001Good afternoon everybody. I call to order the October 7th regular session of the new county school board meeting. Do I hear a motion to come out of close session? >> So move. Mr. Rhymer has the motion. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Mr. Broski has a second. Miss Davis, please pull the board. >> Mr. Rhymer, >> I. >> Mr. Vaugh, >> I. >> Mr. Tumbroski, >> I. >> Miss Kuna, >> I. >> And Mr. Pagano, >> I. >> Motion passes unanimously. We are out of close. Mr. Vault, would you please read the certification, sir? >> Whereas the new Kent County School Board has convened a closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. And whereas section 2.2-3711
002of the code of Virginia requires a certification by the new Kent County School Board that such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia law. Now therefore be it resolved that the new Kent County School Board hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge one only public business matters lawfully exempt from an open meeting requirement by Virginia law were discussed in closed meeting to which the certification resolution applies and two only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the close session were heard discussed or considered by the new Kent County School Board. >> Thank you, Mr. Vault. Do I hear a motion to approve the certification of the close session? >> So moved. >> Miss has the motion. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Miss Dumbroski has
003a second. Miss Davis, please hold the board. >> Mr. Rhymer. >> I. >> Mr. V. >> I. >> Miss Dumbroski. >> I. >> Miss Kuna. >> I. Mr. Gan. >> I. >> Motion passes unanimously. Mr. Davis, lead us in the pledge of allegiance, sir. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Before we begin tonight's agenda, do I have any motions from the board? >> Mr. Chair, >> Mr. Broski, >> I would like to move to amend the agenda to include the victims of communism memorial day resolution under number nine, unfinished business, as item C and as an action item. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Dumbroski. Do we have a
004second? >> Second. >> Miss Kuna has seconded the motion. That is the motion before us. Before we consider that motion, Mr. Broky, if you would provide some background context as to how we got here, please. >> Yes. Uh, so at the last school board meeting, I brought this matter up as an item to be considered and the board voted to approve it. Um, in addition to the resolution, I also uh was asking for an opportunity to uh propose the usage of the victims of communism memorial online free curriculum and I uh have done the I've had the conversation and because November 9th is occurring before our next school board meeting, I would like the opportunity to discuss passing ing the resolution itself at this meeting. >> Are you are we to understand then that you
005are withdrawing the item for consideration with respect to the curriculum piece? >> That is correct. >> All right. Thank you very much for the clarification. All right, Miss Davis, please pull the board. We are voting on amending tonight's agenda to add the Victims of Communism Memorial Day uh resolution. >> Mr. Mr. >> Hi, >> Mr. B. >> Hi, >> Mr. Browski. >> Hi, >> Miss Kuna. >> I >> Mr. >> Hi. >> That passes unanimously. That is now added to the agenda for later on this evening. Moving on to our regularly scheduled agenda. Begin with recognitions. School spotlight the DECA program. Principal Strickland. >> Yes, sir. >> All right. We're starting with Deco, but I must say this is a New High School party here tonight with our um faculty members and many of our
006athletes um and senior of the month. So, I'm incredibly excited to be here this evening. So, good evening, Mr. Chair, Mr. Vice Chair, school board members, Dr. Nichols and guests. As New High School principal, I am incredibly proud to recognize our DECA chapter as this month's spotlight. DECA met um with the board in the spring of 2023. So we are um following back up after their inception a year and a half later. Um we would like to shine the spotlight on DECA particularly this month due to their growth in membership um their recent achievements, new projects and they will discuss some of their future plans. DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the world. We have experienced tremendous growth since bringing DECA to New
007Kent High School. After starting last school year with only one returning member, now that was due to graduating seniors and student transfers. Our member recruitment efforts last year brought in 19 new members for a total of 20 members for the 2425 school year. We just celebrated our second anniversary last month in September. So for this current school year, we have already 37 paid members um which is an 85% increase already from last school year. This growth represents our initial membership roster. And to note that rec um registration, excuse me, continues through mid November for students at the high school. At this time, I would like to introduce Miss Amy Walters. She is here with us tonight. She is our marketing teacher and our DECA advisor in the career and technical education department. Alongside, she will
008introduce her DECA members to again discuss their achievements, projects, and plans in detail. Miss Walters has 30 years of experience in marketing. It is her 18th year in public education and that includes a tenure in both um K12 schools and higher ed. So, without further ado, Miss Walters. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Strickland, and thank you to our school board and our superintendent today for having us in recognizing. Um, as Mr. Stricklin mentioned, this is our second anniversary uh just a couple of years ago, and it's been our pleasure to introduce this career and technical student organization, which is a co-curricular organization uh to New King County. I'm pleased to have a number of our secondyear members and our student leaders with us today. Y'all will come on up. Uh we have our deputy president
009who is Landon Evans. Our vice president is Dylan Holloway and our VP team uh officer team of marketing is Gamble Austin. Hospitality is Carter Brooks. Caitlyn Andrews is our community outreach and then Kayla Nent is our school store operations. >> A few words about some of the activities that they've been involved in. >> Good afternoon everybody. My name is Land Evans. As she just said, I'm the president new high school DECA. I'm going to touch on competition growth a little bit, but you're going to hear a little bit about what we do from each individual in different sections of what we do. So, what I'm going to talk about specifically specifically was our trip to internationals last year, which was the first time new had ever sent any kids to this in general. Last year
