001The meeting is called to order. I don't think we have any electronic participation today. Pledge of Allegiance, Mr. Connor. Please stand. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Mr. Connor. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? I'd like to make a motion to amend the agenda briefly. What's your motion? My motion is to discuss the addition of a line item to our regular agenda called student academic performance. Is there a second to that motion to amend? Second. Any discussion? Briefly, this is a motion to uh put one sentence on our regular meeting agendas, and that is um student academic performance on our regular school [clears throat] board meetings.
002This will enable us to listen to uh statistics, to be updated on our um student academic performance, something that's different than the performance of sports and arts and others other things. So, we will be able to get be able to cover it consistently, and I think it'll have a compounding effect on what we learn, uh on making action items on these things that we learn, and we can discuss and share the things that we um believe or we have learned about student academic performance ourselves. So, I think it's a good idea. It's done in other jurisdictions and other divisions, and I'd like to add it to our agenda. Mrs. Aubrey. I don't think we need it on every agenda because report cards last 9 weeks. So, the best time to get an update is after
003report cards. So, if you want this update, I wouldn't put it on every agenda. I would just put it on a quarterly period or something like that. Yeah, I thought about that. It's um it's We can make quarterly reports, of course, that'd be good. But, having it a regular It doesn't have to be long. It's just maybe one of these reports that we get. We get reports very often. Mhm. And we don't have to make a a big deal out of it. We just want to be able to give and take, have some discussion on student academic performance consistently. What you want is to have a a regular report um that accurately reflects how the students are doing every quarter. Mhm. And that can be just one whole session. That can be one meeting. Okay.
004And that's fine. Mr. Connor. My my question would be is what specific information are you asking for, and who is required to produce this information for you? >> don't know. It It is something that we can have people like Mr. Yarborough come and speak on. We can discuss it amongst ourselves. We can look at the numbers that are put out by LCS, and we can just discuss a a small time of discussion, and maybe there's nothing new. We can just say, "Hey, we we um we covered the topic, and we will be done. It's go to the next line item." But, it's regular. Yes. If If I may I mean, we already have on the agenda down, Mrs. Lowry. I can barely see you. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You don't need to see. We
005already have the Academic Success Committee on the agenda on a regular basis to report on student academics. So, perhaps you could inquire of the Academic Success Committee Chair to provide maybe more information if you're looking for something specific. But, >> And I can give that with the report. Let me ask him, Dr. Midgett, what do you think would how much burdensome or is it value added? I I think it's it's one of those things where first we don't really know specifically what we're looking for or what the request is, but a lot of the pretty much all of the instructional pieces go through Academic Success, and if there's something that that they deem that's valuable for us to bring to the full board, we we do that. But, we don't have assessment data unless it's
006like formative assessments, and we're getting formative assessments from teachers to bring every single meeting. Um so, I just think it I I can't see why where it's value added because we've been very transparent. We share all of the information with Academic Success, and if it's something in particular [clears throat] like school specific or particular parents may want information, then they work with their teachers in the school. >> Right. Thank you. Madam Clerk, would you please >> just want to call the roll? I just wanted to finish. >> One other thing. Yeah, you got to let him come. What would we be doing with the information when we get it? What would be our We We can position >> Yeah, so all the information that we either give or get, we can turn into action items.
007We can store for later. Uh we can give to we can send it down to the Academic Success Committee instead of getting everything simply up from them. Whatever they decide comes to the full board. So, it can go both ways this time. It's an additional step. And the public will get to see our discussions on academic performance specifically. What we're getting is a little report. Once in a while, we'll have what's coming up, we'll have Academic Success progress, or maybe there's some events going on. But, this way we'll have discussions on academic-based discussions continually and long or brief, they will they will be out in the public. I think the the the feeling will be "Hey, we're on we're we're discussing in front of the the public the academic progress or his the history and
008the potentiality of the students that are at LCS." Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll? Go ahead. >> One more thing. Um I think what you're looking for is um I will give a report today, but uh what you're looking for is in the uh plan that's come down from the federal that they have to do in VDOE that they have to do. And once we get that going, there will be more of a regular report. I think that's what you're looking for. So, I think you should wait until we get through that process. >> want to finish? We can always reverse it. It's only a few words. [clears throat] The thing is, the agenda is set by the chair in consultation with the superintendent. Would you please call the roll? Mr. Barron? No.
009Mr. Alaein? No. Mrs. Lowry? No. Mr. Conner? No. Dr. Gupta? No. Mr. DePaul? >> No. Mr. Gilliam? Yes. Dr. Farmer? No. Mr. Powell? No. Is there a motion to approve the regular agenda? Motion. Second. Would you please call the roll? Mr. Barron? Yes. Mr. Alaein? Yes. Mrs. Lowry? Yes. Mr. Conner? Yes. Dr. Gupta? Yes. Mr. DePaul? Yes. Mr. Gilliam? Yes. Dr. Farmer? Yes. Mr. Powell? Yes. >> [clears throat] >> A chair comment, I don't have any comment because I don't want to steal from Dr. Midgett. She has comment. We welcome you all. Mhm. We'll celebrate you in a little bit, so I'll hold that thought process for later on. Uh miss student representative, Dr. >> [clears throat] >> All right. Good evening, everyone. We have our two Well, we have one of our student representatives
010here. I'm going to turn it over to Claire Ramsey from E.C. Glass in just a moment. And I do want to note that Malia Webb from Heritage is not here because she is starring as Dorothy in The Wiz. So, if you've not had a chance to go check that out, please do so. Um they I know they have the dates out there. But, Claire, as always, we look forward to your report [clears throat] this evening. Hello, everyone. I hope you've had a good start to February. I'll start with athletics. This past week, uh the E.C. Glass women dive team competed at the regional championship meet on Saturday. And both the boys and girls teams placed third out of 14 teams that competed. 12 of the 15 athletes qualified for states in this meet, and they'll
011advance to that level. For track and field, the track teams competed in the Seminole District Qualifier meet on Saturday, February 7th. The following athletes earned all-district status by placing in the top six. And those were D.J. Tolbert, Trevor Dale, Darian Petty, Janae Williamson, Simeon Tucker, Madison Wright, Trenae Stewart, Tavion Mosley, and Teagan Foster. The team also competed in the 4A regional championships yesterday, February 16th. That was in Rockingham. The girls 4 by 200 meter relay will advance to states. And that's the schedule for this past week. Girls varsity basketball defeated Rustburg last Tuesday with a score of 54 to 23. The varsity girls also gave back at Laura Regional School for their annual Valentine's Day party. The team spent time spreading love, laughter, and smiles with the students. The E.C. Glass boys varsity basketball team
012has also been having a great season. The E.C. Glass boys basketball team defeated Heritage this past Monday at home with a record I mean, with a score of 59 to 35. They also had senior night on February 13th, where they defeated Rustburg. The current record is 19 to zero for this season. With cultural arts, eight students made it to the A or B orchestra after auditioning for the junior regional orchestra at Lakeside Middle School in Charlottesville, Virginia. Those students were Danielle Boyers, who is ranked number one in the region on violin. She placed first out of 85 students that auditioned, and will be the concert mistress, and will [clears throat] sit first chair in violin for the section one of the A orchestra. Arden Cook also made A orchestra as well as Dylan Childress. The
