratulations, Emily. Yep. And Mr. Elliot
008is going to take a a photo. >> And I know Emily's uh family is here, so they can come up. This is a good time to come up, family members, for all of your honores, and get a photo as well. No guest ever expects a picture. Well, good. Congratulations again, Emily. Okay. And tonight for um the first time this school year, we are starting with our seniors of the month. So um seniors of the month, we will recognize a senior each month from Windsor High and Smithl High. And we are going to start with Windsor High. The senior of the month for October from Windsor High is Zachary Sharp. Come on up, Zach. [Applause] Zach is the model of academic excellence, leadership, and character, consistently demonstrating a balance of high achievement, service, and humility. A
009dedicated athlete, he holds the top cross-country time in the district and serves as captain of the soccer team. Beyond athletics, Zach is an active member of Beta, DECA, and the robotics club, where his leadership and commitment inspire those around him. Zach's impact extends well beyond Windsor High. He volunteers as both a coach and referee for his local youth soccer association and serves with the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards District 7600 Humanitarian Group. Known for his generosity, Zach willingly tutors classmates whenever he sees an opportunity to help. His willingness to serve others is a hallmark of his character. Government teacher Maggie H. Holstead shares, "Zach is an exceptional student who excels both academically and athletically, balancing his rigorous coursework with his dedication to cross country and soccer. His strong drive to succeed pushes him to set high
010goals in the classroom and on the track, and he works diligently to achieve them. Zach's personable nature makes him approachable and supportive, and he is always ready to encourage and uplift classmates and teammates. His combination of determination, kindness, and positivity creates a motivating environment where others feel inspired to do their best. Looking ahead, Zach plans to pursue engineering and hopes to attend Virginia Tech or Perurdue University. And one of those gets my vote. I won't tell you which one, but go hooks. Uh, but anyway, congratulations, Zach. And I know he's got family members. If y'all would like to come up and get a photo now, please. Yes. Thank you. Zach recently was crowned homecoming king for Windsor High at their homecoming on Friday. And he joined us at our crunch at the land lab today.
011He was out there at the the land lab. We had so many people there. You might not have seen Zach. So he is everywhere. congratulations again, Zach. All right. And our senior of the month for October from Smithville High School is Andrew Rupert. [Applause] Andrew is a remarkable student whose leadership, character, and selflessness have left a lasting impact on his school and community. Andrew has been active in many areas of school life, serving as captain in the JOTC, performing in the band, competing as a member of the wrestling team, and Participating in Beta Club, known for his outgoing personality and everpresent smile, Andrew never hesitates to help his classmates. His commitment to service extends beyond the classroom where he's also an active member of his church choir and a volunteer firefighter with the Smithfield Fire
012Department. Andrew recently demonstrated extraordinary courage and skill while visiting Pocahana State Park in Palatan County on September 14th when a 10-year-old boy was severely injured in a biking accident that resulted in arterial bleeding. Andrew Rupert was one of the first on the scene to administer first aid. Andrew and two others applied a tourniquet that saved the child's life. His teachers echo the sentiments and his world history teacher, Mr. Ping, shared, "Andrew is one of the finest young men I know. He possesses an empathy, honor, and quiet confidence which far outstrip outstrips his years. I feel his caring and empathetic nature is his best quality. He was one of the first students to check on not only myself, but the other members of the history department last year when Mr. Floyd suddenly passed away. While he
013loves music and that love will likely continue throughout his life, Andrew has had the rare joy of finding his calling and helping others as a firefighter. Andrew also has an inquisitive mind and always asked questions and sought to find a deeper understanding of the material, even in classes he knew would not directly he would not directly need in his career. It's been a pleasure to teach Andrew over the last four years and see him grow into a fine young man with a bright future ahead and who will be a credit to his community. Andrew has been accepted to Liberty University where he plans to major in worship leadership. Congratulations, Andrew. And I know Andrew's mom's here, so please do come up. Miss Rupert. [Applause] [Laughter] Okay. And it's and spread back out. Right. Right. Thank
014you, Mr. Elliot. Congratulations, Andrew. We're very proud of you. Congratulations. That's going to conclude achievers. Uh, but I will tell you the bar has been set pretty high for our seniors of the month that those who we're starting with. So, thank you for being here tonight. Uh, congratulations once again to those of you who were honored. All right. Very good. Okay, that takes us to eye on instruction. The floor is yours, ma'am. >> Thank you. Good evening, Chair Marsh, members of the board, and Dr. Kramer. I instruction typically is presented by a bunch of students who have completed a project. Tonight it's just me, but I have a pretty cool project to share with you guys that some of our adults completed this time. Um, about a month ago, we held our very first back
015to school bash and that was uh a project that SEAK took on. I'm realizing that the computer's all right. So, SEAK is our special education advisory committee. Um and it is something that is is a requirement uh from or through the regulations that that a school division has a SEAK board. Um the major purpose of the SEAK board is to provide opportunities for parents and other board appointees to have a voice in the way school divisions provide services to students with disabilities. One of the goals of our current SEAK members is to provide more social opportunities for students with disabilities. So starting last year and into this year, we've been thinking through how, you know, how can we do that here? What would be a great event for the kids? We've never really done something
016like this before. So back to school bash is what we came up with. You can see our SEAK committee right there. It's four parents. Um that's Darren Taylor, Rashidita Peele, Megan Alexander, and Melissa Nutter. Uh the back to school bash, it was designed um to bring together families of students with disabilities. The event provided a welcoming and inclusive environment where families could connect, share experiences, and build supportive relationships. And for the kids, the bash really offered a range of activities and experiences that are not typically accessible in everyday community settings. So it allowed them to explore, play, and engage in fun in a fun and safe environment. Um, so you can see right there, right off the off the right there is one of our coordinators. Sorry. That's Marcy um pronost and she's in charge
017of our face painting booth or was in charge of our face painting booth and Tamika Hollowman is there in the background. One of our um high school teachers at Windsor High and that just represents over 30 volunteers that came out to support this event. Our volunteers range from our special ed teachers to our behavior coach and her RBTs, the occupational therapists were there, school social workers, psychologists, and of course, Marcy right there, one of our sped coordinators. So, we had 30 volunteers come out to help us and to work with the kids on on a Saturday afternoon. Um, we had 10 activities for the kids to engage in. We had a bubble play station, mix your own slime, sensory sand, face painting, fall crafts. We had an opportunity for kids to fit play with fidgets
018and take them home. Uh we had a sensory spin area, snow cone machines, popcorn machines, and a massive balance house. So, just some examples of what the kids were were kind of getting into that day. This is our bubble play station. That's actually my kiddo right there in the front. uh mix your own slime. So students were able to mix in all different types of sensory beads and textures into their slime and take it home with them when they were done. We had a sensory sand area. Again, you can see our teacher volunteers with our kiddos working with that um fine motor and sensory play. Face painting was a huge hit. I didn't realize Marcy and Elena, that's Elena Arakota right there on the left, had that talent. You can see Delane's face in the
019middle and Grace on the right and that's Max on the left. They all had a full face of paint by the end of the afternoon. Um it looked awesome. Uh we had some fall crafts. So you'll see some of the guys um even volunteered and got into the paint with the kids. They were painting pumpkins at that station. This is our take a fidget station. Again, one of our teachers is manning that for us. The kids just got to explore the fidgets and of course take the ones home that they really enjoyed. Sensory spin. Those are tactile floor mats that we were able to put out so kids could explore without their shoes. Those were sensory sit and spins that they were able to spin. You can see some of our kids enjoying that little
020experience. The bounce house was the biggest hit. It was supposed to have four to six kids on it at one time. We couldn't quite manage that because everyone was on it all at the same time, but they really did enjoy that. We also partnered with um community. Uh here you can see WHRO. They had out their literacy van which was great if you've never experienced that. The van is open to in this case uh to parents and and our students to take a peek at the different books that she had on hand. They also were able to take some books home with them. It was a downpour that morning or that afternoon. So, she actually just tucked it up under the Carolton overhang and we were still able to um offer that to our families,
021which was great. Another community partner, we had our sheriff's office and uh you can see AJ there with the kids. Um it was awesome to have him and all of the goodies that he was able to to hand out, but also just the high fives and such. The kids really enjoyed them being there. Carolton Volunteer Fire. They did a silent touch a truck for us, which basically is an opportunity for kids to get on the large trucks without the sirens. Um, they're able to explore and have that experience in a safe environment. So, overall, we had about 22 families come out uh across six different schools, which was a great turnout. So, we reached schools on both ends of the division or the county. Um, you can see all the face painting that ended up
022happening, which was awesome. And you can see some of the family members with their kiddos just enjoying the opportunity. Um, special ed's always interested in data. So, we did a little survey as parents entered just so we could ask essentially how are we doing with your kids in their services? Uh, brief scale. And you can see that the majority of our parents um do believe that we're doing it uh either that they were satisfied to very satisfied with the work that we're doing with their kiddos. So just being informed of their progress, being included in decisions, the appropriateness of services, the communication and overall experience with our department and their services, which is nice to see. We like to do the fun stuff, but we also want to make sure that we're working on the
023instructional side of things as well. So overall, we believe that the event was a success, fostered a sense of community, inclusion, and excitement as our families were preparing for the new school year. And I really just want to take an opportunity to thank the volunteers that we had, the families that came out, the staff that volunteered, and the community partners that really made the day a lot of fun for the kids and the families. That's it for me. Do you have any questions? No questions. Just nothing but kudos and accolades to you and all the volunteers. That's pretty amazing event. So >> yeah, thank you. [Applause] >> Okay. Mrs. Whitow, speak of our speakers for the night. >> Yes. In accordance to policy BDDH-E, presentation of information on any subject will be concluded at the
024discretion of the board. No person will be recognized to speak more than once. Citizens scheduled on the agenda to speak will be permitted four 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 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 I'm gonna try to say this right, Stephanie Salguero. I don't know. Okay. Um, so next we have Ellen Johnson. Hello. My name is Miss Johnson and I'm coming to you guys Is this better?
025Can you hear me? Okay. I'm Miss Johnson and I'm coming to you as a concerned parent of a very violent situation that occurred on September the 9th involving two of my own personal children. Um the school my my children were had a verbal and physical altercation with a student and their parent. their parent. One parent pushed my child. Well, the parent pushed one of my children and punched my other son in his face. My children were suspended for 10 days for this. That was appealed and brought down to eight days because they did not deescalate the situation and walk away. How this occurred was during the day on last block about 40 minutes before school got out, there was a student in there that had an altercation with another student. After that altercation was stopped,
026that student then had an altercation with my son who is a sophomore. The child that started the altercation, from what I have been told by administration, has an IEP in place that when he has an altercation, he is to be removed from the class and put into a separate area. He was not removed from that class and he was not put in a separate area. Per the teacher, she did request made two phone calls to have that done 30 to 40 minutes before school got out. That was not done. At the end of the day, this the they were released. My son is seen on video exiting one door and this student exiting another door. The child is aggressively walking behind my son. He is verbally threatening my son. He is he told him his
027called his mother and told him he was about to get into a fight. My son called his older brother who is a senior because he was worried and asked him to get to him where when he got into the middle school parking lot because I don't know why the why Smithfield High School is have their students parked in the middle school parking lot is beyond me. But when he got to that when they got there, the mother of this child was in line to pick up her middle school. She turned her car to where they were, got out of the vehicle, and started yelling, screaming, also telling her son that he could not get into a fight because if he got into a fight, that he was going to jail. Her son was trying to
028get to my son's, he came out of his sweatshirt that when she was holding him, came out of his t-shirt when he was holding him. He then got to my son, my oldest son, and physically started an altercation. It's once that started, at one point in time, the mother is standing over my son while her son screaming, beat his another parent at this time gets out of the vehicle or I don't know if she was in the vehicle. She gets she has a drink, she throws it on them, stops the altercation. my at that time the other student gets up and runs after my sophomore student. He tries to strike him but didn't because he threw his book bag up and it stopped but he got a hold of my son. >> He once he
029got a hold of my son, my oldest son went to go protect him >> and he struck him. >> The mother then smack punched my son in the face. All of this could have been and should have been avoided if his the student's IEP that is set in place was not was was handled correctly. They should not have been allowed to exit the school with with this. This child has an IEP that states that he has to be removed from a class when they have an altercation. This wasn't done. I Smithfield High School has failed my children. They're failing other children. They're failing all of the kids not only because they're of what happened. Why are like the middle schoolers shouldn't have to witness something like that. The kids that are getting on the bus
030shouldn't have to witness something like that. As a mother watching these videos, I shouldn't have to witness that. But the high school is failing them. And the the the remark once we got the protective order is and gave it to the principal is >> time. Mr. Kent Johnson. Give me one second if possible. Thank you. Um so a full investigation in September 9th instant included all the footage. A review of the suspensions against both of my children was not at the school records. Um going back to the accountability for the failure of the IEP, uh since then our kids have had a Ever since the incident, they have been targeted from other teachers. Um, things have been said. Um, we've had a principal tell me two days after the incident that it's not a felony
031to hit a ch hit a minor. It's just a misdemeanor. that the mother will not lose her job. Um, but she will not be allowed to come on school grounds, come see her child graduate, join the National Honor Society, whatever. Um, I the child is I mean in this class he's 17 years old taking ninth grade classes. That's the least of my worries. just feel like it's the school system did not she does not they did not care about the situation. If that was me that punched your child, your child, whatever in that school, I would have been locked up that day. It took four days for the school to press charges against this mother for hitting our ch children. Um, we still today just don't feel safe with our kids there. Um we've had
032a teacher make comments to my younger son um while he's out of the class and other kids have told him said um what is what is his son I mean what is my son going to the bathroom to call his stepmom and father you know making remarks in the class um just feel like we've been been failed and just felt like if it was if it was me, I would have been locked up that day. So, thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. Appreciate you coming out tonight. And due to the nature of the the subject, we'll talk to the superintendent and the board will address it appropriately. Thank you. Shannon Shifflet. Bring it down. Okay. Good evening. Thank you guys for taking the opportunity to listen to what I have to say and I'm hoping
033that at the end of this we can partner together and figure something out. Um my name is Shannon Shifflet. I I actually recently reached out to the school board um division of leadership wavy news 10 and I shared the concerns that I have um on social media um with the current state of the Alawite County nursing aid program. Students have now been in school for over six weeks without a certified instructor to teach the nursing aid program. Many are under the impression that there's no longer enough time for them to earn their certifications. And this news has been devastating um not only for my daughter Kirsten who completed the nursing aid one program last year and was excited to begin her senior year and continue with nursing aid 2, but also students like her classmate
034Stephanie that would have been here um to speak um who actually delayed early graduation to pursue her certification in this program. Since rising these concerns, I've received an overwhelming response and very valuable feedback. Um, and it has helped guide me as to how to advocate for my daughter, as well as the others that have been affected by this situation. It's truly heartbreaking. Kirsten, like many students, faces personal challenges. She has a learning disability in reading and math. She has ADHD, anxiety, and depression. Yet this program gave her purpose. For once, she felt confident and fulfilled, recognizing her strengths rather than being defined by her academic struggles. Helping people is something she's truly passionate about. And I'm just asking for a moment if you guys could please put yourself in her shoes. For six weeks, she
035has shown up every day hoping an instructor would be hired. She's helped firstear students and remained engaged whenever a certified substitute was available. I'm proud of her for not giving up despite the repi repeated disappointments. In recent days, I've become aware of the efforts that are truly being made. I I I was not aware at the beginning of this and it was very upsetting and I know that there are a lot of efforts that are being made. um in the background. Wavy News 10 has offered media coverage to raise awareness. And while I welcome this support, I also worry about the potential negative impact on Alowette County School's reputation. That's not my goal. My goal is accountability and just resolution. I just I'm going to ask where did this all go wrong? Could it could
036we have been more proactive somehow? Could district leadership have stepped in sooner? And I understand that this is a complex situation and that filling this position is not easy. But I've learned that two former instructors have stayed could have stayed regardless of the pay if they had felt supported by administration. Passion still exists in education. And have you seen the beautiful classroom? I'm sure you guys have. you were there that these students can learn in and the funding that would have to possibly pay paid back if for the the sake of this program. The most disappointing part is the lack of support for a program that clearly matters to these students and their futures. I may not know every detail of what's going on, but one thing is clear. These young people are being failed
037right now. So tonight, I ask for transparency and action, please. I know you guys are working hard. I know you are. I know you're aware of the situation. I just want to know also so that I can help better guide her future and where she applies her efforts. What is the current status of the nursing aid program? >> Thank you. Kirsten Price. Do I start the timer or do you Okay. Good evening. My name is Kirsten Price. I am a senior at Smithfield High School and I recognize some of y'all's faces from the PCT program, the like opening part. Um I'm here today to talk about the nursing program. Um it is truly during nursing aid one. It was something that I I knew that I wanted to go through like I wanted to proceed
038in nursing. It was something that made me feel encouraged. Um now that I'm in nursing aid too, I try to help some of the nursing aid ones because I bet they're at a loss right now without a teacher. Um, but with that, I'm also at a loss. I want to continue this program because I love it so much, but I want to get my certification. This was supposed to be my future. This is what I had planned and everything. I know that I'm young and, you know, it's kind of hard to like have your whole future planned out, but that's what I had and now it kind of looks foggy. I am asking for y'all's help to just help us with this program. I know that y'all are working behind the scenes and more than