010we sent four kids to represent new at the international level uh to Orlando and we sat through leadership uh training from internationally recognized speakers that taught us lessons on how to come back to our clubs and build upon that and build our growth which as you can see we've been very successful in and such and we talk about state competitions and recently what we've done with awards down >> hello everyone I'm Dylan Holloway. I'm the vice president of DECA and um I'm going to talk a little bit about the state fair and about how we've improved a lot since last year. So last year we had three people qualify for the state level, which means that they got to go to uh Virginia Beach and participate in um competition um in the higherups. And this
011year we've had seven people qualify. Uh four of them were first time DECA members and three of them are returning. So we've improved more than double than last year. So um I'm going to give it to Damson. Good afternoon y'all. My name is Gamble Austin. I'm the vice president of marketing here at Newan High School DECA. I'm going to talk a little bit about here uh our growth and our development as a chapter. So at Newan High School DECA, we promote our success with um different chapter activities. One as being the new Christmas mother, which is an organization that helps give Christmas presents out during Christmas time with this and other organizations. We can help uh develop our growth as a DECA chapter and keep you know recruiting people and get more. Uh Carter Brooks
012at Health Now. >> Good evening. I'm Carter Brooks, our vice president of hospitality, and I'm here to talk about the statistics. New Kent High School DECA has increased 85% since last year, and we are on track to double by the end of November. Going to pass on Kaitlin. >> Hi, I'm Caitlyn Andrews. I am the vice president of community outreach. Um, I have a partner, his name is Nicholas Rice. He was unable to make it tonight. Um, community service or community outreach is um a new our new leadership role this year in DECA. Our goals are to kind of, you know, promote more of community outreach to our DECA members. Um, we did have some last year. We have, but since we have more members this year, we're trying to, you know, more community outreach.
013Um, we're we participate in things like um the Grand Illumination with Porsche MC. Um, like Gable Austin said, our um Christmas mothers at the church and our most recent or most upcoming one is next Tuesday with um opportunities night. And now I'll pass on Kayie Nent. >> Good evening. My name is Kaylee Nent. I am in charge of school store operations and that entails showing our school spirit and being able to fund raise for the school by selling various apparel. And we've raised over $700 last year in school in school funds and we hope to double that this year. >> Thank you very much. And I did want to take a minute and congratulate you might see two medals medals over here with Dylan and with Landon. Uh they were um two out of seven
014of our winners last Wednesday at the state fair at Deca Day. We had a competition. We um had a team of winners for a promotional pitch deck uh competitive event. And then we had um two other sets of winners both in the first time roleplay team decisionmaking event. So that promotes some of our soft skills or 21st century skills like problem solving, critical thinking. So thank you very much. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next item is athlete of the month, Dr. Nichols. >> All right. So, I have the pleasure of introducing the September athletes of the month. Uh, so I will read a little bit about you before you come up for your certificate. Uh, so our first September athlete of the month is no other than none other than Chase Files. Um,
015who is ready for prom right now. Looking really sharp there, Chase. Uh, Chase is uh, one of our senior captains on the Trojan football team. Uh, he plays offense and defense, including linebacker, running back, tight end, wide receiver, quarterback, and yes, I saw this in person, kicker. Um, so I did see him come off the field like half a time. Uh Chase is uh top in the state in class 3A in tackles uh with 69 so far. So we're six games in. Uh has over 150 yards rushing, 100 yards receiving. Um he's run a two-point conversion in which was a fascinating play to watch. Um and and caught a critical touchdown pass. In addition to football, Chase is also a member of our new high school wrestling team that's qualified for states uh several times.
016He plans to follow the enrollment pathway. he'd like to continue playing football at the next level. And right now, according to what I'm reading, Virginia Military Institute or Christopher Newport University, CNU, which produces amazing graduates, uh, no bias there. He would like to major in engineering. He excels in his dual enrollment courses u, and honors classes. He has currently has a 3.5692 GPA, so he knows the athlete of the month. He's also quite academic. He is the son of Harry and Kim Wilds who are here with us tonight and are doing double duty because as soon as I finish talk about Chase they're leaving to see the volleyball game where their daughter is playing. Jay smiles everyone. [Music] >> All right, our next senior of the month is not here um because she's playing volleyball.
017Uh so our next senior month, I do want to tell you about her uh is Leah Routz. She's a senior captain on the volleyball team. She's a team leader and holds herself and her teammates accountable. This year she moved from her position as a front row only middle hitter where she received many statewide accolades to a all-around position as an outside hitter. Um her commitment to teammates is extraordinary. Uh during the second game of the season against Leah obtained her 500th kill. Um in addition to volleyball, she's also a member of the NKHS softball team. Um she uh plans to attend Richard Bland College uh where she will continue playing volleyball uh with hopes of becoming an ultrasound technician. She excels in dual enrollment and honors level coursework. Right now she has a 3.856 GPA.
