MCPS School Board Meeting 11/18/2025

001Declaration of subjects discussed in closed meeting. May I have a motion? I make a motion to adopt the certificate of closed meeting. >> Thank you, Mrs. Hodgees. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Morgan. [clears throat] Is there any discussion? There being none, Miss Laauo, may we have a roll call vote, please? >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Here. >> Yes. Yes. Item 2.3, approval of personnel action. May I have a motion? >> I make a motion to approve the personnel list as listed. >> Thank you, Mrs. Hodes. Do we have a second? >> I second that. >> Thank you, Miss Digs. Is there any discussion? >> There being none, all those in favor say I. >> I. Opposed. >> Motion passes. Item 2.4, Four, approval of student action. May I have

002a motion? >> I make a motion to uh retroactively approve the placement of a student in a long-term alternative education program. >> Thank you, Mrs. Hodes. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Morgan. Is there any discussion? There being none, all those in favor say I. >> I. Opposed. >> Motion passes unanimously. We are adjourned from close session. I'd like to call to order item 1.1 and welcome you to the November 18th, 2025 Matthews County School Board regular monthly meeting. Would you please join me in standing for the pledge of allegiance? I pledge algiance 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. >> Item 1.3, roll call, please. Miss >> loud.

003>> Present. Present >> here. >> Present. Thank you. Item 1.4. Seeking a motion for the approval of the agenda. Any additions or deletions? >> I'll make a motion that we approve the agenda as listed. >> Thank you, Mr. Morgan. May I have a second? >> I second that. >> Thank you, Miss Digs. Is there any discussion? There being none, all those in favor say I. >> Opposed? Motion passes. Item 1.5, our consent agenda. May I have a motion? I make a motion to approve the minutes of October 21st, 2025 closed and regular monthly meetings, October 23rd, 2025 town hall and October 30th, 2025 work session and monthly claims as presented on the consent agenda. >> Thank you, Miss Hodes. Do we have a second? >> Second. Thank you, Mr. Dobson. Is there any discussion? I

004would just like to note that uh December 15th will be the next claims review date and that will be Mr. Dobson doing that. Any more discussion? There being no more discussion, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? >> None. Motion passes. Item 1.6 are Matthews County School Board governance norms and protocols. Digs, I believe we are up to you. >> All right, we are highlighting two of our protocols every month. >> All right. The board members, okay. um communications between the board members and staff including requests for um information. Then let's see here. Okay. The board members will speak directly to the superintendent with any request for information. Information shared with one board member will be shared with all board members if readily available. If considerable work more than two hours is

005required to generate data, the majority of the board must endorse the request during a meeting of the board. uh the committee members as assigned on the volunteer basis. There there will be assignment of the committee members um as assigned on a volunteer basis. Thank you, Miss Diggs. >> Item 1.7. I'm seeking a motion to um regarding appointment and bonding of schoolboard clerk and deputy clerk. I make a motion to approve the appointment and bonding of Stephanie A. Laauo as schoolboard clerk and Emma L. Hunley as school board deputy clerk. >> Thank you, Mrs. Hodes. May we have a second? >> Second. >> Thanks, Mr. Morgan. Is there any discussion? There being none, all those in favor say I. >> I. Opposed. >> Motion passes. Item number two, questions or comments from the school board student

006representative, Miss Ward. Good to have you here tonight. >> Okay, so first we have the report for Matthews Elementary School. MEES students had a fantastic time visiting the book fair the last week in October. The Matthews High School marching Blue Devils performed their field show for us on October 31st. We are hopeful the show helped inspire some fifth graders who will have the opportunity to join the band next year. Our fourth graders were the recipients of the October Be Present Award with 98.7% of students present for the month of October. Each class was presented with a class certificate and they get to keep the attendance B mascot for the month. We were very pleased with the turnout and support of parent teacher conferences on November 3rd. Matthews Elementary School students finished the quarter strong. We

007have added more students to all-in tutoring in both reading and math. This program meets after school and serves students in grades 3 to 5. We will finish out the month of November working hard and showing gratitude and thankfulness for our incredible students, staff, and families. At Thomas Hunter Middle School, students have also had a great month. Since our last meeting, our students have had many things going on. There was a family movie night. They celebrated Halloween with boograms. They completed their first CIP benchmark. They've been on science related field trips. They've competed in two art contests. We celebrated students with perfect attendance for the month of October at our attend dance. We had the opportunity to see the marching blue devils field show at Thomas Hunter. We celebrated Veterans Day. We had a fun activity

008night. We finished the Thomas Hunter Middle School fall fundraiser. And we spent time in classes learning about citizenship, mathematical equations, fractions, and cells, and learned some of the periodic table, and spent time reading passages and annotating them for English classes. Later this week, our family and consumer science students are hosting a super appreciation for teachers. Thank you, Miss Williams, for organizing this. We have set a goal this quarter for students to have no zeros in P school. Families, please, please log into P school to check your child's grades to make sure they are not missing any work. Also, our attendance focus will be for the grade who has the best attendance and are here each day. That grade will receive a prize at the end of the month. If your child has not organized their

009book bag for quarter 2, please take a moment to go through their things to help them get things straight. This month, we want to let families know how thankful we are for our amazing Seahawks. THMS staff is very blessed to have the opportunity to work with the students in Matthews County. We hope everyone has a great season of being thankful for the things we have. And then at Matthews High School, we enjoyed a really fun spirit week, which culminated in our pep rally, homecoming parade, the crowning of our king and queen during the field show performed by our marching band, and the homecoming dance. Thank you to everyone who worked hard to make that a fun experience for our students. On October 24th, our math team competed at the Rapahanic Community College math contest and

010placed second. Thank you to Susan Sanderson for organizing and sponsoring the team. On October 27th, students in our Spanish classes saw the Latin Ballet of Virginia perform a flamco dance in celebration of World Arts Day. Congratulations to the marching blue devils for finishing second in the class doubleA competition at the Kickotan Warrior Classic on Saturday, November 1st. Jordan Sedg was awarded best drum major in class double A. Our music department also had a very successful dinner in a show fundraiser on November 13th featuring our jazz band, string orchestra, and percussion ensemble. Thank you to everyone who attended to support our music department. Congratulations goes to Ray Hudgens for being awarded the Harvard Book Club Award and Scholarship. On Saturday, November 15th, many of our student athletes volunteered to prepare boxes to be shipped for Operation

011Christmas Child. We appreciate the community service from our students who went above and beyond to help children who are less fortunate. And that is it. >> Thank you, Miss W. That was very informative. I appreciate that. Thank you. >> Number item number three, we have a presentation from Mr. Bert Schmidt from WHRO, president and CEO, and Mr. Elmer Stewart, WHRO Vice President of Education. Thanks for coming tonight. >> It's my pleasure. Madame Chair, members of the board, Dr. Daniel, thank you for allowing me to speak with you tonight. My name is Bert Schmidt. I'm the president and CEO of WHRO with Elmer Seward, my vice president of education. So, I have backup. You got the hard questions for me. He's here for us. Um, I come to you tonight because you're one of the 21

012school divisions that literally own the license to WHRO. We are the only media company in the entire country owned by collaboration of K12 school divisions. We were founded by two back in 1961. Today, we're owned by 21 21 of them, including Matthews County. So each year we provide you with an impact statement. This is for last school year 2425. And rather than me going through the entire report with you, we've prepared a video for you to see. >> The nation's public owned by a collaboration of 21 school divisions. This distinctive ownership model places education at the heart of our mission influencing every aspect of our work. Our team of educators is committed to offering students, teachers, and families innovative free highquality programs and services. One key service that WH offers is EDIA VA, Virginia's leading

013digital content repository with nearly 100,000 free top quality instructional ources. Media VA provides educators and students with videos, interactive, games, lesson plans, images, and more. This platform is designed to enhance personalized learning and make classroom experiences more engaging. For our learners, WH offers exciting educational activities to spark their imagination. Our pre-education visit elementary schools with programs tailored to Virginia's standards of learning covering literacy, numeracy, scientific investigation. We also support ensuring children are prepared for kindergarten and set up for success in their early school years. For secondary educators, WHO provides a catalog of 27 awardwinning customizable online courses and digital resources. These mediarich aligned courses are designed to integrate seamlessly with various learning management systems. They offer flexibility for face-toface flipp blended and fully online teaching environments enriching lessons with engaging content. At WHO, we celebrate

014students achievements through competitions that showcase their talents. The Great Computer Challenge, for example, gather school teams from across the region at Old Dominion University to tackle real world technology problems. Another highlight is our regional spelling beions compete at WHO Studio for a chance to advance to the scripts National Spelling Bee. The local competition is recorded and aired on WH each April. Elementary students also have an opportunity to shine through our PBS Kids Writers Contest. This competition invites young writers to craft and illustrate their original stories, fostering creativity and critical thinking. Our student advisory board reflects our commitment to student engagement. This group of high school students offers feedback on content and has opportunities to create their own influencing our online courses and eia VA resources. We're equally devoted to supporting educators through our professional development

015programs. Our workshops and training sessions provide teachers with cutting edge strategies and tools, empowering them to inspire and guide their students effectively. Visit WH's education to learn more about how these amazing free materials, programs, and resources can benefit you. At WHO Public Media, we're proud to partner with our local school divisions and the Virginia Department of Education to shape the future of education, one student at a time. >> All the services in the video, all the services in the report are services that have been requested by the divisions. We meet with the school superintendent six times a year, with the school board representatives five times a year, and we listen to what your needs are. And so we figure if if it's something that will serve Matthews County and then Virginia Beach and Ches Peak

016and Aamac and Suri, it'll serve everybody. So we keep listening. Whatever whatever services you need, we're here to provide them to you. One last note, there is an executive summary in the impact statement, page two. I'm only going to read one paragraph from that executive summary because you care about money as school board members. Second to last paragraph reads, "Matthew County County Public School invested $2,768 in WH services during the 2425 school year and received direct and indirect benefits valued at $661,000, a return of $238 for every dollar invested. Hope you're happy with that return on your investment. I'm happy to take any questions. >> Thank you, Mr. Schmidt. Mrs. Did you? >> I wanted to say that um I am hoping that our division is taking advantage of all of the things that we

017are able to and specifically I'd love to see us participating in that spelling be. We've done it in the past. I don't believe we did it last year. Um the STEM band, I would love to have that coming back. And the writer's contest, I would love to have us participate in all of that. Not to mention all the other things that would benefit our students. would love to see all all of those. >> Um be great. Vans can come up. Just give us a call. >> Thank you. >> We'll drive today. It's not >> been here before and it's been well very well received. >> And Miss Diggs is going to be taking over my role by the way of representative. So good. >> She she is uh passed the torch to her and uh

018she went to her first meeting last month, I believe, and found it informative. If I may. Yes. Um I have been in touch with Paula Cook who is in char the liaison for the sale 250 and >> Oh, good. Good. >> Some of our Am I on? >> No. >> Okay. Uh sorry about that. I'm bad with buttons. Uh but the sale 250 our principles uh gotten in touch with all but one and uh they are looking options and as I read over all of the opportunities that you have online um for our students, it's very exciting and our superintendent is very much behind this as well. So >> that's great. Just again, thank you. >> We we'd love to have more services. The report we provide you is customized to the division. So within

019there are reports on on your usage. So the only thing we really don't know is your usage of the courses because we build the courses and then we give them to you. they're in your learning management systems. So, your folks would have the statistics on the usage of the courses, but everything else we uh you know, we can provide you. >> I think we're principles and um some staff members are working to um increase our capacity with learning management um with Canvas. I think there was some um pullback after returning from COVID of using um using Canvas. So, we're working on retraining and re-implementation and just looking at all the uses that are possible with really doing a LMS well um and having access to the WHR co courses and e media Virginia being able

020to kind of enrich enrich those courses. So, we're >> and we have a full team in that online learning space. If you ever need folks to help with advisory, our team can come on up and work with your folks to help because again, we see what 21 different school divisions are doing with online learning. So, we've got some expertise and Elmer and his team could bring some folks up and work with your folks and help kind of get that moving forward. Be happy to do that. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Take care. Moving on to item four, school safety 4.1. We'll start with access control presentation. All right. So there are some um I I did bring some backup tonight on the on the access control. So

021we've got some vendors in place who can provide um some assistance to me should I needed to answer some questions. So INW is a vendor who um works with Vicata is the manufacturer um to kind of um we've to kind of install and provide training for um a proposed um upgrade to our access control system. And so I'll go through a couple of the slides um and I'll kind of fill in a little bit and then there's a quick video um but then I'll ask Melissa and Frederick to come up if there to answer any any direct questions that board members may have. Um so VCAT Vicata started out probably about 15 or so years ago um in the camera security camera space. They've expanded into access control. Um, for clarification, access control is basically

022the locking and scheduling of the doors. And so, as we think about key fobs and smart badges and punch pads to getting in and out, it's sort of the updated version of of a mechanical key. Um, so, Vicotta now has a very robust um access control system to accompany their um pretty impressive camera system. So um Vicata is expanding rapidly and doing multiple things within the public space. So they offer um cameras and access control, air quality sensors, um alarms, intercom systems. Um right now the proposal that we have in front of us uh is for access control. There's also a secondary proposal to integrate our existing camera system into the Verata software. Um I will also note one um key space. So the um sheriff's office in Liberty Square um is also working with

023INW to upgrade their camera system, their access control system. So when INW was out working over at Liberty Square to provide a quote, we knew this is an area that we needed to upgrade. So, this occurred probably two months ago umish. So, our access control system, I think it was talked about at the town hall, um dates back to about 06. So, it's definitely in and we've had some failures within the access control working properly. So, we knew this was an area that needed to be addressed. So, as they were on site working with Liberty Square, um there's some overlap in terms of um ease of use and accessibility for law enforcement. Um being able to view our cameras and access buildings, whether it's off hours or in crisis situations. Um so, just some awards

024that Verata has has earned on their various platforms. um the I would say the industry um within the education space, Vicata is recognized as um one of the leaders for access control and camera systems. So as school divisions are are upgrading those systems, most um look towards Verata as like the I would say probably the north star for this is the the industry leader the the best systems out there. ease of use both on the user end and on the installation end. Um so just kind of what Vicata does and where they are. So about 45 plus school divisions are using Vicata. Um and then there are another 100 plus public sector entities using Verata the Verata platform. So access control again. So again, I feel like I'm almost working for Vakata here for a

025second, but talking about kind of their um um industry recognized ranking um worldwide as again that industry leader. So one of the key pieces on the Vicata access control from our end is the scheduling piece. Right now we're hamstrung by one console that can do the scheduling of any of the doors. So all of that right now scheduling of all the campus activities um across this campus or the high school any sort of event needs to run through one individual. Right now that's Jason Hudgens with the maintenance department. So he's spending an exorbitant amount of time scheduling for events and programming doors to be unlocked. So movie nights, board meetings, basketball games, etc., etc. He's the one who's programming which doors and for what time, what time do they open, what time do they lock.