039we even know. Um, but the classrooms are truly beautiful and everything that we have that I know that y'all spend so much money on, it's just really disheartening to see it go to waste. Um, and just I don't know other students that want to proceed the program. Um, yeah, thank you all for your time. >> Thank you, >> Teresa Finch. Okay. Good evening. Um, Chair Marsh, school board members. Um, I'm here. There's so many things I want to speak about, but tonight my tonight my focus is the policy up for first read. Tonight, the policy draft of KK. Um, I've read this, I've been following for some time now, and my colleagues and I are concerned. So, as educators, administrators, and leaders, we use the data and evidence to influence and direct decisions that benefit
040all, not only in the present, but also in the future. We look at all perspectives and try to be predictive of what future impacts and situations may bring. We also understand that the we must understand the lens that we are looking through when making these decisions. What capacity were we acting in when it became of concern? This leads me to policy KK. While I'm grateful for the board and everything you do, all of the volunteer time, the committees, just the astronomical amount of work that you do to make great. I want you to understand that even I wear many hats. I alone have been a consultant, a representative, coach, teacher, mentor, department head, student among others while representing Isa White and I must narrow my lens and my focus when I make decisions in each
041of these capacities. My concern with the changes are as follows. When Chairman Worooster, what hat were you wearing when this became an issue? when you wanted the policy changed. The only thing we've heard the evidence stated was that you are locked out of the JOTC building while acting under policy IICB-RICC-R which is a volunteer capacity providing stop the bleed training. At that time you were not acting as a board member under board capacity although I may be mistaken. Do the responsibilities of board members require or warrant unescorted, unannounced, and continuous access to basically all school spaces? I have built two STEM labs for this county. I am a coach of many teams and maintain all of my CTE equipment myself and do not have this kind of access myself. The lack of background checks being
042required while having unsupervised access is another issue. Again, under policy, your volunteer policy, IICB-R and IICC-R, volunteers at level one do not require a background check, but they are to sign in with the Raptor system, get a badge, have an escort, and have no contact with the students, nor are they to provide frequent visits. Please understand that even if I do not have a scheduled class, >> one minute, >> I have students all the time. Rarely is a CTE building free of students for more than 10 to 15 minutes throughout the day. I assist others with other content teachers with students and work at competitions and teams. Please just think about what you're doing for the future. You're all not going to be here in a couple years. Like you don't know. We're not promised
043five seconds from now. What happens with the next people? The next people we elect. So there you go. And please, if you can look at your uh policy IBEA-R and um IBBF, they're contradicting with the tax stuff and they're causing me issues. So, just check that one out. Thanks. >> Thank you, ma'am. >> Mr. Uzzle. Good evening board members. Mike a hearted district. Uh as you all probably know by now I was on the part of the board for the D commission with disability. We had a meeting on Monday and a concern that came up that really concerned the whole committee dealing with the school systems. Um and and and is need to be addressed uh at the football games or whatever sport game we have at the school system uh schools on Wes Smith
044High. When it come down to uh the persons coming out to the community coming out, you have a lot of people that's have challenges and disabilities and they needing more areas for those people to park at when they have such events as though because they telling telling they're saying that they got to walk park and walk so far to get to the the the sports events or whatever takes place. So by me being in school didn't put the station in the school system. They asked me to bring it to the board to have someone looks at that because uh they need to be parked somewhere closer to the event. So they want to walk so far uh to even get into the football game or whatever game that's going on. Uh and I told them
045now we're going to address that uh just for that time period when they have events so they can have schedule parking so people to have challenges to get closer to the gates or whatever that may be and uh get back with me uh so I can tell the meeting by next month so that I can tell them what we respond or have somebody come out and talk to us about it because like I said if adults with disability is uh really be moving and uh along pretty well now. We finally got somebody finally from the Cosbyville district uh to set in the board to as well. So, and u in closing, I'd like to talk to the two leazison for a second after the school board meeting because I got some questions I want to
046run by you. You might can help me out there. Give me some understanding and what's being said, what's being done before I bring it to the board at all. Because sometime just be a matter of just some communic communic communication that I need to clear up then I can clear it up with someone else. I say the best person I need to talk to is the leazison. So there I figure that they can tell me more about what's going in the school system. So just a short visit after the meeting if you can and uh some questions and then you can set me on my way. Hopefully we can solve it. If not then we do something different. But nevertheless that's all I got for today. Uh-huh. And I thank you for your time. Hope
047y'all can address that issue cuz you know uh we all going to going to need some help sooner or later by and by and printing and hope to be there for us as well. All right. Thank you. Be safe. >> Thank you, sir. >> That was the last speaker, Mr. Marsh. >> Okay. Everybody up here good or we need to take five? >> Take five. Okay, let's take five. All right, we're back in session. Student liaison, you're up. Good afternoon, school board. This past week was homecoming for Smithfield High School. And among the many activities that our student council association put together, we also participated in spirit days. On Mondays, we wore anything but a hat. On Tuesday, we had twins day. Wednesday was dress for the wrong occasion, which is kind of just I
048don't it's wear anything, but don't dress like you're about to go to school. Uh today, Thursday was 2000's day and tomorrow, Friday, is going to be Packer Pride, which we have every year. Freshman wear yellow, sophomores white, juniors black, seniors blue. Another thing happening will be our annual homecoming parade which is tomorrow. The parade starts at two and because of this we're going to have a delay. Well, not delay but you know pushed back earlier school days. So at the high school we'll be getting out at 11:30 and the elementary schoolers will be getting out at 1:00. Following the parade on the same day we have our homecoming game at 7. It's against Grafton. Then on Saturday we have our homecoming dance. It starts at 7 and it's being held in the SHs cafeteria. The
049theme is old Hollywood. Apart from that, that's everything homecoming related. Um, as far as other news goes, uh, the last meeting I mentioned how we kind of slowed down with our weapons detection systems, but since then we've kind of gotten back into the same groove we were last year, and we're moving a little, you know, we're getting faster. We're not quite at the pace that we were at the end of last year, but we're definitely improving. And, um, that is everything I have to say. Things are going relatively well. So, >> what exactly is 2000's day look like? >> I could show you a picture of my outfit, but I did not take a photo. But I It's You know, you you you were there. I I don't know. >> I do know. >> Thanks,
050Cameron. >> Appreciate you. Cole, over to you, sir. >> Good evening, everyone. Uh, last week was homecoming week for Windsor High School. Uh, Monday, I didn't have the days prepared, but I I'll start. Uh, Monday was woke up like this. So, basically pajama day. Um, Tuesday was time machine. So, you could do whatever whatever time >> 2000s maybe possibility. That is a possibility. Uh, Wednesday was opposites of track day. So, salt and pepper. Me and my friend did Biggie Shakur and Tupac. >> Oh, >> okay. Oh, Tupac Shakur, excuse me, and Biggie Smalls. 2000s for the record. >> Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Um and then Thursday was Undercover Spy. Pretty cool. And then Friday was Castle Magic. So, blue and gold. >> Yes, sir. And then, uh here we go. All right. Friday began with
051a very successful pep rally, then our annual parade, and Friday night, the Dukes football team won to hold their 5 in1 season start. I would like to thank the Windsor band and cheerleaders for doing so well this season and showing amazing spirit for the Dukes. And we want to wish the cheer team good luck with their upcoming cheer competition on the 28th. Uh the winter golf team defended their fourth consecutive district tournament championship and are headed to states on Tuesday. So give them a round of applause. The entire student body including myself want to thank you guys the board for hiring an additional SSO and are very happy that the students safety is a number one concern for the board. All right, here comes the deep stuff. Um, I would like to uh respectfully ask
052that the price of the junior class parking lot uh spots be changed. Due to the weather conditions, students are made to walk through uh due to the parking lot being so far from the school. It it is unfair. Uh at Windsor High School, the junior parking lot is on a different road than the high school, and students have to walk around the track no matter it being hot around summer, uh dark after time changes, extremely cold during later months, or even when it's raining. These conditions can be unsafe and we still have to pay as much as senior parking which is directly in front of the school. This is something I have been recently become I have recently become passionate about and hope can be considered in the future with something more urgent. Uh the
053school bathrooms are being misused by students and this is reported on a daily basis by teachers. Students have said they have almost slipped in the bathroom due to other very childish accidents. Administrators have been notified but this still problem is reoccurring. The bathrooms are currently being cleaned nightly, but around second block, the bathrooms are back to the same way they were the day before. You can smell the odor of the bathrooms in the halls. And coming to and from classes all day long, it is not pleasant at all. I realize this is a student issue, but working towards a solution, a suggestion I have, a suggestion I have is adding anything to help the smell first. I have asked admin about adding anything to melt the smell to make the smell go away or aid
054this inconvenience, but no results or communication have come in the month since I've asked. I've been told by many people that there are also leaking toilets and there have been multiple work orders put in, but no response. I want to continue legacy here by advocating for students comfort while using the bathroom here at school. Thank you all for your time. >> Thanks, Mr. Mumford. Uh Dr. >> Coleman, >> uh Cole, I will say that the the board has discussed the fees for the parking lots for the high schools >> in I think a couple times years past. >> The reasoning for that fee is not just to charge the students, but that fee goes towards maintaining the parking lot. Um, that said, I think we could entertain a conversation with Dr. Kramer and revisit it
055once again. >> Absolutely. Thank you. I appreciate that. >> You bet. Anything else? >> That's it for today. >> Board, >> Dr. Kramer, I will chime in here. Thank you uh both Cameron and Cole for your updates. Congratulations on the big victory last week and looking for the same for you all tomorrow Cameron. Oh yeah. >> All right. Um regarding the restrooms both and I'll I have this in my superintendent's update. So both Cameron and Cole are a part of the superintendent's advisory. We had our first meeting two weeks ago and what I would suggest Cole and Cameron, let's have this topic uh be one of the topics we discuss in our November meeting so we can talk about possible solutions. Okay. Thank you. >> Thanks, sir. Anybody else? Okay, we'll move along. It's a
056school night, so at your discretion, you guys fold up and roll out when you need to. And that will take us to our first action item 15.1. It's the Georgie Tyler public parking transits proposal. Mr. Chair, school board members 15.1. I have with me Miss Boswell. She has joined me Mr. Mr. Jamie Oliver could not be here tonight. Miss Boswell is filling in form. This is a action item based off of last month's uh conversation based on the Georgie Dala Middle School parking spaces. Uh these parking spaces are located once again as a recap in the back portion of Georgia Tala parking lot where it consists of four to five spots and uh the county wants to move forward with this and at this time the last board meeting it was requested by two board
057members that uh we take a further look into the spaces. Since then uh the information has been provided to the board members for their request. So, at this time, I'm asking to move forward to approve the request uh for the SUFFK transit park and ride. If there's any detailed questions, we have Miss Boswell here to follow up on those. >> Uh Mr. Collic, Mr. Rooster, I know you you gentlemen had comments about this last month, so over to you. right now um with the caveat that let's see how it works, you know, um in actuality, but I've got no problem supporting it at this point. >> Thank you, sir. Anybody else? >> Good. >> Mr. Cunningham, Miss Perkins, we good to go? >> I'm good. >> Okay. would someone would be willing to put a
058motion out there. We'll take action. >> Mr. Chair, I move to approve the request for Olive White County to designate four existing parking spaces at Georgie D. Tyler Middle School, including one ADA accessible space for use as a SuffK transit park and ride commuter bus stop with all costs of improvements and transit operations borne by Olive White County and the city of Suffach Transit Department. >> Second motion and a second. Any further discussion? Madame Clerk, >> Mr. Collick? >> Yes. >> Mr. Cunningham? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Perkins? >> Yes. >> Mr. Worster? Yes. >> And Mr. Marsh. >> Yes. Motion passes. Thank you, ma'am, for coming out. >> All right. Hang tight, Dr. Coleman. I think you're still up. It's second action item is 15.2. That's the Westside Elementary School Professional Design Services. >> Yes,
059sir. Uh tonight we're asking to begin professional design services for the new Westside Elementary School. Uh this is a step about turning our community's vision uh to a safe for our prek5 prek through five students. Now in order to get a solid estimates, we must first get the architects. They need to test the site traffic model construction cost up front and just finding those issues early prevents u the expensive change orders that we have not experienced in many years by using the different processes that we have. Um then the design translate uh and ensure that the design translate on our instructional priorities that we're setting forth at this time in the county. All of this was rolled up in the architectural design which needs to occur first. Um now by granting us the action item
060to move forward, it's going to position us to hire the builders in the lockin pricing also. So all of this comes along but the first step is approving the architectural design allowing the schools to go out and uh enlist the RFP so that we can capture those services and start to move forward. Just one last thing. When we finally capture the RFP team or the architectural design, just remember designing permitting typically takes 9 to 12 months. So I just want everyone to keep in mind the timeline that we're looking at. So any delays to the left, any delays to the right will always have a direct impact to the timeline. >> Thanks. Thanks, Dr. Coleman. And for the listening audience, I guess be because I recognize that uh the board of supervisors in the school
061board don't always have the same watching audience. Uh we did have a joint work session on Tuesday >> and this was this was one of five topics that we discussed. Um and just to kind of reiterate that conversation, this is certainly the first step. It isn't committing anyone to build a school. This is the first step in figuring out how much it's going to cost. >> Absolutely. >> There's certainly a whole lot more to this process and it's going to take some time. Um, one of the things that was brought up as an ask was uh a timeline >> of the overall process and I think this would be the first thing on it. >> This is definitely the first step of any timeline and in in that phase. So, pending the outcome of this
062action, I would ask that you revisit that timeline and kind of push it out to the school board and we'll get it out to the county as well so that they know that we're on track to at least take one step forward into this overall process and see where it leads us. >> Absolutely. >> Anybody else want to speak to this? >> So, Dr. Coleman. Um, at what point would we have to identify a site? Would it be during the process that they're uh during this process with the architectural uh company or would it be afterwards? >> Well, of course uh identifying the site is key for the ultimate overall pricing. Um, and of course, I've been told at this time that you can start the process with pricing, architectural design. This is what we
063want to see in a school. This is what Alaw White County needs in order to continue to proceed. But in the end, site has to be designated just based on how the building will be designed based on those items of the boundary lines, zoning, different things of that nature. So, I would say it doesn't have to be designated at this time, but before we get to, let's just say 90% completion of the architectural plans, yes, um a site needs to be identified. Okay. So, that's something that maybe the board should start discussing uh in the next month or so is getting the committee together u mainly with you know your help and the help of uh the employees uh who know much more about what's needed in school than we do. Um to get that
064moving forward so that we can bring on the board of supervisors and their their folks to make sure we get the best location that we can possibly get. you know, for school and hopefully it makes sure that our kids are not on the bus, you know, for more than 30 minutes. That's, you know, for me, as you know, that's that's key. Um, okay. I appreciate that. Thank you. >> All right, >> Dr. Kramer, do you want to add something? >> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. to your question uh board member colleague as you recall from the meeting the joint meeting on Tuesday was it uh we will be working very closely with uh the county uh in terms of acquiring land much of that is the responsibility of the county officials so we're we will
065be working in tandem with them uh to identify what that site might be where it might be and we'll certainly be conveying that information to you the board, but some of that is the responsibility much of that in terms of land acquisition is the responsibility of county government. >> Oh, no. Abs. Absolutely. I wasn't trying to infer that we as a school division, we're going to do that, >> but what we do have to do is set out the criteria. What do we need for a school? Absolutely. What type of land? So, that's that's where I was coming from. Once we have the criteria set up, that's when I would suggest that we bring the county and say, "Okay, this is what we need. Here you go." >> And again, we're working in tandem with
066them. I think they're con they're currently looking at options. Uh so we will be working in tandem with uh the county uh county administrator Robertson. Um and I will certainly be relaying that information to you, the board. >> Yeah, >> Dr. Coleman, I know we've had conversations repeatedly over Westside School, but for the listening audience, this action item on the uh RFP in no way, shape, or form locks us in >> to building a new school. >> No, this does not lock us in into IWCS to build a new school. It does not. >> That's all I've got. Thank you. Um this see for me it seems to come out of nowhere. We haven't done a needs assessment. We don't have the stuff from Tishler Bice um on growth or anything with this. Is this
067talking about the wish list design for a thousand students that y'all were talking about at last meeting? Is this replacing this school basically this size? Um, has there been any conversation of renovating the school? I mean, obviously something needs to be done. >> Nobody's arguing that. >> Absolutely. And, uh, one thing that has to be designed when we send that RFP out is a scope of services and everything that you're speaking of right now will start to go into the scope of services. Of course, there's been conversations about a replacement for the school, but all of that will go into the scope of services to help us to actually choose um which architect to go with to uh formulate that a little bit more. So, all some of the items are coming. Everything doesn't have
068to be here at once in order to start this process. I know what you're asking. You're asking u is tisha vice and the final report. uh is that weighing heavily on whether to move forward uh at this time? No, it's it's not. Once again, the discussions have been to move forward and if we are to move forward with the information when we get it, we need to start moving forward now because it is a um once again it's a timeconsuming process and um any delay will push the timeline back. >> But how what are we telling them to design? We haven't made a determination what we need yet, >> right? We haven't made a full determination of what we need at this time based off of the uh the new regulation that the board uh
069accepted. We know that we're moving into a prek through five area. With that stated, we know that we're going between a 900 and a th00and personnel school. Those couple of things that we do know, we can start formulating and leaving going to start visit other schools to start formulating ideas of what we actually need. And that's where we can really start to get down into the uh get said the nuts and the bolts of more of action. But as Mr. Worster stated, just because we're working through the process of architectural design doesn't lock us in to move forward right now because uh there's no funding um applied at this time. >> What price range are we looking at for these services? At this time I do not know until until I actually lock in an
070architect and then we work through it because remember that all architectural services are based off the overall project itself. So uh whether it's 7% of the project, 8% of the project, 6% of the project, those architectural fees for design is based off uh how large the project actually is. So I wouldn't know right now. So remember, we're just picking the we're just picking the architect, getting them on board, and then we can really start getting into the details of the costs that are associated with those buildings, the square footage, the amount of cost that we're looking at moving forward, >> and who's going to be making the determination of what design they're doing. When do we get to that point where we're having these discussions of the need and what we need them to design?
