May 4th 2026 King George School Board Regular Meeting

001our experiences. Starting with Kimberly Laram Lurmer, one of my students from last semester. Hi, my name is Kimberly. Obviously, I was enrolled in her class last semester and it was very great. But I love learning about living organisms and I never knew much about oysters except for the fact that they just filter our waters for our ecosystem. The friends of the Rapahhanic came in and they gave us an in-person experience and I'm really glad I got that opportunity. But having them come in was very educational for me especially because [snorts] we didn't know anything about the role they had e in the ecosystem until we got to dissect them and every single part and now we know what they really do. Um, but also with the oyster shell recycling program, we save their shells and

002we throw them back into the water and that's where oysters lay their babies, which is very nice because we recycle. So, yeah, it's very educational. >> Very cool. Thank you. >> Hi, my name is Jenna Parker. I am currently a freshman at King George High School and I was enrolled in Miss Gasky's biology class last semester. Also last semester me and my peers had the great opportunity to have friends of Rapahanic come out and speak to us about keystone species water quality and watershed education. And the thing that stuck out to me the most was learning about water quality. We learned that different water pollutants like trash and runoff from the roads can slowly build up over time and harm everything around us. It can harm our wildlife and even affect us. Learning about water

003pollution is so very important because it helps us understand that even our small actions like throwing a bottle outside of sorry out of the window can slowly build up over time and harm everything around us in our community. This means protecting both our surrounding rivers and our drinking sources. Learning about this through the friends of Rabahhanic helps not only students but their friends friends and family fully understand what we can do better with protecting our water sources so it is safe for our community. Thank you. >> Hi, my name is Lindsay Hawthorne and I'm also a freshman in biology with Miss Gasky, but I also have firstirhand volunteer experience with the friends of Kaladon group and seeing how Kaledon State Park affects us as students. Some of my personal favorite experiences there are seeing eagles

004in the river and going kaying and hiking. And when students get to do things like go and see them in person in real life, it helps them make a connection between what they're seeing in school and what they're learning about and actually knowing that it's in our community. Like in my personal experience, I realized that it's a really big shock to know that wildlife and biodiversity exists in our own county and are close to us and that we have a direct impact on that. And when we take these field trips, it's really important to our education because it helps us know that even now we're making an impact on our community and it leads to an aware and educated student body who takes action for to protect the environment. >> Thank you. So, as you

005can see, those are our superstar students and we love them. Great job, ladies. Uh I wanted to let uh Robin just talk to you just for a minute about all the amazing things we do. If you can do one more slide. Uh this last time we were at Kaladon. Uh just as a side, while we were doing all the other things, the students picked up 174 pounds of trash and Kaladon is not a trashy place, but everything just flows down the river. So like it was a huge amazing experience for our students. >> So what I'd like to do is read to you um a letter of appreciation from the state park. So to the students of King George High School 9th grade, thank you for the incredible effort in cleaning up the beach on

006your recent field trip to Kaledon State Park. Your hard work made a real difference in protecting the Ptoic River and the wildlife we call home. Your participation in the beach cleanup helped remove 174 pounds of litter and debris from the shoreline, keeping the park's natural area safe and beautiful for everyone to enjoy. By turning a chilly day into an enthusiastic beach cleanup, you show how environmental stewardship and positive attitude can work hand in hand to inspire others. Events like these remind us that caring for our planet starts with small actions. Each piece of trash collected and removed from our environment help build a cleaner, healthier world. We are grateful for your enthusiasm, teamwork, and dedication to keeping Kaladon State Park a special place. We hope you'll join us again for future programs and continue to

007be champions for the environment. With appreciation, Lucia Craraven, um environmental education support specialist, Kaledon State Park. So, I have a copy of this for everybody, too. Oh, >> thank you. But yes, >> um the big thing about the miwi, so the meeting miwi is a meaningful watershed education experience and it is um an unfunded mandate by the Chesapeake Bay Act and students are um we hope that students will receive a Miwi in elementary, middle, and high school. So our grant covers 9th grade um high schools throughout the Northern Neck. Um King George has by far been the most enthusiastic group. Um we've done professional development with the teachers for three years now. Um and the teachers if it's outside of contract hours we pay them for their time. Uh we have done and we've gone

008into the classroom and we've supported these field trips. Um our grant was paused. Um we are hoping to get a nocost extension um to take us through um the summer of 2027 but looking towards the future um continuing these activities and finding ways to fund them. >> Yes. >> Do y'all have any questions? >> Yes. So, I would like to give the board an opportunity to any comments or questions. >> I just want to say thank you to the students and to Miss Gasky and to you for your all of your enthusiasm and support. Thank you. >> You're welcome. And can we go back to that other slide because uh we worked with um the which group of students were these? Can you refresh my memory as to which group of students? >> [laughter] >>

009horiculture and adaptive horiculture classes. >> Um and biology. Thank you. And biology. Cannot forget biology. Um uh princip provided trees and our students took a field trip to help with um erosion prevention on a private property here in King George. Um, students were, it was last year, so unplugged from cell phones and working cooperatively with students of all abilities in small groups and it was just such a wonderful experience. And then to see the students afterwards meet um the uh land owners and thank them for their opportunity to be able to help them um to establish a barrier on the property as well. >> You're welcome. >> I have a question for the students. Hi Kimmy. all of you um if you want to come up. Heard a lot about you by the way. Good

010stuff. Thank you for representing King George so well and having a 4.0. I think it's probably higher than that. But um and then John and Lindsay, thank you for your hard work. Um my question is, is it a prerequisite to take biology to have public speaking because you all do amazing? I mean, you looked up the whole time at it. >> Actually, I do take public speaking with Miss Waldy right now and she's amazing. >> Good job. Yes. and I still don't know how to pe speak publicly. So, [laughter] >> what [clears throat] um starting with Lindsay, what is uh your what do you love about it about being a part of this? [laughter] >> My favorite part about this in general is just seeing the way that it brings everybody together when we're all

011working for one cause because I mean some people don't, but most people do care about their environment and the world around them. And I think it's really like a beautiful thing to see especially younger kids who don't usually get involved in their community be able to come together and work to a cause and help protect what's around us. >> Awesome. Jana, >> um what I love about it is that we get to learn more that maybe we won't be able to learn during or during during just in biology class. So having friends of Rapahana come out and speak to us about something that not a lot of kids like as Kim said not a she didn't know what it was overall until they came and spoke to us about how they f to our water

012and everything. So I just it's very nice to learn about something new every once in a while. >> Thank you. >> Um especially with dissecting oysters, it was a lot easier for me to learn. I feel like when learning off of like papers and off of just hearing things, it doesn't really affect anything for me at least. But going to see this learning experience has really changed a lot for me because well, we also write on paper at that time too, but it doesn't matter cuz we're seeing it too. But like I feel like it processes a lot more in our brain when we see it and we're experiencing it and that we get the opportunity that other people might not. Awesome. Thank you. And thank you to the friends of Rapahanic for doing this.

013Yeah. We're now moving on to the recognition of the NAACP student initiative award, Miss Mr. Sheffield. Thank you for inviting me. Um, excuse me hobbling up here. I just had knee replacement surgery, but um, gets better every day, they tell me. Again, my name is Art Sheffield. I represent the uh, King George chapter of the National Association for Advancement of Colored People, and I happen to be the chair of this year's um, uh, Black History event. And let me tell you why I volunteered to to handle this event. I was born and raised in in western Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh and I've lived across this country in Norwalk, Connecticut, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, uh, Boulder, Colorado, Phoenix, Arizona, Las Vegas, Nevada, and San Antonio, Texas. So, I've had opportunity to see and um and support and

014recognize uh cultures and and [clears throat] ethnicities that make up the framework of the this year United States. And I've seen the importance of recognizing and celebrate these these different cultures. For example, living in Milwaukee and especially in the summertime, which the only time you want to go there, uh they celebrate with all all these cultures. German Fest, Irish Fest, Pride Fest, Polish Fest, Black Fest, Mexican Fiesta, Festa, Italiano, um India Fest, and our Armenian Fest. And of course, they in October with October Fest because, you know, it's a beer capital of the world there with Miller. So, a lot happening there today. So, I'm here today because I'm a part of American history. In the four four decades of my life, I've been the negro, colored, black, African-American, and all different other kinds of

015names. Okay. My childhood education did not include black history. So, I'm I was very pleased that as a country now, we celebrate February as Black History Month. And why? Because we really need to um have the educational focus that is not in the history books. I learned in my early childhood education that in 1620 the pilgrims came over. I did not learn that in 1619 the first African slaves were brought to this country. And that's kind of an example of things that are not not in the history books. Here's another example. A 100 years of lynching. Definitely not not talked about in school, but it it highlights the fact that my greatgrandfather was a lynched in 1915 in Baldesta, Georgia. We rely on books and museums, you know, to tell us about black history. Another

016example is the um Museum of Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, which highlights all the people, primarily blacks or browns that have been brutalized, murdered, lynched throughout throughout every state and in this country. So if you ever get a chance to go to Montgomery, Alabama, you should definitely v visit the Museum of Peace and Justice. So when we planned our [clears throat] black history event for for this year, we wanted to have the opportunity for the students of King George Middle School and High School to write draw po draw art or write poetry or essays about what black history means for them. We were pleased when my colleague and I, Barbara Jane, uh met with Dr. Burns and Dr. nice um to talk about this initiative that they were very very supportive and we understand

017that the school board is very supportive of them. So we're very pleased and excited that that happened. We we the initiative uh that we recognize know these students. Um now we we end up cancelling our our meeting in February because of the death of a prominent black minister in the community. But we honored these students at our at our meeting um in April and we're going to honor them again in October when we have an honors banquet. So we were pleased to recognize Kayla Posie at the high school for her her work and Lamaya Bright at the middle school for their work. Congratulations. >> Thank you so much. >> Okay, so we were we were so pleased and like I said, we're going to honor them again again and again because you know it's always

018good that you cannot give kids enough recognition. Okay, we all want things to have we want our children and in my case grandchildren and great-grandchildren to have better education or opportunities than than we had. We want this generation to be more equipped to be able to face and do the things they need to do to survive. That's why we're so proud of what you did. Okay. Okay. So, we hope to to do this initiative again in this coming fall for our 2027 Black History event. And again, we're very appreciative of the board and the principles for enabling us to do that. Any questions that you have? >> I think we're all in awe right now just listening. Um, go ahead. >> Um, I do remember that p my husband grew up here and so he

019was fond of that pastor. What? Remind me of the pastor's name again that passed away in February. >> Brand. >> Yeah. And his wife >> Leonard. >> Bland. Yeah. And and something that you said, I was actually getting my hair done and um I was talking about how those the board of supervisors wanted to honor him because he he was such a big part of the community for so many years. And she looked at me and she goes, "Yeah, but why don't we honor people while they're still alive?" And it hit me hard when she said that. And I was like, "Yes, you're right." >> So, thank you for saying that again, too, because it's something we do need to do. So, thank you. >> Yeah, thank you very much. It's very important. And I

020said, "They can't get enough for H1." >> Thank you. Michaela, we're gonna take a picture here. Are you okay to stand? You got it. Okay. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Mr. Sheffield. All right, 2026 PDOE computer science champion, Mrs. Harris. >> [clears throat] >> Good evening, members of the board. Tonight, I have the honor and privilege of recognizing Miss Yavon Richard. Miss Richard uh has been recognized from the department um of education as a 2025 computer science educator of the year champion. And this is such an honor across the whole state. She's a champion. And with this honor, she is now in the running and is leading the nomination for the 2026 computer science educator of the year award that will be announced later this week from the department of education. Wow. [gasps] >> This

021recognition highlights her significant impact on advanced communic uh computer science education and her deep commitment to her students and the school community. Yavon is a transformational leader in K to2 computer science education whose influence extends far beyond the classroom. She has contributed to state level efforts to strengthen Virginia computer science standards and has helped develop instructional resources that integrate computer science across grade level curricula making it accessible to all students within our county. Yavon has successfully led and pursuited the ACSE grant laying the foundation for sustainable highquality standards aligned computer science instruction across all disciplines and she's worked really really hard this remember I came a few months ago and we got this grant and this grant is it ends at the end of the month and the teachers have done a phenomenal job under

022her leadership with that she is also a dedicated mentor and advocate regularly presenting at conferences and elevating colleagues as co-presenters. Her message is short and sweet. She encouraging teachers to take risk, learn alongside students, and embrace mistakes, has inspired many educators to confidently begin teaching computer science. So we uh the state had asked us to kind of create a video. So Ivonne, this is on your behalf here. So we're going to go ahead man if you could share the video. So Yvon, we just want to thank you. Thank you for your creativity and your leadership and most of all the dedication that you give to our school division. Whether you win on Thursday or not as the div, you know, VOE, you know, award, you will always be our winner in our on our behalf.