026Moving towards this platform will help us um because of the ease of use, disperse some of that responsibility. So there will end up being a school-based person responsible for scheduling their building. So the um the PTO meeting or the you know the movie night or the attend dance like the school would be responsible for scheduling um their building. The other great part about this is there's a webbased ability to then activate either a lockdown remotely um through the app or also schedule the building remotely through the app. So it allows more functionality, much more flexibility, um greater um input into um locking and unlocking of the doors on campus. Again, I touched on the sheriff's office integration. One of the a big appeal for us is um the overlap in the ease of use between

027the two systems um between the two entities. So the school division and law enforcement. So, right now, law enforcement has access um a certain number of slots for access to our camera system. So, I think three to four individuals within the sheriff's office have remote access to be able to look at camera systems um if there's a need for some investigative purpose or in a crisis situation. However, it's not the same platform as their platform. So you have to have some fluency in the software to really know how to navigate our camera system. Well, by us being on the same platform, that fluency is already then built in. Um, by going to smart badges in the event of a crisis situation, first responders are automatically going to have that smart badge or have access to

028be able to enter enter the buildings. Now, we've got kind of a code and a fob system. And so I think all the deputies have have fobs and keys that are assigned to them. But with that smart badge, it becomes it the ease of use um is the ease is increased. Um so accelerating emergency response, one of the key pieces is in an emergency response within this platform um our digital map of campus is already uploaded. So, in the event of some sort of crisis situation, that can be pulled up on the map of the building can be pulled up onto their phone pretty quickly, um there's I think there's a remote access on the phones for camera system. So, it can hey, the alarm we notified is here. Here's a map of the building

029and an overlay of where the cameras, the exits, the all those sort of things. So, it's at um at your fingertips access to speed up response time for um first responders. Um one of the the um interesting pieces right now, so Vericata has Vicata specific cameras, but it also has software. So, what Vicata is able to do is take our existing camera system, which is not old. So, we've spent the last two um the two previous school years spending state safety money to upgrade the camera system. So, our cameras are only about two years old. Um so, we can because they're modern cameras, we can plug those into Verata servers. And I'm not the IT person that I used to be, but be able to then integrate our existing cameras into the Verata system to

030increase their functionality with all the um software that's available. Okay. So, can you click on that link and play it for me, Mr. sector K12 customers in the state of Virginia here at Vicata. Going to run you through a brief two to three minute breakdown of what the Vicata system is and how it specifically applies um to our county public school customers. The sheriff's office is about to utilize our cameras which look a little bit like this come with various different analytics and features um to keep the county people around you safe from practic notifications to people analytics vehicle analytics um and easily being able to clip and share information. Now with the county school system you all are looking at our access control product line um access control is deployed with over 30,000 ricotta

031customers worldwide u and ricotta as a product is with 45 different school divisions throughout the state of Virginia. Now, access control has a lot of proactive safety features that have been built for K12 county government, but being able to trigger a lockdown with the click of a button. So, this could be the high school, the middle school, and elementary school. An administrator can quickly lock down the building by just pressing this from their phone or web browser as they're logged in uh to going and monitoring specific doors. I can go and click into this door right here. Get different analytics depending on if I have video paired with it or not. But more importantly, open this door, lock it, and unlock it with a click of a button, whether I'm remote or I'm on site.

032Each door can be set on a different schedule. This kind of looks like a Google calendar. You can set it for all of your doors or just specific doors. And you can also set specific access levels. So the same goes with a lockown. There are specific people like the sheriff's department, deputies, superintendent. You will be able to unlock doors after a lock down. Um, and same thing goes for just normal entry. You can set each door to a custom schedule u for different groups of people like it shows right here. I'm going to exit out of this. I'm going to go to our users and groups. It's super easy to add a user and to manage specific users. If I type in somebody, for example, this gentleman right here, I can bring up their profile

033and I can see what their credentials are. So, we can an actual physical key card that allows them to enter the building, a key code, an app on their phone, or even if you have an arm gate, their license plate can open it. You can disable these credentials at any time um in case they get let go when they leave the division. You'll also tailor their access credentials. You can put them in a group with other people that all have the same credentials or you can do this person by person. And lastly, we log all events, so from access granted to access denied. If you don't have cameras paired, there just won't be this context footage. But if you uh do you do get the benefit of context footage. So I can click in here.

034You'll see that we have a camera paired with this individual door. Um and as he enters the facility, right, it actually captures him and I can play this video to review it. Here's our schedules page where you're able to actually schedule when doors are unlocked, locked, and access control and put in different door exceptions like holidays, Christmas, Easter, or spring break. We generate access reports which are uh downloadable with the case of a security audit or if you need to look at specific door events, you can just export this file and save the report. Um, and then you can even give visitor access. If you have a contractor, they can pass the criminal background check with our guest platform and you can give them temporary access for a day, two days if they have access

035to, you know, specific door area. Now, with cameras, I'll showcase this quickly. This is called our command connector. We can actually use your existing cameras and infrastructure if it's relatively new. For example, here we have a third party camera that we brought into our software. We have the ability to view people, vehicles, and get proactive alerts. The sheriff's department could, let's say, upload a picture of somebody with a warrant um and we could get notified if that person appears on any of our external facing cameras. If they do, we can quickly share by putting their department email or phone number um into this. Once I press send link, it will give them access to that data before they arrive onto campus. Same goes for floor plans. We can upload each campus's floor plans level by

036level into the software. Place specific doors, specific cameras, environmental sensors, or anything else you utilize with Ricotta. We can turn on things like motion detection in the case of a lockdown, so you can quickly look into where people are traveling throughout. So, Von got cut off, but that's the end of the video. Um, so you can you can tell by that snippet, it's a pretty powerful system. One of the things they didn't um get into but so much is that you know it he talked a little bit about license plate identification to be able if you have an armgate um but it also will do that if you have a banned um license plate from being on property. So if a license plate is assigned to an individual who is banned from being on school

037property for any number of reasons um it can then if the camera is set up um in a certain way or can capture license plates it can also send that in that same alert. So, in terms of this process, um this we've been collaborating with the the combined maintenance department and a little bit with the sheriff's office on um moving forward with this. So, um I believe the board of supervisors will be getting um a request for moving forward with upgrading the access control system um for the school division. There was a kind of a I think a 0% um interest um loan. I don't know the right way to put it, but a kind of a phase in a multi-year sort of buy in for the sheriff's office. A similar proposal has been granted

038for the school division, but it would fall under the maintenance part. But before going to the board of supervisors, I wanted the school board to have an idea of kind of what what is being proposed, what the potential then looks like for um our in updating upgrading um our access control system that again we started actually about in September. We had a fire drill, noticed some issues with our access control um not working as it should. Um, and so that kind of started the ball rolling with, hey, we're having issues with this 20 year old system that we need to, um, get moving on, finding a solution. So, um, we looked at a couple different ones. Um and so Vicata is again the being able to pair with um the sheriff's office is is a

039significant piece along with just the um the user interface and just the the robust features that exist with Vicata. If you guys have questions, I have answers um waiting. Um but if if they're not, then we can we can move move on. Besides just >> you may have mentioned this um the cost we're talking about what kind of cost. >> So if we do um the camera integration, it becomes more expensive. Just access control, I believe, is $150,000 that's spaced out over um I think it's parsed out over five years. um the by integrating the camera system that software um add-on becomes I think it's around $350,000 again over that spread out over five years. There's a there's a lot of um data that sounds like it's going to be need to be put into

040the systems like license plates like ban license plates is is that going to be rolled into someone's job responsibility you know or I mean it just sounds like as we as we move forward with more security there's got to be someone that's that's going to be have to be manning this and I and I know people are really got their plates right now. Are we looking at possibly at another additional positions to help with this or and you may not >> I don't think we're looking at additional positions right now. I think the um the uploading of license plates would be hey we have a known like um a known license plate that we are concerned about or a repeat offender or we suspect that this you know this car or this individual is coming

041on school grounds after school hours and they've been prohibited from being there. I think that's kind of a oneoff situation. So, we can upload very specific things or facial recognition images um things along those lines. So, I think the amount of um instances where that's required is going is still going to remain pretty small. So, we're not we're not putting in every kid's license plate or every kid's picture or family. So, I think it's continuing the collaboration with the sheriff's office saying, "Hey, we're worried about this individual or if there's a way to upload certain offenders, you know, pictures, we may be able to bulk upload, say, sex offenders who are not allowed on school property to then have that as part of the part of the screening. >> So, so someone drives in and

042they have a outstanding warrant, a sex offender, what, whatever. Is a sheriff's department notified or the school is notified? my understanding the way that's listed and maybe you guys can I think it's how we um I think you put in an email you determine who you want notified in those situations and then that notification is sent but >> uh so the way it works is the system itself um when you're looking at any of the camera footage um any of the cameras that are aimed at license plate it automatically reads that license plate it can automatically detect individuals um without having to enter any information if there's a person of interest that is not part of the National Sex Offender Registry. Um, we would have to actively create this person of interest. However, they are

043populated and anytime a person of interest, whether from the National Sex Offender Registry, from FBI's most wanted, from any warrants list is detected, um, alerts are sent out both to, uh, the school administrators and to the police department, and E911 will have access into the system to immediately detect where that person is and follow their movements as they are working with the dispatched officers. >> Okay, thank you. >> Additional questions, members? Yeah, he's better at answering than I am. >> I have a I have a couple of questions. Uh since this is such a robust system and and such gold standard basically, what is um your experience in the local divisions? I mean, how many other divisions have it? Are you strictly working in Virginia? Are there divisions local to us that also are using

044your services? >> Um there are 45 school districts throughout Virginia that are using the ricotta system. Um, a lot of the school districts that we've assisted with directly, um, are in the surrounding states. Um, so we've done work in Delaware, North Carolina, um, and in West Virginia. We've worked with states, uh, local county school systems there. Um, we've been able to help detect and deter 15 different incidents so far, um, with individuals who are on the national sex offender registry. Um, so far we've had positive feedback across the board from every single uh school system that is using this current system. >> Very good. And as a followup, how long uh does it take to get a school division up and running with whichever plan we were able to do with either access control only

045or the cameras? >> As far as timeline goes, 90% of the timeline is just going to be physical installation of hardware. Um, with access control, it's a onetoone replacement so far is what we've looked at. Um, It could take roughly one to two weeks. Um, usually we try to aim for school breaks to do this. Winter break, summer break, spring break. Um, but as far as actually getting users online to the dashboard, fairly simple. We have uh pre-done training videos that we send out. We also offer in-person training um so that you guys are well trained and well versed in how to use the system. But standing up the system itself is super simplistic. Um, and we've actually gone ahead for the sheriff's department. We've created um basically a dashboard for the entire county of

046Matthews County. So any school system that is brought in will be added to this dashboard. So the framework's already there. It would just be adding your equipment into it. >> Great. Thank you. Any other questions, comments, members? >> I got a question. >> Yes, Mr. Dobson. >> This probably directed more to the chair on the face recognation that they're using. The the county doesn't shy away from that >> on face ration, >> facial recognition. >> The county will use it 100% of the time, will not shy away from it. Well, you got some areas that the police will not use that equipment to the fully extent that it was intended for, i.e. face recognition. You got some counties won't do that. You're presently not doing that. You're using it. >> All right. So, so there

047wouldn't be anything coming along the line that you wouldn't use it for unless they change the state law. That's all I wanted to know. >> There's an ability to >> Well, you'd have to have something in there to key that information. >> Yeah. So, when we when you go to save a video clip, um if you have a video clip of something happening between two students or a student and um an adult something where the student's face needs to be blurred out. We have the ability that when you save this video, you can save it with face blur turned on and it's selective face blur. So you can select the individuals whose face you wish to blur. Um this video footage cannot be redacted. You cannot change it after it has been saved um making

048it completely court admissible in all 50 states. [snorts] >> Thank you. >> And then I have one other question. who would control the information like a picture to the public. >> Uh the public is not able to see anything on the cameras unless the school board or the sheriff's office is to release this information. So if there was an incident that occurred and it went to trial and it had to be publicly released, then the public would be able to see that information. But only administrative users of the actual system are able to see anything on the system. So the school is responsible for the pictures that's on that that it keeps up there. >> Uh technically yes. >> Any more questions members? >> Thank you very much. This is very informative. >> Moving on

049to item 4.2 with with uh school safety updates. >> Just doing a couple updates. Um and I will add that there is a very close in proximity school division that is um moving towards um the ricotta system. So they're I think they're a couple steps ahead of us in terms of signing an implementation and they're integrating cameras um on on boarding to picata along with changing the access control. So, um, a couple highlights on, um, some some safety upgrades, some other things that are happening. So, um, the board, you all have a resolution later in the agenda to, um, divert approximately $90,000, I think it's 89,047, um, towards the cost of hiring two school resource officers. Um, not to steal anyone's thunder, but we're just making that available should an announcement come. Um so we're

050um moving moving in that direction. Um many thanks to um the sheriff for go pushing forward and um pursuing this grant for the school division and the county and also for Miss Emma Hunley for going through um our finances to kind of move things around to um make that diversion of money possible. Um reminder that the county was awarded some grant money for weapons detection at the high school and the middle school. So we had some um video kind of conferences from vendors looking at options to spec out um best best-in-class sort of weapons detection systems. So we're um finalizing some quotes with that vendor. Um I feel confident that we'll be able to get at least four. I'm hoping to be able to get five um weapons detection machines. Um the the turnaround time

051on that is pretty quick. The training um time on that again is is relatively quick. What we've what principles right now have been tasked with doing is the staffing of those machines and working on changing the ingress and egress patterns within the schools. So funneling everybody through certain points so that everyone is walking through um those weapons detection systems. Um I anticipate um probably having three at the high school. So, they're also portable, so you can move them in the event of outdoor activities. They're battery powered, so you can have them out, say, by the the football field, soccer fields. Um, you can move them at different points for any kind of school activity. So, if we needed to move them to the auditorium for a school event, they can be um moved to screen

052individuals who are coming in for um various activities. So, we're working to finalize those. is the turnaround time on getting those in place um isn't particularly long, probably a month, six weeks. The hurdle right now is just the staffing and the training. We may go visit some neighboring school divisions who have the same models, the same brand to look at the procedures um that they've put in place. Um, one of the things about the weapons detection is you can adjust the sensitivity based on what you're looking for. Um, and how much um, how I guess intrusive really isn't the word, but do you want to take everything out of your pockets, keys, whatnot, when you go through them, or you can reduce the sensitivity to really just target things that go, as the vendor said,

053boom and bang. And so you can kind of narrow down that flexibility. So it's not like a airport search. um you can walk through with um say cell phones or keys in your pockets, but probably the Chromebook and the giant Stanley thermos would have to go around in order to to get in. But you need to have individuals there to watch the weapons detection to also assist with the handing of things um around the weapons detection and then when something gets alerted, you need an individual there to assist in the searching. Um so um but that's state grant money that's coming hopefully um February time frame um to have those in place and begin installing um using those. We'll put out some communication about changing in habits and patterns that may be necessary. So drop

054off points may change a little bit. We may have to adjust timelines a little bit if it takes a little bit longer to get students into the building. Um, and also thinking through communication for after-school events. So, how do we staff some of those like basketball games and other sorts of games? And so, thinking through like who's going to be there and um, communicating out to the public. Um, third part I was going to bring up was access control, but we've already talked quite a bit about the access control system. Um, environmental sensor installation. So, otherwise known as vape detectors. Um they got some of them in on Tuesday I believe or yesterday. Um they'll install the other two I think on Thursday. Um some intentional damage occurred to one of them. So we are

055going to have to go back and um do some do some work on the one that was damaged um and then track down um that individual. Um, so but we're I'm pretty optimistic about getting those in place um and getting those activated and getting the training in place. They have the potential not just to sense like different sorts of vapors, whether it's sort of nicotine vapors or THC vapor um but it also um is noise. It has a keyword search. It also can detect like proximity within that space. So you can tell if individuals are sort of clustered in one corner, like if you've got three people who are in the stall, like something's probably not happening like it should. Um, so those those sensors will be able to pick that up and then send

056alert to administrators. Um the other piece, the the last piece in terms of some of the safety updates is we um I reached out to the Department of Criminal Justice Services um very recently to um access some training regarding standard response protocol and standard reunification method. So we've we had some issues with our lockdown procedure on October 30th. some flaws that um were brought to light as we did some afteraction review. And so I've reached I reached out to DCJS to one begin training our administrators. And so after that training, we'll then develop a longer um like more um segmented um training plan for then um staff members to then build up from. So administrators, staff members bringing in first responders within the community. So that's happening on January 13th. Um so a tentative training