071>> You said who will be making those decisions? I I mean we haven't had any discussions as a board of the needs um which direction to go. So you send out an RFP. We're asking them to design something. >> Who's making that determination? >> Okay. Well, that's a good question. Um first of all, what we do is once we send out that uh design, what we've done in the past where we start looking at the different schools and all companies do not build elementary schools. I think the last time with new Hardy, we started off with probably about 10 or 11 companies and then we set those companies to the side and we started working through that process. Put together a committee as Mr. um colleague was speaking of school officials, central office uh individuals,
072individuals from the community and we worked through that process to find out exactly what we're looking for and what we needed. And that's when we went back and started working with the company. So before we rolled that out to all of the uh construction firms and different things, we had a solid plan and we had the uh actual area designated. But it's a it's a committee work through process, but it just all begins with the architectural plan, picking the architectural uh company to work with. >> If I may, Mr. Chair, I think thank you for your question, Mrs. Perkins. This is not a linear process. There are lots of variables at play. There are lots of moving parts. I think what we are going to need to do is provide constant updates. As Dr. Coleman
073stated, as Mr. Khik alluded, Mr. Collic or Mr. Worster, regarding the committee, we're going to need to have ongoing conversations with our county official colleagues as well as you, the board, to update you as we move forward. Obviously the individuals who will be uh providing us with recommendations will be providing us with different options. So those options will be shared with you the board so we can make some definitive decisions. But ultimately all that information will be coming back to you the board >> and options are going to include kind of generalized costs for renovations um a smaller school, larger school like kind of like what we did with the um maintenance. Absolutely. And you know, I think uh one of the supervisors on Tuesday mentioned renovation as an option. So I think we'll have
074to look at all of those as options. Um and you the board you know the experts can make a recommendation but at the end of the day it's going to be the responsibility of the boards both our board and the board of supervisors to make some final decisions. >> I thanks thanks to you both. I I suspect there's folks that are listening right now hearing us talking about architectural design for a new school and and many of those folks probably have not had a chance to watch our meeting from Tuesday. And so for those people um it may benefit a little bit of a summary of how we got to where we are. Um for goodness probably well over a year. the board the boards both the county and you folks and county folks have
075been working uh to study county's growth. We brought in Tishler Bice to look at how the county is growing. Uh Mrs. Briggs has worked extensively to update a capacity list of each one of our schools to kind of look at how the programs are filling up each schools, where we have room, where we don't. Um, a part of that effort was to come up with a regulation that you mentioned. It's FBR. And that regulation, I think we did that two months ago, >> right? >> That regulation, five basic sections, and and it was uh, I guess simply put, kind of a vision for the division. It talked about uh program capacities and once a school got to certain capacities it would trigger marks so that we start forming committees and whatnot. Um and then Tuesday
076we sat down with the county who is simultaneously working on updating their strategic plan and the county's overall capital improvement plan. We're a big part of that. So, the school board contributed to the county's capital improvement plan. That was a part of Tuesday night's discussion. So, all this is very webbed together. Uh, and and what what we're trying to do tonight is really the first step in formalizing a process, whether that ends up being acquiring property to build a school or rehabbing a school that's nearly hundred years old. Whatever the end result is, I think this is really the first formal step in that process. >> It is this is first step and some of the information that you're speaking of, we do have it in the PowerPoint for a little later, but go ahead
077at the same time. This is the first step. >> Clear as mud. >> It is. But again, I we will be providing ongoing updates as we go through this process. So I think to your question, Mrs. Perkins, the board will be apprised and made aware of where we are in in that process and what phase we're in. Uh but again, at the end of the day, you the board will have to make those determinations based upon recommendations from our team, from the experts. Um but yes, no decisions will be made from us or the or the um firms that are going to be consulted. that decision is going to be made by the respective boards. >> I I don't think we can say it enough that this is has been and will continue to be
078an ongoing collaboration between Alawite County Schools in Alawite County uh with input from the county and the citizens to make sure that we're doing best with the taxpayers dollars. >> Absolutely. >> So, and it's important to point that out >> and of course it's one of our uh top five CIP items on the list. >> That's correct. You guys ready to put a motion on the table? You got one more? Yes, sir. Go. >> All right. Dr. Coleman, when we're looking at a new west side versus renovation. >> Okay. >> Uh putting out this RFP for architectural design that is going to be needed for either option. Correct. >> That is correct. Um that is a decision that we can make to ask the architect uh to do both. The uh original one from uh
079I'm not going to say the original one but the one from 2018 that was mentioned at the meeting that was done that was performed by an architect that we had >> at the time. So >> right I don't think anybody's going to argue or dispute that Westside needs some dire assistance >> to say it lightly. um whether that be renovation or a new school, we're going to need information as far as pricing, which is >> definitely need pricing. >> So, okay, that really that answers my question. >> Yeah. >> If I may just add one thing. So, prior to any of you being on the board, there was a committee um 2018 2019 and that committee did look extensively at renovating new school, renovating Hardy, renovating Westside, and we need to find those reports, but
080it ended up that it wasn't going to be coste effective to renovate this very old building because the structures are so outdated and antiquated that they don't fit what a new school model would look like. I'm going to give you an example. All of these classrooms are too small. They're all too small. And so you would literally have to move all of these walls to make it a classroom size of what current classrooms would be. The cafeteria is too small to fit. I mean, right now they're running like four lunches. Lunch starts at 10:30 here. And that's with 600 and some kids because they can't get all the kids in the cafeteria because it's too small. So you would have to do very extensive renovations to bring this school up to standard to be able
081to fit a thousand students. So some of that work was done um and it was looked at and like Chrisman Dr. Coleman mentioned the pipes are in really bad shape that run this. Absolutely. >> And so all of that stuff was taken into consideration. Um and as well as the structure of this building. >> Does that make sense? >> It does. And and don't take this as I'm going one way or another at this point. Um I'm just looking for more information to determine which is going to be best because obviously we don't want a school that's just going to nickel and dive in the county to death. So, >> no, but I think we need to find that report because I don't know that we want to spend more money to have someone look
082at this school to tell us that because I mean that's going to cost money to look at the school to determine can we renovate? Is it worthwhile to renovate? >> Yeah, I think it was Mr. Acre that brought that up on Tuesday, right? >> Yeah. When was that? >> When was that study done? >> We were trying to remember. We've got to try to find it. maybe two 2018 19 >> it's when we had we had a very large committee um I was a part of it miss Briggs was a part of it Mr. Stephano was on that committee to look at Westside and Hardy. And at the time, we went into it thinking we were going to um renovate or replace Westside. Um looked at designs, ended up ended up building a new Hardy
083um after that committee met and looking at what the condition of Hardy at the time. But if you if you remember um the decision was we were going to build a Hardy and immediately build a new west side. And here we are, how many years later still waiting, but the decision was the committee and the board of supervisors at that time, right, was we were going to build one school and then immediately build the next school. And so we keep waiting, waiting, waiting, and here we are with the roofs falling, you know, and and we're in bad shape. >> Um, and so I think what Dr. Coleman is trying to do is get a jump start because even starting now we're what 36 months that how okay easy >> at a minimum. >> Yeah I
084would definitely like to see the studies that were done and do a comparison contrast. Um and if you look like six seven years ago when this was done you can probably add about at least 20 to 30% to it now. >> I agree. >> Uh yeah. So >> and I don't think the school's in better shape than it was six years ago. >> No. No. No. But yeah, if we could get those, that'd be great. >> Thank you, both. >> You want to do a motion? >> Mr. Chair, I move to proceed with issuing a request for proposal RFP for professional design services for the proposed preK through five Westside Elementary School. >> Second. >> Motion and a second. Any further discussion? >> Hearing none. Madam clerk, >> Mr. Collic, >> yes. >> Mr. Cunningham,
085>> yes. >> Mrs. Perkins, >> yes. >> Mr. Worster, >> yes. >> And Mr. Marsh, >> yes. Motion passes. All right, good discussion. Next one is 15.3, additional clubs and revised supplemental pay scale. Mrs. Sullivan. >> Uh, yes. So, attached to this agenda item was a revised pay scale which included on the supplemental pay scale only was the only addition to add a line item that was additional clubs. And this is to support the payment of teachers who are running additional clubs in the schools. Um, and those uh potentially will be approved on the personnel report later this evening. Um, but that line item was added to the supplemental pay scale and we're requesting your approval of that. >> No. Uh, no. I do not. >> Mr. Chair, I move to approve the revised supplemental
086pay scale. >> Second. >> We have a motion in a second. Any discussion? >> Okay. Madame Clerk. >> Mr. Collic. >> Yes. >> Mr. Cunningham? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Perkins? >> Yes. >> Mr. Worster? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Marsh? >> Yes. Motion passes. Okay. 15 point. I'm struggling with the internet. I'm not sure. I think we dropped offline. You good? >> Okay. >> Uh, next one is 154 is a reallocation of a position. >> Yes. So, we currently have a teaching vacancy that we have been unable to fill and recognize that that is uh likely going to remain open for the remainder of this school year. Um, and so, uh, we are asking for the reallocation of that position to assist with a speech language pathologist compliance issue that we're having on this end
087of the county. Um, so our speech language pathologist provides speech language services to our students with IEPs that um, qualify for those services. And at this time um the allocation of those SLPs is out of compliance with the number of increase of speech services um that we are requiring. Um there was specifically a very large increase at Westside this year in comparison to previous years. Um and so because of that we are asking for a reallocation of a teaching position to a part-time speech language pathologist position. So, this would be taking a budgeted position that was expected to be full-time with benefits, and we're asking for to use um a portion of the funds from that position to cover a part-time, no benefit position for speech language pathologists. So, our hope is to pick up
088someone who does speech pathology outside of the school division that would be willing to provide us with um a limited amount of service hours under 30 a week to offset the overload of case load um for our SLPs for the remainder of this year. That position would then revert back to a teaching position in our budget as we look into next year. And we would certainly look at our um service minute needs and projections for the following year to determine if that position would better serve SLP and be removed from the the Westside teaching um depending on where we are with numbers both in the enrollment at Westside and our SLP numbers or if we needed to request an additional part-time SLP going into next year's budget. Any questions? >> Thank you, ma'am. >> It's
089almost like you've preempted all the questions. >> We're getting to know each other very well, right? >> Yes. So, it would seem. >> All right. Any comments or are we ready for a motion? >> No, we're ready. >> Mr. Chair, I move to approve the re reallocation of funds from a teaching position to fund a part-time speech language pathologist position for the 2025 2026 school year. Second >> motion and a second. Any other discussion? >> Madame clerk. >> Mr. Collic. >> Yes. >> Mr. Cunningham? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Perkins? >> Yes. >> Mr. Worooster? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Marsh? >> Yes. Motion passes. >> Good evening, ma'am. Good evening. so excited about this agenda item. It's time to kick off the budget. >> Seems like we just did this. >> So, um I put
090together um a preliminary or proposed calendar. Of course, all the dates on here are tentative. Um and it it basically mirrors what we did last year certainly to start off. Um the other thing um I want to point out is that in December is when the governor, the outgoing governor is going to propose a budget and then of course the new incoming governor um next year will will also be be working with it. So >> what does that mean in layman's term, ma'am? >> It's like watching a slowmoving train wreck. >> I don't know about a train wreck, but >> it's going to be the first year. It's the first year of the bienium, right? >> Correct. >> So, yeah, it'll be interesting. If I recall, two years ago when we were at the tail
091end of this, we didn't get the final state numbers until very, very last moment, >> which is extremely frustrating. So, we have to project a budget and propose it, give it to the calendar, and the county has to guess on what they're going to be able to approve. And then after all that happens, you find out what you're actually gonna get. >> Yes, sir. >> It's quite literally backwards in my mind. >> I agree. >> Okay. >> All right. Any any other comments? That's just my complaining about Virginia's budgeting process. >> Looks good. >> Mr. Chair, I'll move to approve the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget calendar as presented. >> Second. >> Motion and second. Any other comments, Madame Clerk? >> Mr. Collic, >> yes. >> Mr. Cunningham, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perkins, >> yes.