023So on behalf of King George County School, I would like to present you with this award. It is the VTOE computer science champion 2026 um and your nominee for the VoE computer science educator of the year because that is a tremendous tremendous accomplishment. So thank you so much for everything that you do for us. >> [laughter] >> I'm all over. Richard. Yes. >> All right. Thank you, Miss Yvon Richards. And then moving on to the VSBA business honor role. Um given by Dr. Boyd. >> Yes, Madam Chair. So, I got uh great pride this evening in recognizing three businesses that do work for uh our King George County School Division, and they do a wonderful job of it. So, King George County School Board has proudly submitted the name of three businesses to the Virginia

024School Board business honoral in recognition of their outstanding support for our local schools and the public school students within our community. Their continued partnership and dedication play an important role in helping our schools thrive and in ensuring that every student has access to meaningful opportunities for success. And I think we've heard a lot of success stories about those opportunities. So we greatly appreciate that. We want to take the opportunity to thank you personally for your time, resources, and commitment you have invested in the students of our school division. Your involvement strengthens the connection between schools, families, and the broader community. And it serves as an as an example of the powerful impact that local businesses, organizations, and nonprofits can have on public education. When I call your name, please come forward and get your certificate

025and then stand up front so that we can take a picture and memorialize this. So, uh, Mr. Bobby Mclofflin, owner of Four Elements Electrics, Mr. Steve Cox, CEO of Rapahanic Goodwill, and Mr. Grant Smeltzer, CEO of Independent Electric Contractors Chesapeake. >> Thank you so much, guys. And we'll get take a picture. Thank you all very much. Thank you so much. Thank you. We appreciate you. We appreciate you, sir. Thank you. Oh, moving on to public comment. All right, we'll be brief. Um, moving on to public comment. If you would like to speak during public comment but have not yet signed up, please see the clerk, which is Miss Aaron right there. Public comment is an opportunity to community members to share matters they believe deserve the board's attention. It is time for one-way communication to

026the board, not a forum or a dialogue or debate. All speakers are treated equally. Comments should be courteous. Um the speakers will be recognized by the chair and asked to state their name and their connection to the school division and their district. Each speaker has up to three minutes to comment. Our first speaker this evening is Mrs. Carrie Gonzalez. >> Good evening. My name is Carrie Gonzalez. I'm a resident in the Dogren district. I have children at PTOAC Elementary and at King George Middle. As you're all aware, I'm very concerned about the amount of screen time and use of educational technology in our classrooms. I have no indication if any of you have read the copies of the digital delusion that I gave you each at the meeting I attended in January. But as stewards

027of our children's education, I most certainly hope that you have and would be incredibly disappointed if you have not. The amount of researchbacked data presented in the book suggests that the use of screens, educational technology, and most atrociously, artificial intelligence should leave you with a deep realization of how just how indefensible its places in our classroom. I've had a lot of conversations with parents and educators over the last few months, and their struggles with access to internet on schoolisssued devices is real. Many parents strive to limit screen time in their homes, yet are faced with the arrival of an internet connected device placed in the hands of their children and whom are then required to bring it home on a daily basis. I've heard stories of children who tell their parents that they have homework

028to do, open up their Chromebooks, and spend hours watching YouTube. Um, and that's after watching YouTube in class during the day. Parents have told me that they lock their children's Chromebooks in their safes in the evening so that they're inaccessible. Parents have told me that they turn their Wi-Fi off after a certain hour of the day so that it is unavailable and to prevent internet access. Parents have told me that their kids come home proud to tell them about the new trick they learned from their friend in math class about how they can watch full-length movies during class on a tab that says Google so that their teachers can't see what they're doing. Um, I've had teachers tell me about how hard it is to redirect and focus students who've walked into their classrooms, opened

029up their Chromebooks, and then be told to close them again. Um, and then they get agitated because they instead were busy resuming playing games. Um, I know I'm not a teacher, but I know that when my children are grouchy, the last thing that they are open to is learning. I've not heard any success stories um or indicators of how Chromebooks in the classrooms are advancing the educational progress of our children, only how disruptive, distracting, and headacheinducing they are. If it was up to me, I would do away with all Chromebooks and return learning to the real, tactile, sometimes tedious and boring, but always more reflective of real life ways that it used to be done with books, paper, pencils, and occasionally graduated cylinders and apparently oysters. Um, that said, I think the next best thing

030would be to move away from the onetoone device policy and put Chromebooks back on carts in the classrooms or even better in dedicated computer labs and focus on device use being more intentional than default. I learned last week that this may actually be under discussion in our schools now, especially at the middle school, and I was really encouraged to hear that. Again, if you haven't read the digital delusion, please do. And in the meantime, please work together as a school leadership team to do away with the onetoone policy. Thank you. >> Thank you. [laughter] >> Superintendent comment. >> Yes. So, thank you, Miss Gonzalez, excuse me. Uh certainly appreciate you being here this evening. I can tell you that we are having these conversations at the schoolboard office level and at the school level. Um,

031Miss Half is in the back there. Our technology, I know she's had an advisory uh committee meeting in the last week or so that I believe we'll probably get a report on this evening. It is what you're saying is certainly uh taken to heart for us and it's something that we continue to talk about and have conversations about. So, uh, I'm not here to make any profound announcements here this evening, but I do want you to know that what you're saying is not falling on deaf ears, and it's something that we do pay close attention to and are exploring moving forward. So, thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you. >> Okay, so we're moving on to changes to the agenda, and I believe we have one. >> Yes, Madam Chair. Uh item uh let's see

032item E uh revised allocation 2024 2025 title 2 additional funds. Uh with the permission of the board, I'd like to move that uh to our next meeting. I've got some more research to do on that before I'm ready to present it to the school board this evening. And we have time before we have to accept that allocation. So with the board's request, if we could table that this evening and uh I'll have it available for you on the next schoolboard meeting agenda. I get a motion. Do we need a motion? Yeah. >> I'll make a motion that we table the revised allocation for the title two additional funds. >> I second. Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I. >> Motion carries. >> All right. So, we are moving on to the action items. Authorization

033of superintendent design. >> Uh, presentations. Did I skip something? >> Oh, I went way down in fine. Sorry. I apologize. Okay. The Title One Advisory Committee annual report by Mrs. Harris. [clears throat] I'd be perfectly fine if you skip over this. I'm so [laughter] sorry. Well, I can't believe a year has flown by again. So, it's uh I'm here again tonight. So, good evening, Chairman Davis, members of school board, and Dr. Board. Thank you for the opportunity to share the work of the title one advisory committee and how these efforts uh support our students. So just to give you a brief uh background, what is title one? Title one is a federal grant that provides funds and opportunities to ensure that all children receive a fair, equitable and a high quality in education and it

034help close the achievement gaps. Our funding title one provides financial assistance to school divisions and public schools with high numbers percentages of children from lowincome families to help all students meet state academic standards. >> How can the title one funds be used? The funds must supplant uh supplement, excuse me, not supplant local budgets. Title one funds may not be used to replace funds or services that would otherwise be provided. Instead, they are intended to enhance the regular educational program. There are two types uh two instructional models within the uh title uh title one framework. We have a schoolwide model that provides instructional services to enhance the entire academic program of our school. For a school to qualify as a schoolwide title one, the school population has to be 40% or greater and low income um

035in the the CPS data of our census. So, Kings Elementary is a schoolwide model. The second model is a targeted assist model. It's a supplemental instructional services to targeted at risk students. The funds only used for students and families identified for these services. And right now, PTOAC Elementary and Seals Elementary are our target assist schools. Title One programming and and the application process are collaborative efforts involving our schools, students, and families. Each identified school has a title one committee, and we also have a divisionwide title one advisory committee. These committees include teachers, administrators, division reading and math specialists, parents, and other community members. They meet throughout the school year to identify program needs and to monitor student progress. Through this work, Title One funding supports targeted instruction, strengthens family engagement, and helps ensure all students

036have access to a high quality education. We remain committed to continuous improvement to best support the student success. So this year, our annual title one advisory committee, we had 20 members, which is good. Again, we had, I think, 21 last year, so we had 20 strong this year. Uh, our first meeting, the goals established by the committee were one, to increase awareness and understanding of the Title One program. We wanted to provide hands-on opportunities for families to create a better understanding on how they can help assist their child in reading and math. And we wanted to create and maintain a grant to address a student needs through collaboration of all stakeholders. What title one services mean for students is once the students are identified and and usually basically in the fall but is an ongoing

037process they are meet with a trained teacher or pair professional for targeted instruction in areas of need during the school day and in some circumstances we have students may be offered additional tutoring after school. The students do not receive grades or homework for targeted instruction sessions. So this is like you know a supplement of what they get in their tier one instruction. At this time I wanted to bring title one is really a collaboration of a lot of people's efforts and tonight I really wanted to highlight a little bit we have worked really really hard um with our K to2 programming uh based on our standardsbased report cards as you guys know it's a moving target we had new math standards we have new reading standards it's just been a lot and our K2 team

038has really really been working hard so tonight I wanted to invite uh my division math specialist Miss Dloot and our coordinator of literacy, Dr. Maninm, and they're going to share just a couple highlight slides. We won't go into full detail, but I wanted to highlight a little bit of the efforts that Title One has had, the impact it has had this year on our and our students and our schools. So, Mr. Clue, >> good evening. Um, we have so much to be proud of here in King George County. Um, these are just a few of the highlights and celebrations from this year. So, um, in an effort to continuously improve our math program and make sure that we are providing the best quality instruction that we can to our students, we have held quarterly cross-divisional

039meetings with grade level chairs to coordinate math pacing, instructional approaches, and assessment practices to make sure all those things are aligned. Um, we have continued to have a sustained focus on small groupoup instruction for all of our students that we are designating as receiving title one services. So, um, this year we continue to use Kickstart math. U, we continue to use our Argo intervention materials. We also added on hands-on standards math kits that we piloted last year during summer school um and found that they were quality resources. So we extended that into our title one program this year. Um as you are all aware, we've talked about a lot this year. Um we're in our first year implementation of a new math curriculum. So those quarterly meetings have been very important to making sure that

040we are properly vetting those materials. Um there's a reason that teachers need to have a license to teach. So what we were um doing in implementing a new math program was giving them the the aligned tools um so that they can do the things that only teachers can do. So they weren't having to spend all of their time hunting for aligned materials. Um, we also had a division reduction of 46 students receiving title one math services this year. Um, and on the next slide I'll tell you a little more about what we can attribute that to. Um, so we've done so much work with our K2 in recent years because we had to realign our standards ba standardsbased report cards which meant we also had to realign how we were having students show mastery of

041those standards. So that has been the major work of our last three to four years. This highlight pulls out kindergarten um to illustrate this progress. And I'd like to to show you and talk a little bit about the gains we have made in our kindergarten program. So at the end of my first year in this position, we had 80% of incoming kindergarteners um designated as prepared for kindergarten math as measured by the Virginia kindergarten readiness program. Um, and there's a component of that assessment program that tells us about the students understanding of math coming into kindergarten. At the end of the year, those same students, 75% of them were ready for first grade as measured by that. Now, we asked different questions at the end obviously that you know we're expecting a lot of growth.