057kind of video has been sent from DCJS to me to review along with some other training modules um that I still need to share with principles in advance of that third that January 13th meeting. I've also shared that with sheriff to invite um should we have two new um law enforcement officers um those individuals or anybody from the sheriff's office is welcome to join us for those um initial like or like refresh trainings on SRP and then also I think collaboratively we can then work on a training program going forward or a retraining program um moving forward whether that's one of the things we talked about with DCJ asked was, you know, is it does it work better to do um half days on each campus? Um have everybody kind of coming together like all

058the all the faculty and staff in the auditorium at the same time on the same day or does it is does it work better to do a morning on one campus and an afternoon on the other campus? have smaller groups and also really look at the layout of the buildings because your your terrain sort of dictate your tactics in various situations. So it may we're kind of leaning a little bit towards um doing it onsite in um on the respective campuses, but they're also willing to just do all online trainings. And so we can just have do snippets at faculty meetings or they're they're multi they're very flexible in terms of how um how they can provide additional training and making sure that everybody's on the same sheet of music and doing the same thing

059and developing the the necessary as we were talking about earlier muscle memory in those sort of high stress situations. So, um, questions from you all on some of those budget update or excuse me, safety updates. >> I have a question. >> Sure. >> What are you looking at? Three fixed units and two portable units. >> Oh, in terms of um weapons detection, right? >> So, none of them are fixed. So, none none of them are bolted. >> They don't have any fixed equipment. >> They're not they're not fixed. So, they're all um they weigh about 25 pounds. They're um there's some specs in terms of distance apart from each other and approach distance and stuff like that, but they're designed to be completely portable. Um the goal is to not have to move them a

060ton. Um so if we can have one that's sort of set up really right now by the gym doors because that's a point of entry in the evenings a lot of times. So we would have right now the thinking at least at the high school is front doors, bus loop coming in the side cafeteria doors and then those gym doors. But as the the high school administration is rethinking points of entry into the building, it may make sense to look at something different and funnel everybody in maybe not through the main entrance, but through one of the other side entrances in terms of spacing and staffing and camera footage, you know, just just visibility. Um, I know one of the things they talk about in the mornings at the high school is the parent drop

061off frequently backs up onto Buckley Hall. So, it may make sense to kind of move that parent drop off a little bit further in and then have a different point of ingress. >> The uh Have you considered using parents on that equipment on sports nights? >> We're thinking through what the best solution is on sports nights. Um it's the hurdle a little bit with um volunteers and parents is then if there's a search of some kind that's required there's some gray area between is it the school official is it law enforcement who then engages in that having somebody who's not a paid employee of Matthews County schools being involved in that becomes a little bit sticky I think legally but having an extra body there to observe I think will will help and we can

062talk a little bit with um the athletic director and kind of thinking through those responsibilities. >> I know but you still run background inspections on them all. >> Yeah, but they like we don't pay them and so they're not they're not necessarily responsible. >> I understand that. But at least you keep people up that you already know, >> right? I think I think having people there, having supervision um that's been brought up especially town hall, especially like tonight as I have my back to the entrance. Um but making sure that there is coverage um and supervision available. I mean the other big piece that we we need to um tackle is being able to section off our buildings. So our buildings like we closing them down after hours or for extracurricular events is extremely difficult

063because we don't have the infrastructure in place to be able to do that. So um that's kind of a next phase of um enhancing the physical security within our buildings. >> Yes, ma'am. >> So um now that we're coming off um courthouse is having a musical this activity this past weekend. Is it your thinking that this is going to broaden beyond the school to anything in the auditorium or have we not gotten to that point yet? >> I think the current I believe the current thinking my current recommendation would be just school sponsored events. So, us running it for courthouse players or dons or some of the frequent users of the auditorium, I I right now would not be in favor of deploying that. Um, but I think if we have the Christmas band concert

064from the high school, yeah, graduation, yes. So, running individuals through that whenever it's a school sponsored. Now, if there's a request, I think we can work through that request process to see if we have staff available who could um who could partner with whoever that renter is to offer that additional security. >> Thank you. >> And we've had some tentative conversations with county administrator if they wanted to move some of their meetings to this facility in order to access the the weapons detection that would, you know, we can work with him on that too. So, I mean, it's a resource for the county um to be able to to use. >> Dr. Daniel, you mentioned that you're looking at procuring four to five machines. So, and you're thinking of dedicating three to the high school

065and so that's either one or two left for the remaining two schools at least at this point. So per the grant, we have grant money for the high school and the middle school, but they're also portable. >> Okay. So the vision is to make use of all of these units to cover the necessary points of entry at all of our schools. the the goal will be to deploy them in a way to give us as much coverage and as much um sense of security and safety as we can. >> I I do have a concern that that we will be short in that number. So, I would I would recommend that we we entertain or at least discuss >> the possibility of getting at least an additional >> Okay, >> I'll go back see what

066we can see what we can there's some add-on features that we may not need to have like additional batteries and some other things that may not be necessary if for you know as we add on each new machine they kind of came as package. So, we may be able to trim off just give me the machine and not the the ancillary other, you know, stabilizer brackets and >> I don't want to compromise those machines, but do you think it's it's [clears throat] worth a conversation? Uh, and then a followup again is who's going to be establishing the protocol for the entry through these machines? Is that going to be a team of admin and sheriff's department or as a collaborative effort between many parties? So, I've asked the the principles right now to start thinking

067about the staffing of that. >> Um, so once we get closer to launch day, we'll have hopefully um we'll have some answers regarding SRO's um on campus and be able to consult with SRO's and their expertise on best practice for deploying these. I think we can also again um working with neighboring school divisions on their protocols and we've had some of those conversations about like where does the law enforcement officer you know where are they with this process because I think our original thought was if we're searching for weapons and we find one I really want somebody with a weapon there to get the weapon from the person who's not supposed to have the weapon. Um, but I don't know that that's the um that's the protocol in most if any um spaces, >> school

068divisions right now. So, >> well, I'd be interested to hear what their protocols are. >> Well, I mean, I think I think one of the things about SRO's is not being predictable in where your, you know, where your station is and so having some of that flexibility. So, posting them up at at this particular location every day at this time leads to a vulnerability in some other some other areas. So, >> Sure. Yeah. >> Any more questions or comments, >> Mr. Morgan? >> Yeah, just one quick uh thought here. I do share your concern, Dr. Gibbs, about the possibility that we are we're going to need one or two additional units. Um I understand the grant covers the high school and the middle school. >> No mention of elementary school. >> Correct. They were applied

069for. They just we didn't get funding for the for the school. Um, but that being said, um, I know our goal is to consolidate down to two schools rather than three, >> but that may not happen immediately. In the meantime, we I do believe we need to make sure that all possible entrances or all all entrances that are you frequently used >> should be covered. I don't think we can dare say, well, you know, nobody's going to bother the elementary school. We don't need anything there. Uh, I think we have to cover all the bases. >> We'll go back and check to see kind of where where we fit um with budget and the required match that comes with the grant. So, and see what we can we can trim off of it. >> Right.

070I just you know just make sure that we're >> the other option is you change you reduce the number of points of ingress. So you know if you only have one then that's the only one way >> buses car riders everybody is then walking down a sidewalk to come in that that entrance that one machine but there's also a time so you're then looking at kind of time schedules but I think there's a solution to be to be found. I think we can we can get to a a good spot there. >> I know there is >> I agree. >> As we move on to item five, student achievement discussing the val data. Uh just student achievement will not happen without safety first. So >> safety comes first >> and then on to student achievement.

071All right. So, just a quick reminder. So, last year was the first year with vowels. Previously, we were talking about PALS. So, um Val is the Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System. It's a pretty intense um involved literacy screening tool um that as part of the Virginia Literacy Act was implemented in grades K through three. Um it has expanded, excuse me, it was K5 and then it um well no vows was K3 and then it has expanded up along with the other parts of the Virginia Literacy Act. Um so we have data last year on all of our K through three kids. This year who we assessed in third grade changes a little bit. So I'll explain that again when we get to the the results slide. But what Vowels is designed to do is

072identify students who may be at risk for developing reading difficulties. So it's there's score bands that then put students into certain ranges. Um but it's a little bit different way of saying, you know, you passed or you didn't pass or you're at this mark or you're at that mark. You kind of fall into zones. But the the goal of vowels is to really provide more diagnostic information um for teachers to target than instruction after the assessments. And so it also measures multiple components of reading that are key for comprehension and it goes into progress over time. So again kind of those three areas of decoding, encoding and language those are assessed in that vowels snapshot and it helps us to identify students who may become at risk for developing reading difficulties. Okay. So here are

073the bands. So I bring up the bands just because it gives you some idea of how um how this how this kind of works. So one thing I would kind of point your attention to is the the range the numerical range in each band is not the same. So as we think about a 10-point grading scale, it's 10 points like it's consistent all the way across. So the high risk range is much larger than a pretty narrow moderate risk. Um and then you have low risk. And again, just as point of reference, like we want more students to be in the low risk. So we want to see students moving from my perspective from left to right in the band. Okay? So from high risk to low risk. Okay? So the one thing I'll point

074out super quick. So if you go down to grade level that column you have K1 2 and three. So to note there are only 22 students who were assessed the vowels in third grade. And that's because the only students who were assessed in vowels were students who at the end of the year last year were either in moderate or high risk. So that's why there's only about a third of the third grade group who were given the vows test this fall. So that's why your percentages look wonky, okay? Because you have fewer students who were administered the test. Okay? So again, looking at the bands, kind of where where we are in terms of high, moderate, and low risk. So I'm going to fast forward to the next slide just because it gives you a

075little bit of um comparison from fall of last year to fall of this year. And that's looking at not following cohort. This is grade level. kindergarten last year, kindergarten this year, first grade this year, excuse me, first grade last year, first grade this year. Okay? So, it's not you're not looking at the cohorts. You can do that by kind of going a little diagonal and kind of seeing, okay, how we progress. I will also say that while we're, you know, excited about the performance change fall kindergarten last year to fall kindergarten this year, I will also like full disclosure, the benchmarks changed. So the state adjusted like performance levels, those scale bands from the first year of full implementation last year to the first year of this year. So we have no say in where

076those bands fall. There's no adjustment for us. We send the scores to the state. They give them back to us. So again, the real value in the vows is the diagnostic information that we get out of them to develop then reading plans for students. So any student in the high-risk band, a reading plan has to be developed for that student. So our reading specialists work then to develop all those reading reading plans, intervention plans um for students. So a key piece right now is kind of we knew last year so if you think that kindergarten last year at the fall 60% of our students were in the high risk range. That number improves over the course of the year. What we see is some summer melt or summer slide in terms of over the summer

077kids may not have been attending to books and reading as much as we would like. So part of our decision-making process was we need to do something different with summer school. So we've moved from a two-eek summer school to a four-week back to a four-week summer school um to kind of help prevent some of that some of that summer slide. Um, but I know they're devoting um attention to that first grade group to continue targeting interventions, excuse me, and resources um to the students in that group to continue their improvements, excuse me, um session after session. So, we test in the in the fall and then in the winter and then in the spring. So, but just kind of a I mean we we're seeing again so yeartoyear um seeing improvement in terms of the

078number of kids increasing kind of in the in the low risk category and then decreasing in the high risk. Um again, but that that first grade, there's some we now know that that's that's a cohort of students who we're going to need to divert some resources to to make sure that we have the supports in place. >> I had a question uh regarding the 22 that back to the screen on the third grade 22 students. Was that per protocol to assess only the moderate and high risk? >> So we um >> or was that our choice? >> There's um some the flexibility was given to schools in terms of who like who they chose to >> optional. >> Yeah. So from believe third grade up we are assessing vowels either for previous year's performance or

079we've got some older students and so they were then based on so performance. So if they did not pass or they were within a certain score band on their reading so they were given a vows um assessment as well. >> Yes. >> Yeah. I would just ask um to your point that that um the third graders um were not um evaluated in totality. It would be helpful for the for the next slide >> to have the numbers in there and we have the percentages but we don't have the number of students >> okay >> that we're evaluating. So it's hard for me to go back and say from this slide it's um >> so looking >> 22 students that were evaluated and The percents add up to 22, but the next slide they add up

080to 100, but I have no idea what the number breakdown is. So, just get a sense for >> Okay, so go back and add the actual numbers. Yeah, that would be helpful to me. Thank you. >> Okay. I think for I think I actually took it out >> because >> there were just then so many numbers on the screen and trying to sort of like provide like a little bit of clarity in terms of digesting the information >> but maybe just for the third grade. So because if because it's not if you look at the second grade last year but you're now the third graders >> then it's it's it's apples and oranges you're comparing to because you don't have the same number of students. Thank you. Um, do how helpful do the uh, let

081me ask it differently. >> Do the teachers have they um, really embraced this diagnostic information and are drilling down? >> I know it's a yes or no. >> Elementary school especially has had very productive data meetings. So with looking star data, looking at Val's data for those specific grade levels, looking at kind of the first iteration of the CIP's benchmark data and being able to sort of overlay those and having real good conversations about, okay, well, I need to go I need to I need to go back and spend some more time on this content. So, you're looking at this is a skill assessment. >> CIP then gets into content acquisition. So those aren't necessarily the same things. So this is helpful on okay, what activities do I need to put in place to build

082specific skills within reading and scarbor's rope and is it vocabulary? Is it encoding, decoding? Um so that helps with targeting either the intervention or just if you're seeing widespread issues that then becomes a whole class um instructional model as opposed to hey these four kids need something or all 24 of mine are below where we need to be so I need to do something that's whole group rather than some some smaller group intervention piece. The CIP data that they're kind of working through is sort of content. So is that a pacing question? Have I just not gotten to that in my pacing? Should I have gotten to it? Is it a test taking piece? So, a lot of the younger grades are really working through the test taking piece component of that that benchmark data.