013students that placed in the B orchestra will be Rowan Weeby, Leah Callahan, Mary McCloskey, and Addie Brodner. February is Career and Technical Education Month, and we're proud to recognize and congratulate many students who represented E.C. Glass High School at the SkillsUSA District Competition on January 16th. We have many notable first place entries. Those were in architectural drafting, first place goes to Betsy Wood. Criminal Justice, first place is Janae Williamson. Crime Scene Investigation, first place was a team with Sawyer Ness, Tyler Turnbow, and Kendall Patterson. First place in precision machining technology was Dane Sorry, Dane Johnson. First place technical drafting was Nora Herndon. First place Raquel Marshall was That was in barbering. Uh first place cosmetology was Haley Wheatley. And first place in natural hair braiding was Heaven Harrington. Some very exciting news with theater. In
014October, the E.C. Glass High School theater program earned the opportunity to complete to compete in the prestigious Southeastern Theatre Conference. To make this trip possible, the crew had to raise $24,000. On Sunday, February 8th, the E.C. Glass students presented their award-winning version of Failure: A Love Story at the historic Academy Center of the Arts. About 200 people attended this performance, where they paid with for their tickets with donations, and they raised a grand total of $30,571, allowing the team to go >> [applause] >> Officer Wilson of the Lynchburg Police Department had the opportunity to visit his alma mater, Robert S. Payne Elementary School, while supporting some amazing Lynchburg City School students today with One Community, One Voice. While there, he ran into a few of his former teachers, and it was a full circle moment
015that meant a lot to the school. Next, at Linkhorne Middle School, congratulations to Paisley Scott for being published in the Young Writers Fright Club contest. Many students were entered, but Paisley was the only student that was published. Congratulations. It was also SRO Appreciation Day uh this past week. Thank you to Officer Sachs for everything he does for E.C. Glass High School. Thank you, all. Thank you. >> Thank you. I see my little better to see my screen. Public comments, Mr. Compton. >> [clears throat] >> In accordance with policy BDDH, public participation, members of the community are invited and encouraged to attend meetings of Lynchburg City School Board to observe its deliberations. Any member of the community may address the board on matters related to the Lynchburg City Public Schools at any regular meeting. >> [clears
016throat] >> Excuse me. Persons or group wishing to address the school board may do so by choosing one of the following: Leave a voice message on the school board clerk's phone line at 434-515-5077. Messages will be played during the public comment section of the school board meeting. Address the board in person during the public meeting. Persons desiring to address the school board by voicemail message shall submit the voicemail to the school board clerk no later than 3:30 p.m. on the day of the board meeting. Persons desiring to address the school board in person shall contact the clerk of the school board no later than 3:30 p.m. on the day of the board meeting or by signing the public comment form, which shall be available to the public 15 minutes before the meeting starts. Each person
017requesting to speak shall identify the subject they want to address, and if the speaker represents a group, the speaker must identify the group. Persons appearing before the school board will not be allowed to campaign for public office or promote private business ventures, and should not use profanity or vulgar language or gestures, make comments about a public official or an employee that are not related to the public official or employees' official duties, engage in behavior that disrupts the meeting or intimidates others, or address the school board on issues that do not concern the services, policies, role, and or responsibilities of the school board. Individual speakers shall limit their comments to 3 minutes. A speaker representing a group shall limit their comments to 5 minutes. The representative shall identify the group at the beginning of their presentation.
018A group may have no more than one spokesperson. A total allotted time for public comments at school board meetings is 30 minutes. Voicemail messages to be played are also limited to 3 minutes for individuals and 5 minutes for speakers representing a group. Priority will be given to in-person comments before voicemail messages in the following order: 1. Students. 2. Staff. 3. Parents/guardians. 4. Community members. Public comments are reserved for the public to provide input. The board does not respond to comments, answer questions, or otherwise engage in discussion at this time. The chair is responsible for the orderly conduct of the meeting and rules on such matters as the appropriateness of the subject being presented and the length of time for such presentation. No one will be allowed to make additional presentations until everyone who wishes to
019speak has an opportunity to make an initial presentation. Do we have any voicemails this evening? >> Yes, sir. Any emails? >> No, sir. Um I have uh Robert Floyd. Flood. Flood. Rob- I'm sorry, Rob. Robert Flood. And is Ornette Is Ornette Moore in the building? Ornette, okay. Robert Flood will be speaking of Rescuers of the Youth. Thank you, sir. Uh First of all, I'd like to uh thank Dr. Superintendent Dr. Mitch- I'm pretty sure I'm saying it right, Migit. Miget. Miget, okay. Yes, sir. For giving me the opportunity to speak to y'all once again and the uh school board members. Two topics I would like to speak about today. One is concerning um assistant coaches and trainers of uh middle school. I don't think we have- I know we had talked- I talked about it
020one time before, and I don't know if you got money allocated to do that or not. But I was thinking about if we had assistant coaches- some of them don't get paid. Most of them volunteer basketball, football in middle school. But if you could train them to be be certified in CPR or any kind of injuries that come up when you playing football- I mean, I played sports all my life. And I know that usually you have a trainer there. If you twist your ankle or something happened, and what I have seen uh over the last three or four years, trainers are not right on the site every time a kid get hurt. Uh and some of them come from another school and come over to help. But I think it's something that we can
021look into and uh >> [clears throat] >> maybe y'all could view it, and if you got money uh that you could at least look at to kill two birds with one stone. You got assistant coaches volunteer, although they don't get paid. And you think about it. If a head coach get hurt, a head coach get sick or something, and they out for a week, who takes over? The assistant coach. And although some of them volunteer, most of them volunteer. But if you train him or send him to school so he can get certified, then you got killing two birds with one stone. And [snorts] the second thing I'd like to talk about tonight, uh Miss Mary Payne. Uh she was a historic She was a educator. She was a mother to a lot of people
022in Darlington. And I was one of her kids. She fought me a lot. She got on me a lot. But I don't know if this is the place to ask y'all to try to recognize something in her name or city council. But I want to put it out there because she was the Martin Luther King of Lynchburg at one time. Miss Payne was a beautiful person. Some of y'all might know her, some of y'all might not know her. You might know her name, but if you never met her, you don't know her. But if you met her, you know her. She's just a open person try to help people all the time. And unfortunately, I had a chance to see her. Me and my wife had left uh church. And I was trying to find
023out where she was at. And uh the nursing homes- every each one that I went to, they said she wasn't there. And once we hit the highway, Guggenheimer was the last one. And I happened to uh find her and her daughter in the same room. And she was in a coma. And we talked- I know she was listening, cuz you know, people in a coma they still can hear you. And um I gave her a kiss and told her I loved her. And Dr. Caldwell- I doc- excuse me, Dr. Huston came- I forgot where I was at after I left, but about 5:30, he came and said that uh Miss Payne had passed. And I was just thankful that I had a chance to see her before she left, cuz I hadn't seen her in
024a while. But think about it. Find out who Miss Payne was. I guarantee you'll love it. Thank you. Thank you. And Mr. Moore. Good evening to you all. And I just want to say thank you for allowing me to have opportunity to come speak to school board. And I would like to also say thank you for your service. And um I'm here to propose um two things um concerning Dunbar Middle School. Um as we know, Dunbar was once a high school. And um and so um we generally talk in the community, and I was at work one day, and one of the old Dunbar members that played basketball um when it was a high school, he said he asked me a question. He said, "Why haven't they named the gym after Coach Waters?" And if