092>> Mr. Mr. Worster, >> yes. >> And Mr. Marsh, >> yes. Motion passes. >> Okay, ma'am. Monthly financials. >> Um, there's really nothing out of the ordinary to report, which is a good thing. Um the operating budget is we're we're right about at the same spending level as we were this time last year. Um health insurance fund is looking good. Um our claims are up about 15% as compared to this time last year, but also our contributions that we're making to it is up 50%. So um you know right now as it stands we're we're pretty well funded. Um the only the other thing I will mention is um which you probably already read in the newspaper, but we did receive uh security equipment grant from the state in the amount of $91,200 which will
093be used at Carolton Elementary. So we did get that. >> That's outstanding. >> It's always good news. >> Can I answer any questions? I have one uh I think I ask this every month because operations and maintenance goes through monies fast early on. We're three months into the fiscal year and you've already burned through spent or encumbered 85% of the operations maintenance budget. >> Are we concerned? Are we as budgeted and planned? And I know that's a loaded question. It always is. But 85% 3 months into the year is is a lot >> of course. Um definitely always concerned because it's always something that could happen. Um with that stated u was everything budgeted at uh up to this time. No. There was a lot of HVAC issues across the division that we had to
094actually deal with at that time. Does that happen every year? No, it doesn't happen every year. So that's why it wasn't budgeted in. So, at this time, am I concerned? I'm always concerned. I mean, I think that you're you remember that one time the whale went out at Windsor just in one snap, that's $120,000. Um, do I have that 120 to cover down on a incident of that nature right now? No. But at the time, at this time, that's not occurring. So, uh, in operations when dealing with a budget of that nature and down to the last 15 to 20%, um, of course there's always a concern, but, uh, it's not to that level at this time. >> Thanks, Doc. And and I did ask I've already got the answer, but digging through the check
095register, we spent $9,416 on uh Garrett Callahan water treatment. >> Yes. Can you tell me about that >> Gary? Uh this uh vendor that we use at this time to treat the water in the pipes of HVAC systems is it comes out the cooling tower. So u they uh put a I don't know a certain substance in the water in the cooling tower to ensure that the pipes do not rust. One of the issues that we had at Carlton for years was that it was a lapse in time that we did not have. It was by maybe maybe the 2007 to 2011 time frame. It was a lapse in time that there was no water treatment. That's why the pipes were rusting so bad and leaking so bad throughout the school. So you have to
096have a water treatment company for that. And that's one of the vendors that we use to to treat uh the school division. >> Was that just for one school? >> That's for uh several schools. It's for two to three schools. I don't know those schools right off hand. Carlton being one of them, but it's two other schools, I believe. >> Periodic maintenance is what it is. >> That's exactly what it is. >> Maintenance for the HVAC system. >> It is maintenance for the HVAC system. Got it. >> You has to you have to have it. Have to have it. >> And it uh Mr. Chair, before you move on, if I can rephrase I think Dr. Hman answered the question well and you have an act a very good question and that is we've spent
09785%. That's not unusual. It's not atypical. So instead of >> waiting, we're being proactive. So, if we know that there are needs that we budgeted for and I'm going to ask you to correct me if I'm wrong, Dr. Cole, the point is >> we're being proactive with spending the 85% because if they're needs, we're not going to wait uh to ensure that we are purchasing or providing those services upfront. So, that's hence that's why we've spent that we're not being reactive and waiting. If there are needs that we budgeted for, we're going to go ahead and and get those services uh rendered, if you will. >> Hence the term encumbered. >> Absolutely. >> It's not cleared the bank yet. It's just encumbered. It's it's >> I got it. >> Okay. >> Right. >> The water
098treatment was $2,127. >> Oh, I read it. Okay. Oh, that the the 9,000 was for securely the cloud-based. That's Mr. Cooper Writers. The cloud-based internet filtering system. >> Yep. >> Okay. Any other questions? It's good to see the healthc care fund is comfortable this year. >> It is. And we're anxious to hear follow-on reports about your efforts to investigate ways or alternative funding options. >> Yes. >> And I know the county is too. >> Yes. >> Thank you, ma'am. Uh, good evening, Chairman Marsh. Uh, Dr. Kramer Bour. I'm here to talk about Constitution Week. >> Be the people of the United States in order to form a more union, >> establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
099>> To me, the Constitution is not only the supreme law of the land or the document that grants freedom to all who reside in the states. It is a testament to the power and resilience of a self-governing body. It is a living framework that has guided our nation through expansion, civil war, industrialization, global conflicts, and social revolutions. I see it in the necessity of checks and balances, a recognition that power must be limited and shared to preserve true liberty. It proves that when people's voices matters and is heard, freedom for all doesn't have to be a dream. I find the Constitution's endurance inspiring. It challenges each generation to grapple with issues of rights, justice, and civic responsibility. To me, the Constitution is not just an artifact of 1787, but is a living reminder that democracy
100requires the participation of all with critical thinking and as we continue to form a more perfect union. >> The Constitution is a living reminder that liberty endures only as long as we the people uphold and defend it. to ordain and establish this Constitution to the United States of America. So, as you can see from that wonderful video, um we very enthusiastically uh celebrate Constitution Week here in Alawite County Schools. Um sorry, it's my slide. There we go. Thank you. Um, it is a state requirement set forth by the Virginia Department of Education that we celebrate Constitution Day. Um, we celebrated it the week of September 15th through 19th, but I think we like to go above and beyond consistently here in Alawite County Schools and, uh, we continue to do so with Constitution Week. Uh,
101in addition to all the activities that happened in K through 12, actually preK through 12 classrooms. Um, we also have several courses that focus on the Constitution. Um, so that includes instruction in Virginia studies, grade six, grade six history, civics and economics, and government. Oh no. Oh my gosh, guys. Thank you. I'm just going to not touch it for right now. All right. So, some examples of activities that were conducted in our elementary classrooms was the recitation of the preamble, which is a requirement from Virginia Department of Education, as you could see by some of our lovely students from Carsville Elementary and Hardy Elementary. Um, we also did some crosscurricular activities where students in art class read about uh read the preamble and um sections of the Constitution and talked about symbolism and created some
102art pieces. And of course, we all viewed uh the famous Schoolhouse Rock, which was before the 2000s, but certainly uh had an impact on all of us. Some more wonderful pictures. You can see some of the artwork on the um in the center and the right. And then we also um conducted activities in our secondary schools. So, we had some digital breakout rooms um some sorting activities. Um, we dug deep into the Constitution and did some critical reading. Um, and we also, what something that was really cool that happened at Smithville Middle School is, um, we had our eighth grade civic students participate in the scholar exchange program where they got to zoom in with, uh, attorneys and constitutional experts and talk about the amendment process. So, that was really um, cool to see as
103well. And I do want to point out that the history course that primarily focuses on uh education around the constitution the most is civics. And I would not only like to point out that our civics teachers at both middle schools and our students continue to outperform the state in this area but also have shown significant growth from 23 24 to 24 25. So, um I think it's always important to celebrate our successes and they are continuing to put in the work uh and and this is a bright area for us in uh history. Any questions? >> Thanks for sharing that. >> Awesome. >> I probably speak for more than just myself and this stuff makes me happy. >> Me, too. >> Good job. >> Thank you. All right, good evening again. Um so last month
104we shared um some of our uh so pass rates and I think um I had a question or two about that's great for the students who are passing but what about students who are not mastering content not achieving so we're going to take a look in uh separate parts um to what we are doing and tonight we are starting with our um interventions that we do in elementary school. So, I have these lovely ladies, Miss Haley Coopriter and Stacy Rogers, and they are going to share some of the interventions that we do. So, I'm gonna ground Oh my sorry, >> there's a lot. Okay, >> I'm going to ground us in the intervention module just to kind of um get a picture of what intervention should look like. So, in the green you have all
105students receive tier one instruction, whether it be reading or math. Some students will receive tier 2 instruction. A select few will receive tier three instruction. And then the most intensive is special education. You'll see that intensification goes from tier one being less intense to then more intense as you move across. Um I guess to your right hopefully the setting in for tier one is always the whole class. Once again, all the students receive tier one instruction. And then some students get tier two and it just kind of grouping depends of the setting is different for each one. And then the curriculum being used is the core curriculum which is tier one for all of them. Um and the core and supplemental core in intervention and then special education receives adapted to match student need. So
106like Mrs. Get said all students get tier one instruction. So we're going to spend more time on the tier 2 and the tier three land. For reading intervention we use a screener which identifies the level of risk that students will have for reading difficulties later on. So, everyone gets the val screener or the star screener, sometimes both. If you're a low risk for reading difficulty, you'll receive um you're considered tier one or everyone's tier one, and you'll receive my view literacy curriculum, which is our core program for reading. If you are moderate risk, you're considered um needing a tier tier 2 reading intervention and you'll have reading intervention with a small group um using my views materials with a teacher. You might receive SIPS, which is a systematic intensive phonics and phmic awareness program by
107our kindergarten, first and second grade IAS. Or you also might receive UFly, which is another program we use by the classroom teacher. If you are at high risk, then you might need a tier two or I'm sorry, tier three intervention. That is primarily done by our reading interventionists. Um we have several at each of our buildings. um and they use phonics intervention and then startup buildup spiral up or sometimes the teacher could also use UFly as our one of our interventions. Here is some of our reading data to kind of bring numbers to what's the temperature warning that I did not add that >> something's hot >> literally. Um, tier three is the high risk again here. Tier two is the moderate risk and then tier one is the watch list. So, we just like
108to track to make sure that our data is moving in the direction that we would like it to go to make sure we can serve all the kids that we need to. And then just because pictures are lovely, these are a few pictures of Mrs. Hill and Mrs. Whitley, two wonderful Carsville instructional assistants who were are working with our second and first graders. We have and this is for our tier 2 students who are needing intervention. Um and then this is Mrs. Reader from Carsville Elementary showing us startup buildup spiral up phonics intervention. And then we have phonics intervention with Mrs. Vic, Mrs. Britt, and Miss Everett from Windsor Elementary. All right. And so for math, we have a very similar process. Um, we also have a screener. Our first through fifth grade students get
109screened using the STAR math diagnostic assessment. And then our kindergarteners take the VKRP assessment, which is a Virginia K kindergarten readiness program. And it consists of various subsets of math skills, numerousy, computation, patterning, and geometry. Um, and so once we get all that data in, we do we follow that same process. All of our students um get that tier one instruction, which is our IWCS math curriculum. And then all of our students also do um our online supplemental, which is STMath, for about 12 to 15 minutes a day. And that works them through various puzzles using a lot of the spatial temporal brain um work, which is really awesome because they have to problem solve and figure out what they're doing. um our tier 2 students. So those are our tier our students who are
110have some risk for math. They're a little bit um behind and so we through the Virginia Department of Education's all-in grant that started a couple years ago, we have access to a program called Zern and um this program is really nice because it's video lessons and so the kids can get on that and the teachers are able to assign them and then they also have small group lessons. So they might do something on their device and then they'll work with the teacher on that same skill um from Zern or from our curriculum. And then another nice thing with StMath is that it talks to our STAR diagnostic assessment for students in second grade through fifth grade and it will automatically assign them lessons in areas of weakness. So they can go in and work on
111various puzzles and lessons um in their areas that they need to work on. Our most urgent intervention is our tier three and those students um are seen by our math interventionists. We have one in every building and they are using a um bridges math curriculum which is really focused on building that number sense and the computation skills that are necessary to um be successful in math. And then they also have access to their STMath auto assignments in the classroom. Um again we like to share some data. This is our data throughout the year last year. So you can see where we started um in the fall and where we ended in the spring and how we were able to lower our students in t that tier three band um very well across all grade levels.
112And then this year we just completed our fall screening window and the numbers for fall are very comparable to last year's numbers at fall. Most grade levels are actually higher for tier one this year that at or above benchmark. So, um, our teachers are doing a good job and our kids are good doing a good job of retaining that information. And then again, pictures are great. Um, these first two pictures show some hands-on math manipulatives with um, Mrs. Post at Windsor Elementary using the place value blocks to get that model for place value. And then the number stack showing different ways to make 10. That's one of our first grade standards, all the different combinations for 10. And then Miss Foster is working with a group of kids on various tasks from our new curriculum
113um down at Carsville. And then we also have our teachers. Um the first picture is a teacher from Carolton working in small groups. Students were making groups of 10 using little erasers. So just about anything can be a manipulative in math class. Um it doesn't have to be a specific math. We use erasers. Um all sorts of fun things to get the kids having some hands-on. Um, then we have Miss Gunther in the middle working on estimating sums and differences with her kids. They were working through some problems. And then one of our IAS at Carolton working one-on-one with students um who need that extra help. And that's it. So, what questions do you have for us? Listen, I think this is awesome. All too often we've heard people say, "Yeah, you were doing a
114good job on the test, but what about those that aren't?" Well, this is this is what you folks are doing behind the scenes. Um, and I think a lot of people don't grasp that. So, this this is good stuff. Um, for the people that don't have a parent or the the people watching that don't have a kid in school, how do I know if my kid is tier one, two, or three? >> So, with interims, did they go home or report cards? So, we sent home a family report from STAR and um correct me if I'm wrong. Does it show there? I'm trying to remember what that report tells us, but I know we sent home a report and it does give information um about where the students level is. I can't remember exactly if
115it tells them it doesn't tell you tier one, tier two, tier three, but it tells you their skill score and where they're at on the line for their grade level. And then I know for math intervention, if we have a student who falls in that tier three and sometimes our tier two students get pulled in math intervention, we send home a letter letting parents know your child is receiving that extra support um for math. I think that's a it's a great question because um tier one, tier two, tier three interventions are primarily used by us, right? They're not necessarily used by the this Oh jeez, sorry. So that's an internal that's an internal categorization >> more of an internal the the terminology that families might know or hear more often is the at or above
116benchmark on watch or intervention urgent intervention >> and then for reading they'll be more familiar with lowrisk watch list moderate risk or high risk >> right so kind of maybe that was an unfair loaded question so the interrum just came out for my third grader and we got the colorcoded graph that says you're either on on track or you're not correct >> that's a direct translation or a loosely translated. >> Yes, >> correct. >> Bow's reports aren't finished yet. Um, they'll be coming with the report card along with if your student is a high-risk student in reading, then they'll have a student reading plan and that'll be coming with a report card as well. And parents are notified. If you are a tier three and you are receiving intervention with an interventionist, you are notified
117as a parent that your child is getting that intervention. And this is kind of a loaded question too. You send these letters out obviously you whatever the percentage is 9 10 15% of the kids are on tier three. >> You send out letters to all these parents as educators. Do you feel like the response from the parents is sufficient? Are you getting that engagement you need? >> I'm going to answer. I I'm going to let them answer, but I'm going to say this. For kids who are at that level, a tier three, I cannot stress the importance of the partnership >> between the school and the parent. Because if you have a tier three child, yes, we are going to do these extra interventions at school, but there is also things that need to be
118done at home in order to catch the student up. And so, in some cases, the support is there, but in other cases, we need more. It needs to be a very strong partnership. >> Yeah. >> All right. So that's what I expected you to say. Yeah. >> Um last question is for the Zern software with So allin's about to expire, right? >> Yes. We have it through this school year. >> So then what what what's our plan after Zern is done? >> I'm not sure yet. We haven't looked at pricing for Zern to see what it would be if we were to purchase it ourselves. Um, so we're going to use it this year and see how well it gets used with our teachers and kind of collect that data to see was it used
119as we had thought it was used. Um, and so going to kind of look at the data and then make our decision from there. >> Yeah. So anytime we use any sort of intervention like this, we're going to analyze the data. We're going to do an assessment to determine did it meet our needs? If it did, then we would look to continue to purchase. If we don't see it meeting the needs like we wanted to, we might look at another product. >> The bottom line is there will always be something because we're always going to have kids. I mean, it'd be nice if we didn't have kids that needed tier two, tier three, but probably not going to happen. So, we need to have another resource because what it's telling us is what we're doing
120in tier one is not sufficient. These kids need additional support. So, everybody gets tier one. This is what are we doing on top of it. I guess my point is that's a tool in a process that seems to be working and you're not going to have that tool at the end of the year. So, >> we'll either have that tool and we'll pay for it or we will find a different tool. >> Right. Got it. >> But we would love to keep getting allin money. Woohoo. >> Sure. >> I think your board would echo that sentiment. Any other comments? >> Yeah, I just have one quick question here. when you're determining the tier one, two, and three, what point in the school year do you determine those categories? >> So, for first through fifth grade