083And then, you know, the middle school is going through their data meetings too, as well as the high school. The high school, the challenge is a little bit different because there aren't department planning periods. There aren't common planning times. So, it's a lot of, you know, this is who I can catch at this period and that period. So they're having more meetings because the number of teachers involved is then smaller. So they're kind of um doing it. But our MTSS coaches have done a really good job of helping us develop protocols to kind of work through the data and ask the right questions and make those meetings efficient and productive. >> How soon do you think you'll be able to provide the CIP uh data overlaying the something like the bells? I don't know. We

084can work on that for December and see what we can pull together. I'll see what what this the schools have in place already in terms of data spreadsheets and sort of overlaps. Um we're still working with um Mastery Connect to build a a more comprehensive data warehouse that would where we can upload ASVAB scores and other sort of outside assessments PSAT and SAT and other things into that. So the CIP stuff is occurs in Mastery Connect, >> right? Um, but like we would have to manually upload vowels and star data and those other things to get a really good overlay. But some of the schools may have a really comprehensive spreadsheet that they're already operating off of in advance of getting the mastery connect solution. >> I I appreciate that the formulas and um formats

085for determining this data and dealing with it are being built are just being created. And I think once they are established, we'll have a multiplier effect in terms of usage and understanding and and therefore get down to what we really need to be doing as fast as we can to help the kids. And that's what this is all for. And I applaud all the efforts that the schools are going are making to um continue to support a datadriven division. That is how we help kids. >> Agreed. >> Any more comments? >> I have questions. Yes, Mr. Dobson. >> Looking at the reading, prior to the new vow system, we were failing about onethird of our students. Even looking at it now with the new vow system, you're still about onethird of the children. So, I

086haven't seen much of an improvement from plan A to plan B. >> I guess what I need clarification from you on is prior or previous val system. Are you talking about last year's assessment of vowels to this year's assessment of valves or are you talking before vowels? >> Well, >> I guess I'm just trying to >> the data for vows you finally can use is just now coming out, >> right? Vows is an assessment that they give and so part of where they score leads to diagnostic information kind of guides the teachers or interventionists like this is where the deficit is go do these types of activities or the student needs more work in this particular range or that particular range. But I would in terms of thinking of like pass fail on this. This

087is potential and not you failed or you passed. So this is based on their and I know it's splitting hairs, but it's it's not a you failed the first grade reading test. It's based on this skill level at this time, you're at a higher risk to develop a reading difficulty or a moderate risk or a low risk. So even they say like the highest scores >> instead of saying you failed you go you're in the larger group of the failing people and you're in the the one of the smart you know smaller groups larger people it's still saying the same thing in the long run >> I think yes and >> [laughter] >> It's again, I'll agree with you that I want smaller numbers in the red and bigger numbers in the green. Okay? Like

088that's like yes. But did those students fail this assessment? No. So it's it's >> that's a terrible way to look at something. If the warning light comes on on your engine, the check engine light, is it like stop, your engine's going to blow up or like, hey, we may you may need to check on some things and and get things the tire pressure. You didn't fail the tire pressure check. It's hey, we've got some indication that some attention is warranted to prevent issues. >> The big the big thing this creates with a problem is you got to wait another two years before you can say, "Hey, this don't work." And then look at something else. because you got to give it that try. I mean, I I understand all that, but it just seems like

089we keep going backwards every two years. >> Probably you and I need to talk some more afterwards because I'm I I guess I want to make sure that I'm answering your question and I'm not sure that that I'm I'm with you right now. Sorry. Okay. >> Yeah, I'll we can we can follow up after to make sure that I'm answering you correctly. Sorry. questions. >> Any more questions, comments? Thank you, Dr. Daniel. >> Item six, citizens questions, comments, or requests, comments not pertaining to personnel or student matters. Protocol for public comment period. Matthews County residents and school employees wishing to speak should sign up with their name and address on the sheet provided. Each individual will have three minutes to speak. Comment period will end after 90 minutes. All comments should be directed to the

090school board. Speakers shall not address matters involving students or personnel as these topics may violate confidentiality and are not appropriate in a public forum. Public comment is the school board's opportunity to listen to the speaker. Since our purpose is to hear from you, the board will not engage in dialogue with the audience or whomever is at the podium. Matters requiring a response will be directed to the superintendent for research and response. The superintendent may report back on such matters at a subsequent business meeting session as appropriate. The school board carefully considers your comments when deciding on matters brought before us. We appreciate your attendance and your input. Our first speaker this evening is Mrs. Kelly Lockerby. Hello. Um, good evening. As most of you know, my son is a student with disabilities who is non-verbal,

091seven years old and he's in the disabilities classroom at the elementary school. After having multiple opportunities to observe in the classroom, I became aware that my son is being evacuated from class routinely due to disruptive and unsafe behavior towards staff and other students. Students and staff are being hit and kicked and in fact he was just evacuated today as per his classroom report. Um this is there is rarely a day that he is not evacuated to safety losing valuable learning time and causing him emotional turmoil. I have emailed phone calls meetings with administrators director superintendent emailed school board members. Um this situation has gone on now for over two months. Um, I requested to have excused absences for my son because quite frankly my husband and I do not want our non-verbal autistic son exposed

092to violence. This was met with absolutely no help. I was however given the rules and explained truency and what would happen if he misses school. So, I looked at the Matthews County Public Schools code of conduct. On page seven, under absences, there is excused circumstances. And in that section, you will find exceptional circumstance absences due to circumstances not listed above that may be considered exceptional circumstances. exceptional circumstances would be reviewed by the principal or attendance officer prior to the absence or after. So, the division could have actually helped me remove my son from this situation the whole time. While I was at it, I looked at the code of conduct and looked at the guidelines for dealing with disruptive behaviors in the classroom, such as hitting, kicking, throwing objects, or any form of assault towards

093staff or students. And you know what is not allowed by anybody. There are literally guidelines in here in writing how to proceed. These guidelines apply to all students from kindergarten to 12th grade disabled or not. And one of the procedures is to notify the sheriff under B uh BO 1 2 and four. And for all of you at home that stands for behaviors that endanger self or others. It clearly states that you're supposed to notify law enforcement. I have been in contact with the sheriff about this, but as far as I'm aware, the school has not. You may think that a child in elementary school does not pose a real threat, but Newport News public school system can tell you otherwise after they ignored the signs and a first grader brought a gun to school

094and shot the teacher in front of the class. >> Thank you, Mrs. Lockerby. Our next speaker is Mrs. Sarah Wear. We are the wear family. My name is Sarah. My son William, my husband Charles. We have written down that we will all three present. But to save breaks, we have chosen to all present as a united front. This is to make things easier. We are here because we believe there are very serious issues regarding student safety at Matthews High School. Many of you already know me. Those that don't know me, I live with a medical condition that affects my expressive communication and I'm already symptomatic this evening. So, I request your patience as I struggle to get through what I'm trying to talk about. Thank you. On October 30th at approximately 3:17 p.m., I was

095late to pick my son up from school. It doesn't happen often, but this particular case, I was at a therapy appointment that ran over in Newport News. I arrived at the school. I pulled into the parking lot, and at that time, I witnessed three cops circling one vehicle. I didn't know what was going on. I pulled into a parking spot, saw my son in this little cove stairwell. He sits frequently to hide from the wind. Very visible on Matthew's cameras. He was visible in every way. I pulled into the parking lot. I stopped. I put the car in park. Will walks across the parking lot and enters my vehicle. We put it in drive and we go to exit the parking lot. Before we are out of the aisle, before we exit completely, we hear

096and we see guns. We were on premise when three policemen pulled guns on a potentially armed suspect. During that time, I was pulling into the parking lot. My son was without protection and we were told this school was on a lockdown. I was completely shocked. My husband is a former deputy. We are a military family. I do not shy from armed weapons in any shape, way, or form. but to witness in a place that I trust with the safety and security of my son. To see those guns pulled on someone that I don't know could have been a student could have been anyone scared the ever loving daylights out of me. >> Thank you, Mrs. Wear. William Wear. >> Yes, ma'am. Good evening. My name is William. Most of you also know me. Um, I

097am in the Russ program and I am now a cadet in for the program as well as the Keler president for Matthews. On October 30th, I was involved in a lockdown. I was sitting in a loaded cubby like my mother said to hide from the wind and I was doing school work. About after a decent amount of time, I lost track of time. Uh after a decent amount of time, my mother came to pick me up and we were rolling out rolling out of the parking lot. My mother uh pulls out out or starts to pull out from the parking lot and looks over to the left. Then she hears the hear hears the cops riding her their weapons. We got back home home safely and after having time to settle down and process what

098happened, I came to realize that I didn't realize that day that the suspect had a had the potential to be armed. That situation after realizing that put a strong sense of worry and a heightened sense of awareness. I feel like and I know I shouldn't have to worry about seeing someone being shot, which is why I strongly believe that Matthews County Public Schools is no longer safe to attend as before. Thank you for your time tonight. >> Thank you, Mr. Wear. Mr. Charles Wear. >> Yes. >> Uh, this is still pertaining to the same day, same in instance. I was on orders at this time. Um, with that being said, I need to know that my son is safe. Okay. Um, there's a lot of situations. I I get situations happen. Okay. There's a lot

099of things that are out of control. Okay, I do understand that. But I need to know that when I'm called away to do what I have to do for this country, that my family and my son is going to be safe in this school. What happened on October 30th is absolutely unacceptable. You get the the school was supposedly put on lockdown, but my son was left outside. The school supposedly was on on shut on lockdown, but yet kids were still allowed to leave. How is that possible if the school was on lockdown? Every one of you should be upset that this happened the way that it happened and students weren't protected. We did get a uh an email stating that you guys uh after action uh review was happening. You guys were looking over the

100situation. There's some good things that are coming down the pipeline, but this is a reactive situation now. Okay? When policies are reactive, it never ends up good for the students. Because heaven forbid if if you guys maintain a reactive stance on policies, the next policy you guys make will be because some kid got hurt. And that should not happen. A policy should not be written in blood. Not in this school. Not ever. So that that is my parting shot on this situation. Stop being reactive. Protect our kids. If a school is on lockdown, keep the kids in the school. Pull them in. Make sure that the kids are safe. That way the cops aren't getting thrown to the wolves by the count by the by the the citizens. Let the cops do what they got

101to do. You guys do what you guys got to do and keep our kids safe. If there's a lockdown, pull them in. Lock them down. That's all I have to say. >> Thank you, Mr. Wear. I'd like to thank Roxy Cand where on his promotion to Enson of the second year I believe right >> I am in my third year >> you're on the third year okay so you were promoted to enlisted I saw that that's another sticking point on you which is very good. >> Thank you. >> Did a good job. >> Congratulations, Mr. >> On top of all that, I'm also the company admin officer for a company. >> Oh, good. Okay. >> Very good. >> Our next speaker is Miss Julie Clark. >> Julie Clark from Hudins. I prepared something a little

102bit different, but I want to start by saying, as I've mentioned before, I've studied school shootings and related issues since before Coline. So, with that being said, when you spoke about VRATA earlier, did you know that Vicata in August of 2024 had a 2.9 million 2.95 million fine from the FTC? If you go to Google and type in ricotta fine, you will find all of the news articles that will come up and including one on the FTC website. So that's a little bit of research you can do of them. >> So what I was going to speak tonight of course is on safety. So we don't know need to go over everything that from the last schoolboard meeting and the town hall as other issues have arisen since then. But it's obvious that parents, students,

103and the stakeholders of Matthews County are aware that school is not really safety is not really a priority. I was doing some research and found an older article from the Daily Press newspaper. It said that the original article was written in 2007, just after the Virginia Tech massacre, and updated in 2019. The article is on safety issues in Matthews County Public Schools. It reads in part, "In June, a Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations agent spent three days performing performing a top-down assessment of county schools. The firm was hired to recommend security improvements in the wake of the April massacre at Virginia Tech." The security consultant wrote in her report that Matthews faced a moderate threat overall, but some deficiencies like relaxed and absent security on grounds place the schools at high risk. And it also says

104Matthews County Public Schools are very vulnerable to violent attacks from offenders determined to cause harm to innocent students as well as victimization from gangs and violent youth from neighboring school districts. Several areas were found to be lacking. Those included incomplete fencing, unsecured doors, obsolete or non-existent locks, and a lack of campus security presence. Hollerin said that when work is completed, school officials want to present the changes to the general assembly as a model for other schools. October 19 to 25 of this year was safe schools week. A number of Virginia's public schools observed this week, but I didn't hear a thing about public school safety being observed in Matthews County public schools. Neither did any of the parents whom I asked. So, Matthews schools have gone from wanting to be presented as a model for

105other schools down to serious security lapses. Our students and staff deserve the basic security measures they were promised and paid for with our taxes almost two decades ago. >> Miss Clark, thank you for your Thank you for your comments. >> Our next speaker is Miss Pat Mullen. Good evening. Uh, my name is Pat Mowen and I am the Middle Sex Middle Middle Sex. >> I was just [laughter] I used to be the Middle Sex volleyball coach. I am the Matthews volleyball coach and with me is Barbara Ball, one of the parents of one of my athletes. Um, I have stood before this board before on many occasions as the volleyball coach. On three such occasions, it was as the volleyball state champion. I come tonight to ask for you to find a way to provide

106a trainer to our athletic program at Matthews High School. In the past, we've had very good trainers who have helped me and other coaches care for our athletes. I would like to point out a couple of situations that occurred this volleyball season. First, I had an athlete twist her ankle during practice. I did all the normal things including ice elevation. I called her parent who took her for medical evaluation. It was a sprain and she was in a boot for two weeks. She continued to come to practices but just sat and watched. In past years, a trainer would have begun rehab exercises with this athlete. When cleared, it took this young lady a good while to get back into the swing of things. Another situation is a young lady who got hit in the head

107with the volleyball. Barbara's daughter. It was September 24th. It was a hard hit to the face. We immediately sat her out and got her ice. She didn't feel well, so we called her mother. They took her for medical evaluation and was diagnosed with a concussion. This lady, young lady never got to play again this season. After being cleared to return to school, the next step was return to play. The Virginia High School League protocol says it is a five-step process. Usually in the past, this has been done in five consecutive days with the certified trainer. But since we don't have a certified trainer to do this process, our athlete had to schedule five sessions across the York River. Scheduling was difficult and could not be done on consecutive days. We tried reaching out to Gloucester

108and West Point trainers and although they would have been willing to help us, their insurance would not allow it. So Caitlyn missed school time and the parents missed work time. The parents incurred an expense of over $500 in not including gas money and she never got back to the season. Her parents could not have been more helpful or understanding. I'm not sure all parents would be that way. A third situation, another athlete got hidden in the ahead of practice on a Thursday. She wanted to play so bad she didn't tell the coaching staff or her parents. The following Monday, when she was nauseous and had a headache, she finally told an assistant coach when she felt she couldn't complete a drill. She begged with us to talk to her mom because, in her words, her

109mom wouldn't believe her. Here are two texts I received from this athlete. And I quote, "It really isn't making sense to me why no one will take me seriously other than you guys. My mom lectured me after we left last night when we talked to her parents. Then she told the doctor I was being dramatic. I wouldn't have even said anything to coach last night if I didn't feel like my stat my situation was worsening my performance. It was costing my team more than it was helping. >> I'm sorry, Miss Mullen. Your time is up. Thank you. >> Can she finish reading? >> Are you Sarah Brown? You are not Sarah Brown. There will be an opportunity after signed speakers have spoken. >> I can finish. >> We'll take the We'll take an additional speaker

110at that point. Miss Sarah Brown. >> Hi, I'm Sarah Brown. Um, I'm gonna finish up Miss Mowens and then I'll get to mine. Um, we're talking on the same subjects. Um, excerpts from another text from the same athlete again. And I quote, "Mom got me up for school because she said it's nothing more than sitting in a chair. You're not doing anything." She said, "It's a minor concussion." I said, "Well, obviously if it's messing with my vision, something here is wrong. I complained about my head Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and yesterday, and you ignored it." Uh, members of the school board, I implore you to do what is necessary to bring a trainer back to our athletes. Years ago, we had a trainer. Um, these two ladies and their family with a concussion would

111have had that support. They would have had a baseline cognitive test to compare with after the concussion, giving more information to get these athletes back on track, both in their schoolwork and their sport. The young lady with a sprained ankle would have had the support in rehabbing her ankle. Please, I do not hesitate. I mean, sorry, please. I hate that we are not moving forward with the research and concussions and other sports injuries. We should rely on professionals to do the job right for our young people. And then from me, um, good evening members of the school board. My name is Sarah Brown. I'm a fourth generation coach for Matthews High School, a proud member of the 2017 state championship volleyball team, and currently serve as one of the assistant coaches for the varsity volleyball

112team. Um, this season alone, as Miss Mo had just stated, we had players suffer concussions, sprained ankles, and in addition, back and knee injuries, and more. These mo in these moments, our athletes needed immediate professional care. Not just a coach doing their best, but somebody specifically trained to evaluate and treat sports injuries. We had a player who had to miss school and practice time and travel 45 minutes to an hour multiple times a week to receive the proper rehabilitation for a concussion. Another player pushed through the pain as Miss Men said um and wasn't taken as seriously as she should have been if there would have been a trainer to back her up. Um the trainer could have advocated for them and ensured that their injury was properly recognized and treated. Athletic trainers don't just