025anyone's here today that is not familiar with Coach Waters, he was the head coach of the basketball team. Um and I have a little information on him. And it says he was one of Dunbar's one of the strongest symbols um in the city. And the basketball program was as well. In the 1950s. And so uh Coach Waters was there for 20 years, and and he won many championships, and I don't want to be long. And um he also had um some outstanding players that went on to do well in college. And um he has one basketball player that was recognized um as one of the top 100 players in the nation. And um and so he uh succeeded at being a great coach, but not a great coach, but a educator as well. And um
026I do know at Heritage High School um the gymnasium is named after um Mr. Spencer, Ralph Spencer. And [clears throat] my proposal to the board is it that we name the Dunbar gym after Coach Waters. Um because uh Dunbar has a legacy in this city. And and we need to know the people that would were a part of that legacy that's in this city. My second proposal is- and this is very personal to me. Um my grandfather is David Carter Moore. And between um 19 uh '40s until the early '60s, he was the band director at Dunbar High School. He was the chorus director at Dunbar High School. And he taught English. And I propose to the board that uh we name the band room or either the um auditorium after my grandfather. He helped
027them design that band room that sits behind the auditorium. He also told them how to to to build that auditorium because for the acoustics and how the sound would be in the auditorium. He was also an educator. He not only taught at Dunbar, he taught in numerous schools throughout the city, Payne School being one. And like I said, he was an educator, he was well known and if he couldn't teach you at school, he would invite you into his home and teach you piano, whatever it was that you wanted to learn. And so we have a legacy of black culture in this city. And and I think that needs to be noticed in our schools. I mean, it's no longer a high school anymore, but Dunbar has a legacy. And I think that needs to
028be presented. Thank you. Thank you. Do you I think that's it. So we got covered. That's it. Next is consent agenda. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? Motion. Second. Is there a motion to second? Second. Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll? Mr. Barron. Yes. Mr. Alley. Yes. Mrs. Lauren. Yes. Mr. Connor. Yes. Dr. Gupta. Yes. Mr. Kapoor. Yes. Mr. Gillian. Yes. Dr. Farmer. Yes. Mr. Powell. Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. New business, teacher of the year recognition, Dr. Majette. Okay. Well, good evening again. Just really excited tonight to see all of the teachers here, the teachers of the year and the selection committee. Before we get started, I do want to thank Ms. Brown and I see several members of the selection committee here. I know you put in a
029lot of Yeah. Yeah, they can see her. Yeah. Uh Ms. Brown and the members of the selection [applause] committee And I know that there was a lot of work put in. They were really um They were really working through this process diligently and they were like, "Oh, Ms. Brown called me one day and she was like, Majette, every option, every person is such a good person. This is going to be hard." And I said, "That's great. That's how it should be." And it just is a testament to the quality of people that we have here. So I'm going to turn over to Ms. Brown. I'm going to ask Dr. Gupta to come up with me so we can celebrate each honoree. Thank you. Good evening, board chair, Dr. Gupta, vice chair, Mr. Connor, Dr. Majette,
030members of the school board. Tonight, we are proud to present to the board and to the community the school level level teachers of the year. Educators who exemplify excellence in instruction, a deep commitment to students, and meaningful leadership within their community. Each school's teacher of the year was nominated by their peers and evaluated against the VDOE criteria, ensuring the honoree reflected the values and strengths of that school. These educators will serve as their school's official representative in the division-wide teacher of the year recognition program for the school year 2026-2027. I will call each person's name by their school level and ask that they come forward to receive a certificate of recognition and take a photo with Dr. Gupta, Dr. Majette, and Mr. Connor. All right. First, we begin with our elementary teachers. Ms. Debbie Wilson.
031>> [applause] [applause] >> Debbie Wilson is a pre-kindergarten teacher at T.C. Miller Academy. Next, we have Sheryl Hughes, pre-kindergarten teacher at >> [applause] >> Next, we have Benjamin Hill, music teacher >> [applause] >> Next, Ms. Carolyn Art, library media >> [applause] >> at Dearing Elementary. Next, we have Meredith Adams, library media specialist, Desi Elementary School. >> [applause] [applause] >> Next, Jamie Cooksey, fourth and fifth grade teacher at Heritage Elementary School. >> [applause] >> Next, we have Cara Burns, library media specialist, Linkhorne Elementary School. >> [applause] >> Next, we have Ashley Garla, library media specialist, Paul Monroe. >> [applause] [laughter] >> Next, Ms. Berna Lamb, second grade teacher at Sandusky Elementary School. >> [applause] >> Next, we have Ms. Joanna Cortez, fourth grade, Sheffield Elementary School. >> [applause] >> Next, we have Ms. Amanda Walker, first
032grade teacher, Bass Elementary. >> [applause] [laughter] >> Now, we will shift to our middle and high school honorees. First, we have Mr. William Swant, I'm sorry, Mr. William Swan, history teacher, Dunbar Middle School. >> [applause] >> Science. >> [laughter] >> Social science. Social science. >> [laughter] >> Next, we have Ms. Brooke Spencer, theater teacher, Linkhorne Middle School. >> [applause] [laughter] >> Next, we have Ms. Tara Ceasar Clay, math teacher at Sandusky Middle. >> [applause] [laughter] >> Next, we have Ashley Merritt, art teacher, E.C. Glass High School. >> [applause] >> Next, we have William Carter, computer tech systems, Heritage High School. >> [applause] [snorts] >> Next, Mr. George Hurt, history teacher, Fort Hill Community School. >> [applause] [laughter] >> Next we have Kelly Grimm, special education adaptive teacher, Laurel Regional Academy. >> [applause] >> Next we
033have Ms. Olivia Johnson, math teacher and virtual learning coordinator, Turning Point Academy. >> [applause] >> Kinsey Brackman, kindergarten teacher at Perrymont Elementary, could not join us tonight, but we will make sure that she receives her recognition. Thank you again to all of our school level teachers. Your colleagues, students, and school community are proud to have you represent the incredible work happening every day across Lynchburg City Schools. And now, from among these outstanding school representatives, we have one educator who was selected to serve as our division teacher of the year, an honoree who exemplifies exceptional instructional practice, leadership, and a lasting impact on students success across our division. At this time, I would like to ask our Lynchburg City Schools Division Teacher of the Year, Ashley Merritt, to join us up front here for your formal
034presentation of the division award and flowers. >> [applause] [applause] [laughter] [applause] >> And again, before we close this evening, I would like to have the selection committee just wave in the back. I have a few members that are here with us. For all of your support in helping us get to this evening. Once again, congratulations to each of our school level teachers. Your dedication and passion, commitment to excellence inspires us all and reflects the very best of Lynchburg City Schools. For our division teacher of the year, Ms. Merritt, we thank you for representing our educators with such distinction and for the lasting impact you make on students and colleagues alike. Thank you. I'm going to give this opportunity, Dr. Merritt, any board members if they have a comment to make. You can go ahead. Oh,
035no, I was going to the next recognition. For next recognition, can I give the board members a minute to I'll start with you. Any comments, feel free to chime in. Any board members? Yeah, I I I say it every time I get one of those employee spotlights and and and especially teachers of the year, I'm just incredibly honored to serve with such professionals and I really believe we have elite [clears throat] level staff across our our division. So, thank y'all so much. Thank you. I also want to say thanks to all your hard work and I just feel excited to be part of a real robust team like this. And I hope we can continue to have many good years together. As a former teacher, right on. You guys rock. >> [laughter] >> I just
036want to say thank you for all the hard work you do. Teaching is not the easiest job in the world and we want you to know we really appreciate what you do every day. Yeah. Thank you so much for all that you do. It takes a lot of dedication. I'm very proud of you. When I was teaching in LCS, we helped one another, the fellow teachers. We told each other where the bathrooms were. We helped each other with checking out the students in our rooms and we shared knowledge and as you're doing that, your your your teamwork is making the dream work here at LCS. Thank you so much. I want to thank each and every one of you for all that you do for our future. And I love it when we come together.