121math, we do the diagnostic in the fall, so September, and then we do it again at the January mark so that we can pro um progress monitor and check for growth. And then we do it again in the spring. Um for kindergarten, VKRP is just in the fall. Um actually, they're doing it right now and then they'll do it again in the spring. So kindergarten is only twice a year, but first through fifth we do it three times a year to to keep check. >> And students don't always stay in the >> they don't always need that inter level of intervention. So sometimes they could be receiving the tier three intervention and yet they're like it's been successful, they're they're pro progressing and then they don't need that strong or intensive intervention anymore. So we're
122constantly trying to keep a pulse on it. You don't want to ever keep a kid locked in, >> right? And uh this this first time for me seeing this. Um one of the things that I would like to see is just trending. Where where are we now? Where have we moved to? And where are we going? >> Could that be something you could put together for maybe say once a semester? >> Yes. Um I don't know if once a semester we'll have to look at I mean after we do the assessment we can probably put something together so it doesn't really fall nice and neatly at a semester but yes we can do that. Um keep in mind like when you're looking at students I mean yes we can compare and look at the same
123students all year but then the next year you're getting a whole new crop of students in at that grade level. So it's kind of like you're not really comparing apples to apples so to speak. Um but yes, we can look at the current group of students and give you that data. Absolutely. >> Okay. Thanks, ladies. Next up is the strategic plan update. Good evening. Um, we are here to give you an update on the strategic plan and I'm going to jump right in. Uh there is a code in Virginia that requires the plan to be presented November 1st of every oddnumbered year to just give an update on um the extent we've met objectives from the previous two years. So that's what we're doing tonight. And there's a lot in our strategic plan. It's a
124very ambitious plan. So we are going to be um efficient with how we present to you tonight. So please stop us if you have questions as we go through. When our plan was developed back in 2122, we focused on four goal areas. And when I say we, it was really a it was a group effort. We had community members, board members, employees, students, um, business partners, and we worked an entire year to really get our focus for the plan. And so we came up with these four broad goal areas. So tonight, what we're going to do is we're going to take each goal and kind of go through and let you know what we've completed, what's still in progress, and for some of our goals, we have maybe some obstacles that we're facing with achieving
125some of those. and that's some uh some areas that the board might be able to help out in. So, we're going to first start with academic excellence and I'm going to turn that over to Miss Getats. Okay. So, what you're going to see um for each of our goals, you're going to see objectives and the objectives have a bunch of tasks. We are not going to review all the tasks. We will be here um all night if we do that. We are going to highlight some things and you're going to see some check marks. Those check marks mean that things have been completed and they're ongoing. So there's really nothing that's like complete, done, we don't ever touch it again. But we say it's completed. That is a task that we Yes, we've done and
126we are continuing to do. When you see the little arrow errors going around arrows, those are the tasks that are actually in progress, not completed at this point. Um, so we're just going to highlight a few as we go along. and on I would say um the uh collaborative data reviews that we do in each of the buildings. So quarterly um my team instructional team we go out we sit with principles and their teams and we review our benchmark data um and we talk about what's going well, what needs to be improved. Um, and we look at uh uh benchmark data, we look at discipline data, we look at attendance, and it's a good time to kind of for us to check the pulse on each building and to have conversations about what's working well
127and what needs to be improved. So, that's something I would like to highlight. Dr. Kramer also joins us um when he has time in his schedule. Um, something else that we've been really working on and we talked about tier one. We've talked we're really working on strengthening that tier one instruction. And so one of the things we noticed um in early um elementary is that we needed to do a better job with phonics. So we have actually put some additional uh supports in place for teachers to teach phonics skills. Um and that came as a result of some of the screeners that we do. So I'm going to move on to keep this going. >> Um the next one um one of the things I'd like to highlight is um creating expert teams to work
128on our benchmarks. um we've tried to really um align our benchmarks to the SOS so that we get good data to tell us how are we going to perform at the end of the year and so I think we're really proud of the assessments that we've worked with teachers um our coordinators to create those benchmarks I'm sorry >> Miss Katz >> oh y sir please stop me anytime >> so for the SOS you to prepare for this test you have to create your own questions that you think are going to be in the SOS. >> That is correct. There's the state doesn't give us anything. We have standards. We have to create benchmarks that align to those standards. So, yes, we have benchmarks throughout the year. >> And so, if you're um in eighth grade
129math, whether you're at Georgie Tyler or Smithville Middle School, you're taking the same benchmark. And then we use that data to tell us what are we doing well? Is one school doing better than another or is it a division issue or a celebration for the division and that helps us cater to what do we need to do for professional development to help our teachers which I just want to point out that really um highlights a lot of the work that our coordinators do at central office. They do a lot of that behind the-scenes work when it comes to creating those um benchmarks, assessing those benchmarks, looking at the data, and then reviewing that with the teachers to make sure that it is aligned with the state to help us better predict what our instruction needs
130to then be. >> And every time the standards change, we have to change our benchmarks. >> I guess I could see it both ways, but it would seem like such a smoother process if the DOE just gave you sample questions. >> It would be amazing. It doesn't happen though, but that would be amazing. Actually, every division would be very >> instead of having divisions across the state do the same work, you can have one organization. >> That is correct. >> Do it. >> Yes. >> What am I missing? Seems >> that what you said makes logical sense. Yes. But that is not the way it has existed for the last 30 years. >> Is Virginia unique in that? >> Um, >> is it done that way in Maryland? >> Well, go ahead. Yep. >> You're
131on spot, Doc. >> Well, I think she answered it well. It depends on who the state superintendent happens to be, who's on state boards. It varies. I mean, I've seen some releases where you can use old assessments to give you an indication, but then when the standards change, then all of that changes. So, I've seen a variety of different um options being presented. It it varies based upon who is in office, who is the state superintendent, um what are the what are the tests that are being um >> I guess the flip side of that is you can't be accused of teaching the test because you really don't know what the test is. You just know the standards. >> That is correct. >> Huh. >> Yeah. >> I just had an awakening. >> It's virtually
132impossible to teach the the test. But as you can as you can imagine though like if you don't you have a standard but you don't know exactly how that standard's going to be tested. And so it is difficult. It's very difficult. You have to make sure you're teaching whatever that standard is and what that verb is whether it's analyze or compare. You have to make sure as a teacher you're doing a really good job teaching it that way. Yeah. >> But you don't really know how it's being tested. >> Yes. So that's why teaching is so complex. That's why it's not just very simple. >> Yeah. But our coordinators, just to reiterate, they do a lot of that work. They're doing they're putting together the tests. Otherwise, that would be a huge burden for our
133teachers. So our coordinators do a lot of that work. They do a lot of going out to buildings, meeting with the teachers, getting their feedback on the test. It's a big part of their jobs. and then providing the professional development if we're not doing something well. >> Interesting. >> Yeah. Um something else. Um Oh, wait. Where we are? Next one. Yep. Oh, move on to the next one. Sorry. Um so, we are using a universal screener. We just talked about that. Um and with that, we also are creating student reading plans, and that's something Miss Kubrider talked about. So for children who are in that high-risk tier three category, they all get an individualized student reading plan that we follow and meet on throughout the year. Every child if you're in that high risk y
134um and then working with our families, family workshops. Um, if you have a child in elementary school, you've probably been invited out to the schools to attend some of the workshops of, you know, here are some reading strategies you can do at home or math manipulatives you can use. So, really trying to help partner with our parents um to support their children at home. Like I said, we must have the support of our parents. Um, and then last, I think this is my last Oh, maybe not. um we have been working to provide um AP teachers with training. So if you're a teacher who's going to teach advanced placement classes, you're going to go through training with the college board. Um and that's something we've uh I think we've done a really good job at
135making sure that that is in place. Um, AP teaching is very is a very particular kind of teaching and teachers need to be trained how to deliver that instruction and prepare those students for the AP test which is completely different Mr. Marsh from um an SO test. AP test very very different. >> Um, next one. >> Okay. >> Yep. And then um I would like to highlight that we've been working with Camp Community College and our high schools to evaluate and add additional dual enrollment in AP classes because our goal is we want to help kids start graduating with associates degrees. And we are really at that point now where students who come in, ninth graders in particular, if they want to get an associates degree, we are at the point where we can help
136them do that. Um, and so we are working with the counselors to make sure they have that information that they can share with students and parents. Um, I mean because what a great thing you can get two years under your belt of your basic classes. um graduate with your associates degree and then possibly only have two years to do at a at another university. Um so that is something we have not had a lot of kids graduate with an associates degree, but we are at a point now given where we are and our partnership with camp and what camp must now offer because of new legislation, we can help our students get an associate degree. So I'm very excited that should be happening in the near future. We've got one more. Okay. And then um
137just lastly um you know our counselors meeting with students annually to monitor their progress and build out their plan. Um and then partnering with um community stakeholders for work-based learning. And that's something that we have to continue to do. We have to look at what else can we do to add in real world experiences into our classrooms particularly CTE classes. Um, and so that is an ongoing process that we're constantly looking at. Who else can we have a partnership? I was actually on a call today and they mentioned another partner and I was like, the Norfick Naval Shipyard. I'm like absolutely I'd love to have a partnership with them. So, it's all it's ongoing. We never stop. We're always looking for new partnerships. And that concludes the academic excellence portion. If you have any questions,
138I can take those now. >> Okay. And you can, it's a lot of information. And you certainly can follow up with us afterwards. Yes, this is ongoing. Um so we have um our next goal is recruitment and retention. So we have our recruitment retention guru with us, M Sullivan. >> All right. Um so we wanted to take an opportunity to kind of highlight some of the things that we are doing and then also talk about some of the things we're most excited about in the um upcoming future. So in terms of recruitment and retention um we have done a lot of things around making some uh general practices more intentional within our division in terms of like participating in in and out of state career affairs. Um we kick off our first one at Longwind
139University at the end of this month. Um and just like we kick off the budget season for next year very early. We are also starting to recruit teachers for next year and hopefully even some for the second semester of this year in October. Um and so we'll be visiting many universities with that. We're also planning to host our own incounty job fair in March um here for people to come in um to take part in that. Um we also are really proud of the grow your own initiative. So we recognize that colleges are not producing the same number of traditionally prepared teachers to work inside of our classrooms. And so we're really proud of the work that we're doing around growing our own starting from the high school um teacher cadetses and little sprouts and
140then also leading into our grow your own partnership with ODU where our IAS were currently through grant work um supporting their education to become teachers and they're guaranteed to come back and teach in our classroom for at least three years. Um and so we're very excited about that. Um I think also another big important thing to highlight on the next slide um is the work that our coordinator of professional development has done specifically around mentoring our new teachers and preparing our teachers to our our veteran teachers to be mentors. Three years ago when I started in human resources we were sending all of our first year teachers out to William and Mary. We were paying for them to attend a um cohort through many rural school divisions because we didn't have a system of our
141own. But because of your all you all's support with the coordinator professional development, we've been able to move that inhouse, saving those funds that we normally would spend at William and Mary um and provide really great relationships and support for our new educators and our mentor teachers. Um and then lastly, I think if we can go I go back to the other one right there. Yeah. So, um one thing that we have ongoing right now that we're super excited about is our wellness initiatives. So last year we kicked off in the spring and then this is our second challenge um for our wellness program. So we have a step challenge, a walking challenge where any of our employees who want to participate um are able to count their steps. There's competitions within schools and then
142overall as a division. Um it's coming up next week. I think we have one more one more week of this challenge before it closes out. And then thanks to a grant through Anthem, we were able to purchase um a lot of really great prizes that also encourage additional wellness like walking pads, gym memberships at the Lutter YMCA that our teachers can win um through those challenges. And then we're also starting this year to focus on teacher mental health and or staff mental health and well-being. Um, we've been partnering with Western Tidewater where we're going to be offering four different sessions um about self-care, compassion, burnout, and mental health first aid for our educators um where they're able to receive professional development around those areas. And then lastly, I would like to share about the compensation
143study. Um this is an area that is both a great opportunity and then an upcoming um obstacle that we're going to have to tackle together. So the compensation study, um Mr. Vary and I have been working closely together on that and uh we've been working with MAG. We're in the initial phases of reviewing all of our job descriptions. Um and then soon we will be bringing you all a draft report of the recommendations for compensation um uh plans for the upcoming school year in hopes to ensure that we provide um you know uh competitive compensation for our positions. Um so we're super excited about that. Any questions? >> Kudos to you for leading the the way with the the physical fitness aspect of it. >> Yeah. >> You know, healthy staff lowers the health cost.
144>> Maybe you can get Dr. Coleman in there to put some army influence in. >> Oh, he's in this challenge. Don't you worry. We made sure he joined this time. >> Good on you. >> Yep. >> Number one. Yeah. We'll see. You're going to give us the results? I just want to see. >> Yeah. They sent them out in district news. So, um, but I'll make sure that they're forwarded to you all as well. >> There's a there's a lot of pressure to check your steps. So, I have to I was like, "Yes, I got my steps in today." Yes. Or making circles around my dining room table. >> Mr. Fight got to win. He doesn't ever stand still. >> So, so we have two more goals. Uh, we have organizational effectiveness and efficiency. And
145this is a lot of our operations. Uh you can see that there's a lot of focus on facilities, maintenance, technology. Uh I I will see say that a lot of the highlights you're going to see here with the goals and the strategies are focusing on having uh procedures in place, having standards, inventories, planning, which is which are all very important when you're talking about u organizational effectiveness. you've got to have those standards in place. And so you can see a lot of the things that are already complete revolve around having those standards, having that consistency throughout the department. Um I I will note with this particular goal and um the objectives in here, a lot of this is contingent upon funding. Uh it's it's very um commendable the number of things we've been able to
146accomplish but sometimes funding is a bit of a barrier not just in this goal but in our other goals as well. Uh you can see here with uh communicating operational information. We find that that's that's a big goal throughout all of our areas uh to make sure we are sharing such as tonight on how we are um incorporating and what our progress is on these different parts of our strategic plan. Go back one. >> Yeah, >> one more. >> Oh, one more. Yes, sir. >> Right there in the middle. The guide path to keep schools to remain at or below 75%. Kudos to you because that mirrors FBR. Yeah, that's all good stuff. >> Yes, sir. Thank you. Uh, so we can wrap up this one with the last objective, safety and security. very important
147part of this and we have a lot of training and protocols that are in progress right now. Uh so some things have occurred but there's still uh work to be done as you know from ongoing discussions with expanding uh weapons detection adding SSOs so still a lot of work to be done. Um I I will say that um once again cost escalation and material shortages do significantly impact the timelines of this particular goal uh and funding to accomplish these. So just to make you aware those are some um obstacles that are faced. And our final goal is family engagement. And it it's great that you got to hear about several family engagement items tonight. So, our family engagement, uh we have expanded communication. Uh we're always looking on additional ways to communicate with our families
148and developing more community partnerships such as the um the SEAK meeting that you saw, the SEAK event that you saw. We do have active partnerships with local businesses and industries including Bayport, Smiffle Foods. We had Smiffle Foods out at the Crunch today. Uh local hardware stores, restaurants, El Rodeo, women's clubs, and they not only support our students, uh they help assist with special projects, but they also offer staff incentives for some of the events and um celebrations that we have going across the division. So, it's a great partnership and we like to celebrate and recognize those um organizations when we can, those businesses. We've also seen a focus on student and family wellness. Just like our employee wellness, we want to focus on student and family wellness. We have um implemented things such as uh
149student health training. We have partnered with some organizations to provide mental health awareness training for staff. And uh that includes recognizing supporting youth with anxiety and depression and mental health first aid. And that allows our staff to support our students. We have school level engagement events such as English language learners. Um student and families have had nights and the SEAK one that I mentioned just a little bit ago. So very important to have that family school partnership and we are working to expand and grow what we currently have in place. Oops. And that is a 30,000 foot overview of our strategic plan. Those are the things in progress or complete and ongoing. As Miss Get said, there are still other things in our plan. I don't want you to think that everything is up here.