113tape ankles. They prevent injuries, respond to emergencies, and build trust with our student athletes. Our athletes deserve to have someone on site who they can trust in the moment when something happens. Someone they can turn to immediately without hesitation. When a student goes down, there should be no uncertainty, no waiting to see if a parent can leave work, no hoping that a coach can make the right call under pressure. A certified trainer provides reassurance, expert evaluation, and a clear plan from the very first moment of an injury. That immediate care not only protects their physical health, but also their confidence and mental well-being and overall sense of safety in our sport. >> Our kids deserve better. >> Thank you very much. Thank you. >> Our next speaker is Miss Janette me. This is my I'm

114Janette me. My granddaughter Grace. She goes to Matthews High School. We're here to talk about safety. I'm thrilled to see that you guys are taking this serious and what I saw tonight is phenomenal. I mean, we're glad to see that. My husband was picking up the girls at the last lockdown. Had no clue that anything was going on. We need to do better. The kids were outside. We got to do better. Notifying parents, grandparents. He's their taxi. He didn't get an email. He didn't get a text. We have to do better. The other thing is we go on walks. When we go on walks, they tell me who's seeing who, what class they hate, what class they like. When we went on our walk, they talked about where to hide in the school if there's

115a shooter. She's a straight A student. She's had three of her writings published. She's a success for Matthews. She's not an exception. Her friends are all like this. They're smart. They're good kids. And they don't feel safe. She can't do her work. If she's looking to see where do I hide, where do I go? We got to do better. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Me. Our next speaker is Miss Bohannan Stewart. Good evening. Um, I really enjoyed the spaghetti dinner last Thursday night with the band and I really love seeing some of my former students and it was really nice to see parents coming together to fund raise and support the band program. I know that parents um with the athletic booster club do the same for their athletes as well and uh it

116just warms my heart to see that. So um something else um that I enjoyed about last week happened at New Kent Middle School. I was invited to go back for their Veterans Day program and New Kent Middle School does an awesome job. So, I was super excited to go back for another great program. And they allowed me to come early um to watch students enter in the morning through the weapons detection system. I never got to see that last year because I had a first block class I had to teach. It was only first block planning teachers that were involved in that. So that that ran very well and I plan on sending um some of you a summary of what I saw as so that you can maybe you'll find that helpful as you

117do planning for implementing something similar here in Matthews. So, um, but while I was there, other than, of course, being impressed with how they handled morning entry, I started thinking about the fact that I didn't really see hardly any new faces there in the staff. Like, like I was one of the few that left. Um, and so most most staff members new middle school chose to stay. And in a middle school large enough to have two teachers for each grade level and subject, New Campant Middle School must be doing something right to keep most of their staff. I enjoyed the staff I worked with, including the principles, and I started thinking about why does New Camp Middle School keep most of their staff. Perhaps they are good at making their staff feel appreciated and supported.

118I did like the way they take the time during every staff meeting to recognize staff members who go above and beyond. We would nominate staff members that we felt were deserving ahead of time in a Google form to a designated staff member that that ran that and then they'd make a slideshow and we'd vote as staff members. So these were not picked by principles, they were picked by the staff. Okay. Another thing that I noticed um is that on the exit form from New Kent County Public Schools, I was asked to rate my supervisor. I made sure that upper administration knew that I adored the principles that I worked with on this form and whenever I did ask them for help, they were responsive and did whatever they could for me. I don't remember, I

119mean, I could be wrong because it was a while ago now, over a year ago, but I don't remember being asked to rate my supervisor on an online exit form that I was given for Matthews County Public Schools. principles evaluate their staff. So, I think it's only fair that the staff also evaluate how supported their supervisor is. And I can send you the form that New Kent used um for exiting employees um because I emailed it into them after I hand wrote on it after I left. So, I still have it. Now, if Matthews has administrators that are expected to support staff, it'll be easier for us to keep um our teachers and I expect we'll see a benefits with student achievement as a result. Thank you, Miss Bohannon Stewart. >> Okay. Is my time

120up? >> Yes. >> Okay. Miss Amy O'Neal. >> Good evening. I'm Amy O'Neal, athletic director for Matthews High School, and I'm speaking on behalf of Matthews High School athletics. Um I am speaking tonight about um the need for an athletic trainer. Again, um to reiterate what the coaches have said, um it is very needed and we have had a trainer in the past uh contracted through Pivot and they have tried to get us a trainer. They have they have put an ad out and didn't have very a very high response. We did have one person that applied and we thought we we got someone. But and to be fair, um to work at Pivot as a athletic trainer, you have to work at the high school and you also have to work in the clinic.

121So honestly, I wouldn't apply for that job because you're already working at the school all god knows how many hours at night and in the clinic. So my request is for us to hire someone independently through the school system that is invested in our school system, invested in our kids, and gets to know our children and knows uh know how they operate, what how they function, um what their capabilities are um and what uh what they look like when they're injured. Um what a trainer is supposed to do, they ensure immediate professional injury assessment and care. They have expertise in concussion protocol, which right now we don't have anyone doing our concussion uh baseline testing because we have no certified trainer. Um critical emergency preparedness. Um they focus on injury prevent prevention. They do comprehensive

122medical documentation. Um they have safe evidence-based return decisions as they were saying before um that Barbara had to take off work. Um, Caitlyn had to miss hours of school and um, the gas and whatnot and co-pays that they had to pay are really unnecessary if we had a paid trainer on staff. Um, they have equitable care for all student athletes. Um, they reduce health care costs for families. Um, they support coaches, teachers, school operations. They enhance school the school reputation, the community trust. uh they migate uh migrate I'm sorry migate um district liability um and they just promote comprehensive student wellness. Um in conclusion I want to make sure that um that you know that I do get an EMT on staff for the high injuryrone sports um which is wrestling and football in my

123opinion. Hopefully we'll have football again. Um, but an EMT and he's wonderful. An EMT and an ambulance. We do have um doesn't know our kids. They don't know a lot. If if you have been around um an injury with an athlete, if you go to the doctor, they're going to put you out for four to six weeks right off the bat because of liability, because of uh you know, a quick visit, whatever. If you have a trainer that's invested and really knows these kids, they know they know if their injury is can be rehabbed, they are going to rehab them right way right there at school. They don't have to be sent to another medical professional. And um I think it would be peace of mind to all parents and coaches and staff if we

124had someone there that's uh looking out for the safety of our athletes. >> Thank you, Coach O'Neal. >> Thank you, Do we have anyone who would like to approach the podium now as all signed up speakers have spoken? I would ask that each speaker reiterate their name and address for the clerk, please. >> Good evening, board. Sheriff April Edwards, Matthews County Sheriff's Office. Um, just a couple things I wanted to hit on tonight. Um, first off, I hate to do it in this fashion just because I'm getting tech a lot of texts this evening. Um there was an incident at the elementary school and I really need y'all to put out a message to parents because there's some alarming >> Okay. making sure you're aware. Um okay then. Um to go back to some of

125the topics we've discussed tonight. Um just so the public is aware, yes, the SRO grant was awarded for two positions. Um, that would mean one on the Thomas Hunter Elementary School campus and then another for the high school campus. I can't speak too much about that because it is a cash match involved. Um, but our board of supervisors will take that up in two days. So, um, just so parents and faculty are aware, you might want to reach out to some board members about um about that vote um for Thursday. Um anyway, as far as I'm concerned, I think the thanks goes to the school board and the board of supervisors because as with any cash match who has any kind of budget slated for something like this and when we're halfway through a budget

126year. So, um I'm just going to express my thanks to you all. If we can make this happen, then I think you all deserve the credit. Um, in regards to the weapons detection system, um, I did sit on the Zoom call with Dr. Daniel and the, um, vendors, and I am all in favor of that. Um, I did express some of the same concerns that you all have. I think that we, it, it sounds like the grant is just covering for uh, middle school and high school, but I think we do, you just can't leave that one school vulnerable. Um, so it may be something that out of pocket or maybe as some other grants come up, maybe we might be able to find some funding someplace. But I would definitely encourage you either reduce

127your points of entry or you have one at every entry you plan on using, including at all bus loops, because to shuffle them from point A to point B in a school day with everything else going on, it's going to be too convoluted. Um and then um let me see there was okay you mentioned um Dr. Daniel the DCJS on January 13th. The only thing I made a note that I just wanted to mention to that that is when we had our our meeting earlier uh with I'm sorry earlier I think it was last week with Marie Walls um we talked about this class and I kind of look like the deer in headlights. I wasn't for sure which class it is but this is a class that the faculty has been trained on. This

128is the one that Sergeant Hill is an instructor for. So, I just want to make sure that they have had that training because she shows up on that list. It's called civilian response casualty care. So, that is something that has already it's different. Okay. All right. Um, and lastly, the one thing that I did want to um, touch on is I wish the Weer family was still here, but I just wanted to say that I think it's fair to say that we are all keeping safety at the forefront and I think that we are all committed to ensuring that these schools are safe and um, we are going to do everything in our power to ensure that every single one of our students is safe. So, we're we're putting those things in place and I

129think with the people on board, we can make it happen. Um, one of the things that I've learned doing my own research just in the past couple weeks is is I don't think like an educator and you all don't think like a cop. Okay? And that's where we have to lean on each other and and have faith that if I'm telling you something about security, we need to put our stock in that. If you're telling me something about education, go for it because that's not that's not my area. But we have to admit where each other where we're stronger at and then we work as a team to accomplish something. So that's all I have. >> Thank you, Sheriff Edwards. Thank you very much. >> Is there anyone else who'd like to approach the podium

130again? Please state your name and address for the clerk. >> Good evening. Thank you for your service. Sharon Fry, Port Hwood. Um, I was really impressed about the writers contest from WHRO. My question is, have our children ever participated in that? And I know you can't answer, but I'm just going to ask them anyway. Um, I was curious about is there a prize if it's a contest? I was wor I was concerned about the topics. What would be what the topics would be for our children. Anytime you can enter a writing contest, that's incredible. What achievement you could accomplish. I was wondering what grade levels were included if it was different grade levels. Will the parents be notified so that they can in they can encourage their children to participate? And I was wondering um

131if you could answer my questions, but I guess you can't. So anyway, also I wanted to compliment on the spaghetti band dinner. It was so fun. Our children in the band are performing unbelievably. And anybody who hasn't attended the band uh band, I call it a festival. Um they need to they need to come. It's so fun. Anyway, your children, our children are doing great. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Fry. Who else would like to approach the the podium? Um, Miss Mo, do you have someone to be consistent with the rules, I'm going to have to ask if your message could be carried forth possibly by another person as you've already spoken. message regarding a different subject. Is that okay? >> You will have a total of three minutes to speak at public comment.

132>> I don't even want that. >> You've had three minutes prior. Now, there is a public comment period after in a few events from now. There's another public comment period. Is there anyone else who would like to approach the podium? Hello, my name is Claire West. I live at 381 Boca Road um in Cops Creek, Virginia. And it seems a little bit um out of place tonight because everybody's talking about safety and other heavy issues, but I did want to mention number one, um we've raised a lot of children in Matthew County. We absolutely love it here. We moved here 13 years ago and it is it has served our family very very well. One of the programs that I absolutely adore about Matthews is the robotics and when we moved back here from a

133short absence in Tennessee a couple of years ago, we found that the robotics, our oldest son had been a part of it in high school um the year that they went to nationals way back. And so when we moved back here and we found we signed up our our younger son to be part of it last year and it was absolutely wonderful. when I went to sign him back this year and they referred me to the high school and while I am absolutely thrilled that it has grown to you guys are cooperating with the robotics again I seem to be having trouble as a homeschooler getting him onto the team so while I don't want to leave on the growth of the robotics because is absolutely essential to the community and to the future, especially

134to the middle school and the high school um generation of this year and today with everything that's going on in career transferable skills that robotics gives children. I would implore you to consider opening up the robotics membership to the community or at least find a way to grandfather in the children that were participating in it very recently as in last year or maybe the year before. >> Thank you very much, Miss West. >> Is there another speaker who would like to approach the podium who has not already spoken? There being none, we will move on to item seven, superintendentformational reports by Dr. Daniel. Item 7.1, the attendance update. >> All right, I'll kind of do the the quick overview on the attendance update. Um, it's on the screen this time. Um, so we'll kind of

135let's see if the remote will work from where I am. Okay. So, all right. It's easier to see from the screen behind me. Um, but so comparison for the October um attendance and then tardy reports. So, you're kind of seeing some again it's declines in in most areas. there are some increases in some um some areas in terms of chronically absent at the high school on pace um this year versus last year um also again at Thomas Hunter um but a lot of the other C category areas again the numbers are a bit smaller this October compared to last October again that's continuing the trend of improved attendance rates the the credit goes out to office staff and and teachers for reaching out to families and encouraging attendance. It's communication with families um to improve

136um that daily attendance. I also wanted to um we had some conversations um from last board meeting to this board meeting. Um I think we talked a little bit about it at at the board work session, but in terms of improvement rates in our attendance over the say the last three years. And so this slide was presented at an earlier work session as we were um some of the metrics that the state uses and actually the federal government uses to um talk about school quality. Chronic absenteeism is one. So a student is considered chronically absent if they miss more than 10% of the school year. So the goal, the federal goal and then the state goal is to be under the 15% of your students missing um no more than 10% of your days um

137assigned days. So if you look at the chart, you see from the division level, then the high school level, Thomas Hunter, and then the elementary school. So um the the high school just missed that 15% mark um last school year. um the Thomas Hunter and the elementary school um were able to get under that mark last year. Um and those are significant gains from where we were um three years ago kind of coming out of COVID and some of that like I don't know if COVID hangover is the right word but just getting just re-engaging and re reestablishing expectations. So, lots of lots of hard work has been done, gains have been made in terms of attendance and increasing student engagement and trying to find activities and opportunities um for students. But if there are

138any questions um from the board on attendance information, right, I'll move on to um several things for um 7.2. So, multiple um items here for your um review. So there's the high school financial report, the middle school financial report, elementary school financial report. Um I am going to I guess break a little bit from the agenda and then um I'll if you have any other questions about other items under superintendence, but I will ask Miss Hunley to give kind of a little bit of an overview on the FY26 expenditure report. Um, and this is a a piece that I've asked her um to get started with to help kind of clarify some of the expenditure reports and give the board a synopsis of to where we where we stand um with with finances at this

139point. >> Oh, sorry. And I guess for the board if and for the community, thank you, Miss Hunley. Um, Emma Hunley is the um new um chief financial officer for the division. um starting October 1st has been working pretty diligently on getting up to speed on our finances, making many um recommendations to improve our practices. Um working with the county in terms of auditing and just making sure that we're on track and giving accurate and up-to-date projections when I come to her and say, "Hey, we need to find 89,00047." um to um um to be able to make some things happen. And the the good thing about Miss Hunley is working with her for a month. She has a a keen eye for um how accounting and the finances are supposed to work. Um is

140working to improve ours, but she's also good to say no. Like she can she frequently will tell me no, you can't do that right now or no, we need to do do it this other way. So, with no further ado, um, if you can, Miss Hunley. >> Well, good evening, board chair Dr. Gibbs and the members of the school board. Thank you, Dr. Daniel, for that introduction. U, I'm truly grateful for the opportunity to serve Matthews County Public Schools, and it has been a privilege getting to know the staff and the leadership throughout the division. I will provide an overview of the fiscal year 26 expenditure report. Um the expenditures through the end of October indicates that the division is operating within our budgeted projections for the first quarter. We have expended 24.55% of our

141total operating budget through October. Across the operating fund functional areas are trending between 20 and 40% expended which is where we are expected to be at this point in the fiscal year. Um the expenditure report now includes totals by major functions to provide a clear insight into spending trends across the division. Um the percentage of expenditures through October per function are as follows. Um for instruction we expended 21.70% of our budget amount through October. Administration attendance and health 31.9%. Pupil transportation 26.8%. % operations 33.58% and technology is 39.83%. Um technology trends are slightly higher um because we actually uh pay majority of our instructional software in July and August. Um based on the current projections and our continued conservative spending practices, the school division is positioned to contribute funding to a school resource officer during