037In the name of Jesus, I just thank you from the bottom of my heart. Uh thank you for everything that you do. As a product of Lynchburg City Schools myself, I can remember most of my teachers and the impact that you all have on students will last forever. So, thank you for the job you do. >> [clears throat] >> Just thank you very much. You know, we cannot compensate you enough for the things you do day in day out. It's not an easy environment in our days, but this board is diligently working to make sure uh that we have your back. You have your back not just in word, but in our deeds. So, what we have done is put a $1,000 bonus before July 1st. Hopefully, council will give us the money. Uh we
038are also going to make a 52,000 minimum salary and minimum $20 an hour wage. So, we're trying to do within the resource constraint what this board can do. To do our little very minuscule uh thank you. But we truly appreciate everything you do day in day out taking care of our most precious asset. Thank you, Dr. Merritt. Um and and again, I I do. I thank everybody again. I thank you for what you do for your our kids. I think what you do for each other each and every day. I have two other recognitions since we're in this moment. Um I I'd like to begin by It's It's school board month appreciation month and I'd like to begin by just thanking you all for what you do, your dedication, the level of integrity, and the
039clear commitment that you do have to the students and the staff. And your role I I think sometimes people look at it and say, "Oh, well, they just come to meetings twice a month." It is not that simple. The It It's not. The the level of thought, the careful review of items. You're dealing with very complex matters and there are so many things that happen behind the scenes that people aren't aware of because we can't make those pieces public when you're dealing with tough policy decisions and discussions that have to happen. Um but I know and I can say this in my short time, I've are in the >> [snorts] >> best support of our students and staff and that's really appreciated and I feel like I can speak on behalf of everyone when I
040say that. So, I am grateful for your leadership and I am honored to work alongside you and to serve you and to serve the students and staff of this division. So, I just wanted to say that. You have a lot of wonderful treats from the schools um in front of you and one treat in particular is from our team here, our central office team, and it's a little nothing bunt cake and we hope you enjoy it, but we just wanted to give you just a little treat to say a little sweet treat just to say we do appreciate what you do. Um you each have a certificate from the VSBA and it essentially says 2026 VSBA School Board Appreciation Month, From Strong Roots Come Endless Possibilities. And this is just my opinion, but I feel
041like everyone else would would agree you do have some strong roots here with this strategic planning and what you're aiming to do and what you're doing every day to support what happens for our children and move this division forward. So, that is appreciated. Um so, can we celebrate the board, please? >> [applause] >> I also have one other recognition. Um so, all of this work that happens when we get here for the meetings and getting policies uploaded and things behind the scenes, >> [clears throat] >> um we do have two ladies who do a lot of that work for us. One was recognized earlier, um but I'm going to speak to Ms. Tina Day. She's our school board clerk. She provides the structure organization that allows the work of the board to move forward effectively.
042She's always professional, has a great attention to detail, and she's always committed to supporting both the board and the division. She supports me as well, even though that's not her role. Um she ensures that everything operates smoothly and we really are grateful for her dedication and service. I know that the board has some tokens of appreciation, we all do, for you and they're going to come up and celebrate you right now, [clears throat] Ms. Day. We do appreciate everything that >> Let's do a standing ovation. >> [applause] [applause] >> And I'd be remiss, um I know I mentioned we do have a deputy clerk clerk, Ms. Jill Connelly Mays. She kind of waits in the wings behind the scenes and prior to this meeting, um the board did celebrate her with a recognition as well
043for her work as the deputy board clerk because she's >> [cough] >> Um and she's been an important supporting role in terms of helping with policies and anything that's needed and to fill in the gap um for Ms. Day. So again, I just thank each of our school board members, Ms. Day, Ms. Connelly Mays. We appreciate your leadership. I appreciate your leadership, your service and just your commitment to the students. And so it's just a privilege to work here and work with everyone. Thank you. And Dr. Midgett, I'll say it's the same thing. Your team is meticulously picked and working hard. The renovations going at Heritage High School are top notch and we'll be revealing that to the public. So the things are not happening in word, you can see them in action. Uh EC
044Glass fields are being fixed. So things are being done quietly without blowing our horn or creating drama in the school board meetings. Yeah. So uh this this is a realistic team and the communication must have improved across the district. And that's what Dr. Midgett's mission number one was to increase communication with the board and with all the stakeholders. So please keep doing what you're doing. Uh give us a give her a little bit of space to improve the academics. That's the next agenda item. And we'll make sure that this is the top district not only in Virginia in the United States, right? I'll be gone, but you guys will have to carry the >> [laughter] >> Yeah, I mean she's saying we need to give her round of applause and standing ovation to our teachers
045and then you're free to go if you like to go. >> [applause] [applause] >> You're always welcome to stay, but I'm sure that you'd like to enjoy your evening. [laughter] So enjoy yourself. >> [clears throat] >> Yeah, next Next one is the financial report, Dr. Midgett. All right, Ms. Jamie's financial reports, ma'am. Well, how do you follow that? I'm going to be anticlimactic. So good evening, Chairman Gupta, members of the school board and Dr. Midgett. Thank you for the opportunity to address you. You have before you the January 31st, 2026 month end financials. So we are 58.33% of the fiscal year past. Um we're roaring down the tracks. So the percent of revenues collected versus original appropriation in January um was 52.34%. The amount of expenditures versus original appropriation came in at 55.54%. So slightly
046higher um than our revenues, outpacing our revenues. The total expenditures, inclusive of encumbrances, um equates to 94.49% and anytime it's below 100% I'm happy. Um so a couple of notable uh expense variances, these are items that are greater than 100% um was your function 2210, attendance services. They had they are at 123.94% of budget due to encumbrances related to compensation. Those usually equalize out towards the end of the fiscal year. Function 2220, health services, purchased services has used 108.79% of its budget due to encumbrances [clears throat and cough] related to Medicaid service fees and benefits. Um and then function 2230, psychological services, has used 129.79% of the budget due to encumbrances related to compen- compensation, which is similar to your attendance services. Those will equal out towards the end of the fiscal year. So your
047statement of revenue, the total revenue that we've received so far year to date is 62 million 367,416.77 uh percent or as I noted earlier, 52.3% of what we allocated for the year. Um of the total of that total, state revenues equated to 50.36%, federal revenues equated to 34.94% and your local revenues had a roaring 56.64%. So our miscellaneous and charges for services collection rates are at 51.75 and 40.96 respectively. So they are coming in strong as well. So moving on to your monthly summary report, in January LCS experienced another very high claims month totaling 1,746,507 and 81 cents. Um the last two months of high cost claims have contributed to pushing our year-to-date balance the wrong way um to a negative 2,253,704 and 17 cents. So what does that tell us? Claims typically increase towards
048the end of the calendar year as our subscribers try to maximize um their satisfied deductibles. So they run to the doctor and get their treatments and their surgeries before the fisc- before the calendar year rolls over and they have another deductible that they have to meet. So uh I believe that our um that our claims will probably drop after these few months of them um going to the doctor and getting their treatments. So that is actually concludes my report. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Questions? Go ahead. I mean my only question, I mean you just touched on it, is it seems like more often than not we're in the negative with the health insurance. And so my question is really is this sustainable? Is there is there contingency? Like