018Uh she is the daughter of Dan and Jen Routz who both also work for team UK. So, even though she's not here, uh, round one plus for Leah Rabbits. >> All right, Dr. Nichols, moving on. Senior of the month. >> Absolutely. So, I'm going to say a little bit about him, but I think he has some things to say to us, too. Is that correct, Adam? Okay. Um, I'll do the embarrassing part first, Adam. Um, so we have our first senior of the month, Adam Ayala, who is a senior at New High School. Uh, he is the son of Juan and Sarah Ayala. He is a prominent member of the New Kent High School wrestling team where he served as captain and twotime national wrestling coaches association scholar All-American. Um, he has also played football.
019Um, he is kicking our extra points and field goals. He's a member of fellowship of Christian athletes, senior class government association president where his goal is to leave his mark at UK high school. Um he is also a leader in the classroom excelling in five dual enrollment courses. Uh he's worked hard to maintain a 3.8857 GPA. Uh board members it's my honor to bring to the podium. Um, good evening uh, Mr. Chair, Mr. Vice Chair, school board members, Dr. Nichols and guests. I am Admay and I am a senior at Nant High School. I'm honored to be a part of Nant's Early College Academy where I'm working towards graduating with both my high school advanced diploma and my associates degree. This program has pushed me to grow as a student, as a leader, and has
020helped me prepare for the future. For me, going to college is an important step because it gives me the chance to build on what I've learned, discover new opportunities, and prepare myself for a meaningful career. In the short term, my plan is to attend the university to study economics or financial management. In the long term, my dream is to work for the US Department of the Treasury, where I can strengthen our country's economy. College will give me the foundation I need to reach those goals and make a lasting impact. Over the past 12 years, I've attended 10 different schools across the country. Each one has shaped me in some way, but New Kent has felt the most like home. The school has taught me the most, both in and out of the classroom, and the
021teachers and staff have truly made the difference. I'd like to thank Mr. Salonro for teaching me to enjoy the process, Mr. Goodbody for reminding me to always have fun in what I do, and Mr. Fitzgerald for encouraging me and helping me stay focused with my goals. Their support has shown me why UK is such a special place and why it's felt more like home than any other school I've attended. Before I close, I'd like to thank Principal Strickland um for selecting me for this award. I am truly honored and I also want to thank her for always being helpful when it comes to improve approving and implementing my presidential ideas and also being an active member of new kids community. Her support has really made the difference for me and my fellow classmates. Finally, thank
022you to my family for always supporting me and being with me here tonight. Thank you all for your time and have a great evening. That's our president right there. >> All right, Dr. Nichols, the 2025 Teacher of Excellence Award. >> You know, it really is New Camp High School's night. Um, so we've honored some incredible uh students and staff members and and this is a national honor. Um, so tonight we want to recognize uh Maggie Mallerie who is an outstanding high school English teacher. She was selected by I need to read it from you. I can't read that far away. U by the National Council of Teachers of English affiliates. Um they honor educators who demonstrate extraordinary classroom practices and meaningful contributions to their school community and they do not select many across the nation
023and they selected our very own Maggie Mallerie. So it's an honor to have you here tonight. So please come up and Thank you. >> All right, Dr. Nichols, you are up again, sir, rounding out the next four recognitions. >> Yes, sir. It is uh October is National Bullying Prevention Month. Um, so during October, all months, but this is the spotlight month, raising awareness, educating the community, and taking action to promote kindness, inclusion, and safety for everyone both in person and online. Our schools, all five schools have a host of activities throughout October uh to put a spotlight on anti-bullying. So, uh, National Bullying Prevention Month is October. So, you will see quite a bit on social media and in our classrooms. The next uh recognition is National Hispanic Heritage Month. Uh that is celebrated annually
024uh September 15th to October 15th. So we are on the uh last part of Hispanic Heritage Month. Um this is celebrated annually to recognize the diverse cultures, histories and contributions of Americans with roots in Spain, Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean. So, our schools have been putting together um activities and efforts to highlight and celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month. Our next recognition, October is a busy recognition month, is National School Bus Safety Week. Um it is held the third week of October each year. Um designed to promote the importance of school bus safety. So, safety first, safety always is the theme. This year, our kids will be doing poster contest. Transportation is doing work in our schools uh to help promote national school bus safety. And it is also National School Lunch Week.
025This the theme this year is taste the world. It's your school lunch passport. So, October 13th through the 17th, our food in the cafeteria, my opinion is always incredible. But during this week, uh, we invite students to experience and appreciate different global cuisines, um, fostering a sense of connection and understanding so we can take a more worldwide view of the lunchroom uh, during this time during National School Lunch Week. Really appreciate everything that Miss Parsley and her team do to take care of our students and our staff and a hungry superintendent. So, uh, National School Lunch Week, we celebrate this October. All right. Thank you, Dr. Nichols. At this time, the board is going to recess for five minutes so that those wish to leave may do so. We are in recess. All right, everybody.