042So, 75% of our students were ready for first grade at the end of that year. Um, in the 2324 school year year, 79% of incoming kindergarteners were ready for kindergarten and 77 were ready for first grade. So, you can see a slight improvement there that we were, you know, keeping more students on track. That was the year that we had a big push for realigning everything to our new 2023 math standards. So you can see the the next year we had 74% of students coming in ready for kindergarten but 83% of them left us prepared for first grade. Now this um this last row is this year um this is the testing that has just been completed. I have an asterisk next to the spring number because we have one student left to test. >>

043[laughter] >> Um, we had 81% of our kindergarteners entering kindergarten prepared for kindergarten math and I am proud to say that 87 and 12% are prepared to enter first grade. So, this is huge. Um and it just kind of stand it it speaks a lot of the effort of our teachers um and the work that they did because all of this committee work um is done with teachers and um they thoughtfully align everything based on the students that are in front of them. You know their working knowledge being there in the trenches. And so this is the effort of a lot of King George County school employees coming together to make sure that we are doing the very best. So I'm so proud of all the work um that we have done and I'm really

044excited to see more. Um I know you would love to talk about math all night but I am going to hand this off to Dr. Maninan so that she can tell you about some of the great things that are happening in reading instruction. But we do want to I think that deserves an applaud. Like >> absolutely, absolutely. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. It's it's truly a blessing to have the team. Um it's a lot of work. So, I'm appreciative for my math counterpart and my leader because we want the best for our students and it's through a lot of conversation with our team and these collaborative meetings and the title one committee meetings are so so helpful for our job and making a difference in the lives of our students. So, let me quickly

045highlight a few things. I don't have as as much background data as uh Karen Dloot did because of our change in the Val's um screening tool. So this is only our second year utilizing that screening tool. So it is truly unfair to compare the trends from before that screening tool which really didn't adequately screen our students. Thus thus the um redo of that of that assessment. So, I'd just like to start off um although this is a title one presentation, I wanted to bring up our division literacy plan because those materials that are used to uh assist our title one students are coming directly from our division literacy plan. That division literacy plan that we adopted in May of 2025 will continue through next school year. So we you won't see me asking for your

046approval on a on a new plan this year because they are now submitted by annually to VDOE and that includes how we are training our staff in the programs, how we are looking at data and using those very specific science of reading VDOE aligned programs. Um, along with those programs, we really are having great conversations with our teachers and our teams and even our parents to talk about what programs are appropriate for our students, both with academic placement, what programs are providing the fastest growth in the short amount of time, knowing that reading isn't the beall endall, that we have math and computer science and lots of other things for our students to learn. So, we're really being very specific about always talking about what that looks like, looking at that data, hearing that feedback,

047having lots of conversations within those those um discussion meetings and advisory. The big thing that I really want to drive home is how much we appreciate having the quarterly division meetings with our staff. This is a chance. We actually had first first grade today um really have an opportunity to come over um as grade level leads and look at what we've done, where we need to go, what we need to do next, and do that as a team. Um it is great to have all those minds in the room of very educated professionals and to hear their thoughts because they are the ones that have the students in front of them but also to have the specialists there to have those standards with us to talk about instructional approaches to talk about what kind of

048assessment practices especially when you have standardsbased report card on the kindergarten through 2 grade level. So, with that, I'll ask you to go to the next slide because I'm very excited to share um this little bit piece of data with our kindergarten through 2 grade cohorts. This is taking students that were identified as high- risk, which therefore qualified as title one intervention services in the fall of 2025. That was 225 students, excuse me, 222 students. and we were able to drop that down to 169 by the end of the year. What really gets us excited is our kindergarten team this year. And so I really want to focus and applaud their efforts. I know um Sergeant Edrank can attest to the conversations that we've had in our Title One advisory meetings. We have had lots

049of discussions around kindergarten cohorts and how can we better prepare our students to enter the academic world starting in kindergarten. There's lots. It's not the kindergarten that we were used to when we went to school. And so this was just a highlight to be able to look at this number alone. 69 students were identified in the fall of this school year and it dropped to 43. A reduction of 26 students. That is more than one class full of students who went from a high risk identified down to a moderate or even a low risk. And we found that most of our students actually went from that high risk down to a low risk. And I know that was because of intentionally structuring that classroom, those explicit instructions and the curriculum that we have that those

050students are now better prepared to enter first grade. So, I'm very excited to find out um this momentum to keep that going and grow that from kindergarten to first and just continue on up. So, I really want to draw attention and thank those kindergarten teachers. They worked very hard for that. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Whole classroom. That's awesome. >> So, just to summarize, I tell the team all the time, you have to trust the process. Even though it's long and painful sometimes, you have to trust it. And I we are definitely seeing rewards. So, just to kind of summarize this year's um celebrations, we had a reduction in our title one uh identified title one students. We hosted six family engagement nights, two at each of the elementary schools. We increased in property license

051and endorsed teachers at the title one schools. We've increased professional development opportunities for teachers. And the main really thing is the collaborative piece. We have created and implemented a systematic collaborative PLC across all three schools. And as you can see, instructions like the hub, everything, you know, kind of affects what we do and and all of those things, all the departments from HR to, you know, just principles at the building working with us, teachers being willing to think outside the box. It really takes all of us together to to make an impact. And I just want to personally thank everyone for their dedication and their commitment to our students. Thank you personally, Mr. Frank, for serving on the divisionwide title one committee. Um we've done had some amazing conversations this year and I think uh

052those conversations have evolved into some really good practices put in place at the schools. So again, thank you for your continued support and let me know if you have any questions. >> Thank you. Thanks. Good job. >> Did y'all have any questions? >> No. We are moving on to the weapons detections update. >> Yes, madam chair. So as our principles come forward, we discussed at our last school board meeting uh just where we are with the weapon detection system. So we are one year in uh I think we have learned some lessons and I think our principles are here this evening to kind of give us a reflection after year one for some uh some grows and some some nos and some things that uh you know we can use moving forward. So with that

053said, I think Dr. Burns, you up first. >> So I you know, I've prepared a slide and I'm not sure if you've had an opportunity to review that particular slide, but you know, I want to I want to recognize someone who's here in the audience tonight and that's Erica McGinness. She is an amazing teacher at our high school and she's also someone who has a a laser focus on this particular topic and she has some really wonderful ideas and I'm hoping that we can kind of open the door with Erica to uh give a teachers perspective on how we can do things differently and how we can do things better at at King George High School. In fact, without going into a whole lot of details with regard to, you know, how things are done

054at the high school, I will share with you, of course, we have a policy that speaks to searches and seizures. What I would recommend for King George is look particularly at creating a regulation that guides us in terms of consistency across the board at the elementary, middle, and high school. And Erica has some wonderful thoughts on that. And uh I'm not going to go into a lot of detail on that, but we'll just open the door for some conversation with her about that. But at the high school, you know, you know, you know, of course at the beginning of the school year, it started off very rocky. We had some phantom beeps. We had long lines. We've come a long way with respect to what we're doing. Uh but one thing I would definitely like

055to improve at the high school is trying to reduce the number of stations so that we can increase administrative presence. As you know, administrators, we're monitoring the hallways and it's difficult to be at each station while also monitoring the hallways. I think we can do it by reducing the number of stations so that we increase our presence at the particular station so that when there is a beep that's, you know, presents a particular challenge that the administrator is there to provide some level of comfort and some level of guidance with respect to conducting a search that needs to be conducted at the high school level at least. That's one thing I'm recommending for the upcoming school year. Also, another challenge, you'll probably hear this from the same administrators. Uh the challenge that we're having right

056now is the spring sports back bags. They're big, they're bulky, they've got multiple bats. Certainly, that presents a challenge. And what we're looking for for the upcoming school year is to create some kind of storage space for those particular bags in addition to trying to create some storage space also for our um the the bulky music instruments that come in as well. So, that's those are some things that we're looking to adjust with respect to our protocols for the upcoming school year. But Erica has some great ideas. She's on our our team. Uh if you're looking for a perspective, she's she's she's a guru on this. She's all over it. >> Yeah. Yeah. Mrs. Cleveland and I were discussing about because updating our policy to require like regulation on their end where they Yeah. >>

057Yeah. >> Virginia Beach and Erica has researched this for me. Virginia Beach has a wonderful model to uh to look at. Uh there's some things that obviously we need to do differently than Virginia Beach. They're a larger school district. They do a lot of random searches, but they have some good uh thoughts and things that we might want to consider uh in terms of a regulation. I don't think there are any policies I don't think there are any VSB policies with respect to weapons detection. Most of them speak to searches and seizures. So, V Virginia Beach is actually out there. They're on the forefront with respect to our regulation. >> Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Any questions to Dr. Burns? >> Okay. >> Thank you, Dr. Burns. >> Good evening, everyone. Um, so at the middle

058school, we have four units of weapons detection, and we use everyone every morning. Um, we have a sixth grade line, a seventh grade line, an eighth grade line in our cafeteria, as well as a band and athletic line. So, students at this point in the year, they know exactly where they're going when they come in the building. Um, of course the first couple weeks were hard as we got into the routine, but students acclimated very quickly. Um, and it it runs really well now. Um, that's a big shout out to our staff. Um, that also took a little bit of adjustment for everyone to kind of understand what they were doing at weapons detection, but our staff comes in. Um, we have about three to four members at every station and that comprises of teachers

059and pair of professionals in addition to admin and our school security officer. um and we um get students through very quickly. Um an added bonus that we've noticed with weapons detection that we didn't anticipate was instead of having 500 kids in the hall as soon as buses unload, now it slows it down. Students go through weapons detection, there's a trickle out into the hallway and that has made our mornings extremely smooth. Um so again, something we weren't necessarily looking for. Um but it has made a wonderful impact. Um would also like to shout out another success of weapons detection and that's our community. Um they've really gotten on board and supported us throughout the year and I think it's helped create a a an atmosphere in our school where everyone feels safe and secure now.