049what are we what are we looking to do to offset the minus 2 million, you know, at this point? So um we have looked at moving to other plans um and the finance and facilities committee uh decided uh on not doing that at this time. We are our contract is up for renewal um in 2027, so we will be RFPing and looking at other companies by [clears throat] then. Um we have we did have a 5% increase um in premiums. So hopefully the the uh the that amount will help um bring down this 2.2 million dollars. So there are are some things we were are looking at. We still have a a million dollars in reserve uh to cover this deficit. In addition, we've requested from city council that they provide some rollover funding to
050the tune of one uh 1.1 million dollars to help um offset this deficit as well. So we are we keep our eye on this this number constantly to make sure that um it doesn't get out of control and we have some strategies that we'll be looking at in the future to try to offset it. Okay. Yes. Yes, sir. How does this number compare to that which has been in previous years around this time? So the high cost claims is usual. That's trends. Um and I believe last year, I'd have to go back in the numbers, but at this point in the fiscal year, we were well into the negative as well, almost 2 million dollars as well last year. Um so it's it's cyclical. It's trending um that we are where it's usually where we
051are. Immediately. Give some historical context. About three years ago, we hired a consultant to come look at a different options. Problem with every option is that you have to pass on the burden to the employees. When you give 3% raise and you're raising premium by 10%, you give from one hand and you take twice from the other hand. So So, we ended up taking the hit as you're saying right now and to see if we can sustain that as long as we can. But, on average it's staying between 1 to 2 million dollar deficit. That's why the contingency reserve used to be 2 million then we reduced it to a million. But, now we hopefully after audit that's what my question was going to be. When will the audit be complete? The audit is complete.
052Yes, sir. We are audited numbers. These are audited numbers. >> sir. So, the I was waiting for the audit to come so they said these are real numbers audited. >> These are Yes, sir. These are real numbers. But, that has been our insurance deficit and every time we talk about insurance people get panicked cuz they think they're going to raise the premiums. And our policy has been as a board united was not to put too much burden because you can reduce the benefits keep the same premium. That game this board has not played. So, um but my knowledge the last 8 years the deficit has been between 1.5 to 2 million dollars. Yes, sir. And the finance and facilities committee definitely keeps their eye on those numbers as well. Thank you. Next one is school
053board member reports Laurel Mrs. Lowry. Um we had a virtual due to all the snow so all accounts are in good standing. Um it was just general updates and they um Dr. Lewis talked a lot about the bus that that they've got now. It's it's been really helpful for them to get around the city. He's with the kids so that's been a positive. E.C. Glass Mrs. Lowry. >> Our meeting's not till March 4th. Academic success Mrs. Lowry. And we've been going over the 3-year school plan for the schools needing improvement so we're still working on those things and there'll be an update of the next work session. Any questions related to academic success committee? Thank you. Uh STEM Academy Mr. Paul. Yeah, sure. Thank you. So, the uh STEM Academy uh began their >> [clears
054throat] >> uh 6-week semester um so that's about a third way through the current semester which will be ending on May 8th. Um um uh they they um missed uh of course because of snowmageddon or icemageddon whatever you want to call it a little time but uh all the students at the STEM Academy were able to complete their assignments and um stayed diligently working and um returned to in-person classes on uh February the 2nd. Uh Mrs. Cash uh met with uh the juniors um for their course um selection for 2026-2027 and uh will be meeting with the seniors to discuss their graduation plans and completing their graduation application uh from CVCC STEM Academy um which will be held at the Vines Center on Saturday, May 9th 10:00 a.m. Uh internships for seniors began on January
0557th and are now in week seventh of their internships and students are enjoying their internships and learning um from their mentors. Um um internship presentations will begin on Wednesday, April the 29th and the senior dinner and awards will be on Tuesday May 12th. Um >> [sighs] >> There will also be awarding um a senior this year with a thousand dollar scholarship for the STEM Academy Bright Futures Scholarship. A family of two STEM Academy alumni will be funding the award for a senior every year to give back to the community and the STEM Academy. Um This is a very uh nice opportunity for seniors. Uh more details will be available um uh to come about this scholarship and and how to apply. Um uh we are or the STEM Academy rather um are accepting applications for
056the 2026-2027 school year up until about March 1st, 2026. Um and so um they'll be sending out emails to students who have already applied about their status um somewhere about Friday, March 27th, 2026. Thank you. Thank you. It's finance and facilities Mr. Conner. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um before I go too far I want to make sure that we take a few minutes and I see all of them in the building right now. I want to thank Mr. Marshall Mr. Floyd and is that Ms. Harmon? I want to really um they were so instrumental of getting us out of snowmageddon 26. Yes. Thank [laughter] you. the hard work they did Mr. Marshall I I I assume you were Huh? Ms. Morris Oh, I didn't see Ms. Yeah, she's hiding behind that podium [laughter] there. Okay,
057she's hiding behind there. She made sure that the lunches got out, right? >> Yes. I really we just want you to know that I know we got a lot of kudos today but we really know the hard work you guys put [applause] in to getting us back. So, we had our meeting on March the 10th and probably the highlight of the meeting is we had an update from um Mr. Marshall's crew where we went over the um CIP projects the 10 million dollar um the update on any of those are available in the notes if you want to go back with some real nice um PowerPoint presentations on where with the turf and field replacements where at on roof replacements where we at on the building envelope projects and then they gave us a real
058good outlay um the access control updates and um something that it something that came in different that I didn't expect was the Dunbar community school yard phase that that came in. So, if you get a chance go back and look at the um um meeting notes from the March 10th um finance and facilities meeting. >> February As February 10th, I'm sorry. The next one is March. I'm I'm I'm thinking ahead. But, um >> [clears throat] >> also gave us proposed projects for 2027 a list of how we looking to spend um that 30 million dollars. Um what else did we cover? Also went through on the um consent agenda today but we made sure that all substitute part-time substitute positions are compensated at the $17 an hour. So, those are the things that came out
059of our finance and facilities. Mrs. Lowry has a question. >> Um did um are there any like like for the projects you're working on now is there like a deadline date you look you're looking to see them all finished? Deadlines for those projects? Yeah, for the ones that are on now that they're working on now. Um >> [clears throat] >> the Heritage Church project should be wrapping up here in the next couple weeks. Okay. Building envelope is probably going to be going on for another year or more. >> Oh my. Uh access control is moving pretty quickly through the schools. Uh we're rounding out phase one and getting ready to start phase two. Uh roof projects obviously will be this uh this summer. Uh those will be wrapped up. Uh did I miss anything? >>
060that's good. So, are you pleased with how things are going? Yeah, I would say so. Yeah. And I Okay. And Mr. Eubanks [clears throat] has uh really taken charge of those. He's really handling those on a daily basis. All right, that's great. Good. Just to uh I see that from my window >> [laughter] >> the lights are on. These guys are superhumans. They're working till 11:00, 12:00 at night. They're really trying to make up some ground with all that snow being on those fields. They end on [clears throat] Sunday. They were working on Saturday. The rain stopped them. They're back on Monday. Wow. They're back in there. >> have a deadline for baseball tryouts so they're trying to make that so. >> Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate you. Thank you. Yeah. Lynchburg Lynchburg Mr.