150So, there are still things that are kind of stuck that we're having to look at. Some of them, especially in operations, are stuck due to funding. I think Dr. Coleman would agree with that. Some we just can't get it all in at one time. So, some of it we're phasing in, but we will keep you updated and we're required to give you an update every two years, but certainly at any time if you have questions about it. You will notice just on our board agendas, every item on the board agenda, we mark what goal it's lined with or goals. So, that keeps our business focused that we do have our strategic plan and we have these goals which are driving the work of Alawite County Schools. But we're we're happy to take any questions you
151may have. >> I want to ask doctor as we jump head first into the oncoming budget season if there's specific items that are roadblocks due to funding that's keeping us from fulfilling our strategic plan. Let's just make note of that. uh you know maybe we can't deal with it but it's I think it's still important to specifically acknowledge that we can't do whatever the item is because of funding. In other words, we've set a strategic plan that we cannot achieve. So I think we need to know that it's like writing a policy that we can't fulfill. We we need to know if we're setting ourselves up for the oid do so to speak. >> We can do that. >> We certainly can. We'll make that happen. >> Absolutely. And I I think your point is
152well taken. This needs to be aligned with funding, right? Funding really talks about what your priorities are >> because if it's not in the budget, is it really a priority? So, thank you for that. >> We do keep a pretty good documentation of when the bus is clear at night. Um because what we understand that like you have buses on the road after 5:00. Um you know, the drivers are out there, transportation staff is still working. So, there is at least one staff member, at least one administrator still in the school waiting for that last bus to clear. they have the bus radio there next to them. So, we document all those clear times. Um, and that's part of what we do, too, to make ourselves more efficient. If we can knock a couple stops
153off of a route that's clearing at like 10 after 5 or 5:15, we can add it to a route that clears at like 4:40 or something like that. As long as the capacity allows us to do that, it really kind of helps us to balance that. Um, so some of the challenges, some of the uh adjustments, we're still overcoming some um some staff issues. Uh, we are hiring. uh we are adding folks and that's been very good, but we can't predict things that come up in people's lives. You know, medical situations, extended leave, uh that sort of thing has gotten us pretty good so far this year. But the good news is at least we have some uh we're hiring some subs, we're bringing some people in actively uh to join us. So certainly whenever
154somebody goes out, we actually have another option. Uh so it's really helping us out. It's making a difference. Um, so really just kind of speaking towards the continuous improvement. So it's always refining. We're always looking at what we have. So like every day is an assessment. Um, like I said at last meeting, we're not happy with uh some of the later route clear time, some of the long miles, some of the fuller buses. You know, we're all working towards the same goal of, you know, kind of evening them out. So it deals with staff. Um, and it also deals with the the buses themselves as well. and and we're all well aware of that conversation of the buses that we're uh that we have on order and the commitment with the county and everything. So,
155uh we appreciate you guys for helping us out with that part as well. Some other points uh and then I'll open up for any questions. Um so I know this time of the year one of the major topics is going to be like questions about bus stops, right? So I just kind of want to talk about some things. Um so board policy and state regulations. So we have to maximize efficiency and safety. So these things so there are some rules really kind of the way that we do things. We we develop stops and every year 90% of our stops probably stay the same. So we rely on precedent right so that bus stop that area stop has worked for years and you know you can remember that spot being there for the last 15 20
156years possibly. So it's going to continue next year. Um, so really whenever we look at that, we we do require the 0.2 uh mile distance walking. Um, I can tell you my own son, uh, he he's not very happy about it, but he walks on down the street to that bus. Um, because it's an area stop really. um looking at our times and considering everything. If we sent the bus down every side street in the county, um there are several dozen culde-sacs in this county and I hear from parents that want the bus to go down that street down there to pick it up, you know, and I sympathize with folks and I talk with them and I hear their reasons. Um, but ultimately a lot of it, you know, we have to deny these
157requests because we get into another situation where if I approve this request and then I approve this request, you know, people track the buses, they talk and they find out and then before you know it, we're having a conversation about maybe I'm showing favoritism or something like that. Um, so across the board, if we're going to maintain our time, conserve fuel, and we're going to um, you know, keep our operations consistent from year to year, um, that's why whenever we have to deny these requests, uh, sometimes you guys hear about them. Uh, so lastly, last month I spoke about my my view, uh, not the literacy program, my view, the bus tracker app. So that is ongoing here at Westside. It has started. It's been up for about a week and a half here. It's
158been successful. Um I know when I sent the information out to the principal, the principal related it to the parents. I had several questions from the get-go. So, we got folks started a few phone calls and we called it back and we walked through it. So, so far I haven't really heard anything uh this week especially. So, I believe that it's operating successfully. Um it does take work on my part to go in uh every night, every morning. I have to actually uh arrange the subs for the buses and so forth. So you have a route like currently at Westside uh bus five is broken down but the kids still ride bus five. So they're actually on a sub bus. So I have to go in I have to set that and make sure that
159that keeps up. Uh but so far it's been successful. And also I want to mention within a couple weeks we're going to have a state audit um by VOE from the pupil transportation department. So they're going to come down and pay us a visit. Um nothing bad really. It's actually a way that I kind of look at it to kind of show off all the good things we're doing. Uh, and really they're kind of monitoring for compliance. Uh, like we heard earlier in the schoolboard meeting about the regulations, the state codes we follow, all that stuff. Uh, so currently I'm working to gather all those things. Um, I was telling Dr. Coleman about it today. It's kind of like a scavenger hunt. So I have a list. I have to go through and I have
160to find all these things. We have them and we do them and they are there, but really they just kind of want it all to be there uh to be pulled together for whenever they come down. >> Mr. Fact, what are they looking for? What are they what's the audit focus on? Yeah. So, there are uh dozens of state regulations that's on the web page. So, it will be stuff like the school safety transportation plan. It will be uh some personnel documents. So, there's a character statement the drivers have to have. Um even like our routing, like we're required by state code to have routes and to have pickup times and to document our miles and all that stuff. We do that without thinking about it. It's like a teacher writing a lesson plan. It's
161so it's so obvious that it happens. So, uh yeah, all sorts of stuff. We just have to prove that we have that and and um really it's a good way to kind of for them to evaluate us too just to make sure we're doing everything the way that it should be done. Um and I can tell y'all whenever I came in this position two years ago, there is no um owner's manual for being a transportation director really. like it's like one of those like you talk to people, you network, you hear from how they did it a couple years ago, you piece it together and you try to figure it out. Um, so this will be a good opportunity for me to kind of get some firsthand information. >> So, are you going to craft
162an owner's manual so that when Mr. Fe retires? >> So, this uh this old brain of mine is adding to it every single day. Um, maybe whenever I retire, I'll I'll do some memoirs or something like that. I can put it all down. Good luck. Wish you well, sir. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Yeah, I I'll throw this out there. Anybody who's watched the news knows that one of our neighboring school divisions had a big issue. That's right. Um, speaking about this with my wife last night, what's the what's the process if bus driver, Mr. Mrs. bus drivers rolling down the road and a fight breaks out? What's that look like from a bus driver's perspective? So, you look at CDL training, you look at school personnel, supervising staff. So, the first
163thing, if I'm driving a school bus down the road and a fight breaks out, you have to um you would need to try to find a safe place to pull the bus over. Now, picture yourself driving a school bus around this county. You're going 55 miles an hour down the bypass or something like that. Is there a place to pull over right when that breaks out? There might be. There might not be. If I come up on the Cypress Creek flyover, maybe I could like pull over there or something like that. So really, you want to get the bus stopped and address the situation. Uh I tell drivers all the time, your greatest tool that you have is your voice, right? So just like we train teachers and school staff, if something happens in the
164hallway, a fight in the hallway, a fist fight on the school bus, use your voice to the best that you can. Of course, you're you're still trying to drive the bus. You're responsible for the safety of the vehicle. You're driving a, you know, a nine- ton vehicle down the road. But use your voice. Stop fighting. I need you to sit down. you know, so and so move up here to the front, you know, something like that. Now, I know that's, you know, using your voice and they're fighting in the back or something like that. Something like that's happening. I know um that might not necessarily be effective, but really protocol is pull the bus over, pull the brake, put the parking brake on, go back and see what's happening, and then address it. And then
165if it's something that needs to be escalated, our drivers are trained to reach out to us immediately. Um they might radio, no details over the radio, but you know, transportation, I have an issue, please call me. Uh we tell them pick up their cell phone and call me. Usually they'll call our technician. Um we're on very high alert. We know our buses are running around the county if we get a call from a driver that I know that person's driving right now. We always take that because we know it could be an emergency. Um and really we kind of take it from that point and respond after it's reported to us. >> Thank you. I think we're good. Appreciate you, sir. >> Thank you, Mr. Fight. All right. Next, we want to talk about Carlton
166HVAC. We already know that project is coming to a close at this time. Uh just to give you a couple of updates. Uh at the beginning, as soon as the project came to a close, there was a lot of fluctuations in the HVAC temperature at Carlton. A lot of the teachers felt that fluctuation, sometimes even feeling like there wasn't even a new system installed. Uh Dr. Kramer had the pleasure of going over to Carolton and finding out that directly from the teachers about the filling of the HVAC system. Since then, uh we've had a couple of things to transpire. Uh of course, the tabs completion that it is completion of the balancing has happened. Now, the commissioning schedule is a little bit behind schedule. I have on October 8th. They're still working with that today
167and we'll be working with that tomorrow. Commissioning schedule is turning the system over to the school. So we will take control of the system after that. So there's a couple of more issues before that. Uh for the classroom comfort in itself, uh we went from maybe uh 10 classes to 15 classes a day. Now we're down to one classroom if not uh zero classes any day. Mr. Brennan has been uh very vocal with communication and letting us know exactly what classrooms at what times. So now we're down to zero some days and maybe one some days. So we're trying to make sure that we um make sure that problem goes away. Um and just in the end the remaining architectural punch list, those are little items, ceiling items, door items around the HVAC systems in
168a class, things of that nature that still needs to be patched. But those uh vendors that we're working through. So that is a summary of the Carolton HVAC project at this time. >> Says up there that they will be completed the fourth and the fifth. So they're done. >> They architect punish does say that. And um this was put together two weeks prior. Okay. >> This meeting. So, but um overall it's still going on. Still going on and through if they come back uh if the vendors come back and try to fix something and break something else, the punch list will continue to go on until we say it's over. >> So, when it's done, >> and I know you're not done, are we still going to have an overage excess revenues left over? If
169everything continues to go in the the flow that is >> Don't jinx it now. I just want to know if we're still projected to have a surplus left over. >> At this time, we're still projected to be under the projected amount. >> Good. I'm sure that would be welcome news for a lot of people. >> May I just get some clarification? Dr. Cohen is using very technical terms here. The tabs completion. So, one of the concerns was the the not the gauge, but um the settings was an issue. Correct. Yes, sir. And that was causing some of the fluctuation. >> It was the airflow balance, right? Yes, sir. >> It was the uh airflow balance in the system and we had to bring in an additional company in order to level that off. >> So,
170it wasn't the the infrastructure itself or the installation. It was just the settings, the >> Yes. It was not the infrastructure, it was not the equipment, it was the um the leveling of the equipment, making sure that everything is talking to each other. >> And much of that has been mitigated. >> Uh yes, sir. >> Because as he said in one of my visits there, the teachers certainly informed me of what those concerns were. So, it's good to hear that we've uh we've rectified some of those. >> Absolutely. and we'll continue to track that issue to make sure that we're getting everything that we paid for. >> That's good to hear. >> All right, Mr. U Cooper. Uh David Ellie, could you I want to start off this section. >> Hello to Westside. Go right
171ahead. Johnson, the principal here at Westside Elementary School. I just want to take you through Westside, kind of highlight some areas of concerns that we're having for Westside and and why Westside should be a consideration for a new school building soon. All right, this is one of our areas of concern is with one of our hightra hallways that takes us from the front office to other areas of the building. And as you can see, when it rains at Westside, this is what a lot of our hallways actually look like. We have to put a lot of caution signs, a lot of buckets to collect water. and it really becomes a hazard for students and teachers and staff as they are maneuvering around our building. It's a big safety concern here west side. Another thing, as
172you can see, is that our ceiling tiles constantly are being damaged. We constantly have to replace them on there. Even our paneling along the sides keep peeling off and we have to constantly glue them on. Our tiles are always coming up and resurfacing and having to put more down on there. So, it's a constant investment that we're having to put into Westside to keep it looking good. One area of concern is our restrooms at Westside. They're very outdated. As you can see, we have invested money into trying to update them a little bit, but there's a lot of plumbing concerns. A lot of times we have to close urinals or toilets because they just don't flush or a lot of things will leak. And a lot of times when you stand in here, you can
173just smell the smell of a bathroom. The urine is just stuck in here that we cannot seem to get rid of it. As you can see, this is one of our restrooms. We do have it closed out of order that we have made marked it to be unsafe at the time due to water just constantly coming down inside the bathroom. And a result, these students now are having to travel a far distance to be able to get to another restroom, which is now impacting the learning that they are earning that day. As you can see behind me, we have a lot of peeling of the paint that constantly occurs here at Westside. Not just only here in the gymnasium, but throughout our building. A lot of it sometimes just because of the age of the
174building. Sometimes it's because of water damage that happens. Oftent times this space right here and other areas within our building are actually rented out through our community and so our community uses this space and this is you know the representation that we are sharing with our community about county schools in Westside. As you can see some of our issues here at Westside are not just in the hallways. It also trickles into a lot of our classrooms. As you can see in one of our classrooms right here, when it does rain, we have a lot of water and it hasn't rained for days and we even still have water that's dripping out of there. And even some of our classrooms have to now just put rugs over our tiles. That's not costefficient anymore for us. So,
175a lot of our tiles are actually just buckling up and boying up on there and we just now just kind of cover them up. When this does happen in the classroom, it quitly disrupts the learning that takes place. A lot of times students sometimes have water that may drip on them. We sometimes have to rearrange the classroom to be able to get around that space. If it gets so bad, even sometimes we even have to move classes somewhere else within our building for that day. Our classrooms are very full already to capacity. And so taking a classroom and moving into another classroom may be available sometimes even a smaller room. And so that makes even more of a challenge. As you can see in the classrooms, they're so tight that there's no room for students
176to put their supplies, their backpacks. They're oftentimes having to stack them on the side, which becomes a safety concern when people are trying to move around the classroom as well in the building. So, as you can see, there are a lot of immediate pressing concerns here at Westside from the water that's constantly leaking our roof. It's a lot of health and safety issues. We do our best here at Westside to mask these issues, but they're going to be a constant that's always going to happen and reoccur that we need to take immediate action now and address it and move forward with a new Westside. >> All right. And just a quick overview for those individuals who didn't know the history of Westside. Uh Westside story begins in 1928 when the original Alawite training school opened
177as a eight room brick school roughly 7 acres. Um it was an additional campus. Additions were put on added on in 1941. 1945 and then of course in 1960 the school was renamed Westside High School. 1969 there was other additions added and then of course 2005 the following was opening at the Smith of Smithville Middle School the campus was redesated as Westside Elementary School serving grades four through six. Um staying in all this to say that the school is now close to 100 years old. So what have we been uh doing in the last two to three years? Just tracking some of the expenses and different things that we have repaired. Uh sewer lines from uh from the back of the school to the front of the school. And I can talk talk about that
178in a second. Cafeteria HVAC systems have went out. These uh come to maybe $8,000 every single time this happens. Chill and boiler rooms have um have been redone, revamped. uh $40,000 um every single time that occurs. There was a drainage project that had to be performed on the back side of the school. That was $52,000 for that. Um overall, the cafeteria repair to get the cafeteria to the standard that it is right now, $70,000 in repairs. Um the stem lab chiller failed, gym HVAC uh unit failed, boiler rooms, uh and of course once again the roof which was uh 1.7 million to repair a couple of years ago now has increased drastically to maybe 4.5 to 4.8 uh million at this time. uh plumbing issues and overall I wanted to make sure that I emphasize
179to the public was the sewer line once again that runs from one side of the school to the other side of the school. We've had two incidents and uh well that sewer line made with terracotta pipe had burst and we had to actually go through the ground to get it maybe 10 feet down in order to repair that pipe. And in the process of repairing that pipe, we found that that pipe could if it uh it runs from one side of the school to the other side of school, if that pipe should burst under one of the floors, under one of the hallways, under one of the classrooms as it lead to the other part of the school, we will literally have to shut the school down in order to repair that and then really
180work with Department of Health based off of what we're doing with um the sewer and different things of that nature. Um, I have everything documented for the sewer pipe repairs and everything else that you would need. But I just wanted to make sure that we touch bases on the history of the school and what the county what the division has been doing for the past two or three years to keep the school going. Lastly, just wanted to show this one picture and I believe that Miss Gats had touched on this and of course Mr. Johnson had touched on this also. Um it's the size of the classrooms. Um now the top photo shows, you know, of course what we want uh in every school. The top picture is Hardy. That's Hardy Elementary. This is the
181classroom. As you can see the distance in the class as you can see the desk. And if you look down at the bottom picture, that is Westside. It's the same exact desk. It's the same exact um um furniture that we're using in this process, but they can't be assembled the same. So when you can in the top picture with Hardy where you're using a lot of collaborative work, you just cannot do that at Westside. The teacher at Westside is doing a fantabulous job and uh continuing to working for it. But overall um just wanted you to see the difference in the classrooms. Of course, in this particular one, the lights are out, but I can assure you that the lights are fluorescent and the lights in the top are LEDs, which makes a gigantic difference.
182So, this will give the public and yourselves uh a very good snapshot of the difference between the two schools. All right. Any questions concerning that? I don't have any questions, but you know, we saw this on Tuesday in a joint work session with the board of supervisors, but we can do better. It's long past you. We can do better. It's embarrassing really. >> If I may, Mr. Chair, I totally agree with you. I think we all agree that obviously something has to be done. I think one of our major challenges, a dilemma is even if we were to approve a school tonight, it's going to take three years at least at the minimum. >> Some of these things uh principal Johnson stated as as well, they are urgent and we can't wait. Um so our
183challenge is what are some of these non-negotiables that have to be uh rectified immediately? the roof. Uh $4.5 million. 4 point I forget the exact number, but over $4 million. We're gonna have to figure out. I mean, students are going to be here. Staff will be here for another three years. Uh the restrooms, we're going to have to make some some upgrades there. So, there are some things that we are going to have to prioritize prior to uh this building receiving a new school, prior to the staff and students receiving a new school. So, that's our challenge. That's my challenge. That's the operations department's challenge. and um we will be coming back to you to talk about ways that we will need to uh address some of these concerns immediately or are in the very
184foreseeable future at least. >> Yeah, I think uh wintertime is here. It's knocking on our door. It's the rainy season. So, what are we going to do? I I obviously we don't have the time or the budget to fix that roof today. >> The water's coming. So what do we do in the interim? >> What's the options? I >> I think we'll come back to you with some Dr. Coleman and I have been in discussion and he's been having discussions with his team. I think we're looking at uh what we need to do and figuring out a way you know cost is an issue as well obviously right $4.5 million is not just sitting around. So how do you how do we do that? And again I think uh Dr. Coleman and your team, we
185will need to come back to you, the board, to the staff, to the administration, to the parents, and share with them what some of our mit mitigation strategies need to be. U again, immediately as we move forward, this is I think we all agree it's unacceptable. >> Yeah. Okay. We look forward to it. I think time is of the essence. Dare I say mold, but I can't believe there hasn't been a mold issue identified. There's been some uh air quality tests performed at the school, >> I would imagine. So, yeah. >> Okay. Anybody else? >> Thanks. Appreciate it. Let's uh take a quick five minutes. [Music] All right, we're back in session. >> Where are we at? Dr. Kramer. >> Yes, sir. Mr. Chair, am I queued up? Mr. Elliott, Mr. Mr. Cooprider. Very good.