060Um and they know what the expectation is. Um so that's been a really big success. Um and then finally I would like to just shout out that our school security officer did come in this year for the first time at the middle school. happened to coincide with weapons detection adoption and that's been a blessing. Uh Mr. Lewis has been a phenomenal asset to the middle school. He's kind of taken charge of the weapons detection units in the morning, helps get them set up, helps break them down every day and has just done a wonderful job. So, I'd be remiss without shouting him out along with our weapons detection. Um but as Dr. Burns said, there are a few challenges that we're still working through. Um staffing is hard. It takes a lot every morning and

061when someone's out we have to have substitute people come in and help with weapons detection. Um but there are times when we have multiple people out so that does slow the process down a little bit. I we're always looking for solutions to those things and we've made it work but it is a challenge. Um and along with that setup and breakdown every day has just added responsibilities to staff who already feel overworked. So that's just been something else that we've tried to mitigate and help wherever we can. Um especially for after school activities as well. Um staffing that has been a challenge at the middle school because although we don't have as many things as the high school, we do have a variety of athletic events, plays, u concerts, things like that. And finding people

062to staff and run the weapons detection um has been a bit of a challenge. So those are things we're always working on trying to figure out solutions for. Um, but other than that, again, I I really have nothing to say but great things about our weapons detection adoption this year. Any questions about what we're doing at the middle school? >> Questions? No. Any questions? No. Thank you, Dr. N. >> Yes. Thank you. >> The three amigos. >> Real quickly, did you? >> You can go ahead. >> Okay. Excellent. Um, for us at the elementary schools, we have two units each and I know that we pull both of them out for the morning drop off and our buses. Um, we within the first week of school, the students, like both other schools, acclimated very quickly.

063I was pleasantly astonished. Within the first four days, we were running through in about 5 minutes. And it was huge to see the kids just accept it and embrace it. And the teachers were all on board. Um, for our after-school events, we don't do as many as the upper grades. And typically for us, it's staffed by admin. Um, because our teachers don't stay after school and they don't have that responsibility. So, we'll trade off. And our community has been wonderful when they come in after school. They understand the parameters. They're happy to wait. I don't think I've had anybody complain or be grumpy or disrespectful, which has been really nice um for the community as well. Um, some of our challenges very similar. The band day for us is Wednesday. We know our lines are

064going to take longer, but we do have a system now where we have our safety patrol will help get the instrument, take it to the table so we can search it as the students go through. So, we have um our helpers there helping the teachers monitor those lines on those days. Um similar to the middle school and high school, um admin monitoring and supervising at the same time. So we have one of us at each station but also monitoring the halls and doing the other duties that are required. Oftentimes if we are pulled at that moment there's not necessarily someone who can work both um which does present a problem. Those phantom act activis activations I know that that's been something that I've been dealing with since the fall. It's gotten better. When there's a

065thunderstorm though it doesn't matter. So we always have to slow down the line a little bit. we'll run children through a couple times um when we have those hiccups, especially with um the weather related hiccups, but other than that, we've found a balance between the the appropriate settings, the location in the building where it needs to go, and I think it's running much smoother now. Um considerations that I've noticed and we've discussed for next year or for years future is having an extra unit on hand. Um, we've had to problem solve if something happens with a unit, the batteries not charged properly, the phantom um, things setting off. We had an example at Sealston the other day. One of my units just kept going off for no reason. Every 30 seconds, we shut it off

066and on four times. This was at 8:27. So, we shut that unit down and diverted all the students to the other unit um because we didn't have a backup. So, the kids were great. They just filed through. It took us a couple more minutes. But in cases like that, had both units failed for some reason, it would be important to have a backup in the future so that we can process the students through uh in a timely manner. Usually we can figure it out with a couple calls, sometimes text to Hillary [laughter] or Jamie, >> but it takes some time and all the kids are standing out there, >> right? So having that back, >> speak for yourself, >> having that backup if it comes. Um, but as um Dr. Nice said, I am very

067pleased with the system. It gives a level of comfort in the building to our students, to our staff, to our families, and I I'm really happy that we've implemented it in our schools. I have a question actually for everybody including Dr. Nice and Dr. Burns. So when um teacher is pulled to to operate uh a unit um that's not normally one of the teachers, is everybody trained in general on how to use them? Cuz like if some if there's an absence or whatever, how do we handle that? >> Go ahead. >> So we did train everybody at the beginning of the year. We thought it was important for everyone to know and understand what weapons detection was and how it operates. Um, and again, we did it beginning of the year, but if they haven't

068done it since then, um, it's still a little bit of a challenge, but everyone is familiar with it at least. And more times than not, it's an administrator or a school security officer who's kind of stepping in and filling that role at the middle school. >> Thank you. And I will second your uh, comment on Mr. Lewis. He's definitely a great SSO. So, so for the high school um teachers who were volunttoled or you know to be part of this um were trained uh I will share with you that moving forward we're going to strategically identify teachers who feel comfortable with weapons detection for the future. You've got to have um you know the the you got this is something you've got to want to do and you got to be passionate about doing it

069because it can create a level of comfort when you're going through student belongings and whatnot. So, this coming school year, now that we've gotten through this hurdle, we've made it very clear that teachers are going to be um you know, they're they're going to be selected based on whether or not they have an interest in doing it. >> Thank you. >> I have a question. >> Um have these uh weapon detection systems been um accurate or successful in identifying items that should not be going through? And have you been able to screen out things that should not be coming into the school? >> Most of you know interesting. That's a great question. Um I' I'd like to think that they are working and appropriately. I think where we're seeing um them working very effectively in

070terms of screening out things that you don't want in your school are at at at at evening events. evening events uh and having conversations with adults about things that they should and should not be bringing into the school. So, I think our students know what they should and shouldn't be bringing into the school, but we've had some some minor incidents with regard to uh after school activities. >> Um for us, I think in terms of identifying items, the the standard items go off on a regular basis, binders, [clears throat] umbrellas, and we always double check those. the students know and we open those. We've discovered metal tins that carry pencils and candy that are everywhere nowadays are going off um the makeup containers. But what we do is we'll take them out, we'll open them

071up each time and the students will pause and they know. In terms of um discovering any weapons at at our school, we have not had any incidents of finding anything that's not supposed to come in other than I think a parent teacher conference day when we had the parents come through and we had to send them back through because they had a work object on them that they should not bring into a school building. Yeah. >> Ours has only been adults. We've had no students with anything but adults and they're very open to going back and putting it in the cart. >> Yeah, same. I mean, I would say at our school as well, it's been at the after school events with families when somebody comes in. I mean, most people have been gracious because

072it's I either need to check your things or you need to take stuff to your car. You've got two options. So, most people have been agreeable to that. But yes, >> or they say throw away my nail kit. >> Just take [laughter] the car. >> Or for all five of you, do you have teachers go through metal detectors? Our teachers do not. >> No. >> Yes. >> Um, just so everyone is aware that we as principles did meet and discuss this with Dr. Boyd and Dr. Wright over the summer when we were trying to wrap our heads around what this was going to look like in each of our schools. And we determined, and I think Dr. Burns could probably speak to this a little bit, that when we hire teachers, they are vetted. Um,

073so the the understanding is that they're coming in the building. We know who they are. Um, otherwise we would have to, you know, get there at 6:00 a.m. when some teachers arrive. All teachers have to park on one side of the building in order to go through. Um, so I think it's that level of trust when we do our vetting process when we hire somebody. >> Yeah, they're doing background checks. I will tell you too that it's not just that. They've got a lot of our teachers, athletic directors, coaches, things of that nature, staff members have keys to other parts of the building. Uh, and and they're the ones running the weapon detection system. So, uh, we do have to have a level of trust with our staff, uh, to be able to cover the

074machines. >> I mean, I had a master key, as you well know. So, uh, >> after school and before school is a huge challenge. uh expect I mean I think that we're trying to do everything we can after school to make sure that all those students uh that are in and out of there for their uh athletic activities are taken care of. But how about in the mornings when students are there at 6:00 in the morning or you were just mentioning you were there at 5 in the morning. um you know that can become a challenge also for students that you know because they're with a teacher or whatever don't make it through the metal detector. I we talked you guys can speak to that too. We we talked about that on the front end

075and one of the expectations that we were hoping was going to be in effect was that students like Rosy who come in there at 5:00 in the morning, uh if the units are not set up and it's an outside hour, then the expectation should be that they're under constant supervision from an adult in the building at that time. Uh there's going to be some situations where that becomes um where that's going to happen. And uh our hope is is that they always stay with with an adult in the building, one of our staff members. Uh and then when school starts, the expectation is to go out and come back through the units for the school day. >> I hope that's [clears throat] >> we have because we have before and after care in the building.

076Um parents are bringing their kids. So, but the expectation is that we've worked out a plan for all of those students to come back and go through >> and and that includes staff members, children. You know, they they you know, if they come in with mom or dad and they they are are under supervision, the expectation is is when you have the opportunity, they are supposed to be escorted and supposed to go through the weapon detection system as well. >> I think the key word there are supposed to >> correct. >> Yeah, [laughter] >> this is Cleveland. >> That's the expectation. You got a question? >> She did. Thank you. Um, thank you guys for coming and talking with us about this. I actually had requested this, so I appreciate that. I think that the

077update is really helpful. Um, I think that it's the consistency that is super important with this. And you guys know probably more than me, but I hear my kids and also other kids tell me that they know um they're looking for for ways to get around it. And so that's why I say consistency is so key with this. And I also like how you're saying that um you know, you want to identify those staff me members that are comfortable with this that that um understand what the requirements are and the expectations and continue to use those staff members because they're more consistent than pulling somebody who's not used to doing it all the time, right? Um also last meeting you know our student representative had had expressed concern about teachers not going through and so

078since then had talked to Dr. Boyd and I understand you know you have keys of course it makes sense to me [gasps] but I I would stress the p the the the perspective that that it looks like to to the students and also to the parents right when they see somebody just walk by and they're all walking through and they're like why is that person walking by? They don't know you're a teacher. they don't know you're vetted. And so I I would encourage that the more they can walk through in front of the students and the te and the parents the better. Um because you don't want to have even our student representative who's saying why don't the teachers walk through right now you know. But do all of them know that? >> I mean

079we we can address that now because I think that that's a very valid point. I mean, teachers come through the high school at different entry points. Uh, obviously, one of those entry points is the back main office, if you know where the RCC office is. But if we've got teachers coming through weapons detections units where they're set up, I think it's a no-brainer to make everyone go, if you're coming through that entry point, you have to come through the weapons detection system regardless of who you are, or come through a different secure location, which would be the main office area or other location. So, I I you know, I think, you know, Brook's point is very well taken. you know, I mean, obviously, I think, you know, one of the the the rubs is that,

080you know, we have to model what we expect and uh it's very difficult. It's very challenging, of course, when you're, you know, having screening every teacher, but if we're going through those stations, we should walk through those stations. I agree with that and we can make that happen effective like ASAP. >> Are you done? Yeah. I believe it keeps a level of consistency because the people that are running the metal detection machine, it would be so easy for me to look normal, have a badge on me, and be able to just walk right in, but I'm not a teacher and I but I look like one, so they won't even question me. But also, it just keeps a level of consistency in the front on the front end. So, if you have keys, go in

081with your keys, right? And but if you're going to go through the front, I I think that we would agree that's a good start as soon as possible, right? >> And then we'll come together and do update our policy to require regulations. So, like everybody's getting trained a certain amount of time. Everybody's on the same page every time they're running with. The other concern I have is uh the field. Do we have a metal detector at the field? >> The stadium. >> Stadium. >> Yeah, we we push them out to the stadium. >> Okay, awesome. Perfect. >> Yeah. >> So, yeah, we just want consistency, I think, is the hardest thing. That's the easiest thing to fall off the table and then something happens. But thank you guys so much for your hard work. We

082appreciate it. And we know this is challenging on top of everything else you guys have to do. >> Yeah, this was a huge endeavor at the beginning of the school year and I do want to just say thank you for your leadership and everything uh from the ground up that it took to make this happen this school year to see where we are right now is a is a tribute to the leadership you guys provided to get this done. So, thank you so much. Certainly appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> One question. I just want to make >> we have a lot of doors at King George Elementary School. So, we're still saying staff can go in their doors. They're just if they're coming through at times when everybody's coming through that we're gonna Yes.