061Jalil. Yes. We have >> [clears throat] >> We had our meeting today. Our next meeting is on March 17th. We are going to be presenting the bills that we support from Richmond or opposed on the next meeting where we'll be discussing it. We've met with our [clears throat] representatives uh preliminary meetings and I'm speaking to them and then we'll just be deciding on these bills that are coming down the pipe soon. Thank you. Uh next one is PI uh Mr. Eileen and Dr. Farmer. She normally speaks. Update on the wonderful fellowship opportunities. R.S. Payne first graders program on February the 18th at 5:30. And don't forget our LCS breakfast with the superintendent Thursday, March the 5th at 7:30 at the University of Lynchburg. Also, we are continuing the life coaching at the Fort Hill uh
062community school and that's going very well. And we also engaging with several parents that have approached us about volunteer operations that I will get with the superintendent and uh go over those that they want to be a part, okay? And last but not least the RS Pain food pantry that's located at gate five is being monitored and seem like every other day is being emptied. So, I have asked Mr. Travis to check on the front door. It's missing, okay? So, that's all that we have to up at this time, but we are busy doing worthwhile in the community letting them know that they can trust us. We're building back the trust and that means a lot. Yes. Thank you. Next one is Ed Foundation, Mr. DePaul, Mr. Jalil. Very similar, we have the Superintendent's breakfast
063that's coming up and I just wanted to read proceeds will go to the undesignated fund that helps remove barriers to learning for our students that are not funded typically in the Lynchburg City Schools or Ed Foundation annual budget. So, it's important breakfast and I recommend we all go. Thank you. Next one is Beacon of Hope, Mr. Barron, Mr. Poe. Yes, so first of all, I want to just say how much I appreciate their team. I got the chance [clears throat] to sit down with McQueen and they're constantly actively looking for ways they can better partner with LCS and so I just want to applaud them for that. Updates right now, they have summer internship program. Our application opens this Thursday, February 19th, so any current 10th or 11th graders can apply for month-long paid summer
064internship experience. Campus visits, our future center teams at Heritage and Glass are partnering with Centra College of Nursing and LCS's CNA program to take 45 students to Centra College this month. We have a couple of scholarships. One is the Commonwealth scholarship. This one is the deadline was February 15th. It's awarded to students and will be announced on in April. It's a competitive scholarship that's awarded to students who will be attending college in Virginia but outside of the Lynchburg region. And then one that we probably more familiar with is the Stay Close, Go Far Scholarship which it just still blows my mind that we have this year in Lynchburg. The deadline for the Stay Close, Go Far Scholarship is May 15th. The scholarship is open to LCS seniors who will attend CVCC, Longwood University, Liberty University,
065University of Lynchburg, Randolph College, Centra College of Nursing, or I said Randolph College again. If you're going to Randolph College, you get it either way. And if you're going in the fall, you have the opportunity to get this scholarship. That's what they've been up to and again continually I always appreciate their efforts to improve their partnership with us. Thank you. Next one is student discipline, Mr. Conner. Student discipline. First, I want to take a minute and acknowledge and thank some people. I want to thank um um Mr. Marshall who sat in as um hearing officer for us one day and she's not here but Dr. Lee, um the principal of Sandusky Middle School who steps in as the hearing officer and she really helps us a lot. She kind of structured the process and trained
066many other principals so we have a consistent flow in there now and then um and he's not here but Dr. Sumner does a great job in student services and facilitating. I want to thank the two committee members because we probably I mean, we put in some hours. I want to thank my Mr. Barron and Mr. Poe. Um we have been here sometimes past 8:00 at night. Um we have established we we we we we we have a focus. We asked the principals to give us three things. Any weapon in a school comes to the committee. Any illegal drugs, THC, vaping, gummies, any of that, they come to the board but probably what we really have focused on this year which is why we've had so many cases and that's why I want to appreciate the
067two of the members is we want to eliminate violence inside the school building. Um so, any fight that breaks out where two or more students actually get engaged in mortal combat on school grounds, they're coming before the student discipline committee and we are trying to elim We want and when we tell the parents that also here, we want the school building to be the safest place that for your and the bus to be the safest place. So, no parent has to be concerned about their child once they're released to come to Lynchburg City Schools, they'll be in a safe, healthy learning environment. So, that's the focus of the discipline committee and why we have had so many cases but we're also starting to see the effect now because cases the case load is reducing and
068um I expect by the end of the year we should see a real success. I want to also thank, he's not here, Mr. Turner and the alternative school for Fort Hill and the Restorative Practice Academy and the person that coordinates the home instruction. All those pieces are necessary for us to bring discipline under control in our buildings and we're making it a priority. Thanks to you too, Mr. Eileen, Dr. Farmer. I think you two have >> They're my substitutes. They're my committee. I [laughter] appreciate you two. >> a teamwork. That's a heavy duty committee. It takes four sometimes four, five hours a day. Often non-stop proceedings. So, thank you all. You do Next is Superintendent comment, Dr. Midgett. Yes. Um My only comment is just encouraging everyone. I know it's not a lot of people
069physically here in the audience but I know there are a lot that watch us live and virtually. Please come out to Dearington Elementary School on this Thursday, February 19th 6:00 p.m. for a strategic plan town hall. It's going to be structured so that we get feedback from you and we really just want to make sure that people come out, be able to give your voice. We have it in a very structured way. We're expecting so many people that we've structured this in a way that we can get feedback on each of the five goals or proposed goals from everyone. Um it's really important. It outlines the next five years and road map for LCS and what will be that will help to anchor the work that we're doing that supports kids. So, please make sure