186There we go, sir. All right. I'm going to get through this. It is 9:08 and my computer is dying. So, let me do this quickly. All right. So, thank you, Mr. Chair, and good evening, everyone. Let's start with the Isisle of White Fair. Interestingly, I think the Thursday we were here before the fair was going to be the next day. So, let's start with the fair. So on September 12th, all of our Isa White school's preschool and first grade students took part in one of our favorite annual traditions, a field trip to the Isisle of White County Fair. As you see the beautiful photos there, students had the chance to see and pet animals from the Isisle of White County School's agricultural land lab. Learn about livestock, farming, peanuts, and cotton. Enjoy performances by the
187Smithfield High and Windsor High School marching bands. Experiences like these are invaluable, and many of our students, this is their first time seeing farm animals up close or discovering where food and fibers come from. Opportunities like this expand their understanding of the world, make learning real, enjoyable, and increase their chances for success both in our classrooms and outside of our classrooms. A huge thank you to the Isa White County Fair for partnering with our school division to make this special day possible. So, thank you all. Next, we have the Opera Comes to Westside. Actually, it occurred here as you see the photos there. On September 18th, Westside Elementary sixth grade chorus and band students enjoyed a very special visit from members of opera in Williamsburg. International performers from the United States, Russia, and Puerto Rico,
188performed selections from famous operas, shared insights into opera history and culture, and spoke with students about their own journeys as professional musicians. We extend a huge thank you to Opera in Williamsburg for bringing this world-class music experience to our students. And next, we have Hardy Fitness Night. On September 23rd, Hardy Elementary kicked off the first of three family engagement nights this school year with their fall into fitness night, an evening full of movement, fun, and healthy living for students, families, and the community. Thanks to a generous grant from Smithfield, Virginia event, Hardy's PTA brought together local partners like the Lutter Family YMCA, Smithfield Fit Body Boot Camp, the Southside Ballet Studio to host the activity stations that got everyone moving. Students were also excited to see some familiar faces leading the fun, including Deputy Reed,
189uh, one of our SRO's, Mrs. Warl, a fourth grade teacher, and Coach Vic uh from the PE department. A huge thank you to Hardy's amazing teachers and staff who volunteered and to Smithville High School JV and varsity cheerleaders who brought incredible spirit and kept students motivated all night long. So, great job, Hardy. Next, we had a visit from our governor, the honorable governor Glenn Ynan, who visited our IMTA, Iowa Maritime Trades Academy, which was held at Smith at the Smithfield Center. So, on Wednesday, September 24th, we were honored to welcome uh Governor Yncan to Smithfield where he joined us in celebrating the launch of our new Isle Maritime Trades Academy, IMTA. Uh it's a it's a maritime trades academy lab school. I think we have one of approximately 15 in the state. Um and we
190are operating the lab school maritime trades academy in partnership with Isle with u Paul Damp Community College Huntington Newport News Shipyard and Old Dominion University. IMTA's first class of uh students is already on deck, pursuing high school diplomas and college industry credentials in areas like maritime welding and electrical trades, blending traditional academics with real world skills. I'm proud to say that these students will also leave with an associates degree as we discussed earlier. So you see some of the photos there uh with Governor Ynan and bottom right there with uh our board members. A few of the board members weren't available that day, but it was a wonderful experience and our students were just uh in awe of having our governor there and each one had a chance to meet him and he was extremely
191gracious with his time uh taking photos, shaking hands. So, it was a great day for our community. Next, we have uh the student advisory board meeting. All right, we have two students over there who were there. Did some great work. got a chance to really know one another that day, right guys? Uh it was a pleasure meeting and working with the new 202526 superintendent student advisory board members including our two student board liaison uh Miss Cameron Kicks and Mr. Cole Mumford. Uh this is again another very talented group of students who have volunteered to provide their thoughts and recommendations on ways to improve our schools. So about 20 uh young people in total from all of our secondary schools um and the sixth graders here from Westside. So we talk about serious issues. I have
192the same discussions with our students that I have with our staff and with our parents. So uh we broke into groups and they've already begun giving uh recommendations and uh we have I think our next meeting is sometime in November. So um thoughts real quick? any Cameron? >> Um I I thought it was a good opportunity. Thank you so much, Dr. Kramer, for inviting me. Yes, >> I wanted to thank you uh Dr. Kramer and I think we should have more. Honestly, I I had an amazing time. Alvin was a great great a great addition. >> All right, that's a little inside joke. We'll keep that. We'll we'll share that one later. Yes, it was great. Uh I I'm very appreciative of that and I think we should have more. Yes, sir. Thank you. It
193>> it was great to have you all and again your recommendations are going to be very helpful. It really speaks uh to a point you made earlier, Chair Marshian, and that is, you know, what are the needs? And as we look at what the recommendations are, as we address some of the needs, making certain that those priorities are aligned with a budgetary um u concerns and and ensuring that those things are codified in our budget. So, um I look forward to sharing with you. And now that I have two advisory members here, uh we will be updating you with some of those major recommendations as it pertains to uh the budget coming coming forward pretty soon. So, thank you both. Now, both of you go home and get your homework done and we'll we'll see
194you next month. Uh winter high homecoming, uh Cole certainly mentioned this. Uh it was a pleasure participating for me in the winter high homecoming parade with students and staff and thank you all who participated. Congratulations again to uh the football team there at Windsor. The Dukes varsity football team is now five and one. I I absolutely round of applause to our Dukes. We are so proud of you young men and uh the whole school. So great job uh Windsor and again we will have some fun tomorrow with you see uh photos there with the homecoming um court and bottom right Mr. Johnson and others there Natalie attired in their king and queen outfit. So uh a great time all. Yes sir. So, I if I heard correctly, that was the first homecoming game that Windsor
195High School had won in 14 years. >> I Is that true? I don't know. Um, Miss Sullivan, >> it was a big deal. >> Miss Sullivan, you're the principal there. Miss Sullivan, I'm talking to you. >> Did we ever win a homecoming game when you were principal? >> Probably not. >> All right, Miss US. >> Well, Susan It was a huge accomplishment. Absolutely. >> And I got to tell you, I went to a couple games last year. I'm not a big football fan, but I went. >> The stadium was packed. The space between the track and the stadium was elbowto elbow. And I give nothing but kudos to Principal Carroll and Coach Gatis. They were on spot. They were law enforcement. Teachers were walking and keeping everybody squared away. It was uh well well orchestrated.
196So kudos to them. >> Great job. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. So again, credit to Mrs. Carol and her staff and the athletic department. They're doing a great job over there. And kudos to the students. Um and when you win athletics, especially uh some of the major sports, it just changes the vibe of not just the school, but the entire community. So I think that's what's happening there. Um and I'll certainly end um with the next two. The National Night Out, it was a pleasure to attend both. National Night Out Events for the Sheriff's Department and Smithfield the Smithfield Police Department. Thank you Chief Howell and the Smithfield Police Department for allowing our Isawite schools and our Isawite community the opportunity to come out and promote police community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie. Uh
197it was a great event and thank you to the awesome Isa White SRO's for all that you do in our schools and community. It was great having you all support our students and community at the sheriff's department's national night out event in Carolton as well. Uh we appreciate all that you do. And you see uh bottom second from the right there, Mr. Elliot and his beautiful daughter. So uh great night out. So once we left the um joint board meeting, I had a chance to actually step in and and attend both uh for for a little while. So, uh, we have a great community and I think that that is reflective of the community we have. We're very fortunate to live in a community where people come out and support our schools and support, uh,
198our organizations and one another. So, again, great great event. Uh, the Rise Award nominee. Congratulations to Mrs. Karen Richards at Carsville Elementary on being selected as the IWCS 2025 Rise Award nominee. The recognizing inspirational school employee rise award honors and promotes classified school employees who provide exemplary service to the students community and culture of Isawite County schools and we're very proud of you Mrs. Richards and she will go on Mrs. Briggs and represent us at the state level. Correct. So and you will see her hopefully next month as you the board get a chance to um celebrate and recognize her as well. So we had a great event uh letting her know and surprising her uh earlier this week. So that was a wonderful opportunity for for us all. And last I will end with
199uh an event all of us had a chance to attend today. All five board members were there. The crunch herd round the Commonwealth. And I know people are saying um why is he saying round? It's yes it's not around. Crunch herd round the Commonwealth. Um, and the crunch crunch herd around the Commonwealth uh was held at the agricultural land lab today and the IWCS students and staff were joined by state and local officials. The crunch featured participants taking a bite out of a Virginia grown apple to raise awareness related to the value of connecting students with local food. The Culinary Arts students prepared a delicious lunch and the Future Farmers of America FFA chapter assisted with tours uh for our guest. Thank you, Chef Horn and Chef Hagen. And thank you, Mr. Judkins and Mr.
200Brittle. And certainly thank you to Principal Dr. Wilkins and the wonderful students and staff from Windsor Elementary. Uh a wonderful event and you see us all there uh in front of the barn. Uh great day, great event. So again, thank you uh all who took part in that. And that concludes my superintendent's update, Mr. Chair. >> Thanks, Doc. Thank you very much. >> All right, we're moving right along here. 18.1 action item, personnel report and addendum. >> Mr. Chair, I move to approve the personnel report and addendum as presented, a copy of which can be obtained from the school board clerk. >> Second. >> Motion and second. Any discussion? Hearing none. Madam clerk, >> Mr. Collic, >> yes. >> Mr. Cunningham, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perkins, >> yes. >> Mr. Worster, >> yes. >> And
201Mr. Marsh, >> yes. Motion passes. Next action is 18.2. >> Mr. Chair, I move to approve the superintendent's recommendation related to an employees leave request in leave request matter 2025-10. >> Second. >> Motion and second. Any discussion? Hearing none. Madame Clerk, >> Mr. Collic, >> yes. >> Mr. Cunningham, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perkins, >> yes. >> Mr. Worster, >> yes. >> And Mr. Marsh, >> yes. Motion passes. And 18.3, Sir, >> Mr. Chair, I move to release the student in student matter CAe-1026 from compulsory attendance for the 2025 2026 school year in accordance with policy JEG. >> Second. >> Motion. Second. Any discussion hearing? None. Madam clerk, >> Mr. Collic, >> yes. >> Mr. Cunningham, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perkins, >> yes. >> Mr. Worster, >> yes. >> And Mr. Marsh, >> yes. Motion passes.
202>> And the consent agenda 19.1. >> Mr. Chair, I move to approve the consent agenda as attached and presented. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Any comments? Let me I would like to rattle off the donation memo memo. I think that's always appropriate. Uh thank you to the William M. Cage Library Trust for donating $500 to the Carolton Library. Uh thank you to the Windsor Baptist Church for donating school supplies to Windsor Elementary. And at Windsor High School, thank you to Adam and Christy Bryant, DB3 Incorporated, Jimmy Drew Holt on behalf of MEB, who I believe also did the basketball court down in Carsville last year. >> Yes, they did. >> Um, Gaston Pre Educational Foundation for the Principal General Fund. Uh, thank you and much appreciation to all of our
203donors. Madame Clerk, >> Mr. Collic, >> yes. >> Mr. Cunningham, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perkins, >> yes. >> Mr. Worster, >> yes. >> And Mr. Marsh, >> yes. Motion passes. 20.1 is anformational regulations and exhibits. Any comments, questions on any of the regs? >> No. >> I'll just say uh kudos to Mrs. Briggs and all the staff for updating all those. There's a lot of work there. Okay, let's move right along to 20.2 policies for first read. Let's see. What's the board's pleasure? You guys want to go through these one at a time? I suspect there'll be a little discussion on some of them. >> The first read >> first read. I I would >> No. >> Okay. Any comments on any of them? >> No. Okay. Well, I got a few comments on KK.
204Um, I know you guys vetted that through the policy committee. I think that was Mr. Collic, Mr. Worooster. Um, I really I don't know where we're at with that. I've got the same objections to it this month as I did last month. Um, I I cannot support those changes. Um, I don't see how in any way, shape, or form it's appropriate for a board member to be able to circumvent safety protocols. >> Yeah. And we're actually uh M. Mr. Worster and I were talking about that earlier today and it's in a first read right now. Um, there is a paragraph there. It says each board member shall have access via the ID badge. You know, I I personally don't support that. Okay. What I would support is each board member shall have access to the
205main doors via their ID badge. Okay. Basically the same thing we're doing it right now. >> So no change from the existing policy. >> Uh I think there's a few subtle changes in there but u as how how we do things. No nothing spectacular. >> Okay. There there are there are a few subtle changes. Off top of my head. I can't tell you what they are. Um, I I think in here, you know, we we put that we're going to notify we shall notify the superintendent. We sh, you know, we will we shall go and let the principal know that we're there. Okay. So, I I think it may tighten it up a little bit. I don't think once we fix that paragraph, it definitely does not loosen the current paragraph or the current um
206policy. >> Okay. >> I think it actually tightens it up a little bit. But we're, you know, between now and second read, we're we're going to tighten that paragraph up a bit more so it better reflects what we are currently doing right now. Uh is what I support. >> So what's on first read now, just to be clear, will not be what? >> No, there'll be there'll be a slight change and it will basically say we're going to use the front door. We're not going to have access to all the doors. Um that that's the bottom line and I think that's the thing that most people are opposed to. >> Miss Conne. >> Uh Mr. Chair, since uh additional changes are going to be made to this document, I recommend uh we do not use
207this as the first read tonight. In November, we look at whatever the changes are made that becomes the first read because if this would be the second read, which if we go with what we have now, then we have to vote on it in November. That's all I have. >> Yeah. I think it's fair to the public that whatever we're going to put up for a second read has been vetted at least once. >> Yes. Well, we can we can if if you like we can chat take a few minutes and chat about it right now. That's the you know that would be the only change that you know off top of my head that I'm looking at that I would make and that was seemed to be the have the biggest contention um by
208by everyone and I I understand that completely and so that would be the piece that I would want to change. Um or we keep the current policy in place. it for me it's six of one half dozen the other at this point I don't want to I don't want to belabor it by going on you know for six months on one policy and if I could interject I I would respectfully ask that if you're going to make substantial content changes um to bring it in November as a first read as Mr. Cunningham said for the very reason it was brought as first read tonight and some of these others that had substantial changes came back as first read. It gives the public a chance to come out for first read and give you feedback versus
209coming out at second read to give you feedback when you are voting on it. >> Oh, I I don't disagree with that at all. Um would you say that that one change would be substantial? >> Yes. >> Okay. Okay. Me personally, I don't think this is anything, especially with the hour of the night that we're going to be discussing tonight um where we can make any forward momentum. Uh my recommendation is to pull pull policy KK from the first read and table it for further revisions. >> Yeah, we can do that. >> Okay, >> for sure. >> And we'll revisit it at a later date. The first read. Uh, one of the things I've I've been kind of mulling over in my head, and I don't know where I know this was this was a
210big deal for you, Mr. Worster. Sounds like maybe we've backed off a little bit. I I don't know. I've I've entertained the idea of surveying the community on some feedback on this. Um, but if you guys are talking about pulling it back, I think to Mr. Colock's point, the point of contention is access to all the doors without going through the check-in procedures. So, if if we've backed away from that, I don't see a whole lot of need for a survey. But if we're still heading in that direction, then I would suggest that we ask superintendent to survey the community for some inputs. I I I haven't up until this point, I haven't heard a single person say that this is a good idea for an array of reasons. Um, >> and I've had the
211same thing. Um, I've had one person say it's a good idea out of the county and pretty much everyone else their sole contention was, you know, um, basically having access through all the doors. Actually, the initial portion of this was not for access to every single door, but access to the buildings. So, with that being said, I'm not concerned about having access to back doors or front doors, just access to the building, >> right? >> Which we have today with the standing policy. The wording on it just needs to be tweaked a little bit. I if you want I can put that into a motion. What I just mentioned before is the recommendation. >> I I I don't think it's necessary to put it in a motion unless that's what the will of the board
212is. I think if you want to table it and kind of rework it. >> That would be my recommendation. >> We everybody amicable with that? >> Okay, then let's do that for the sake of time. It's late. Can I just clarify just I'm just curious who who will be um submitting the changes. I just want to make sure it's not something I'm am I working on that is that something coming from Mr. Worster, Mr. Kh? >> Personally, what I would I would like to see is the each member of the review committee put our heads together and you are more than welcome to be part of it. Not excluding anybody. >> Okay. I wasn't myself, but that's okay. >> Don't take it that way. No. Welcome to the party. I just uh I just >>
213How about this? How about >> somebody put out there so it didn't get dropped. I didn't want to drop a ball there. >> Let's let's kind of because you guys vetted it through the the committee, right? So, let's let's follow the procedures we have in our bylaws. You guys rework it however you want and then bounce a copy out and give everybody a chance to look at it in accordance with the bylaws and we'll just go from there. >> That works. >> Yeah. Are we good with that? Okay. Excellent. Okay. Anything else on first read? I I had one I would like to talk about EBA and I think I think that that one also was vetted through policy committee. Uh, Eeba. >> EBBA, I believe. >> What did I say? >> Something other than