083>> I I think if you have a key that that lets you in a door, then it's >> and you don't want to pass everybody up to do it. That >> However, I think Colleen's point's very real that if you don't have a key and you're making your way through the main entrance, you can look like somebody that should just walk in the door. So, under that assumption, you should be walking through the metal detector uh system. Yeah. Yeah. The other thing that kind of concerned me though is the students coming in and then having to go back out and go through because they can just drop their book bag off if they do have something in it and then go back through the metal detector. So that's kind of a concerned. You see what

084I'm saying? Like if if the student goes in with the teacher with all their gear, book bag, whatever on and then the metal detectors are up. So now they got to go back through. They could easily leave their book bag with vapes in it, whatever, on where they came in at. Do you see what I'm saying? in their in their parents' classroom or whatever >> parents classroom and ROC. >> So the expectation is that they bring their belongings with them through the which I think he is but >> but it's so easy for me to drop leave something kids are so the stuff they're coming up with >> like when we went to hope school what they were doing was one kid put a phone inside a cereal box. >> Yeah. [laughter] >> And we

085watched them pull it out. >> Yeah. Um, so they they know better than we do almost like as far as tricks and ways to get through and and she shared some things that she had heard and it was just like, well, they're how they come up with this stuff. So I just think consistency so they don't know where to find the crack. >> Yeah. >> The crack in the wall. [laughter] I'm just >> have to stay on our toes. >> Yeah. >> Thank you guys. >> Yes. Thank you very much. >> Okay, >> Madam Chair. Next up, we have our secondary principles, Dr. nice and Dr. Burns and they're going to give us an update on the 7030 grading policy and I think Dr. Burns is up first. >> All right. So, um, of course,

086uh, you know, when I became principal, uh, at the high school, there were a lot of concerns that were expressed to me by parents, families, and students with regard to the 7030, uh, guidelines that we currently have in place. Interestingly enough, I want to direct your attention. There's actually a guideline that's actually in existence right now and it's from a King George document and that guideline I'm going to read it word for word. It says course content teams or departments will determine grading processes including weights proportions and apply them consistently. And so from my perspective you know right now well let me tell you let me backtrack. What we're doing right now is we're engaging teachers in conversations about the 7030. We're having conversations with departments and also content areas about what they believe to

087be the best process in terms of points or percentages moving forward. I will tell you that you could come up with a 6040, a 50/50, a 25, 25, 25, 25. Doesn't matter what you come up with unless you have administrators that are in place and enforcing expectations with regard to grades that are consistent, accurate, and meaningful and supportive of learning. Nothing you put in place is going to get at whatever it is you're trying to get at with respect to grading practices. With that being said, the way you do that in terms of your expectations, in terms of getting that consistency, you know, accuracy and meaningful and supportive grades is you tie it to the teacher evaluation process with respect to what you expect in terms of enforcing your expectations. That is something that uh

088you know, I feel confident that we can do at at King George. So, in in short, what I'm advocating for at this particular time is giving teachers a little bit more discretion with regard to the processes that they put in place. while also ensuring as an administrative team that the processes that they actually put in place are consistent and do support learning 7030. You know, if it's 7030 moving forward, that's fine. 7030 can actually do some good things. I think you're going to hear from Dr. Nice about some things with regard to 7030 at the middle school. But again, I will advocate for making sure that administrators are in the weeds of teachers grade books, ensuring that we're actually grading grades that actually are supportive of learning is what I'm getting at. So, I probably

089rambled on just a little bit there, but >> wait, wait, do do you guys have any questions for him regarding that? >> I don't have any questions, but I I do have a comment. This this year was the was the first year, right, for 7030 was this year or is it last year? Okay, so we have two years. So, have we looked at the data from prior to those two years showing the passing of the SOS versus these last two years and has it gotten better? Because I think that that would tell us whether or not it's working. >> You know, I think that that's something that we certainly, you know, you know, we'll be pulling grades of course, you know, at the end of the year when we do our end of year reports,

090but I don't have anything that that speaks to that right now. But we certainly are going to be looking at that in terms of the end of the year in terms of grade alignment because you know obviously I believe that's what drove the 7030 with respect to process and product in terms of saying hey there are kids that are getting A's in classes but they're not actually passing the actual so which that doesn't make any sense. So you know yes >> and that data points within the next two weeks here. So so this second round of year two the so assessments are this week. So, we'll have a better idea of how so scores and grades correlate after year two as opposed to year one was rocky. I think everybody will say year one was

091rocky. Uh I'd be interested to see how it correlates this year because part of the drive behind this and I I don't want to steal your thunder, Dr. Nice. I know you want to talk about it a little bit was to make sure that the grade was reflective of how the student was going to perform on the end of year assessment, the so um one of the concerns going into this process on the front end was that we had students that were pulling A's in classes and then failing SOS. Mhm. >> Uh so desiraably what we would hope to see after year two is that grades are very predictive of where our so scores are standing right now and we'll be able to tell that here in in a week or two. You know the

092other thing and maybe Dr. Boyd you can speak on this but there's also uh you know as far as I know nothing has changed with respect to grades and so scores for the upcoming school year being tied together. >> It it has not changed. >> It has not. So that so that is the it is the expectation that grades >> Oh, you're talking about the bill. I think that's actually been tabled at this point. We're trying to figure out where that sits. Yeah. >> Gotcha. >> Wait, are you asking if the SOS have been better this year or these past two years? >> I know. But >> you don't know yet. >> I'm a Yeah, I know. >> What were you just asking? So, there was some there was dialogue uh and you're saying it's

093a bill, but the the Virginia General Assembly has tried to tie so performance to actual grades that that students receive in the classroom, which you know >> Oh, it's been tabled is what he >> been tabled. Yes. >> Okay. The It's funny because we all like we're all friends, right? Good friends. But this is where we're divided >> and it's actually right here on the line. [laughter] Well, se you know the point that that I would make is that 7030 does not create rigor. The rigor is actually created by the classroom teacher. And so that's where administrators need to roll their sleeves up and have conversations with teachers. You know, there there is, you know, there's standard 4 and standard 8 in terms of teacher evaluation. Standard 4 is all about assessment of and for

094learning. And then standard 8 is of course tied to student academic progress. If you're not having conversations with teachers about those two things and capturing that some way in the teacher evaluation process by having conversations with them, it's not a gotcha. I'm not trying to say that we, you know, get you doing something you shouldn't be doing, but those are conversations that admins should be having with teachers to encourage them. I mean, are teachers asking questions about what does my gradebook measure? What does my gradebook measure? And if it doesn't measure learning or something else, then you need to say to yourself, what am I doing? what is my grade book doing? And so I don't think a lot of teachers are trained to think like that honestly. >> Can we cut that video and

095send it to all the teachers? >> Yeah, that was beautifully said, Dr. Burns. And and what is it communicating too? And how often are you communicating? A grade is the simplest form of communication that we have between a teacher and a student and a teacher and a parent. And I think the number of grades that we put into the system every week, how often we're putting grades in, what those grades represent, uh, go a long way in letting our parents know and our children know how they're performing as it compares to the standards in that course. And really, you get a more active parent and a more active student if that's timely feedback provided uh, to those two entities. So, I would agree with all of I think what was hard was how like I

096think you mentioned it is we went from just doing it a lower standard to ramping it up to such a high standard like bam that fast and it was really hard for a lot of our students to catch up to that and they're still trying to catch up to that new learning but as Miss Cleveland will say it creates smarter kids and winners. So I I'm not against holding students to a higher standard, but even when when the colleges are doing a like a less percentage towards test, what I'm hearing from a lot of parents is that we're teaching kids to test. >> And that's >> a concern. >> That's called SOS, >> right? >> And that, >> as all of you know, and Mr. Gordon was back there was with me when they started

097in 1996 when SOS first started. In my opinion, the worst thing that ever happened to education is SOS because we force teachers to teach to the test. >> One other thing is that uh >> good I I just said but they do have to pass it. >> Yes, they do have to pass it. Yeah. But I mean, you know, we we spend a lot of time with students who have difficulty passing it. We spend a lot of time and you and I have watched. >> Oh yeah. >> Yeah. Any >> that happening up you know the magic that she pulls >> just that the the timeliness of the teachers entering grades into power school. That has been a huge I don't know how it's come along lately but in the beginning like parents thought their

098kids were I mean I heard this from many parents and students their kids were failing and then oh my grade's just not in there. my grade and then like three weeks go by, all the grades are in, they're not failing anymore. So, you know, if they could put their grades in every week as opposed to just when the semester ends or the grading period ends cuz I I've heard that as a a complaint. As a parent, it's very frustrating >> when when teachers enter grades like really really late. I mean, that's not meaningful and that's not supportive of learning. students have no opportunity to learn from their mistakes, no opportunity to correct those particular mistakes. Those are really those nuances are what administrators need to get involved in. I I think the 7030 it you

099know certainly you know it's designed to incre you know you know deal with some problems with respect to SOS but at the end of the day you know doing 7030 across the board does not solve the unique problems that might be cropped up by parents reporting students reporting I mean if you're getting a lot of reports from I mean last thing administrators want to do is get into the weeds of teachers grades books but you you got to do it when you have a consistent pattern of concern that's being brought to you. And when you get into the weeds of it and you notice some things, lots of, you know, gaps, grades not being entered, grades being late, or grades that don't measure anything with respect to learning, they may measure did you show up

100or did you do your work, did you complete your work versus do you actually know the particular standards that we're trying to teach you. Those are the kinds of things that you wouldn't know unless you got into the grade book. So that's what I'm saying. Principles need to get into the grade book >> real quick. Miss Rachel, um, and then does she still want to talk to you? Did you still want to say something? Well, she's going to go first. Sorry. And but you can go after her. >> You mentioned tying the um teacher evaluations more towards um having accurate grade books. Um can you elaborate on that or how that evaluation would impact the teacher? You encourage them to have more consistent. So standard four is assessment of and for learning. So standard 4

101gets at student academic progress. You know, are teachers monitoring student academic progress consistently, accurately, in a meaningful, supportive way? And it also gets at whether or not teachers are actually using their grade books to actually uh instructionally plan. You know, I have several students that failed a particular test. Well, maybe rather than saying everybody's lazy, I need to say maybe I need to retach that or maybe something I did in my instruction just didn't work for for my students. So th that's what standard 4 gets at how teachers are monitoring students and how teachers are using their grade books to guide and inform their own instructional delivery and their own instructional planning. So that's where that gets at. So, and and I think speaking to the process, this document, this KGHS grading guidelines, grades 6