070that you find the time to come out. Hour, hour and a half. It's not much time but it is something that's so valuable to have your input as to what's going to be next for us for LCS. So, that's my only comment. Thank you. Next one is board comment. We'll start with Mr. Barron. >> [snorts and clears throat] >> All right. My three T's. Number one is trust. And I I just want to take two two stabs at this real quick. I think it's really important we all understand that transparency builds trust. And I think I want to applaud our team, our our board, and our leadership for working hard to be as transparent as possible. I also want to put it on the community that transparency also requires trust. Um and so, I want
071to encourage our community as a whole to start with trust. Otherwise, you'll never recognize transparency when you see it. And um there's sort of this uh sense that if we bring transparency and it happens to be bad news, um that we're going to get a backlash. And I don't want our team I want our leadership be able to freely talk about with transparency the things that are going good, bad, and the ugly without fear of that backlash. And so, I want to encourage our community to come around as default start with trust and we can continue to build trust with transparency. One of the things I say often is there's no bad news. Truth is always good, right? Even if it hurts a little bit, even if it's hard to hear, we want to know
072the truth. And there are plenty of incredible things happening in our schools as well. And so, I hope I hope that you are willing as a community we are willing to trust to start with trust so that we can continue to build trust through transparency. Um the the second T is transition. I'm just going to reiterate what Dr. Midgett just said, the town hall at Dearington Elementary. We as a RFP committee insisted on strong community engagement process with the vendor that we hired. And we believe our community both deserves and desires that level of engagement. So, I'm I'm beseeching our community to come prove us right. Be at this town hall meeting. Pack it out. I want it to be standing room only. >> [clears throat] >> And and and let's really let our voice
073be heard so we can best serve and all have buy-in in what we come out with with our strategic planning process. And then the last one, transportation. And I do want to recognize the the good advice I got to make sure that I am clear that all employees matter to me. They definitely did. And I really believe we have elite staff in this in this division. Um but we do have a distinct need for transportation personnel that I want to continue to advocate for and highlight because it touches so many of our city's unique challenges. And you know, we lost another couple of bus drivers on the the just today on the PR report and I want to again send out an all call for anyone who has flexibility in your schedule to come you
074get paid to get your CDL, you get the training, you get paid to be trained, and then you get paid to drive a bus and you're the first point of contact for these kids and you're the last point of contact for these kids. It's huge. Big impact is made not just by getting kids to and from school but actually developing relationships with those students. I did it, loved it. If you want to hear more about it, I can promise you I I can break down whatever barrier there is for you that keeps you from doing it. Um because I've experienced it myself and Mr. Connic can tell you a lot the same. So, just want to encourage again our our our people in our community that have the flexibility, uh church personnel, the entrepreneurs, and
075then whatever it is. I know we're busy, but just take a portion of your schedule and and help us beef up our our transportation so that we can continue to serve these kids and meet the unique needs of our city. Thank you, Mr. Allen. Yes, I want to echo my thoughts as well in terms of the environment that we're in right now, I feel a sense of hope. I gather in the community and I hear a lot of folks are talking about the school and there's a great deal of excitement. I don't know what happened years back, but it seems like the morale was not as high. But right now there's a a strong sense of hope and I believe it is in part to you, Dr. Majette. You have brought a a different perspective,
076a side of a breath of fresh air and people are breathing that air and there's a sense of hope all over this community. Uh sometimes I've had to defend, even though I wasn't here, you know, 4 years ago. And I've often had to say, "Look, you know, we we have a good team right now. We have a good focus, good direction. So, give us some time and let time sort of this thing out." And [clears throat] so, that's kind of where I'm at with it and I hope we can continue to press in and hopefully they'll get some results. And uh but again, Dr. Majette, I thank you for your leadership and the focus that you have. I I asked you a couple of times, I don't know if you get time to sleep, but
077>> [laughter] >> you really seem to have a great passion and the capacity to do this job and I think that's very great. Appreciate you. Thank you, Mrs. Lowry. Um it was so good to see students doing so well with the skills that will can be used as careers. So, that was good to see. Congratulations to the orchestra, the published writer, and the theater students. Thank you, teachers, for the day, night, and weekend efforts that you pour into students academically, extracurricular activities, working with parents [clears throat] and your peers. We see you. Also, um please again, come to our town hall in in Darrington this Thursday. We want to hear what you have to say. All right? Um and I want to thank Dr. Majette and your staff here in the office, um administration, your
078principals, and you just you don't just work regular hours. You guys also work on weekends. I mean, you put in a lot of work and I've seen it myself with, you know, talking with people on the academic success committee that work with you and you guys are just amazing. You're just amazing. So, um your team is truly pushing for the best for our students and their success and I look forward to seeing what LCS looks like in our 3-year plan. Thank you. [snorts] Mr. Conner. I'm I'm not going to stay long. I just want to say, um this is school board appreciation month. We appreciate each and every one of you school board members. Being one of you, I know how difficult um this volunteer job is. >> [laughter] >> So, I want you know
079you are appreciated. I just want to once again thank the staff. Um I want to thank the um academic staff for um getting us through snowmageddon [snorts] 26, um really pushing the um virtual learning. Um you know, and we were ready. I'm glad, you know, I was glad we had the early snowstorm in December cuz it kind of said, "Okay, we need to be ready." And I think we were and I think because we didn't just put it we just didn't see closed closed, we saw virtual learning day, virtual learning day. And I just want you to know we appreciate cuz we know it takes a lot um to make that happen. It's not normal every you know, we we're we can get good at in school, but how do we carry out the virtual?