214that. >> Sorry, >> it's late. >> It is late. >> Yes, it's um >> Yes, >> it's the one about certified first aid personnel. >> Yeah. So you you folks you I believe it was it went through committee, correct? >> Yes. >> So when when it got put up on first read, I read through it and I came up with a list of questions and I sent it back to uh every every time I do a gender review, I'll come up with a list of questions and policy is always one of them. I sent a handful of questions back to Dr. Kramer and Mrs. Briggs and I think these ultimately ended up back to nurse Abby. I don't know that she'd had a chop on it or not. In my mind, she's she's the one
215who's going to have to make sure that this is implemented. I asked her uh the details of the number of persons that were going to be required to be certified on CPR based on occupancies of students and staff. So, that's one of the changes was 1% of the total student staff population. How does that compare to what we have today? What's the delta there? I asked for a little bit of clarification between what trained and certified means. What's the difference? Like I I just generally did not know. Um I asked if it was achievable or realistic and who or what organization is responsible for training or certifying. Uh and then I asked for a justification or reasoning for the change. Um, I understand certified means that you know what CPR looks like and certified means
216you've taken a formal course, demonstrated your skills, skills, passed requirements, and you hold some sort of a documentation. I think that's in accordance with the heart association >> or red cross >> red cross American heart ashy. Um, I I think if I'm understanding the the the feedback from nurse Abby is that mandating coaches be CPR is an unreal unreasonable expectation. And and I say that because mandating a coach to be CPR certified. These these folks are not necessarily full-time employees. Most of them are volunteering to do this. They get some sort of a stipen, right? Um I would I would assume that many of these people may or may not really want to do it or they don't have the time to do it. >> So that mandating them to get some sort of a
217certification may or may not be the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. I I I would hate that this would push those people away from being a coach to any of our teams. Um, I would recommend that instead of mandating them the coaches be certified, but stating in there that we offer and encourage that training for the coaches. In other words, I don't want to force them to do something and and send them away. Um >> uh I would have to differ with you on that one because looking at this when you're looking at nurses, athletic trainers, coaches, you know, these are generally depending on the situation. They're going to be the first line intervention should you know, heaven forbid that you know there's a cardiac arrest, CPR is needed. I I
218do believe it should be certified in BLS CPR. I guess we'll just respectfully disagree with one another. I I don't know. I have to go off what the experts feedback is and maybe Mrs. Briggs can help me speak through this a little bit better, but I understand that uh your athletic trainers are already CPR certified. >> Yes, sir. >> Um Project Atom team members are already certified. >> Yes, sir. >> School nurses are already certified. >> Yes, sir. >> And we're we are in compliance with state requirements today law. And I'm not saying we can't go above and beyond law. I I'm often an advocate of that. But if it's an unreal unrealistic expectation and we pass a policy like that, um as soon as it's passed, we're we're not in compliance. So perhaps the
219way forward is to if that's really if that's the direction that you want to go, perhaps you put a suspense date. Perhaps by September of 2026, this this will be the case. But if you just pass it and make it a requirement, you're not in compliance immediately. Um, what am I missing, Miss Briggs? I'm I'm tired. I know we spoke about this a little bit. >> Yeah. Um, so Mr. Marsh referenced Project ADOM, which uh certifies us as being hearts safe schools, and five of our schools right now are Project Atom certified, which requires 10% of staff to be certified in CPR. So we we have um five schools which are exceeding state expectations. We have four schools that are working towards that. So 10% staff actually still maybe under 1% of a cumulative student
220staff combination. Um and even though we're moving towards 10% we're not there yet. So as soon as the policy, as Mr. Marsh said, as soon as the policy is adopted, we're going to be out of compliance with our own policy. So I would respectfully ask that there is an enactment clause that gives us extended time. There's not a lot of time during the current school year for training. I hear Miss Sullivan coming. Uh so by extending it to maybe September would allow us to get more training and I am worried about coaches. Uh and Miss Sullivan may are you plan to talk to that? >> Sure. >> Okay. Please do. >> Yeah. So, our coaches are required by VHSL to be trained, not certified. Um, Virginia High School League, and they actually allow a 2-year
221uh grace period in order to make that training happen. That's not what our expectation as a county is. We expect them to be um trained before they start engaging with students. Um, and so that the m I would say a large majority of our coaches come with their own certification because they hold jobs in the outside sector that requires that or they have done that on their own because it's something that they want to have knowledge of. Um, and we could certainly if that would uh be helpful for the board, could kind of our athletic directors are in charge of monitoring because not only do our coaches, who by the way make it, you know, they're spending 50, 60 days, nights beyond that and getting paid like $1,800 for all of that time with our
222students. Um, you know, they are also required through VHSL to not only be trained in CPR, but also to go through multiple coach education courses that are online modules. Um, and so our ads monitor that and track that information to make sure that they're in compliance with things about sportsmanship and other topics that are related to coaching. Um, and so we could gather that information and provide you with the data about how many of those individuals are already certified if that would make the board, you know, have a better understanding of who's already kind of meeting that requirement. Similar to what we talked about with Project Adams, some of our other things in place already allow those things to happen. Um and then of course we have our athletic trainer um which a lot of
223our school divisions don't have um to provide that extra layer of support for athletes after school. >> Yeah. >> Uh as far as the athletic trainer, are they there for the practice sessions as well as >> our athletic trainers are contracted to be um at our schools every single day that athletics are happening? Um, now they do have like a just like our SOS SRO's have kind of like a reassignment based on the greatest need. So do our athletic directors. So your highest contact sports is where you're going to find your athletic director stationed. I mean trainers, sorry. Um, trainers stationed. And so for example, you would expect to see them at football and interesting enough competition cheer because those are some of your higher impact sports. Um, but they're there and on call and
224available to all of the coaches um, in the event of a cardiac issue. Um, and then they travel for the most the priority events. They travel to those away games as well with our teams and then they're at all of our home events. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. Is it fair to summarize this by saying that the primary objection to this is that is mandating the coaches to be CPR certified? That's probably the biggest push back. Correct. >> Yeah. Yeah. I would say that's probably the case. Yeah. >> I I don't I don't personally I don't have my head wrapped around the 1% of the total student staff population. I'm not I'm not sure of the reasoning for that. Well, I think that was arbitrary um because initially it was a certain number per school,
225which really made no sense. You know, you don't want the same number of folks uh trained at Carsville that you need up at Smith at Smithfield High. And so that that's where that came from. It was more arbitrary. Um I wasn't aware of anything um the numbers with Project Adam. That didn't come up in conversation. Um, we could go by those if they're sanctioned numbers. Somebody's done research uh to say that that's, you know, them numbers are appropriate. So, I'd be more than willing to support something like that. >> Yeah, I think that was what our nurse supervisor had suggested was following along their guidelines based on the research that they >> Oh, abs. Absolutely. If somebody else has done a research, let's use it. Let's, you know, not use the arbitrary numbers that that
226we just think is right. Let's let's use the data. I know her goal is to have Isa White County Schools as the first fully heartsafe division in the state of Virginia. And so we are over halfway there. >> Um I still think there would need to be an as I say an enactment clause because even if we go with the 10% and we haven't gotten there with Project Adam yet, we're out of compliance. >> Well, I Well, I think that should go without saying. Yes, sir. >> You know, it really should. We should never, nobody should ever box themselves in, you know, and say, "Okay, we're gonna pass this and we're out of compliance tomorrow." You know, we we can't do that. Um, so yeah, we should definitely have a, you know, a date that
227we've got to be in compliance. And I think, you know, next next year when football starts is probably the the best time to uh to be in compliance with that. And you know, as far as the coaches go and from my standpoint, as long as the athletic trainers are certified, I'm good with that. >> Interestingly enough, state law just said the nurses, athletic trainers, and coaches need to be tr properly trained. >> So, we are already um enhancing that language for our nurses and athletic trainers that they are certified. So, we're making that even more um restrictive to make sure we have that expertise available >> and I I like that. I think I can support that with the numbers using the project atom. For me, that'll work. >> Well, and and with the board's
228permission, um if the policy committee is going to be meeting again, we can take uh I I don't mind taking nurse Aby's recommendations and providing a draft based on that to the policy committee as a starting point for discussion. >> That would be great. Okay. >> The thing I'm having difficulty here is wrapping my head around the fact we're still talking about certified versus trained. And I they are definitely two separate entities. >> There's no doubt. >> Training, right? You're trained. There's no set reertification date. There's no set retraining date, per se. Um, it's may or may not be based on current medical standards at the time depending on when the training's given. That's why I'm looking at certified certified in CPR at the BLS level. That's at least in my mind what we should
229be doing and we should be providing the best possible care we can in the emergency situation for the student, staff, and visitors. Excuse me. the I've read through the entire project atom and looking at that I know it's geared to a specific pathway and keep in mind for the last 40 years I'm in the medical field so that's where my my mind is under the project atom if you find a person who is unresponsive you immediately start compressions you You don't check an airway. You don't open. You don't look, listen, and feel. I've got an issue with that, but I know it serves its purpose in the civilian world. Put it that way. I would like to see that changed here. Not changing Project Adam. I'm not getting involved in that. But I would like
230to see it where everybody is certified in CPR. where yes, they will be doing more than only hands-on compression where you're opening the air where you look, listening, feeling, you're making sure the person's breathing. It could be something as simple as a person has choked and if you don't check the airway and you just go straight to compressions, you've overlooked a vital component. That is my whole purpose behind this change. Um, I don't know why we're still beating it back and forth. >> I only bring it up because the people that have to implement it said it was an unreasonable and unachievable expectation. That's why I bring it up >> and I will respectfully disagree. >> Okay. Where are you folks at, Mr. Perkins? Mr. Cunningham? Okay. So, uh I'm a CPR AED first aid
231instructor. Um I think what we have on board now uh is what we need. I went through see before I became an instructor. I went through uh the training at uh with the rescue squad Alawite County. Our teachers have to be trained what every is it two years or three years or is it one year? >> 10 it's >> okay. So that's a long time. That's a very long time because uh CPR and I understand what Mr. uh Worster is talking about with uh clearing the airway everything. I've I've taught that I taught that for over a year. Um not 40, but over a year. So I'm I'm I'm still certified. The thing is, yeah, 10 years is too long. Uh honestly, um what uh Mr. Worster, what is it uh normally? Is it three
232years? So >> every two >> every every two years. >> Yeah, I think that's that's better. >> That's for that's for the training. >> Yeah, that's >> not certified. Every two years you're trained. >> Now when we Okay, so this certification what are we talking about? >> Yeah. So the training sorry the training is required every 10 years for a teacher for their lure purposes. But for the percentages that we're talking about in terms of the amount of people who have to be certified, that would fall under the same certification process for whatever they were certified under. So if it's American Heart Association, if their requirement is one year, then it's a one year. If it's two years, it's two years. So for those who are certified, it would fall under the same guidelines of
233whatever that organization is. For lure, we have it's from the period of lure. So, it used to be you had to reertify for your train or reertify for your license every 5 years. Now, there's a 10-year period where every teacher has to go through the process of being all meeting all of those statutory requirements. So, they have to go through um child abuse recognition, dyslexia training, CPR, all of those areas. >> So, we're talking about different things here. Um >> because what I would train to people would get a little card >> uh every Okay. So I I train that's the certification. >> That's certification. >> Okay. So that was every for the sheriff's department. I believe it was every uh I think it was every year. >> Uh but 10 years is is just
234training >> or is that the certification? >> That's the training every 10 years. Yeah. You have to complete the training. Now >> for lure for teachers. Yes. >> All right. We're beating >> 10 years is is >> way too much because if you look at the curriculum, whether it be American Heart, you know, Red Cross, whoever, the guidelines change every five years. And I think it goes back to the idea of are you expecting your school staff members to be medical providers and first responders or are you expecting a certain number of your staff to be certified so that they can safely provide medical intervention in the case of a cardiac issue. And if that's the case, we do require those people to go through that training or sorry, through that certification process. The other
235one, the other percent of your building that aren't involved in that ratio or percent of the population in that building, whatever you decide to do, that is a a nicity to have them trained in that. It's like going to your local grocery store and expecting everyone who works there to be certified to save your life if something happens to you in that location. And it's it's no different than going to any other public service building and expecting everyone there who's not a medically trained provider to have that expectation on them to be trained or certified to provide that service to you. And so the question is are we do we believe that we need to put that on all of our staff members by requiring them to be certified or is the training that the
236state is requiring for their lure a great resource to have in addition to because we're not a medical facility. >> Yeah. And we do call 911 when those incidents happen. And we do have, I think in our school system right now, we have a greater number of people who are certified to help than any other place that you could really go to other than a hospital >> um when it comes to a cardiac arrest. So >> yeah, I agree with that. Um yeah, they don't they don't need to be EMTs or or Yeah. I mean, so what right now we've got 10% what what is it? >> Uh five of our schools have 10% of their staff members of five of our schools. Uh that's part of that Adam uh project, Adam. >> And we
237have four schools that are working towards that. I they they may be close. That's a miss a nurse Abby question. I'm I'm not sure, but I know the goal is to get those four on board. Um, I do think that certainly if we had until September, we could meet that 10% at the four remaining schools. Whether they're Project Adam certified or not, I think they're close. If you look at staff numbers, >> when you say 10% of the staff, what does that equate to? >> Well, if it doesn't have to be exact. What What roundabout number are we looking at? Well, if there are 50 staff members, then that school would have five. >> Yep. >> If there are 100 staff members, that school would have 10. And I'm going to stick to those nice
238round numbers. >> I was asking I was asking for the actual number of people that are currently certified when you said they had 10% already. >> That would be a v that would be varied based on the number of the staff in the building because like at Carwell, >> that's what I'm asking, right? But we'd have to give you a chart of like each like Carsville has, you know, 30 some staff. >> I didn't know if you already had that in your head or not. >> Oh, no. >> Uh I have it on paper. Um not in front of me, but we I was trying to do the math on all of this to figure out, you know, nurse Abby does keep a running record of who has self-reported uh in the non project schools
239that they have certification so that we we can see where are we. U I was working to figure out if we were close to 1% as well. I've got to get a few additional numbers. Um >> I mean I was just curious because it it may work out to be the same amount. >> Uh I I know the example they gave me was Smithfield High School, but they said for example, I think Smithfield High School would need uh currently would need 13. Uh currently they need 13, but with the 1% they would need 15. So that specific example, there were only two people off. >> So that one was close. That's the only example I was really given, but just to show it's not quite aligned. >> It's It's probably going to be very similar
240>> could be >> in nature. >> Um I think it's better to base it on the occupancy, you know, than giving it a certain number like four people, five people, you know, that's just me. >> Yeah. And I think the the staff percent was doing something similar like your 1% was doing. It was just designating based on your number of your staff in the building. That's all. >> Okay, that's all I've got right now. I'm at 5%. [Laughter] I'm I'm at a complete loss here. >> So, if I may, my understanding is KK and then EBBA, we're essentially pulling those off of first read tonight and they're going to the policy committee. >> Can we work on them some more? I'm perfectly fine the way it is, but I'm not opposed to pulling it with
241the other one. >> If I may suggest that the committee consult with the nurse and figure out some of the intricacies to make sure that >> everybody understands exactly what we're asking here. I certainly do not. or throw it up for a vote next month and I'll just vote no. >> No, I I think Miss Mrs. Brigg's idea I I think work well. She's she's going to take um nurse Aby's input and we're going to um develop a new draft and then we'll go from there. Um >> okay, we're ready to move on. If there's anything else on the first read. Okay. Then let's look at the second read which is an action item. That's the the grip of policies that we had last month. All the questions I had last month were addressed. I
242don't have any issues with anything for second read. I'd vote yay for every one of them if the motion was made. >> You got comments? >> Make a motion. >> Let's do it. >> Mr. Chair, I move to approve the policies for a second read as presented. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Madam Clerk. >> Mr. Collic. >> Yes. >> Mr. Cunningham? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Perkins? >> Yes. >> Mr. Worooster? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Marsh. >> Yes. Motion passes. Thank goodness. Uh comments down the road. Mr. Cunningham, you're up. >> I have none tonight. Just uh enjoy. Monday is a day off for everyone, right? >> The staff and students. >> Okay. So, enjoy. That's all I have. Thank you. >> Nothing. I don't have anything either, sir. >> Nothing. >> Miss Collet?
243Nope. Last chance, Doc.