026We are back in session. The next item on tonight's agenda board is the consent agenda. Uh board members, by now you've had an opportunity to review the items listed in the consent agenda, including the minute meetings from the September 9th, 2025 regular meeting as amended earlier today. monthly financials for the month of August 2025 and the superintendent's recommendation regarding the 46 personnel matters. Do I hear a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? >> So moved. >> Mr. Vaugh has the motion. Mr. Rhymer has the second. Miss Davis, please pull the board. >> Mr. Rhyme, >> I. >> Mr. Mo, >> I. >> Mr. Rosski, >> I. >> Miss Kuna, >> I. >> And Mr. Pagano, >> I. Motion passes unanimously. Next item under new business, Mr. Miller class size report. Sir, >> good
027evening. Uh, Mr. Chair, Mr. Vice Chair, members of the board, Dr. Nichols. Each, um, October, it is my responsibility according to standards of quality to report to you our class sizes. And so before we jump into what those are, I did want to give you just some context of what they should be. Uh, so standards of quality lay out for us the hiring practices and how many teachers we should have based on teacher to student ratios. And so I'm just going to run through them real quickly. So in elementary we're looking for we cannot go above a 24 to one at kindergarten with no class being larger than 29 students. And um in class grades 1, two, and three, you want 24 to one with no classes larger than 30. And then in four through
028six, 25 to one with no classes larger than 35. And then finally at 6 through 12 English classes only, you have to have a ratio of 24 to1. Um and the we you'll see as we go through these, we are nowhere near any of the maxes. Thankfully, um we keep our class sizes at a reasonable amount and so our our student our students get plenty of attention. So here at Watkins, you'll see uh we are well within um our expected range. The range that we'd like to keep that fourth grade class or group is a little large there. Um and that's really that's the highest of our entire is all of our elementary in the division is that 24 to one, but otherwise those are all really reasonable in the upper teens to low 20s
029is really where we like to sit on our class sizes. Also before well if you look at the top of the slide on each of these I do have total population at the school um just for reference so you so you know how big our schools are at this point they have been climbing in size. Uh so total right now at George Washington is 535. Nuke Elementary School is our biggest elementary school at 639. Um but we do have more teachers there to handle that extra more students. So our classes as you can see all hover right there. become the teens, low 20s, right where we want them. Quinton Elementary School is in the middle with 581 and again they um we have plenty of teachers there to handle that number of students. So um
030our class sizes hover right there at 20 about the average um schoolwide. >> Just just point of clarification. So in your totals that you're providing there that includes prek that 581 is >> it does. >> Okay. It does >> board. We we share that number to you two different ways. One is without prek because in the state funding piece we're funded uh but capacity of a building you have 581 in that building. So yeah >> the also class sizes we do exclude some classes that are small in nature. Um like self-contained students with disabilities class. It's going to have much fewer students and we exclude those from our average class sizes so it doesn't throw off the numbers. U new middle school again like the others is climbing. Um it's at at 842 students currently.
031Um so you'll see our number of sections goes up dramatically quite a bit but that's also across three different grade levels. Our class sizes again hovering low 20s which is fully acceptable where we're looking for them other than PE which you can accept a larger class there. and New High School current total building size of 165 and our class size again uh all below 25 students history being the highest of 24 as an average class size and that is all done if you have any questions on how to answer those >> Mr. Chair I was curious Mr. Miller, what what is the capacity at each of the buildings? Um >> total number of students. >> Yes. As far as especially for example at the middle school we're at 852. Would you happen to know more
032or less? >> So I could I Ross really has the class size piece. I could take the capacity size if that's okay. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Um so New Middle School specifically. Um you have room for another hundredish students there. Um there are ways that we can make it workable. Um, but that's I've been here and we've had over 900 there. So, but it is uh >> is that with trailers or >> Yeah, with the the trail the two class of trailer that we have there. Yes, ma'am. >> Uh what what really jams us up at the middle school is really the common area spaces, the hallways, um the cafeteria, the gym, u those type pieces. That's really the strain on capacity there uh in relation to it. So when we talk um capital improvement
033uh one of the things Mr. Hop is going to talk about are some options yeah >> to increase capacity or look at different routes there >> and the capacity at the high school is that >> high school you have uh >> currently we're at 1065. >> Yes ma'am. And you'll go based on the bubble that's coming through there about 310 eighth graders. So when they go into the high school you'll go over 1100. um you have 3 to 400 more students could be there and you're still in in really good shape. >> You have to schedule differently and do those things. But um with this that school being in two built in 2008 did an incredible job of of foresight with capacity. So the high school would really >> It seems the fourth grade is
034a large class overall across the elementary schools. >> It is. Yes. We have we have certain bubbles as Dr. Nichols mentioned like the eighth grade group, the sixth grade group, fourth grade group um are all larger than some of the other grade levels. >> And last question I have as far as um sped students or classes that have uh special needs students or sped students, what is the average size of those classes? >> So, um I'm it's it's going to vary, but I think most of them are eight or less. >> 12 or less. Yeah. self-contained classroom where they >> self-contained, but if it's an inclusion, if it's a if it's a >> Those are all actually mixed in this collaborative classes are all part of this. >> Wonderful. >> If you're a student with
035disabilities and you're taking history, you're you're in that number. >> Yes. Just >> Thank you, >> Mr. Chair. Mr. B, >> um what is the what is the number the trigger number for utilizing tradeup space? In other words, at the middle school, are we already utilizing? Yes, we have two classrooms at >> classroom trailers. >> Yeah. >> So, this 852 >> includes those trailers. >> How about at uh George Watkins? >> George Watkins. Right now, you have seven to eight trailers there that we're currently not utilizing for classrooms. We are doing a gifted pull out and different pull out small groups of kids in there. Um we are utilizing every other space in that building. We do foresee, and we'll talk about this in CIP as well, moving back into those trailers um in the