080And I think you guys did a fine job on that. Once again, thanks to to the facilities people cuz that was a major. I I just I had one little property that I had to deal with and um took me um 2 days to get my lot cleaned up on Poplar Street. So, I know it was a lot of work and we just want you to know we appreciate you know, when you go above and beyond like that. So, I just want to say thank you. Thank you, Mr. DePaul. Um I think every day should be a teacher appreciation day as well as administration day. Um you do great work. Uh very proud of of you all and all the things that you're doing to keep the keep the wheels turning and keep the the
081ball rolling. Um it's it's it's just great to be able to be part of that. Uh special thanks to Mr. Poe. He wrote a wrote a email today about uh making sure we utilize the board and not just do the busy work and supported by Mr. Jalil in the way that the communication that we have, the information we have, uh we really there's more that can be done. Uh the last work session kind of showed that. We were only here for a few minutes and we were out. All these things there's so much more as opposed to uh the attitude of "Give us more time, you'll see what happens." We don't need to kick the can down the road any longer. There's so many things that we can be doing. And as uh as volunteers,
082we're here to serve. We're not here to be appreciated or liked or anything else. It's about service. And there's so many things. And uh the only reason I voted against your your thing this time is just I think we just need more communication. And uh I appreciate you and I just never didn't want to have to go unnoticed and for Mr. Poe, the same thing. I appreciate the your words. Thank you. Yeah, Mr. Jalil. Are you going to read all of that? Concerning the topic of culture eats strategy for breakfast, I'll touch on the phenomenon of high-quality learning capabilities of incarcerated persons. Thank you. [clears throat] Without cell phones, internet, and the vast majority of freedoms non-prisoners have, many prisoners have been able to achieve degrees, fight injustice, and master the subject content of their
083choice. What enables them to do these things? A sustained, distraction-free environment. A University of California study found that a single interruption to attention prevents fully refocusing again for 23 minutes. If that is the case, I wouldn't be surprised if most of LCS classrooms equaled zero minutes of truly deep focus. The digital world is specially engineered to reward the lowest level of cognition for money's sake, of course, to the detriment of young people. Columbia University psychologist Betsy Sparrow proved the Google effect in 2011. The fact that our brains refuse to remember [clears throat] or fights against storing anything it knows you can look up later. Much of our memory is stored on our phones, our computers, even our smart watches, our bookshelves, our files, our shelves of all sorts. But incarcerated persons' memory lives in their
084heads. It has to cuz they don't have all these conveniences. They can't copy and paste, so they really learn the material that they need to learn. Their constraints are what make their learning stick. Less is more in learning. So, how can LCS apply this to them? To their their students? Our students the options are too many. I just give this as a direction to look at this 30,000-ft view foot view on how you can turn your attention to making a distraction-free environment and increase the attention that our students need to focus and learn. Thank you, Dr. Farmer. I believe we are demonstrating trust, hope, and love. This is a brand new day and I want to remind each and every one of us our past does not define our future. I thank each and every
085one of you for all that you do and all that you do to excel this board. So, I say to you, thank you, thank you, and thank you. I'm so proud of you. You can read all this stuff. >> [laughter] >> Thank you, Mr. Poe. Uh thank you, Dr. Gupta. Uh try to be quick. Um I want to echo what um Dr. >> [clears throat] >> Mr. Conner said about the uh handling of the weather. I thought that was um you know, that was a tough situation. Um the last time I can remember Lynchburg City School being closed that long was '95, so it's been a long time. Um and I'm sure hopefully something like that won't happen again, but um I thought that was handled um pretty good. So, I appreciate all the folks
086that had something to do with that. Um Also want to thank uh Dr. Majette um for um showing up um with uh some of the community engagement, um some of the groups that um have, you know, called and asked questions. She's shown up in person. Um and I know she has a really busy schedule um and different things of that nature to answer questions and and um really engage herself [clears throat] personally um with the community and I think that means a lot. So, I just want to, um, and some of these things are, um, not even initiatives that anybody may hear about or maybe it'll come down the pipeline. So, um, the fact that, um, she makes sure she's been making sure she takes the time to do that, I think is, uh, very
087important. Um, uh, Mr. DePaul, thanks for, um, recognizing that. But, I want to go a little bit clear, um, on, um, really what I meant by by the email. I was actually speaking to the advisory, uh, committees, um, that, um, um, we seem to task, um, the, you know, community members. Uh, last year I was on the school health advisory board, um, and we were tasked with, um, subject matter and a lot of research and and work. And a lot of people who make up these committees are people that have, uh, full-time jobs and and just want to help out. So, I just want to make sure, um, and I hope my email didn't come off firm or anything like that. Sometimes I don't take the time to explain myself as well through text. But,
088um, I just want to make sure that we're taking advantage of, um, what we're tasking people with so that they can help us, um, with any of the division, um, needs. Uh, you have the school health advisory board, the special education advisory committee, and the general career technical advisory committee. Um, are the three that I can see. Um, so, I just want to make sure that we're actually taking advantage of that and, um, putting the the people that are on those committees, um, to work for good use. Um, uh, real quick and then I'll I'll hang it up. Um, um, sometimes I get a little flak for wearing my hat, uh, at board meetings. Um, but I do it for a reason. Um, I never met my grandfather. He only had a third grade education.
089Um, but, uh, he taught my father a lot of morals, um, decency, and different things. And, you know, they, um, you know, grew up, um, you know, in poverty and different things of that nature. And, um, it it's for me it's just a reminder, um, that in the the the times that he lived in, there weren't a lot of opportunities, um, for men like himself. Um, and now we have so many opportunities. And, um, you know, the fact that we we're in the business of education, um, for a person who only had a third grade education, the, um, opportunities that our children have now, um, are just endless and sometimes they don't take advantage of that. And also, um, I saw a disturbing, uh, video in one of the disciplinary, um, meetings. Um, and I
090just want to remind parents that, um, we have to still, um, think about our behavior and our morals, um, because our our kids are watching. And if if we don't behave as parents, um, then we can't expect them to come to school and behave. So, just a reminder for that. And, uh, last but not least, on February 23rd, um, uh, our organization, uh, we used to be 40 Ways Coalition. We've changed to Lynchburg Community Panel cuz we host panel discussions. We'll be talking about, um, vaping and sharing some educational resources and, um, having a panel discussion about that. And that'll be February 23rd at 6:00 p.m. at the Miller Center Auditorium. Uh, thank you, uh, I yield my time to Dr. Midgett. Ms. Morris, would you please come to the podium cuz she's got a
091comment to make. Yes, I I failed to mention this earlier and I'm so sorry I missed it, but I know the first one was phenomenal, so I know this one was even better. You had the community dinner last week and I was in a conversation with Sonia, so I know Sonia can tell me how delicious it was cuz she was like, "I'll talk to you later. I need to go." Thank you. Appreciate it. Just thank you for everything. >> And all the students who worked hard to cook meals. Well, thank you. It was It was a wonderful evening. Oh, yes. Yes. Well, I and I do want to give kudos to, um, Kena Collins, who is the art teacher at, uh, Bedford Hills. She and her, um, uh, enrichment class, everyone, this is this will
092be our fifth community dinner. We had three last year and this is the second one of this year. Every single one of those dinners, Kena and her, um, classes have made the centerpieces. And so, they made centerpieces, um, in a Valentine's theme. The EC Glass High School Culinary Group made the, um, heart-shaped desserts, uh, little cakes. Um, so, I I'm hoping that we'll build on this event, that we will be able to, um, spotlight and put a a a shine on many achievements that our students, um, should be recognized for. And And everyone loves to eat. Um, so, what a wonderful occasion to bring the community together. So, thank you. Our next one is May 15th. It'll be a cookout, uh, at Lynchburg, I mean, at, uh, Linkhorne Middle School. And as I said to
093Mr. Marshall, I will be looking for, um, maybe one of you all, um, to help us grill, um, our our our chicken for the, uh, for that cookout on May 15th. So, um, we'll look forward to seeing you all there. Thank you. Uh, next one is a closed session pursuant to the Code of Virginia 2.2-3711A7, the school board needs to convene a closed meeting for the purpose of discussing the following specific matters: consulting consultants pertaining to probable litigation where such consultation or briefing in open meeting would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of the school board. Is there a motion to go into the closed session? >> Motion. Second. Uh, Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll? Mr. Barron? Yes. Mr. Alwine? >> Yes. Mrs. Lowry? >> Yes. Mr. Connor? >> Yes. Dr.
094Chilton? Yes. Mr. DePaul? >> Yes. Mr. Gilliam? >> Yes. Dr. Farmer? >> Yes. Mr. Pack? Yes. We're going upstairs? We need to go upstairs. All right. >> [clears throat]