142fiscal year 26. This reflects our commitment to supporting student and staff safety while maintaining balance and responsible budget. Overall, the division is currently in a stable financial position as we progress through the fiscal year. Again, thank you for your warm welcome. My commitment is to provide clear, honest, and forward-looking financial leadership, and I look forward to working closely with the school board to ensure financial transparency. >> Thank you. Members, do you have questions at this time. >> We are looking forward to working with you for being at our meeting tonight. >> Thank you, Miss. >> Um, so continuing um >> there's a little delay. Yes. So, in terms of the mics working so um just some other items um for the the board's information. So, some regulations and exhibits. So um there's a regulation um

143for your review uh regarding public donations to the schools. We've had some conversation about board the board um approving donations and kind of that process um for approving that. The board had asked me to develop some regulation related to that. Um it is um KBA-E is updating some of our FOYA uh request practices to make us to keep us in line with um Commonwealth of Virginia FOYA regulations. Um again that goes into KBA uh the regulation as well. Um two things in terms of timeline. So, there's a timeline for the K2 in science adoption as well as mathematics um instructional materials adoption timeline. So, I'll um bring that to your attention. Um and then also just a salary request memo that is going out to staff for the um December 16th um budget um work

144session. I'm just I've requested the faculty um faculty and staff advisory to work on a survey and encourage their participation um in that process to um you know provide their requests um directly to the board as well. So and that's a public sorry that's public um information. >> Any questions on any of those items? Just one second. [clears throat] Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Okay. >> Regarding the um policies that you've included, >> are these to be approved? Are they already approved? I'm not quite sure. Maybe it's for the chair as well as the superintendent. >> Okay. So, the the board votes to approve policies. In many cases, those policies then have regulations that are attached to those. So the superintendent is charged with developing those regulations and informing the board of what those

145regulations are. But >> operationalizing, >> right? Okay. >> Right. So t typically the policies are somewhat broad in context and so then usually those policies say and the superintendent will develop regulations to apply these this policy, etc., etc. All right, there are no further questions. We'll move on to item eight, 8.1. Um, Mr. Morgan, you will be leading us in the VSBA delegate assembly discussion and consensus. >> Okay. Yeah, I will be a delegate to the VSBA convention this coming Thursday and there are three legislative proposals that I would need the board's consensus on how to vote for these uh these three proposals. Proposal number three is the assessment reform and accountability reform. This is a proposed amendment. Does anyone need uh a refresher on the changes proposed to that or should have it on

146your on your attachment? >> But Mr. Morgan, for the benefit of the public, I think we should review that again so that the conversation will >> Okay. It's pretty lengthy. It's pretty lengthy, but we'll go through it. Um the BSBA supports the establishment of a balanced assessment and accountability system as defined by local school boards that utilizes a more complete picture of student learning by providing both measures of achievement such as standards of learning and state approved authentic measures of individualized student growth over time. Furthermore, the VSBA supports a reduction in the number of so tests to carefully selected grade levels and content areas to permit the reallocation of assessment dollars and instructional time. The Virginia School Board's Association also supports a comprehensive review of state content standards, curriculum guidelines, and assessments to ensure that

147policies promote culturally responsive educational practices free of systemic racism, discrimination, and background knowledge biases. The VSBA supports maintaining a system of accountability standards which weights growth measures excuse me, which weights growth measures at least as heavily as proficiency slashmastery measures in assessing elementary and middle schools. Additionally, VSBA supports evaluating English learners appropriately, continuing to exempt them from the achievement and growth calculations for 11 semesters. If the board of education passes standards that do not do this, VSBA urges the general assembly to pass legislation that would require those standards to be modified accordingly. The proposed change or shall we say addition to that is as follows. Virginia's public schools are committed to delivering high quality instruction and ensuring student success. Therefore, VSBA supports legislation to provide school divisions with a minimum of one full academic year

148to prepare for and implement any major policy changes that affect curriculum, instruction, assessment or accountability systems. That was a lot. So, uh back to the board. uh if we could get consensus of the board on that particular item. >> Members, we're not taking a vote, by the way, but we are just discussing um and trying to reach consensus on which if we are for or against uh this amendment so that when Mr. Morgan goes as a delegate, he is voting for the entire board on the subject matter. Well, I will start. Uh, I am against this. I would vote no. I uh do not see that we need to um institute waiting on implementation of information that is not explicit. it's pertaining to any major policy changes. I'm not sure what that means. Uh so

149I I would not want to withhold or uh slow the implementation of highquality instruction uh and measures to help our students be better sooner. It just seems there's a lot in this. It just seems like um I agree with some so some I don't particularly agree with certainly the reduction in the number of so tests stands out to me um as where we as a um as our Commonwealth need to move forward. Uh we we have so much emphasis on the SOS that I believe losing um we're just losing some of the the um other parts of of education and learning um because of the the numbers with SOS. Um so I I couple other ones in here I don't really have a strong opinion on. Um I do have mixed feelings about the growth

150measures. you know, if you pass, you pass. If I don't know, it just seems to me that muddies the waters. >> Um, so that that again, there's a lot in this. As I just said, some I agree with, some I I don't have an opinion on. Well, having been in the classroom myself, um I have seen and I have heard uh teachers that were against the number of SOS that the children took and felt like they had to teach to the SO um losing losing a lot that they would like to actually have the children learn. So, um I I can certainly go with that point. There is a lot here and and I I'm I'm like my colleague here. I'm for some and I'm against some. So, I don't envy you in your in

151your voting. >> Well, he's going to represent the five of us, >> right? So, we got to give him a vote of what he's voting for up there. And uh just to let people know how some of this stuff reads, it reads backwards sometimes. You're trying to get something passed for one thing and the way it's written, it sounds like it's for something else. And that's what a couple of these sound like. with the way they're written. I here to tell you I'm going to vote against all three of them. And a lot of it has to do with the way it's written. I don't understand the way it's written. Mary don't understand it. So that's that's my look at it. >> Mr. Morgan. >> Um, I believe I'm going to have to vote against

152or my opinion would be against that particular one. And and um mainly because, you know, they want you to take a full academic year before you prepare for and implement any major policy changes that ffect curriculum, instruction, assessment, or accountability. I just feel like if you can identify a need to to modify something, whether it's a a policy or just the the way that you conduct instruction or assessment, I can't see why we would would should be required to wait a year to make an improvement. That's my biggest turnoff with it. Um, so I would have to say that I'm I'm opposed to that particular one. So we do not have consensus, but we have a majority that feels that that your vote should be no for the board on this point. >> I'm good

153with that. If the board is, like I said, I want to represent the board, not necessarily myself. >> No, absolutely. You're representing the board and not yourself. >> Okay. Anything further on that one, Dr. Gibbs? >> No. Okay. So, the next proposal is legislative proposal number six. This is a real short one. It's um it's it's a proposal and it's to add um or create I guess a a policy here. It says remove chronic absenteeism as an indicator in accountability and accreditation models used to rate public schools. In other words, chronic absenteeism would not play a part in how any school is assessed or rated. I mean, I'll jump in first on this one. I thought this was a federal um accountability, so it's I'm a bit perplexed um that this is even an option

154for the state to do this. Um as much as I I don't like to see the numbers with chronic absenteeism, I do believe students need to be in school to learn. And I think that So I have some difficulty. The purpose of having it as a as an indicator um is is very meaningful and productive and I think it's I think we need to keep it. Now I think it's a bit rigid in the way that they look at um the accountab the indicator and I'd like some amending to that but that's not what they're asking. So, I I would say I don't I don't support this and I know it's a pill to have to be looking at it each month, but the purpose is our kids need to be here to learn and

155this holds us our feet to the fire. I agree. This is this is this is ludicrous to remove this. We absolutely have to have that requirement. We need to focus on absenteeism. If you remove chronic absenteeism as an indicator, it won't be looked at at all. Children will we won't we we won't um it won't be a priority to make sure they're in school. We have worked diligently in this school division to improve absenteeism rates and it is and it is helping. It is happening. Um, I I think that would it would be a travesty to remove this element and sherk the responsibility that we have to build relationships with our students and our families and getting them in school to learn. >> I totally agree with that comment. Um, we've been working hard. You've

156just seen it on the board up here when Dr. Daniels went over it and it's clear kids have to be in school to learn. So I I agree. >> Mr. Dobson, >> I'm voting no against >> Mr. Morgan. >> I also am opposed to that. I think it's I think we need to to keep it keep continue to look at chronic absenteeism. Um, bottom line is kids, if the kids aren't in school, they can't learn. Have we ever decided what the number is for a student to fail because lack of days? I just have to bring that up. >> You do. >> I'm gonna miss you, Mr. Dobson. Um, say it again. >> I'm going to miss you, Mr. Dobson. >> All right. I'm I'm going to miss that question every time we talk about

157attendance. But I would I would push back and say, look, I mean, without the um administrative failure or the attendance failure, we've still made significant gains in reducing chronic absenteeism, i.e. improving attendance without having that um that failure piece after like a certain mark. So >> I mean it's a debate for another day. >> It tells you how many days but you don't have to follow that. >> Thank you Mr. Dobson. >> Mr. Morgan. >> Yes. Okay. Are we we done with number six? >> Yes. Yes sir. >> Okay. Legislative proposal number eight, enrollment cap for virtual Virginia. And this is a proposed amendment to an existing legislative position. All right. It currently reads, "Virginia's school divisions continue to face drastic budget cuts at both state and local levels and are faced with the possibility

158of eliminating classes. Uh, and it what they want to do here is delete especially advanced placement courses and add this verbiage including advanced placement courses, dual enrollment, and other similar courses. It goes on, technology and online courses such as virtual Virginia can provide a cost-saving alternative for school divisions. Virtual Virginia is a state-run online course offerings, has an overall cap on the number of students in the Commonwealth that can enroll in its online courses, and they want to add this verbiage at no cost to localities. In addition, there are caps on the number of students that each school division may enroll in each course at no cost to the division. Once the state cap is reached, school divisions must pay for additional students to enroll in courses. The enrollment cap in virtual Virginia should be

159increased from its present capacity to accommodate more students to participate, including advanced courses in a coste effective manner. Additional verbiage would read that may not be offered in school divisions without qualified staffing. They do have a little note here. Rationale. This legislative budget priority needs to be revised to raise the free enrollment cap that will provide additional flexibility to divisions wishing to alleviate staffing issues by using the state's virtual Virginia program while expanding opportunities for students. >> Thoughts from members? >> I support this. Um I I think as a very a small division we need to have as many options to offer um uh these advanced courses to our students. Um we are limited um with our number of students and with our teacher with our faculty um and and to be able to do

160that without it when you meet the maximum without it costing money to the division. So I am in support of this I I don't see it addressed here. Um it's talking about the cap and raising it, but I don't see a number attached to that. >> And that's something that I think we need know an answer to. I'm in support of the students having the ability to learn and virtual Virginia is another option as as as I just stated. Um, I have a question. Like I say, I have a question there, but I think it's good to keep or to have for the students. >> I vote no. >> Would you like to elaborate? >> Yeah. It's uh you're asking one group of kids to go against another group of kids is the way I

161kind of look at it. You know, if you get these kids and you got don't get the certain amount, then you ain't got to worry about it. But if you go over here and you get a certain amount of kids, now you got to worry about it. And I don't think it's anything that each school system should go along and pay the difference and should be offered at the same to everybody. >> It sounds like Yes. I guess let me can if I can I guess add a little information on virtual Virginia and how I guess maybe it it works in terms of seats and I'll be honest I don't know the cap number Miss Hunley. Do you know the number of free seats that we get? >> I want to I think it's like

16210 I want to say it's somewhere around 10 seats. Um, beyond that, we pay a tuition fee for each student who is enrolled in a virtual Virginia class. Here's the part you're going to like is that our tuition cost is based on our local composite index. Um, so we end up paying once we go over the free slots, we pay a little bit higher tuition for every student to then access a virtual Virginia class if we can get them in. So like part of this is we if there is a push to remove the um the cap from virtual Virginia the challenge is still going to be finding seats in those classes um for students because it's not unlimited class. I mean there's a live teacher who is either doing synchronous or asynchronous um instruction.

163So like I it doesn't mean they're going to like be able to offer a seat for everybody who wants it. Also part of you know to again dig into this a little bit is the state's accountability system is looking at enrollments and performance in AP IB dual enrollment courses. So small school divisions in rural areas aren't able to offer access or hire staff to offer those in person. So they're seeking ways to meet the state's accountability process, but when they're like I would say us to some degree being able to attract and have multiple dual enrollment in-house opportunities isn't financially like feasible for us to do that. So they're looking I think this proposal is trying to open up the opportunities within virtual Virginia without a financial impact to school divisions and it's also related

164to the new accountability system that we're still waiting on results from. So that's I think that's a little bit of the background on virtual Virginia and offerings and especially related to those finite areas because virtual Virginia offers probably I would say close to 70 don't hold me to that but don't quote me but um around I mean they offer like a plethora of things from Japanese to American Sign Language to Latin to calculus to chemistry to dual enroll like it runs the gamut >> right now. What is the average class size that you're required before you start paying that? >> I think it's 10. I think we get 10 free slots >> for everything >> in virtual Virginia. Not 10 per class. I think it's 10 per school. We get 10 free placements. All right.

165After that, we pay [sighs] I want to say about $375 per student per class. >> Per student per class >> somewhere around there. >> How many do you have right now? >> Hang on. >> Sorry. 450. >> All right. How many do you have right now taking a class? >> I don't know that I've got that at my fingertips. I'd have to get the virtual Virginia contact at the high school. I It's smaller than it was 20. >> I was going to say it's probably closer to 40. I think Miss Hunley's whispering in my ear. It's like in years past like we've run all of our students in um for econ and personal finance when we didn't have a teacher like every student would be in a virtual Virginia class. So, we're paying the tuition

166for every one of those students. So, it it kind of depends on the year and the schedule and and the like, but I think >> So, you're paying $450 per student and you're looking at maybe what did you say 40 class size? >> Well, for enrollment, I mean, it's not 40 in a class. So they they may be taking a range of different classes, but anything once we have 10 over I'm going to say again 10 kids taking virtual Virginia. Any kid in any class like number 11 through 40 >> 10 freebies. All right. That's right. >> But now you're looking at per class per whatever you're teaching. Some has more attractions than others. I think what this is trying to do is remove the the burden of school divisions having to pay tuition for

167students going into those advanced level courses. I don't think it's trying to say just any and every course because there are a lot of elective courses. I think what this is trying to do is target um knowing that it's part of the accountability system coming coming down the pipe in the next whenever we get the results. Um but AP and dual enrollment are big indicators for a high school's performance. So, they're trying to provide create a way so that smaller schools aren't um disadvantaged in that accountability system by providing access to these kinds of classes for free in virtual Virginia if that makes sense. >> If if I can give you an example, um especially in a small school division, this is former school counselor speaking. So in a small school division um for example

168if you're taking band and um in the same time band is offered in the schedule that's when the AP English class is. So you you either have to choose give up band or to take the AP class. This gives that student an option to still be in band and take an AP class online. So especially in a small school division when you have limitations because has what we call singletons like band. You a lot of the higher achieving students have to make difficult choices. This opens up another door for them to continue to take challenging classes without losing out on some of these what we call singletons. Does that help? >> No, because band would be very hard to do that in. >> What do you mean? >> Oh, you haven't got a teacher sitting

169there listening to you. >> No, no, no. I'm not talking the band they take. They would might have to give up their AP English class. >> Oh, >> you see what I'm saying? This gives them a chance to still take that advanced class. >> Well, you can't give up English class. >> That's the one you require. >> This is an advanced placement. This is a this is a higher level English class. It's not the general English. Okay. This is this is gives the our high achieving students more opportunities where where especially in a small school division they don't have them like they do even in Gloucester. Gloucester has more opportunities for higher achieving students than we do. >> Can I add something here? Um, the way that this system, the virtual Virginia currently works is