036next year or two, the way that George Watkins is growing. Uh when I first got here, when we had two elementaryaries, uh all of those trailers were utilized. I think fifth grade was out there and and those pieces. So, um we have uh something we'll propose tonight to try to shift that so we don't grow back into trailers. We have something else in place. Okay. Yes, sir. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Thank you, Mr. Miller. >> Thank you. >> All right, moving on. Dr. Nichols, advisory committee memberships. >> Yes, sir. So, uh I bring this to you annually, so just wanted to share it with you. We all been running with advisory. Uh the first slide has teacher advisory. So, we have two members from each school that participate in uh teacher advisory. Uh incredibly
037helpful structure um to get thoughts, ideas, things to work on. and they're also the group that sees calendar first or code of conduct and all those different things. So really valuable resource there. The second advisory is community advisory. This is the newest of the advisory set. Um these we have folks in New Kent that don't necessarily have kids. Um so they're not on parent advisory and they're not staff but they have a voice. So we opened this up a few years ago. Uh it's very hard to get on community advisory. All you got to do is let Joanna and I know you want to be there and we'll we'll take you. Um so uh we have really good discussions there and it's a great uh viewpoint working through there. So um and the last one
038um is really open invitation as well. Um and that is parent advisory. So at the end of community advisory and parent advisory every time I say if you know somebody that could add value to it please invite them. Uh we'd love to have them. So that teacher advisory is locked in for the year. Um the other two is is a rotated basis like you come in and can add people and uh so if you have a voice and you want to be a part of it uh we're we're happy to have you. So, >> so that's uh advisors >> answering question and and this is just because I'm ignorant is the are these advisory committees considered standing committees but in a separate category because like in our policy it says we cannot have standing committees.
039How are these advisory committees different >> because they're not board driven. They're superintendent driven. So I lead them. they're really for me to get information but I share that with you guys. So I think that's the major difference is it's not >> Thank you for clarifying that. Yeah, Mr. Chair, >> Mr. Brston >> and just for clarification, can you remind me how the teachers are chosen to serve on that committee? >> Uh they're selected by their principles. U it's a combination of factors related to it, one willingness to serve. Um two people that have a voice in the building that will share those opinions. Uh we like to have them for two years uh because the first year is really getting a feel of what we do. Um and then we found if we cycled
040them off after the first year we were starting over. So um you have it's a group some are in their year two and some are in their year one. So it makes it nice to to have that that piece there. >> Anyone else? >> All right. Thank you. Dr. Nichols, you're up again, sir, with the VSBA policy services contract renewal. Yes sir. We've had a lot of conversation about the policy. Um it annually this renewal comes before the board. So it is that time of the year um to uh vote on renewing our policy contract through the Virginia schoolboard association. So they provide uh policy updates, they pro provide policy support and they also provide legal support related to policy uh to all facets of policy. So uh you see that is invoice amount of
041$2,500. Um so that is the VSBA policy contract. Be happy to answer any questions but uh no change. >> That's an annual correct? >> Yes sir. That's fine. >> Mr. Chair, I do have a question. >> Uh, on page two of of the policy services agreement, I just need clarification. Maybe um, Mr. Pagano, since you're a lawyer, you can explain it to me. It says, "The board agrees in the event that a sample policy prepared by by VSBA is alleged to be not in compliance with relevant laws to notify VSBA of such allegations within five working days of such allegation." Uh it seems like well they're the ones who are paying them $2,500. Shouldn't the policies be lawful or irrelevant? I mean I'm just thinking we're going to notify them within 5 days that there's
042something wrong. >> I think can I take the the school side of it? It it says in there alleged. So somebody comes to you and says this policy is not in alignment like a citizen or a staff member. you let them know that you have this allegation related to >> So it could be anyone who makes the allegation. Yeah. >> Okay. >> That's that's kind of my implementation. >> Your take on it? >> Just seems strange. >> I think it makes sense from a legal perspective in so much as they want to then if an allegation is made that a policy that you know their council has drafted may not be worded properly or in accordance to a code section that they have the opportunity to vet it, >> right? and then either either amend
043it and update, you know, reddraft that policy which then comes to us or back it up, right, with case law or judicial decisions that would say no, it's worded properly. >> Okay, that makes sense. And who who is the policy contact person? >> That's good. >> That's true. Okay. And so you would have to notify them. So everything would go through you. Thank you. >> All right. Anyone else? All right. Moving on. Miss Morgheim, fiscal year 2025 appropriation of funds. >> Mr. Chair, Dr. Nichols, >> uh board members, tonight I am bringing um two separate well a lot of appropriations, but uh basically I have two memos. One is with regards to school nutrition services, and it's really around their year-end balance and looking at their expenditures for the year. um they're allowed to carry
044a fund balance and the sad part I believe is that they are limited to really having that to be three months worth of expense. So if they do well and make money and have a reserve um they're not really allowed to hold on to it for a rainy day. They have to spend it down. We have to have a plan that's formal. Um, so we've done that and Miss Kuna had asked me about the types of equipment. Please know that we're not just out buying stuff cuz we have to. Um, is meaningful and impactful. So, you've noticed the um metal doors on the high school cafeteria. They're all automatic. Um, that's been a huge safety concern. Um, it's been a a great upgrade for them. We've added generators um which helps districtwide with just keeping