102through 12 document actually has those expectations in terms of timing, in terms of what Dr. Burns is speaking to. So, I think spending some time on the front of the school year, and I know that's hard to come by, but making sure that your instructional staff is uh well-versed on those expectations, uh monitoring those as administrators throughout the year. And then really this time of year when we're in the evaluation process of our teacher referencing standard 4 and as he said earlier, standard 8, student achievement, and making sure that his that the evaluation references their success in meeting those guidelines. In terms of that document, Um, I would like to add I have I had no idea we were supposed to walk back out for the metal detector. So, if you want to send an

103email to either the students or the teachers cuz I am a student that comes in there frequently early in the morning to make up work. Had no idea. I mean, I'm not bringing in anything bad, but I assume no other students really know that. Um, I will say students are only learning for a test. Um, freshman, sophomore year, I can't remember a single thing I've learned, but I know I got 500s on the SOS, but we're only learning for the test. The biggest problem with the 7030 grading scale is not every teacher is doing it the exact same way. Some teachers only put in test grades with maybe one other 30% grade and then other teachers have tons of 30% grades and one test grade. So those classes don't really affect us as much. But

104when teachers are only putting in the product grades, it's not really showing that we're learning because I shouldn't have 115 in math and then an 89 in English when I know I'm smarter than an 89. >> Okay, real quick. I'm sorry because I thought she was going to talk about something not so direct. Um, sorry, Brooke, but I'm not sure that should Is that okay? >> Is you asking me, Madam Chair? >> Well, I I just don't feel like that's something that should be disc I mean, Ed might dis Mr. Frank might disagree with me, but that's something that maybe should be discussed. Not as a student to an adult is my problem. I think I think what Brook's point though gets at, you know, regardless of whether it's 7030 or 5050 or whatever, it

105gets down to the unique decisions that teachers are making at the individual level. And I think 7030 was designed to address a, you know, make everybody do it when in fact you have probably these issues that Brooke has alluded to with different teachers doing different things and they're not consistent. And so that's where I'm saying that principles need to roll their sleeves up and get into the weeds of those those particular situations that she is actually highlighting and speaking to. >> Well, what would be good maybe is doing it with you in your office if it's so direct like that. Maybe. >> Mhm. >> Don't be sorry cuz there's a lot of students who aren't brave enough to speak. But um I just think it'd be more respectful to do behind Well, I don't know.

106That's just me cuz Ed says let her speak and so I'm just want to make sure that we're all being respectful. >> Oh, I I I took it totally as respectful. >> It sounds like you did. Yeah. And she's not meaning it that way and I'm not trying to cut you down, Brooke, because trust me, I wish more students would speak up. >> I just want to make sure with how we're doing it that it's the proper way. >> I think her her point validates what I'm I'm getting at. And and so she she she provided evidence that that that is >> she's Yeah. We're talking about consistency and that's what she's pointing out. Absolutely. So, I just want to make sure we're doing it right. That's all. >> Absolutely. respectfully. Thank you, Brooke. Sorry.

107I hope I wasn't pointing that at you. I just didn't know if this was allowed because normally you only speak at the times that um student comment. No, don't be sorry because we let you. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to get in trouble. [laughter] >> Dr. Nice. Good luck. >> I don't know if I have a lot to add [laughter] after all that. Um no, I will say um the the document that Dr. Burns and Dr. Boyd referenced the 6 through 12 grading guidelines that was created what about 8 years ago 10 years ago something like that Dr. Boyd and that's because grading is one of those conversations that it's hard to get people to agree on. Um so we created that document back then um because we recognized again that

108maybe we were kind of like the wild wild west as far as grading. We wanted some consistency and I think that document does a really good job. Um, however, when we started looking at the 7030 two summers ago now, um, that wasn't what the middle school necessarily set out to do. We just realized we needed to get more consistent across the board. Um, we had one of our specialist um, in our meeting with us that summer with department chair. She said, you know, Casey, the high school is going to do 7030 across the board. I was like, well, we're trying to be consistent. So we said we we will do 7032 because I think that creates that consistency for parents and families and students. Um which is nice because even before that like the middle

109school in particular like we let departments kind of set their own grading guidelines which created some consistency but what science was doing was very different from what math was doing and that was very different than what English was doing. So even though we tried to do it by department back then, we were still like all over the board and parents were confused, students were confused, they didn't know how they were being graded. Um, so 7030 did really kind of help clarify that. Um, I'm not going to go through everything because again, a lot of it's been discussed already. Um, the conversation I think the last schoolboard meeting like that, that day after school, I actually sat with my department chairs and talked about 7030. So I was happy it came up that night. Um the

110conversation we've been having is department chairs like that structure and those are a lot of our teacher leaders in the building. So hearing that they actually appreciate that because they know what everyone's supposed to be doing as well. Um that was valuable for me to hear. Um but the conversation I've been having is I think a structure similar to that doesn't necessarily have to continue to be exactly 7030. Um but the structure is there and I think there is a lot of benefit to that. The conversation I've been having is we need to soften the edges of 7030 a little bit. It seems very harsh, especially at the beginning of a grading period for students when maybe they have three process grades and then they have a test grade and they don't do well on

111that test. Um and then you know their grades in the tank for weeks until they have a couple more product assessments where or product assignments that can build that grade back up. um that was really highlighted for us with athletics because we put student first and student athlete and we are very strict and we check weekly on grades and we realized oh this doesn't seem to be fair for our student athletes. Um so again you know we're always looking for solutions so we created um a little bit of a grace period for students who found themselves in that situation but it doesn't just impact our student athletes impacts everybody. Um, so that's been one of the downfalls to 7030 I think and and what we're looking for is a way to again keep the structure

112um because there is something to that where parents know how students are being graded. Students understand how they're being graded across the board. U but we don't want to feel punitive or too harsh for them. Um and then the other big obstacle I think we've seen at the middle school is sixth graders coming in from elementary school and hitting 7030 and having that rigor. Um that's been a huge challenge. Um so Miss Cable was part of that conversation. Um but we're going to continue to have some conversations at the middle school. Uh maybe figure out a way to scaffold um the rigor with the 7030 so when sixth graders come in, maybe it's not a 7030 policy for them. Maybe it's something a little bit less where they can get that comfortability at the middle

113school level, understand what it means, and then kind of build the rigor throughout their middle school career so they're prepared to go to high school. um and meet those standards when they get to Dr. Burns. Um I hope that all makes sense. And I kind of went off script there a little bit, but does any anyone have any questions for me? >> I was just going to comment perhaps we need to take a look at fourth and fifth grade and start educating the those higher level elementary teachers to maybe educate the kids and slowly, you know, get them used to that so by the time they get to middle school, it's not a shock. I don't know if we can do that because you guys got a lot going on. But yeah, just a thought.

114>> A question if anybody else. >> Miss Brooke, do you have a question? [laughter] I got something to say in a second. How do you feel about this still? >> Again, I think there's value. Um, it was hard. Like I came I think Mr. Watson and I came in front of you guys like in October or November of 2024 um to kind of talk about this a little bit. Um >> and I'll be honest, I talked to Dr. Boyd before that man's like I can get rid of 7030 Dr. Boyd. I'm not that tied to it. But the longer we've done it, we put in the hard work. Teachers have bought in. Um we got more consistent from year one to year two with our teachers. And that again speaks to a lot of what

115Dr. Burns was talking about too. Um there was still some variability in how teachers were implementing it, but we got more consistent across the board there. And I I see a lot of value. Um we have one year of so data, so it's more anecdotal evidence that there's more alignment with grades and so scores. I think with the second data point this spring, I think that will give us a better indication of what that's looking like and I think that can guide our conversations this summer to see how we want to refine it moving forward. So, I I I do support it, but again, softening those edges of it so students don't feel like they're being punished or or that it's too too harsh for them, if that makes sense. >> You guys still get

116a lot of flack or like from the parents concerns? >> At the beginning of the year, we did, but I think that was partly the new math standards as well. So, sixth graders coming in, all new math standards, all new expectations at the middle school. And I think that was a a very steep learning curve. Um, and again, that was one of those things that kind of opened my eyes like, okay, maybe we need to to help guide our sixth graders as they come in better than what we did this year. >> Okay, thank you guys. >> Thanks. >> And Brooke, what I was going to say is I think a little bit what caught me off guard is that whenever we hear anything from a student or a parent, it's always a whisper like,

117"And don't tell nobody I'm telling you this." And here you're just like sharing. [laughter] I don't like I got nervous. Do I need to protect her? You know, so I apologize for that. You didn't do nothing wrong at all. Okay. I just have never been in that position. >> Sorry to put you in. >> Sorry. Please. All right. I want you to come back. So, and be just as bold and be you. Okay. So, where are we going? >> Oh, now it's your turn to speak. [laughter] >> Speak. >> Should have just waited and talked now, but I wanted to get them while they were up here. Um, good evening. My name is Barbaden, one of the student representatives from the high school. As we approach the final stretch of the school year, there's not

118much that's happening, but there are still some key events. DECO will be hosting their last meeting for the school this Wednesday. Sporting events are coming to an end, and we strongly encourage everyone in the community to attend. On the 24th of April, Rotty completed a 16-mi hike. I heard from some students it was quite hard, but then other students they really enjoyed it and Mr. Frank enjoyed it. There was 81 participants in that. Rapahana Community College graduation is this Friday, May the 8th, either at 5:00 p.m. or 700 p.m. This is for all the nurse aid participants or anyone from the high school that is graduating with a degree or a certificate. Moving on to all of the senior stuff that we would love for you guys to attend. Our senior sunset will take place

119Wednesday, May 13th from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on the cafeteria patio. We will also be recognizing seniors during honors chord and decision day celebrating Tuesday, May the 12th. Later that evening at 600 p.m. in the auditorium, we will be hosting our senior scholarship and award program. We're also looking forward to visiting our elementary schools and middle schools on Friday, May 15th for the senior walk. And following that at 1:30 at 10:30 to 1:30 will be our senior picnic. Last but not least, I assume that you guys know this, but the graduation for King George High School is Tuesday, May 19th at 7 p.m. And before I finish, I want to speak on behalf of me and Jake. As this is our final schoolboard meeting, we want to say thank you so much and we

120truly appreciate the opportunity that you guys have given us to serve as the student representatives. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of the conversations and sharing some of our strong voices. We are grateful for the guidance that each of you guys have shown us through this experience. I do have thank you bags for you. I mean I have them in order. So if you want we can pass them around or wait till the end but we can't I know speaking for me I can't be I can't wait to one day come back in the community as a parent and still give my strong opinion. So [laughter] >> we love Thank you. I don't I feel so little right now. >> [laughter] >> This is M. Oh, this >> Thank you, bro. >>

121[laughter] >> Nice. >> Thank you so much. Thank you. [laughter] >> We're over here like >> Thank you, Brooks. Yes. say >> thanking her. >> Look, he's mad at me now, but it's good. >> All right. Consent. Yeah. The consent agenda for the April 13th meeting. >> I need a motion. If if >> I would like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda from April 13th regular meeting. >> Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I. >> The consent agenda is approved. All right. And now moving on to action items. >> Dr. Boyd. >> Yes, Madam Chair. So, annually the Virginia Department of Education uh requires that we authorize another individual in the schoolboard office to uh sign documents in the absence of the division superintendent. Uh in the absence of a