170that there are caps on not only the number of free enrollment slots, but also the paid slots after you've used up your free ones and you want to buy there's there's an overall cap. All righty. Um once that cap is reached, school divisions must pay for additional students to enroll in the course. Okay. The enrollment cap in virtual Virginia should be increased from its present capacity to accommodate more students to participate including the advanced courses uh that may or may not be offered in school divisions without qualifying qualified staffing. And I go back to the rationale here. that it should be revised. The free enrollment cap should be revised. That will provide additional flexibility to divisions. In other words, I don't I don't think it's a it's a lose situation. I think you're going to

171gain some free seats as well as you'll have a higher capacity even for your paid seats. >> I I agree with that. >> So, I I don't personally I don't think that it's a bad thing. I'd have to support that I believe. >> And we have had we've listened to parents in this room this year um who are parents of high achieving students that wanted us to keep as many of the classes as we could. And this is another opportunity that we can do it. I do see this legislation as a slippery slope to encouraging more and more virtual participation, less and less live participation. We know children learn better. We all learn better in live settings, contexts. I think it is very attractive to smaller school divisions, but this is not designed simply for

172smaller school divisions. This is for all school divisions. Um I believe the limitation of adding in stateun online course offerings to the verbiage instead of leaving it as online course offerings is specific to support specific entities that provide those trainings. I see the addition of this sentence, including advanced placement, AP courses, dual enrollment, and other similar courses being very vague and open to interpretation. My concern is that it will be so easy to go this route, a path of least resistance, if you will, that we will stop seeking qualified staff to teach these most important courses. And we have essentially said, we throw in the towel, we give up, we can't do it. Let's make it all virtual. I vote no. I I think you know your school counselors or the the the school could

173make limitations to um to to your point, Dr. Gibbs, that they could just say it's not for convenience. It's only if there's a conflict in schedule. >> Um That's not stipulated in the legislation. >> No, no, it's not stipulated, but I'm saying our school can limit it. We can do it here at the school. It's not to say you can't make more restrictive kinds of access or more kind of policies about how we wanted to work at Matthews High School. Um, I hear your point, but I think in a small school division, I've seen it. I've seen where it get it's it's offered. This has been 17 18 years ago, and we've not uh we've not lessoned um trying to attract uh teachers to teach either AP or dual enrollment. In fact, it's we've broadened

174it in Matthews. But so I I I I don't see that it's I mean I see where your point is, but we can make limitations if that's a concern, but I support it. Um on on this um can we Yeah. Can we put stipulations on this as a board >> here. >> If the legislation passed, >> pardon me, >> if the legislation passed. >> Uhuh. >> I'm sure we could. >> I because I hear your point also, but I also see the value. I I I personally can't think that we would not try to hire the best people we could, you know, for the open positions because Lord knows I don't want to see us go virtual either. I, you know, hands-on is so good. But, uh, is there a compromise we can make? We

175may be able to but >> I Yeah, I hear you. >> Do we have any idea um how you thinking around 40 or so Dr. Daniel students in Matthews that are using virtual Virginia? Just an estimate, you know, just 20 40 100 But can I just interject? >> Who who remembers what the bill was last year? >> Mr. Dobson, Mrs. Hodgees speaking. I >> I just make sure when Dr. Hollerin was here, one of the um requirements that he put in place is that all students before they graduate need to take an online class. I don't think I've been part of revoking that. >> So, I don't know if we're still implementing that. It's just it's just it's a point that I think we need to evaluate whether we still want that policy. And I

176just bring it up as as just another point that I'm not sure we're aware of that policy having been in place. >> There's a state component for graduation that you have to have a virtual experience. It doesn't have to be a full sort of virtual class, but there has to be like a hybrid or some sort of virtual experience, which >> is that criteria is somewhat >> dated or archaic at this point because of learning management systems and you're going to have like even a Google classroom, you're going to have some sort of virtual component to many of your courses. So, if you go home, watch this lesson, you know, via Google Classroom or Canvas or whatever, you're meeting part of that component. Um, but Mr. Dobson, I mean, I can find those numbers or

177Mr. Morgan, I can find I can before before Thursday in the vote. I mean, we can find that, but I don't like it it varies. I I'm trying to think when I signed off on the first semester um enrollment what that what that bill was. And I don't I don't remember it off the top of my head. >> It's not an extremely high number, I don't believe. >> No, you don't remember either. total. >> Yeah. So, I don't I don't think it's like it's not insignificant, but it's not like we've got to like I think probably for the year we end up paying 1012,000 something along those lines for virtual Virginia courses. And again, I'm just >> guessing I'll I'll I'll get it better. Some years it's been up around 20 or 25 because we

178were we couldn't fill a specific course and had to run more kids through that course. >> Right. And that's my thinking here is while I I understand Dr. gives uh points and agree with a lot of them most of them. I I come back to this one line that's a cost effective you know offer courses that are cost effective that may or may not be offered in school divisions without qualified staffing. Now, I don't know how you'd write this because, you know, in I'm not a not an attorney here, but if you could write a policy that said if this course is offered in as an in-person handson course, then you may not take it virtually. You have to take it at school in person. Um, >> I think it would depend on what the

179testing or uh documentation would be for a person to get credit for that course because they may need somebody there that actually knows how to do something. >> Yeah. The u I think we learned all of us learned during the co u escapade that students don't learn well virtually. >> It's a burden on teachers. I know if you can imagine trying to teach carpentry online, it was a nightmare and the kids hated it and I didn't like it. But that was a totally different situation I think than what this applies to. You know, if a student had interest in taking a course that was not offered here, but they could take it online through virtual Virginia at no cost or little cost to the school division. Um, maybe I just haven't given it enough thought,

180but I don't see the problem with that. Maybe if I researched it enough, I would see a problem, but right now it just seems like to me that it would be um would be something else you could offer these students. >> So, is personal finance my understanding is all personal finance was online was was a virtual class. Do we have a teacher for that now? I I thought that that that was Oh, we do. We're not going to stop. >> Yeah. So, we when we adjusted some of the master schedule um going into I think two years now um and looking at kind of increasing some class size to provide options and EPF is one of those classes where multiple licenses can teach it. So, you can social studies or math or um some CTE

181licenses will allow you to teach EPF. Um, and so they were able to figure out a way in the master schedule to have that moved from all virtual Virginia to inerson like so I think we've got I think two of our social studies department teachers are now teaching EPS. >> Thank you. >> And that's what greatly reduced right our virtual class. All the 11th graders used a virtual class in the past. >> Mr. Morgan, are you able to ascertain which way to vote at the No, >> not really. >> All right. So, >> I know I have one definite no. >> Two different >> two definite nos. Well, I believe we have to uh in this public meeting determine which way you're going to vote. I So, we need we'll we'll need to come to

182some some understanding of how you'll vote on that. And it appears that you're the swing boat >> based on what I have read and what I can understand if I'm making any sense of it whatsoever. Uh I'm going to support it. >> All right. So the So there will be a yes on that one and >> Okay. >> Two nos and a yes, right, Mr. Mor? >> Well, The other two ladies I think were um Miss Hodgeges and >> three yeses, two nos is how I counted it. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Morgan. Does anybody else have any closing comments on on this? >> We did indeed. >> We did. Moving on to 8.2. We have our schoolboard conferences and webinars, past and future. Um, I would request uh going forward that uh we expand

183this since we have members who um are on SBMA that we add SBMA opportunities on in this section as well, Miss Lao. Um, and thank you for keeping us straight on all of our our FOYA COOA. Um, and u, Mr. Morgan, I do have an ondemand Foya and Koya option for you if the 123 session does not work for you. >> Okay. All right. >> So, and I will share that with all members. So, that will give us much more flexibility in getting those requirements. >> Is that through SBMA? >> No, it is not. >> Okay. >> no, it's not. Item 8.3, governance platform and information discussion. Uh I just want to keep the board informed. As uh you know and perhaps most of the citizens know at this point the governance platform that we

184use called board docs that supports our meetings, our agendas and holds all of our legacy meetings, all of our data uh for our documentation is going to be a it's a suns setting product. So uh there is a product in the pipeline to replace it called community. However, after sitting in on uh the update from BSBA that was the liaison discussing the this transition there is no uh timeline and no pricing information available yet for the new product called community. I have also as you know during our work session we met with uh boardable we had a virtual meeting with Miss Emma Lacy at board uh where she informed the board and gave us some information about a possible platform their platform as an alternative. I have also pursued um discussions with civic plus and

185escribe. We have many options that are available to us up to and including the new product from Diligent that's replacing board docs called community. We can get that product regardless of our affiliation with BSBA. It will be at a higher price of course if we are not connected with BSBA. Uh but we do have options. We have viable options and I look forward to continuing this discussion. uh as we move forward in trying to decide what platform we will go on to next, there is one thing for sure. We will be changing platforms and it will most likely if we stick with the new community product, it will be at um an increased price most definitely. Uh the platforms range uh in pricing and have their own fee structures and their own amenities. And so

186we will continue to discuss this until we are ready to to vote on what we're going to do. Yes, Mrs. Hodgees. >> So So what um what do you envision as the next steps here? There's a lot we've kind of drilled down with one of them >> and I've heard you mention what three other ones at the very least. >> Where what's our next step to evaluate how we're going to move forward? What's your thinking on that? >> Well, first of all, for the sake of procurement, we needed to have three entities that we could evaluate. Correct. Miss Hunley, correct me if I'm wrong. Okay. So, we we have reached that threshold. What we need to do as a board is decide how we want to move forward and pretty soon because any product that

187we choose is going to take probably several months to implement. So, um I anticipated next month we will be discussing this again possibly with details um with perhaps enclosed with contract information that we could share with the board. I'm still waiting on some pricing from certain companies. >> So if you went with community through the VSBA, you don't have to procure. Is that correct? Because you're kind of piggybacking on theirs. >> I'm sure there would be no no need to do that. >> That's what I said. >> Just >> right. But we don't have any idea what >> No. No, we don't. >> I have more questions than all these. >> Yeah, >> there there are a lot of questions and so I encourage one-on-one discussions uh as we move forward, but this is a

188super important piece. It's it's not a a fun piece, but it's a necessary piece that uh I will say this, any product that we move forward will uh with will be superior to the product we have now. I will I am confident of that. No doubt about it. >> Is it old entirely? >> Absolutely obsolete. Yes. Uh item if there's no more if there are no more questions or Okay. And please feel free to um have discussions as we move forward on uh with more information and I'll share with each of you. Item 8.4 uh board and committee reports by school board members and superintendent. Does anybody have anything they'd like to report on? I I did have a um Ches Bay Governor School um meeting last Thursday. Actually, it was the same time the

189band in concert. So, unfortunately, I couldn't attend that. It was virtual. Um there really wasn't anything. Well, two items. One is they did have a student who's going to be presenting present to us and that that was very helpful. Um and then there was a way that there's some money freed up that would help offset the of a dual enrollment courses, but I think the superintendent already know that. >> Um, okay. I'll just get with you after I look back over my notes. >> It was a good it was a good thing for us >> for for local school board. >> Yeah, if that's new because originally it was they were still charging. So, states like VCCS is supposed to offer dual enrollments for certain courses for free for school divisions. The exception to that

190is special programs like governor school. So we would still students or families would still have to then pay the the dual enrollment coverage and so there was some questioning in our superintendent meeting about why that was the case and what was going on and and stuff. So if there's funding coming that's that's great. >> Yeah, they found some funds. I think there was some students that aren't using their school divisions that aren't using their slots that freed up money that would help offset the cost to the local school divisions. >> Okay, that'd be good. Okay. The way I understood that, I thought the superintendents knew that, but it was good news. So, our locality or the families would not have to pay that additional dual enrollment cost. >> Okay. Does that make sense? Y. >>

191Thank you. >> I mentioned this earlier when the gentleman from WH um the gentleman from WHRO was here and I just that sale 250. There's a lot going on with it and I'm glad that I get to be involved a bit um and in talking with the principles and so forth. >> I just want to report that there was no cleo meeting this month as planned. We there was not going to be a physical forum so they canceled the meeting. Those meetings are quarterly. Uh so I don't have anything to report as far as um outcomes there. However, I did attend the SBMA symposium this past weekend and I just wanted to note a couple of the highlights of the of the uh learning opportunities and the speakers that we got to hear. Uh first

192of all, we heard from the current Secretary of Education, Amy Guadera. She talked about data integrity and local leadership and how we can continue to drive academic recovery and restore excellency no matter the political winds. And the board, the fact that the board remains the anchor of accountability reinforced by constitutional and stat statutory authority that empowers boards to govern by principle. There was a session on FOYA which was very informative but did not count for the FOYA did not count for the FOYA um uh requirement certificate. Thank you. Uh but it was very good. It was very helpful. Um there was a speaker on restoring civic education and civic literacy that was fascinating. There was an excellent session on finance and budget oversight. Um, in terms of policy, there was a session on the board's

193responsibility to stay focused on on its vision and not micromanagement. And to that point, as noted in the minutes from the work session, we will be resuming our the charge of having the policy standing committee. We're going to be taking that up in January uh in earnest and that will be a new very very busy uh focus for the board. And then finally there was a presentation on um accountability and accreditation uh and so much more. But it was it was a packed weekend. Uh it was very very informative and um really aimed at making boards very strong in the area of student achievement and focusing on again what they can do not what they can't do. That's all I have. Yes. >> Um so we um received word for the upcoming bieniums local composite

194index. We got that late Friday. Um the bad news here is that our local composite index increases from 0.5904 to 669 I think >> somewhere. So we move up >> your checkbook >> seven seven seven percentage points which is >> oh my >> a lot um so that's um that will have an impact on our state funding going into this upcoming budget FY27 sort of budget cycle. So just um putting that on the map. >> Yes ma'am. >> Have anybody to our senator and our delegate. And I know that from our legislative tour, they felt like we're a little bit too late this year. But I think with this significant change, like we need to start saying something, you know, in general, we can't just from my perspective just not say anything and say, "Oh,

195wait another year." I just think we need to start making noise about um this this system that it communities like ours are burdened in an unfair manner to to um to pay so much of the percentage of of local education and I don't think we're alone but we we are in the minority for sure. >> I think we did have good conversations on the legislative tour all of us who were speaking with uh Delegate Hodes and Senator McDougall. I did sense that um there was a little bit of a lackluster feeling about any movement that we could make, but I don't disagree with you. I think we should still bring it. Um and we should still be the the squeaky smiling bulldozer and do what we have to do to advocate for our schools because

196this is this is very >> very difficult news. I'm not surprised, but it's it's still it's still upsetting. >> Dr. Go ahead, >> Dr. Daniel. Do you have access to information to the other divisions that have had an increase as well? >> So, there's information to know who to try to link with. >> Um, so the the state pushed out every division's composite index and the variables. What I would have to go back and do is pull the that same form from two years ago to kind of compare where they were then and kind of who who went up who went down. Usually it's a zero sum gain across the state. >> So um so if >> we went up seven points, >> you know, somewhere somebody went somebody went down. Um and I think

197we're um and it's you know again it's multiple variables that go into um that formula but the the big pieces are enrollment and then um so it's last year's or I think it's our enrollments for um 2023 but then it also there's some trailing indicators for um gross income and then real estate values within our locality as well that that all play into that that formula >> just like anything else. You all were talking about trainers tonight. We haven't had a trainer in how many years? >> Um we had contracted with a trainer. Um he left to go to a different position, left pivot I think in October. Um so about a year ago. So we've been without a trainer. >> Okay. Because I know we've been without one for a while because I questioned