045food um when we have power outages and things of that nature. Um so we are actually now finally within 3 months expense. It's taken a long time um to get there, but that's where our balance is now. So we're appropriating the 325 54223. >> Thank you. Anybody have any questions? >> Yes, Mr. Chair. >> Mr. who says they can't keep the money in reserves. >> The state >> why >> so it I I can look into it a little bit further. >> Um again, I think it's tough because so many school divisions actually don't have school nutrition departments that actually are running well. Um and oftent times we have to cover that through the general fund. Nent has not had to do that. um at least since I've been here, they haven't and they've run
046their program very well and we're very proud of them. Um so I'm assuming they will continue to run their program that way. Um but again, if you have a great we have another great year, um we're going to have to have a plan to spend that balance down every time. >> Can you spend it on like outside charity like to provide food? >> Um not really not. Um, we have done some different things. Uh, they are allowed to spend it obviously on equipment. Um, they can put the money back into their staff. So, we have been able to do needed raises for that staff and departments over the years, bonus payments. Um, they do run pretty lean. Um, so we do try to do some things like that. Uh, but mainly it's upkeep of equipment,
047supplies, um, repair, replacement, and major equipment. Thank you. Yeah. >> All right. Anyone else? Thank you, Mr. Morgan. >> The other the other side of that is also with our general fund. Um if you remember, we had all in implementation funds that we had received in prior years. We have three years to spend that money. Um so this year we spent 346 22441. Um so we have a balance of 20895 for next year. Um, we're also have a school security equipment program money that was received uh right at the end of June and that we spent this year. Um, so we're appropriating that balance as well. And then the cops violence prevention program grant we had received also an FY24. Um, so that was spent this year. At the bottom you'll see are a couple
048of grants. The title one I believe was additional expenses. um through carryover that we had within that grant. The school-based mental health, that is one grant that we have that is not a fiscal year grant. It's a calendar grant. So, it runs from January to December. Um so, we changed around how how we managed that grant a little bit different this year with Christine's leadership. Thank you. Um, and also we received another portion of a school safety and security grant that came in right at the end of June of last year. Um, so we worked with Mr. Hosman and we spent that. So those are the remaining balances. Any questions on any of those? >> Is this Sorry, is this the capital improvement fund right here? >> No, that next >> this isn't this this
049is really our general fund. >> Okay. >> And our grant fund. >> Okay. So, all general operating budget funding. So, I'm really trying to trick you tonight, Mr. Broky, because the next item is a transfer from the CIP fund to the general fund. Um, so with this transfer, every year we go through a process with the county to look at projects that we have in our CIP that are completed and we sit down with them and we look at the balances that are remaining and we tell them either this project is complete or we need to carry forward that money to do further work on that capital improvement project. So this particular project that we had, the high school Wi-Fi refresh, the project was completed. So there was funding available 114829. We could have transferred
050that back into our balance, but we decided that we wanted to do something with that funding in the current year. So in lie of waiting until next July one and putting this request and what you'll see shortly with Mr. Hawkman's request, we're asking the county to transfer that balance now into our general fund. And the reason is that we want to move forward with the U TV replacement at our high school. Um most of that money would go to that project. A little bit would go to additional TVs in the elementary schools just from when we gave them TVs. We've grown. We have a few more teachers now. Um and then the balance would go to start the middle project >> and handic interactive panels that look so it replaces the whole smartboard. We don't
051need projectors anymore. So it'll help us almost get to where every teacher has one now. Um, so it helped us finish it thanks to Sean's work with U and just transfer it into this piece. >> You will see a um request in the CIP still for these types of needs in technology. Um, and our goal is to really get a set amount of dollars annually in Mr. Terry's budget that he can use for refreshment of all of this type of equipment. Um, you know, some of this stuff we did with COVID money with grants that we had received. So, we're really trying to get to a cycle of where we're building this into our general fund. So, this is just one step towards that. Does that make sense? >> Mr. Chair, Mr. B. >> Um,
052are we replacing because we don't have the interactive systems at Quinton Elementary if I remember correctly. >> Um, that's correct. >> So, are we replacing those projectors? Will they or not? >> We will at some point. They're not at end of life. So when they get to that point, we will be replacing them with this technology. >> What is what is u do we know what an end of life is for a projector system? And >> I was myself. >> So yeah, so our new projectors at Quenton are laser projectors. They don't you don't replace the bulbs on them. So when the hours kind of run out on them, they're they're disposable device. So our goal would be as those devices go, and we've had one go already. Um we replace that with a TV
053or an interactive panel on a balance box. We're not investing back in that full wired infrastructure, right? You know, because I can roll a TV in and the teacher's back in business like that. >> Sure. projector goes down, we got to send a technician out, pull it out of the roof, interrupt classroom instruction. So, we're going to this this model instead, but we the life of those Quinton projectors, they're they're four and a half years old. So, um we're not going to wholesale swap out those, but in Watkins, where we've got new classrooms that have been created, we need to bring TVs in for those teachers as well. Um, the high school has projectors that were bought in 2006. So, they are very much at the end of life to the point we can't even
054buy bulbs for them anymore. So, rather than replacing those projectors with more projectors, we want to finish out the high school with the TVs or the interactive panels. And so, we've got about 20 of those we need there. And we've got about 20 we need at the middle school and about seven or eight that we need to backfill elementary because when we purchased those we only bought we didn't fill every classroom we provided every teacher in the building with one. So as we've grown in those classrooms um at those schools we I need to back fill some TPS there or interactive panels there as well. So the interactive panels there's no discount for buying more >> and replacing them rather than >> wait that's the the timing on this is is related to >> Yes.