122deputy superintendent, right now annually, we have chosen Miss Beth Yazerki to fill in. her term is uh getting ready to expire. Uh so we will need to uh reauthorize her this evening. The school board will need to reauthorize her this evening. And then when we um have the new deputy superintendent come on board, then we'll do it again. So I would ask for a motion this evening uh authorizing Beth Yazerki uh to sign uh in my absence. I would like to make a motion uh to approve Miss Matthews Erski as the authorized designate for Dr. Boyd. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I. >> And is motion approved? >> Uh acceptance of funds? >> Uh yes, Madam Chair. So this evening we have our student device uh refresh purchase. >> Yeah,

123I skipped it. I'm sorry. Student device refresh. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah. Uh so we're on the uh student device refresh. Uh so this is a purchase order in the excess of $50,000. So it will need board approval and we're using VS uh VPSA funds through technology. We do this annually and it would be my recommend my recommendation this evening to approve a motion to issue a purchase order toing a totaling $185,22420 for 420 student devices and to submit for reimbursement through VPS by June 30th 2026. Madam Chair, >> I make a motion for the issuance of a purchase order totaling 185,224.20 for 420 student devices and to submit for reimbursement through VPS by June 30th. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Yes. Really? How many Chromebooks for $185,000? Just curious. >> That's 420. [laughter] >>

124420. Oh, all right. >> She's not looking at the >> I am obviously not looking. Thank you. >> She's looking at a >> I just want to give I just want to give her a hard time. That's all. >> Thank you. >> All right. Um any other discussion? All those in favor? I >> I votes I motion carries. Approved purchase requisition. All right. Now moving on to acceptance of funds for the title one improvement grant. >> Yes, madam chair. So uh this evening we are accepting of title one funds for the improvement grant. So if you remember Miss Duff came I believe it was last school board meeting or or before uh to discuss uh our our uh targeted schools and the amount of funds that they could apply for through grant funds. I'm happy

125to say that King George County Schools has been has been awarded uh three title one imp uh improvement funds in in the total amount of $130,54640. Uh below you can see that breaks down into uh $43,734.80 for King George Elementary School, $41,664.60 for Sealston Elementary, and $45,147 for King George Middle School. Uh it would be my recommendation this evening to accept a motion from the school board to accept the funds in the total amount of $130,546.40 40 cents from the Department of Education for the acceptance of Title One improvement grants. >> Madam Chair, I'd like to make a motion that we accept the funds in the amount of $130,546.40 from the Virginia Department of Education for the Title One grants. >> I second. Any discussion? >> Have a question. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Um, when

126we receive funds like this, is that already part of our budget or is this an addition to our budget? This is an addition to our budget and and uh if you remember last night last time Miss Duff outlines how we intend to use this for professional development and teacher growth services. So this would be an addition to uh our our fund b our annual budget. >> Thank you. >> Yep. >> Good. >> Any other discussion? All those in favor? >> I motion carries. Right. >> Moving on to title two I teach grant. >> Yes madam chair. So again, acceptance of funds for title 2 I teach grant funds. So this is a program that we use. King George County Schools has been awarded title 2 funds in the amount of 9,66 9,644 again from the

127department of education to support teacher lensure through the I teach program. So, this is a program that we use uh an online program for teachers that do not have certification yet that can acquire uh certification uh through this uh online uh opportunity. So, my recommendation this evening would be to accept funds in the amount of $9,644 from the Department of Education for the I teach uh program. Madam Chair, I make a motion to accept the funds in the amount of $9,644 from the department uh from the Virginia Department of Education for the I Teach program. >> I second. Any discussion? All those in favor? >> It's been approved. >> All right. Um revised allocations for 2024 25 title 2 additional funds. >> We skipped over. So, so this is the one we've tabled, Madam Chair,

128and we'll move on to item F. >> All right. Use the fund balance. >> Uh, yes, ma'am. So, uh, this if you Well, if you were on the board, I think, um, maybe Miss Frank, Miss Hoover, I think maybe you guys, I can't remember. This was when we initially took the all-in grant fund. So, the initial all-in grant allocation to King George County from the Virginia Department of Education, Colleen, you may have been here as well. uh it was $1,36,646 and that amount of funds were to be used over three years. What the school board has to do is reappropriate those funds to the following year so that we can continue to use those funds. The 1 million wasn't all in one year. It's over three years. Uh so the recommendation this evening would be

129to approve uh the use of restricted fund balance in and the budget supplement to move forward into the FY26 budget and the amount would be uh 657,227 $272. A lot of numbers. >> Yeah. Madame Chair, I'd like to make a motion to use the restricted fund bal balance and budget supplement in the amount of 657,272. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I. >> Motion carries. >> Right. Grant application. >> Okay. And this is the final one, Madam Chair. So this is Carl D. Perkins grant. So this is one that we hear about annually. Uh these are funds that we use for CTE. Uh and and we receive these funds annually from the federal government. And tonight uh I would recommend that uh we approve the uh Carl D. Perkins uh career

130and technical education grant uh application. >> Madam Chair, I make a motion that we approve the the U. Coral the person grant application. >> I second. Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I. Motion carries. All right. Moving on to discussion items. Policy manual updates. >> Yes, madam chair. So, thank you to our wonderful school board staff and led by Miss Scalf. We only have one policy for you this evening. We have we have really uh pushed the policies coming through the VSBA. Uh the policy that we have for you this evening is policy GCBA or BE excuse me. It's the Family and Medical Leave Act. So we have had this policy in the books. It was a rather long policy at the time. uh VSBA provided the recommendation that we take the uh substantative

131the the um the regulation type material out of that policy and separate the policy into a uh policy passed by the school board and then also a separate regulation passed by the school board. So same policy, same information but now separated into a policy and a regulation that you will see uh in your attachments. You'll see GCBE the new policy which is much shorter than the total nine pages now. And then really the things that we're doing on a day-to-day basis, the regulation GCB-R, uh, and I would request approval of of that change, Madam Chair. >> Just a minute. Sorry. >> No, I mean, if you're ready, you can make a motion. I'd like it to make a motion to approve policy GCB new and delete the old one along with approve the GCB. >>

132Second. >> Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I. >> Motion carries. >> Committee reports starting with Miss Frank. >> Miss Hoover. >> I don't have any. >> Okay. Mrs. Clea >> don't have anything. >> Mrs. Scott, >> I do. Uh the technology uh committee was this past week and uh so Miss Richards was uh recognized at that meeting as we did tonight for her um nomination to VOE computer science champion. Uh we also uh discussed that there's going to be a change this coming year. They're deciding to send Chromebooks home with the students over the summer. So they will have it um over the summer. So um that's something that they planning to implement this year. There'll be um at the meeting there was also a question brought up about whether or not uh

133we would look at having a policy regarding the use of AI in um education and class instruction. Um that was something that we have been discussing at these meetings. Um but as far as implementing that um schoolwide in a policy that's something that I thought was um worth considering. Um and also uh one of the teachers came and were discussing um they are introducing uh classes in AI that are being introduced for the uh high school teachers to take. So that would be teaching them how to use AI in their classroom instruction and how that could use that to make them more effective. So uh I believe the discussion was it's uh voluntary but encouraged for the teachers to take those classes. Um that was what Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, for the Chesapeake

134Bay Governor School, I just want to shout out that May 14th is our orientation night at 6 p.m. at the Bowling Green campus. And then we also have uh where did I see this real quick? That's end of year picnic at the RCC Warsaw campus May 7th, which is I think this what's today? Monday. So, Thursday. May 7th. >> 7th. >> That's Thursday. >> Is that Thursday? >> Yeah. So, that's the uh end of the year picnic is May 7th. And moving on to superintendent report. >> Yes, madam chair. So, uh, this is National Teacher Appreciation Week. Uh, so I do want to take an opportunity to say thank you to all of our teachers. Uh, I know that there was a number of great things going on at all of our schools today and

135I'm sure it'll be all week long. Um, one week is not enough to pay tribute to the effort that they put forward in public education. So, um please relay principles to your teachers how much I certainly appreciate the effort that they provide morning, noon, and night uh to to meet our meet our students where they are and provide uh as we've learned tonight through our instructional update, amazing services to our students. So, thank you so much to our teachers uh for being here for our students and and for King George County. Uh I did I did let the board know that I wanted to provide an update for our out of county uh residents. Uh so collectively where we stand right now, we've had a lot of uh conversation. We've pulled together a small committee

136at the school board office. If you remember, I think it was last school board meeting, we left off with um a request of the school board to allow me to go back, pull together a committee, and really kind of vet uh what it would look like to allow for out of county students to attend King George County Schools. At this point, uh, I've surveyed all of the 17 superintendents in the region. Got a pretty good idea of where they stand in terms of allowing out of county students and then whether or not tuition is a component of that. I can tell you that it's a it's a pretty diverse and wide-ranging bag as far as what other uh counties do in terms of that. Uh, I can tell you Miss Fischer right now is really

137uh dove deep into policies and looked at different policies really across the country, but most specifically across Virginia on how we allow for out of county students. Uh, and without letting you know too much information right now, the process is ongoing. Um, there's a lot of conversations, a lot of troubleshooting. I I do want you to know I I know we want a decision on this, but there are so many caveats to it. When we make a change from a current polic from a current policy that has one sentence, we do not accept tuition students to we do now accept tuition students. And what does that mean? It has instructional implications. It has special education implications. It has implications across our the entire spectrum of public education. So, we're really trying to vet that and

138understand that and think we'll be able to, in fact, I'm pretty sure be able to at our next schoolboard meeting present to you a proposed uh draft of a policy for your review where I believe the school board will be in a position to answer a few questions collectively. Do we want to accept out of county students? Do we believe tuition is part of that? and what do we believe an and if the answer to tuition is yes, what do we believe an appropriate tuition amount would be? I think those are the questions that will be presented to the school board next time and uh certainly something for you guys to think about as we lead up to that next school board meeting. So, I wanted to provide that update. Uh third thing I have

139on my list is a budget update. So, there's not a whole lot of an update from the state level. Uh they did reconvene and they left and they concluded that session without a budget. So, if you uh Google that right now, Virginia state budget news, the best you're going to see is you might get a budget by June. Uh so, we're still waiting for state information. If you remember, we built our entire budget off of Governor Ynan's uh proposed budget. We do believe that whether the state or excuse me, whether the Senate or the House budget passes or some version of that, we do believe we're going to get extra state funding based on uh that budget versus Ynan's budget. We don't we have no idea what that number is right now. Uh on the

140local side, uh we were cut $317,000 at the last board of supervisors meeting. Uh again, we do believe we may be able to offset that with the additional state funds. So, we have not made any changes uh to our budget as of right now. Um, and of course you have the final decision on that. But I'm still requesting that we push forward with the compensation increases that we currently have, even though we have the $317,000 cut uh and everything else that we've presented in the budget. I do intend to go to the board of supervisors meeting tomorrow night uh and make sure that um number one, I watch the budget presentation, but be there to answer any questions or provide any information that they may need in terms of uh moving forward with the local

141budget. Um and also stress to on the sense of urgency we have on the school division side in terms of moving forward with a local budget. We would uh find it very valuable to be able to push contracts out to our teachers before they leave. Uh and I know the latest date we have uh to make that happen is is right around March 18, excuse me, right around May 18th. So uh I know that's a lot to ask our local government right now. I know they have some things, some decisions that they need to make, but I do just want to stress to them the importance uh that we have on the school division side in terms of our 700 employees and being able to give them contracts uh before they leave for the summer.