198it on one of the sheets one time >> and we budgeted. We didn't have one for, you know, for a lot of years, >> right? >> And and then, you know, this this is something that we're going to be facing all the time. >> This is not going to be something new. >> And talking with the new prices going up, you're right. We're going to get bit by it. And that means we're going to be paying more money per student while you got places like Richmond and Alexander who can create a new tax to help pay for the school system. We can't do that. And the other thing is, and I'm still trying to beat on it, is about the lottery money being segregated out of the budget. That was money that was supposed to

199be given to the schools so they had extra money to deal with it and they wrapped it up in the budget itself now and you don't get that money separate. Anytime we can get money separate out of the out of the school is a bargain to us because of the way things are. >> Before we leave item 8.4 Miss Lao, this is still all right. Mrs. Hodes, Mrs. Hodes has graciously uh offered to attend this Thursday's board of supervisors meeting in my place. Thank you. Moving on to item nine, action items. We have two action items tonight. Item 9.1. I am seeking a motion for the adoption of resolution allocating funds for two school resource officers. >> May I have a motion? >> Dr. Gibbs, do you want this entire uh resolution read? >> Let's

200go ahead and make a motion. >> Okay. Well, I'll make the motion that we approve or adopt the resolution for the funding of two school resource officers. >> Okay. And um >> second. >> Thank you. Second. So, let's for purposes of discussion, let's go ahead and read the SRO resolution so that everyone at home can hear and understand. Would you like me to read that? >> Yes, please. That would be wonderful. >> Okay. Matthews County School Board resolution allocating funds for two school resource officers. Whereas the Matthews County School Board is committed to providing a safe and secure learning environment for all students, staff, and visitors within Matthews County Public Schools. And whereas school resource officers play a vital role in ensuring school safety, serving as law enforcement liaison, mentors and resources for students and

201staff. And whereas the presence of SRO's enhances emergency preparedness, deters criminal activity and strengthens relationships between youth and law enforcement. And whereas Matthews County Public Schools currently do not have school resource officers assigned to any school facilities. And whereas the Matthews County Sheriff's Office has indicated its willingness to provide deputies to serve as school resource officers contingent upon the availability of sufficient funding for personnel, training, and equipment. And whereas the school board recognizes the shared responsibility between the school division, the sheriff's office, and the Matthews County Board of Supervisors to ensure the safety of our school community. And whereas the school board has identified available funds in the amount of $89,47 to be committed to Matthews County for this purpose. Now therefore be it resolved that the Matthews County School Board hereby approves the allocation

202of $89,047 to Matthews County to fund new school resource officer positions within Matthews County Public Schools. Scroll down here. My computer's not cooperating. Be it further resolved that the school board directs a division superintendent to transmit this resolution to the Matthews County Board of Supervisors and to collaborate with the sheriff's office and county administration in planning for the implementation of these positions at the earliest opportunity. Adopted this 18th day of November, 2025 by the Matthews County School Board. >> Thank you, Mr. Morgan. I think that was very helpful in light of all the comments that we've had tonight regarding safety and the comments from Sheriff Edwards regarding the collaborative effort um that her department, the county, and the school board are demonstrating to work together to ensure the safety of our schools students and staff.

203Do we have any other comments, questions about this particular action item? >> I do. You're going to you got 80,000 $89,000 some odd dollars. You got that available right now, Dr. Daniels, for those two. >> Um, Miss Hun planning planning it out and kind of adjusting adjusting line items and whatnot as feels going to pay the rest of their salary because that don't cover their whole salary, >> right? So there's part of the grant um covers um salary expenses and equipment certain equipment expenses. >> Got to buy cars, >> right? So that's what in collaboration with the county on what they needed from the school division. This is the number they provided to us to be able to find a way. >> So well that's 60% of their salary, I assume. I don't know that

204it I'm not sure what the exact percentage of >> I heard it was going to be from I heard rumor mill was $330,000. >> I think the overall grant request was in that ballpark, but that included um >> the vehicles and some other equipment. Some of the equipment that they're going to need, it can't be covered with the grant. And so that has to be part of either in kind match or other other funds um going to support those positions. I'm just going off of this is >> right >> what um what was asked of us in order to make this happen like >> so what I'm trying to get is I imagine the two years worth of grants that's what the 49,000 some dollars is that the state's kicking in. >> So the grant

205is yeartoyear. So, the understanding with the grant is you you can reapply for as many years um as as you want. I think the further the the longer you are in that, the less competitive of an applicant you are. So, I think we're going to be pretty competitive for the first several years for this grant. The grant request will go down in successive years because the equipment costs won't be a part of that. So we can just look at >> salaries coming into that. >> And again like the the only the sheriff's office and the county have to be the the partners in this grant proposal. The school division the SRO is obviously then assigned to the school division and the school division's local composite index factors into what the the match or the grant

206award will be. >> All right. So >> now having said that, >> these two SRO officers, will the sheriff be able to take those toys and go home with them? >> The the conversation with the sheriff has been and I think her desire is and part of the reason there's an ask from the school division is that there's it's kind of becomes part of our budget. And so there are in some ways part of our positions. Now, they'll work for the sheriff's office and doing regular sheriff's office responsibilities outside of the school calendar. Um, but the the purpose for these additional positions is to serve as school resource officers. So because their state grant money, >> they can't be pulled from the office unless we okay it >> from the >> um I don't know

207that we have an okay but I think the the >> well I think you okay because we're paying for them >> well >> out of our budget >> right and I agree with you on that part but I think what I'm thinking through is in years down the line and so we've had some conversation about do we part of of our planning have a line item in the budget for school resource officers. Where that gets weird is that they they're not our employees. They and so do we then have a line item on our budget that basically comes right back out and either goes directly to the sheriff's office or goes back to the county to go to the sheriff's office. So the the accounting piece of why why we have like a line item

208in our budget for an employee that's not our employee. >> Well, I mean I mean I I it's a symbolic piece and I and it so it makes some sense there. >> The school pays for anything the sheriff office does for the school. You send a guy you send people down there to get a background sh uh check on them. The school pays for that. on that background. >> Okay, this is why I I'm going to present it this way. So, out of our budget, we're paying for those two SRO officers. So, how could they take the money back if we're funding it? Um, I don't I see your point. Um, I don't anticipate again like this year. I think there is significant commitment by the school board, the sheriff's office, and the board of

209supervisors to resolve the absence of SRO's within our schools. You didn't see this coming. None of us saw this coming that they were going to remove the SO officer out of the the class, out of the school. Nobody saw it, but it was done. Now with getting two positions, you don't ever want to see that happen again. And don't think it can happen. We need to prevent it. I mean, it was all right during the summer, but when those kids went back to school until at least January now, you got a void opening here. That That's not good. Not good at all. I don't want to see that happen again. >> Right. I don't think anybody does. >> No. >> So, that's why I'm voicing my >> opinion on that. >> Thank you, Mr. Dobson.

210Is there any more discussion before we vote? There being none, all those in favor say I. I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion passes. Item 9.2, seeking a motion for the retroactive ratification of Thrifty Spot agreement. [snorts] >> I make a motion to approve the Thrifty Spot agreement as listed. >> Thank you, Mrs. H. >> I second it. Thank you, Miss Diggs. We do have a bill of sale. Go ahead. All right. Know all men by these presents that we Matthews County School Board seller do hereby sell, transfer, assign, convey, grant, and deliver to Robin H. Deu, PO Box 236, Hudgins, Virginia 23076 the buyer. Effective as of noon October 31st, 2026, all of sellers right, title, interest, and state either at law or in equity in and to all tangible personal property located at the

211premises commonly known as 8303 Buckley Hall Road, Hudins Matthews County, Virginia. formerly operated operated by seller as a thrift store expressly including but not limited to all inventory storage buildings and dropboxes in consideration of $1 cash in hand paid and other good and valuable consideration the receipt adequacy and legal sufficiency of which we of which are hereby acknowledged by seller. The property that is conveyed shall be here and after referred to as the sold property. Seller hereby covenants for itself its successor and assigns with buyer that it is the lawful owner of the sold property that the sold property is free from all leans, debts, incumbrances and tenencies of any kind whatsoever. That seller [clears throat] has good right to sell and deliver the same as a foret. that seller will warrant and defend the

212sale, transfer assignment, conveyance, grant, and delivery of the sold property hereby made against all claims and demands of all persons whomsoever that seller will take all steps reasonably necessary to establish the record of buyer's title to the sold property. At the request of buyer, seller will execute and deliver further instruments of transfer and assignment and take such other actions as buyer may reasonably request to more effectively transfer and assign to invest in buyer each of the items of sold property. And that seller will indemnify and save buyer harmless from any and all lawful claims and demands of third parties, including reasonable attorneys fees and costs. Witness the following signature and seal as of October 23rd, 2025. Maryanne Gibbs, chair, Matthews County School Board. >> Thank you, Mrs. Hodes. I know we all wish second chance

213great success. >> They had their grand opening. >> So, so in fact, it was a dollar cash. Sometimes they put that in there. >> No, it was a dollar and then we made a dollar donation to the second chancellor. So, >> any more discussion? All those in favor say I. >> Opposed? Motion passes. Moving on to item 10, citizens comments on items discussed during the meeting. Is there anyone who would like to approach the podium and speak? >> Thank you, Coach Mullen. >> I would just like to say that I was in attendance at Matthews High School on October 30th. I was beginning practice with my team. We were standing around the gym in our pre pre-practice mode. Mr. Nunan came to the door in a very firm but confident voice. Told us that we

214were going on lockdown, what he wanted us to do. My girls responded in kind. We went to the locker room. We locked ourselves in. We sat there. The girls could not have been could not have handled themselves any better. I thought that they chitchat the whole time. Not a word was spoken. They sat there. A short time later, Mr. Nan came back, told us that all was safe. He brought with him a guidance counselor and a social worker. When I told the girls that they should call their parents or text their parents and said, were safe. Um, he did relate to us that the that the parents had not been notified, but I appreciate and I admire the way he handled himself. He was efficient. He left the gym and I presume went down to

215the band room in an efficient manner. He was clear, concise, and the girls felt very safe. I think Ms. Ball can assure um her daughter felt safe and after hearing the other comments. I felt compelled to stay here for this time to make this statement. Um I never felt threatened. I don't think I mean your imagination can take hold of you at a time like that. And some of the girls were a little upset, but they were allowed to talk with the counselor as needed. and we resumed practice in a timely manner with the doors locked. Um, but I can assure you that Mr. Nan did a wonderful job. The counselors were there and we felt very safe. My only question with the comments made by the public is at that time of day, I

216don't understand why students were around unless in an activity. That's my only comment. But I thank you and I I I would like to publicly thank Mr. Nan. I thought he did a great job. Thank you. >> Thank you very much for staying to give that comment. Coach, >> I know it's late. Sharon Fryport Heywood, I'll be brief. I want to talk about the robotics program. I went to a gathering this uh weekend and there was a I have watched this young child grow from an infant with autism and he is now in part of the robotics program and he is blossomed. It it was incredible. And so there's going to be a competition and I'm I was hoping that maybe the school system could send out a flyer about the robotics competition and get

217more people interested. If you could see this child and how he has blossomed, it was like Bob's ro deceive ch children. Um anyway, I want to thank the robotics program person and that was a personal uh amazing. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Fry. >> And he pass Hudins, Virginia. Mr. Morgan reminded me of something. He said we were supposed to be working on a consolidation plan. I thought that's or something to that effect. So I would just like to ask you know what happened to the consolidation plan and just ask if you could please uh pitch it or brief it in an upcoming meeting because there were a lot of meetings about that last year. >> Thank you Miss Pastiva. Yes, I think that'll be a regular agenda, standing agenda item going forward as

218we need to be giving updates all the time on that. Thank you. Is there anyone else you'd like to approach? Mr. Childress, would you please state your name and address, please? >> Ken Childress. Um, the competition is at Glenn Allen January 10th, and it runs from 8 to 6 o' and, uh, it's competition all day, so you could go for a couple hours and not miss anything. I want to invite the entire board to go if it's possible and anybody. And we're looking to get that bus. Uh we don't have any students yet. We haven't really announced it, but uh we'd like to get this field trip going. >> Right. I >> with the school bus on Saturday. >> Right. I received your email. I have it on my calendar and I want the members

219to know again it's January 10th. It's at Glenn Allen High School, 8 to 6, and you can pop in, pop out. It's not, you don't have to be there all day, but to get a flavor of what we are shooting for with the robotics club. We are not competing in it. You're taking the kids to observe and to >> see what see where we're going. >> A taste test. >> This is where we want to go with the program. >> That's where you want to go. That's your goal. Fantastic. And we can't thank you enough for your contribution to our division. Thank you. Miss Bohannan Stewart. >> Good evening again. Um, so I wanted to uh since uh there was Miss Pat Men and a volleyball parent up here speaking about the importance of a

220trainer, um, I just figured I would share my experience. Um, luckily my when my daughter played volleyball for Matthews High School, they did have a trainer and at one point she suffered from a my daughter suffered from a concussion related to a volleyball injury. And I was so now I'm so very very grateful that there was a trainer there to help her through that. And I really appreciate that as a parent, you know, to make sure my child did not go back too soon and get further injury and she worked with her. um so that she knew when it was appropriate to send her back and um so I just wanted to share you know there's any way we can get a trainer back for our athletes. I I think it is a very valuable

221thing to have. Had I had to take my daughter to many appointments outside the district across the river. I was an employee at that time so that would have translated to a teacher using sick days um to to do that. Um but anyway just some things to think about. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else who'd like to approach? All right. Thank you for your comments there. Uh moving on to 10.1 schoolboard member comments. >> Yes, sir. >> Um not to steal anyone's thunder, meaning yourself or Dr. Daniel, but uh in regard to the consolidation, I think it's safe to say that the committee is established and we've already had two, three meetings, two meetings. It's made up of teachers, administrators, citizens, various staff from the school. So, the wheels are turning. The wheels are

222turning. I just want to um even though we don't have very many here in front of us, thank everybody who's taken the time to um comment today at the citizen comment. Um both things as um Miss mentioned things that went well um and the areas where it did not go particularly well. Um we do have some work to do clearly um but I app people taking the time to provide feedback to the board members um and because it's only if we hear it or the superintendent hears it that we can um do something make change. Thank you. >> Absolutely. I agree. >> I wanted to make a comment regarding the trainer situation. Um my understanding is the trainer position is very difficult one to fill but it is essential. I I think we have more

223than enough evidence to show that we've got to find a way to have that position. Um I'm I think we're lucky that we haven't had poor results so far without one. So, I think we need to go back to that drawing board and um and shut to see if we can get that to happen. I really feel strongly about that. A lot of good comments made tonight. I do feel confident the board is moving forward again in collaboration with the county, with admin, the sheriff's department, the community for safety in our schools. And u big strides were demonstrated tonight. Um and we will continue to make them. It is we are all on the same page on this one and that's I believe a commitment from this board that we are completely have complete consensus

224on. That is all and any other school board member reports or any anything any last comments there? Item 12 then other business by schoolboard members or superintendent. We have 12.1. The joint legislative school legislative tour was Thursday, November 13th at 9:00 a.m. here at Thomas Hunter Middle School. Is very successful. It's always um very interesting time. Um good experience. Item 12.2 The school board budget work session is going to be held Tuesday, December 16th at 400 pm in the J Murray Books Auditorium here at Thomas Hunter Middle School. So that'll be prior to closed meeting, which is Tuesday the 16th of December at 5, which is then prior to our next regular monthly meeting, which is Tuesday, December 16th at 6 PM here in the Murray Brooks Auditorium. So that put that one on your

225calendar. December 16th for uh schoolboard budget work session leading right into our our closed and open meetings. Any other comments, board members, superintendents? Thank you very much for those of you who are here and thank you for listening at home. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Meeting adjourned.