055So up until the new year we we get a buy 9 get one free deal and when we bought the TVs during COVID they were the whole unit was about $5,800 for everything including the the articulating stand and the TV and the device that you can cast to it. Um, I can get that for $3,500 per unit right now. And that doesn't count the one free that we get every nine week buy. So, my goal is to use this money to maximize to buy as many of these panels as we can. So, to your point, if we could get enough to get to where we could put some in Quinton, because they're dying to have some as well, sure, >> we would do that. But, I don't think this is going to get us quite
056to that finish line. I think this will get us very close. >> Fair enough. But you know, and and you'll see later tonight there is a CIP request for some more technology infrastructure. That would be part of what we would be using those funds for is to backfill uh our classroom infrastructure with the same that all the other classrooms have. >> Fair enough. Thank you, >> Mr. Chair. >> Thank you, Mr. Terry. >> If I can just ask real quickly, what is the longevity of the interactive panels? >> Uh six to eight years. Yeah. Is that longer than the other? >> Well, so with the with the older projectors, you could replace bulbs, but that's an expense, you know, and so >> and those bulbs got real expensive. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. >> This the panel
057technology is going to get cheaper every year. Gets cheaper. Everything more expensive. >> Everything else has gotten more expensive, but TVs and interactive panels, the prices are going, >> this is a no-brainer. So, thank you. >> Thank you. H I remember when overhead projectors were all the rage >> and the kids love it love coming up and and and on them and everything projector technology before big screen TVs and trust me the bulbs are expensive. >> Yeah. >> All right. Anyone else? >> Thank you, M. Morgan. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Hawkman. Fiscal year 27 capital improvement plan. Sir the board members as he's coming to the podium. This is our first pass at it. Uh we will talk about this a couple more times um as a team but also jointly with the board
058of supervisors in November. So this is our current thinking where we are with capital improvement plan chair vice chair members of the board Dr. Nichols. As you are aware I'll be talking about capital improvement planning this evening. Um, so why we plan for capital improvements. So just a real quick breakdown of what we're trying to do. Um, number one, safe, reliable facilities for all our students and staff. Capital planning ensures that our critical systems such as HVAC, lighting, um, fire alarms, security technology are maintained, replaced, or upgraded prior to failure. So that's really important. Protecting community investments in our schools. So by maintaining our schools proactively, the vision avoids the high cost of deferred maintenance which can get very expected and is unplanned for supporting instructional needs and growth. So our capital projects also address
059enrollment growth, shifting demographics, um ensuring adequate classroom capacity for all of our students across all of our schools. And finally, ensuring fiscal responsibility with our taxpayers. um capital improvement reduces long-term operating costs by investing in energy efficient systems, durable materials and sustainable design. So that is why we do capital improvement planning. Um for alignment um we start off we it aligns directly to our strategic goals. Goal one student achievement uh basically safe modern learning environments, access to 21st century learning tools, um specialized instructional places and healthy environments. Our kids need to uh breathe fresh air and feel good about themselves. On recruitment and retention, we need competitive facilities so that staff are more likely to join us. And we know that research shows that that is important. Morale and pride. Also, a clean, modern working
060facility is what all of our students and community wants to have. And also attractive to families. If people are shopping where they want to go to school, they're going to look at the condition of your school. So, that's very important. And finally um organizational efficiency and effectiveness life cycle cost savings. So what we know is replacing outdated systems with newer more efficient systems saves us a lot of money and it also helps us to avoid unplanned breakdowns in equipment which can be very expensive and we have to ask for transfers of money which may or may not be available. So real a quick facility snapshot of what we have on we have a wide range of schools in terms of age. Newkin Elementary School was built in 1973. George Watkins has had multiple years of
061building and additions in the ' 50s,60s and 70s. As we know, our newest school of Quinton was opened up in 2022. Um, New Kent Middle School opened up in 1988. And New Kent High School, which I know looks like a brand new shining building, has come closing in on 20 years old. So, it is not a new school any longer. We have a lot of high need systems across our schools. um roofs, HVAC, lighting, ceilings, and also you're going to want to throw in there electrical and plumbing if we're looking at New Ken Elementary School. Um one of the things that we are going to be coming to you for in the near future is we're going to request a transfer to have what is called a facility condition assessment done. Um and basically this
062will be an evaluation of the current status of all of our school buildings and what we need to do to keep them up to date. Our plan with capital improvement planning is to know exactly what we need moving forward. Um we need to know the lifespan of each system that we have when we need to replace it. So going back to having an efficient plan we sometimes may need to replace something prior to catastrophically dying on us in a building. So that is being smart with facility planning. Um also Newkin Elementary School and you see the question mark. What are we going to do? We're going to build a new school. We're going to do a major renovation. Um, we're going to need to do something and I'll address that a little bit later. Um,
063and finally, we'd have classroom space needed at GW and New Kent Middle School. Um, what we do know is if we're going to have more kids coming into school, we're going to be reaching capacity. So, we need to be prepared for that prior to those students arriving. We looked at student numbers earlier. We do not want to get to the top end of that. um that is very important for us in terms of retaining teachers that we are at a very good student teacher ratio number. So we're going to talk a little bit in a minute about what we need to do with GW and New Camp Middle School in terms of growth. Um we feel very good about what we have done in the past with CIP funds. We've been able to complete a