142Uh so that's very valuable to us. And then finally, um just wanted to give you guys an update on the VOTE. As you know, demolition is in high gear. We uh the the building is completely empty at this point and anything left in that building is probably going down with the building. Uh every everything has come out uh that we believe needs to come out uh including all the peripheral agencies and things that we're using wrestling and things of that nature is all out of that building right now. The company has come in to take a look at hazardous materials and I'm happy to report that the um RFP for the architectural and engineering has hit the streets. It is out now. Uh and we have a pre-bid meeting uh on May 12th. So that'll

143be an opportunity for anybody interested in bidding on the project to ask and answer any questions. So we're making good progress on that end uh as far as I can tell right now. So that's uh my report for today, Madam Chair. Thank you for the opportunity. >> Thank you, >> Dr. avoid back to the teacher contracts. Is there a possibility that we could get those contracts out like other counties have done around us? >> And yes, what's the pro and cons there? >> Yeah, thank good question. Thank you, Mr. Frank. So, um this is not new to us. We we have pushed contracts out before uh and we put language in the contracts that say, you know, this contract is valid pending budget approval. Uh I I'd like to be able to do that with

144a little more concrete knowledge on where the local budget stands. Um, but if if we do get to a point where we're getting very close to May 18th and and getting those contracts out could be very important and then we just have to push them out with the caveat that we potentially might have to give you another contract and that's the last thing I want to do. I really do not want to. So, so to answer your question in short, we are really daily assessing the risk and benefit of pushing those contracts out right now with the limited information we have on the local side. I do believe uh and again I can't read the tea leaves of the future but I do believe tomorrow night's board of supervisors meeting hopefully will provide some more

145insight on where the local uh government stands in the budget process and then maybe we can reassess risk at that point and be comfortable in pushing out contracts given what information comes out tomorrow night but again that'll remain to be seen. >> Thank you. >> Board comments with starting with Mrs. Scott. >> Um, thank you very much for the gift. I was not expecting that. I appreciate that and I definitely have appreciated all the updates you've given us throughout the year. Um and uh as for teacher appreciation week, I do want to express my appreciation to the teachers for all that they do with working with our students and trying to make sure that they are learning and um I am um I've seen with my own kids the the care that the teachers have

146given to each of their students and I appreciate that. Happy teacher appreciation week as always. Uh appreciate all the teachers for their hard work and dedication and commitment to our students in King George County. Um thank you for all the presenters that came out tonight. I learned a lot. Um and it was really informative and I really appreciate all of the time and effort that goes into those presentations which I know are a lot do them at my work too. So I know how how much that takes. So, thank you for for taking the time out of your already hectic schedule to put together something for us. Um, Brooke, thank you for the gifts. That was very thoughtful. Um, I'm very proud of your accomplishments and it's been really nice to sit alongside of you

147and this board and for all of your valuable contributions I'm very thankful for. So, best wishes to you as you go on to college and it's going to be a I can't wait to hear all about it. So, you have to come back and tell us about it. um happy to hear about the vote center um moving forward. So, thank you Dr. Boyd for all your hard work because I know that you are working really hard to push that. So, thank you. We really appreciate that. Um and that's it. Thanks. >> Also to all the teachers, happy teacher appreciation week. We really do appreciate you. I know I in walking in schools and seeing how much love and care and time it takes um and it takes a really dedicated person. So, thank you everybody

148for that. And Brooke, thank you also for um the gift and to all the student reps this year. Um they have been invaluable. I think we learn a lot from you guys and thank you. Um and also thank you for all the dates uh for for that are going on with the seniors. We also have spring course coming up uh this week and what fifth grade celebration is in a couple weeks uh May 20th and then we have family funday. I'm not sure if it's the same day at ele every elementary school but I know at King George Elementary it's the 9th. Is it the same at every elementary school or is family funday? I saw on the calendar. Okay, maybe that's you. Is that middle school? Okay. Well, [laughter] well, you better check the

149calendar. We have fun every day. >> Sorry. [laughter] Um, thank you to Mrs. Gonzalez for uh, uh, your public comment. We do value your input and I have read your uh, the book that you gave us and again appreciate it. Um, thank you for the information about the weapons detection uh, system. That was definitely uh, something that I have been asking for uh, for a while. So, thank you. Mrs. Cleveland asked for the update, but prior to Mrs. Cleveland's uh time on the board, Mrs. Hoover was a pain about school safety. You can ask Mr. uh Dr. Boyd about that. And congratulations to Terry Rinko for the workbased learning professional of the year award that she got. Um very welld deserved. I'm super proud to know her. Um, and lastly, thank you to the PTA

150and the county council for the event they put on last week and all the awards that they gave. Welld deserved to everybody. Thank you. >> Yes. First, I'd like to thank the student reps for all they have contributed to the board over the last year. Uh, they've really been great. And you know, you get these seniors up here who can public speak better than most of us. Uh, and then we said the ninth graders here today from their friends at Rapahanic who are really fantastic. Also, it tells us what just how great King George County schools are when that goes on. Okay. I'd also like to as always teachers, staff for all that you do. uh teacher appreciation teacher appreciation week should be every week uh but because of all that you do uh thanks

151to all the people who were here who were presenting today uh those individuals who got the awards from the BSBA business honoral uh for the elect for what they're doing with the CTE thanks that's that's great also uh principles thank you for the for the weapons detection uh presentation uh that you gave us. Uh it's something that's really hard to do and hard to be and hard to get everybody on board with, but you know, no matter how much work it takes, if it saves one life, it's all worth it. It's all worth it. So, uh Dr. Burns and uh Dr. tonight. Thank you for the 7030 presentation. I know you guys put in a lot of work in that. It's been a sore subject for a long time uh that's out there, but hopefully

152uh we can get that uh put to rest. Uh on the 24th of April, I met with Dr. Burns uh and RTC at the high school at I think 5:45 5:45 in the morning. We got on the bus. We went to uh Sheets down to Doin and got on the trail and hiked the trail from Sheets of Dover up to the caboose on Bloomsbury 16 plus miles uh with 81 students. And of that 81 students, I drove >> the emergency vehicle. [laughter] Dr. Burns actually hiked with them, but I drove the emergency vehicle and at, you know, 81 students, 16 miles. I had one student in the vehicle. That was it. I have been on humps with or hikes with Marines and had many more in the emergency vehicle than that one. So, it's just

153another indication of the pride that those kids have now in them in themselves. Some of them have not walked a mile before. Now, all of a sudden, they're doing 16 plus miles. Just great things great things are going on. Uh, thank you. And again, appreciation to all of the teachers out there. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Yes. Um, teacher appreciation, as my board has already said it, it should be every day, every week. Um, I do want to give a shout out to some emails that we got. One was that again for the I want to say seventh, yeah, seventh consecutive year in a row that King George County Schools has been recognized again as the 2026 NAMM Best Communities for Music Education District. So, good job to the music department with that.

154Um, and then there was one more on here. Oh, and I I just thought it was pretty cool because I I have had to give CPR before and it saves lives. And the fact that we had um an email come out that we were doing cardiac arrests this week. Might have been last week. It was last week. But that's pretty cool. Is that teaching students? >> That's for staff. >> Still, it's still very good. Okay. So, that was cool. Wanted to give that a shout out. um from the the friends of Rapahhanic, we are very grateful for that grant that's given to our schools and the opportunities for our students to learn that things because they they learn a lot of that in Ches Bay Governor School, but the fact that our kids in high

155school still get to experience those opportunities like they would if they were at the Chesapeake Bay Governor School. Um Mr. Sheffield from the NAACP, thank you for coming. I think he was in the Air Force from all the places he said he had lived. I'm pretty sure that was Air Force, but um thank you for showing up and giving uh sharing your story, a little bit of your story with us and for nominating our students. Um Mrs. Yavvon Harris for her computer science award, she is a lot of fun with the science stuff. I've been in her class and and uh have played games with her and it was a lot of fun. Mrs. Gonzalez, um we do hear you. That is a topic. As Dr. Boyd said, we were discussing screen time. It actually

156is on the news and stuff like it's kind of hitting government about screen time in the schools. So, um, congratulations to our schools and the har the hard work the teachers have put in to see such good scores with our students. Um, the 81 to 87 for the title one. Um, all the hard work that's been put into that. So, that's awesome to see 25 students no longer on the high-risk end is amazing just in one year. So, thank you for that. Um, thank you for all the weapon detection updates and the policies and all the hard work that you guys do to show up and stay here late with us when you've already worked. You've been up since 4:30, 5:00 in the morning. [snorts] I know he has. I'm not sure if everybody over

157there has. Um, and Brooke, thank you so much for coming, babe. Thank you for my gift. Thank you for being such a good example for all the student reps that have been here. you set the standard with how well you communicate, how much time you put in to find information to bring to the board, um the time you take to inform the board and your and your teachers and and admin. So, we appreciate that. You really have set the bar high with student reps. I hope that the next ones that come in can get close to what you've brought to the table. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I really do. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. >> Yeah. Come back as a nurse, right? Aren't you going

158for nursing? Oh, she's gonna be a trauma surgeon. >> I'm going for engineering, but >> trauma surgeon. >> That's amazing. You'll get it. Okay. Um, and that's it. Madame Chair, person to state code section 2.2-3712A of the code of Virginia, I move that the board convene in a closed meeting to review hires, substitutes, resignations, and retirements as permitted under 2.2-3711A number one of the Code of Virginia. Second. >> Any discussion? All those in favor? I. >> We're now in close session. >> 15 minutes. >> I know. [clears throat] 15 minutes. >> Like when does the restaurant Okay, I think I can go. >> That's not really good. >> It's okay. >> Hi. tomorrow. >> Be careful. >> It's the same with me, too. My eyes all of a sudden are like, >> well, never happened

159before. But it is weird this year about it. >> It's strong this year. I don't know if it's all the winter ice that you got or whatever. [laughter] >> What? What are you taking? >> Doesn't work as great. >> Me. I'm like You know what? >> Thank you. >> I think it was Cheryl. I was Turn on. It's been like I'm pretty sure pretty much nothing else. In order to kill it, it has to Apparently, it's got like some super strong like >> Oh, I got >> Yes. Okay. All right. All right. Have a safe flight. >> I'll see you when you get back. There you go. Okay. Right. That's not bad. I can I will get Hello. Thank you. All right. center. I was just like, I'm not Time wait. It can be done.

160Maybe I'll get No, >> it's the bottom. The bottom part. >> It's a non >> a nondisplaced fracture. Do we have a motion to return to open session? >> Wait. Yeah. >> I move that the King George County School Board return to open session and certify that pursuit to state code section 2.2-3712D. Only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements under this chapter. and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard, discussed or considered in the meeting by the public body. >> Make sure >> certify. >> Thank you. >> Certify. >> Uh any discussion? All those in favor? >> I motion carries. Um action resulting from closed meeting. Do we have a motion to approve personnel as presented? >> I move

161that we approve the personnel as presented. Second. >> Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I I motion to adjurnn. >> Motion carried. >> Uh any discussion? >> Favor? >> I'm not saying chair vai yet. >> Motion carries. >> Oh, we didn't on the what? >> July. >> Yeah, July meeting. >> We still have June to make it public.