064lot of big projects. We went ahead and provided and put in LED lighting across the whole division. Um that is a huge energy savings. Um, it also helps with maintenance because we're not replacing light bulbs so often. The LED obviously lasts a lot longer. Transportation office addition. Uh, we've done one, we're getting ready to do another one as a result of last year's CIP. We are going to be out of space at our transportation building if we continue to grow. Um, as more people move into the county, we need more support staff to provide for those folks. So, we are maxed out at transportation. So, if you're looking for a job at transportation, we don't have a space for you. So, um also the HVAC weight room is listed as completed. We're getting ready to
065start that. We're adding that to our weight room. Um if you have been in there in the summer, it is really hot. So, um you know, when I was a kid, I think they wanted it that way. Now, we want kids to be comfortable while they're lifting. So, we're going to be working on that. Um we have we are very proud about phase one athletic stadium completion. The track um had the lines painted yesterday. It was officially open today and it was beautiful before and it's even more beautiful now. It looks really good. Um and obviously the field has been fantastic. Um everybody's enjoying playing on it and it really has made a huge impact on our field hockey program. They are now playing on a very competitive field which will allow them to be
066more prepared for regionals because most of the teams we compete with practiced and play on turf fields. That is something that they were unable to do and now the speed of the game which has picked up they'll be used to that tennis court upgrade. Um we did we are just completed that today. We got a little bit of more work to potentially do on that in the future and you will hear about that in future CIPs. Lots of safety and security measures across all of our schools. And we upgraded our pump island at the transportation office. Um it was the concrete was cracking and it was needed a major renovation and we were able to do that. So it looks really nice. So, these are some of the recently completed projects that we were able
067to do. I'm getting ready to go into sort of what our CIP requests are this year. I've really put them into three tiers. Um, tier one being critical needs. And what we're talking about is compliance, failing systems, and transportation. Uh, we want to make sure every student and all staff are in a very safe building which has all of the needs that they need to do their job and that children can learn. That includes things like fire alarms, roofs, um, hback, um, being ADA compliant, that sort of thing. Um, we want to make sure also that they are operational by replacing, as I said earlier, failing systems before they completely die. So, that is something that we're really trying to get smart with how we plan in the future. Um, tier two will be about
068capacity, modernization, and growth. Um, we're going to need to expand facilities to meet our enrollment growth and to avoid overcrowding. Um also updates and updates to instructional spaces to support 21st century teaching and learning. And finally athletic enha enhancements um improving the student experience and school pride through well-maintained athletic facilities. This will support recruitment and retention um by offering competitive programs for our families. All right. So tier one, I've broken tier one into two different areas. First one's transportation. Uh we're going to be requesting three buses this year um at a total of about $529,000. It comes out to about $176,000 per bus. Um that is up substantially from a couple of years ago when we were about 138 per bus. Um we also were going to be requesting one Minotour bus u which is
069a smaller bus. U we have some kids that are on a daily basis going a little farther distance with very few kids on the bus. This helps for the uh I guess gas and efficiency that way. That bus is about $128,000. And we're also going to be requesting two new school vehicles, one car and one van at $95,000. That is to support our children that are going to different places all over the region and need special transportation for that. The total for transportation comes out to $752,850.20. And board members, just to remember those buses are on a replacement cycle. So when you see three, that's because we have three that are aging out of the fleet due to mileage and uh or inability to be repaired, damaged, those those type things. >> We replace buses
070based on mileage and age. So um we try to and Mr. H does a great job. We rotate routes so that buses don't get too many miles on them prior to them being too old to really keep on the road. So um the second part of tier one is general operations. Um, we need to start replacing the fan coil units at George Watkins um, elementary. Um, this will be at a cost of about $415,000 this year. Um, that will be something you see on the CIP over a number of years so that we can finalize that project. We also need to replace the water source heat pumps at New Kent High School. That also will be on here for several years in a row at a cost of about $117,000 per year. Um, and then
071we will also going to finish up, this will be the last year of the high school roof replacement. You'll notice that's a about half of what we requested in the past. 240,000 will finish that job and you will not see high school roof replacement probably for about 20 years if you're still serving on here. So, um, rooftop HVAC replacement at the high school, that is a rounded number. We are finalizing that. We are going to replace two a year over five years. Um and there we are finishing the engineering on what we need. So that number is a roundabout high-end estimate. Um but after we finalize that, that will be the number we go with for the next couple years. We're replacing two this year and then there will be eight more to replace over
072the next four years. And finally, you'll see that it is highlighted with yellow TBD um new kit middle school switch gear repair replacement that is on here. That system, the switch gear needs to be replaced now. Um, as you know, CIP money becomes available to us potentially in July 1. Um, we need to go ahead and start looking at replacing that ASAP. We will be coming before you here in the near future to potentially request a transfer so that we do not have catastro catastrophic failure with our switch gear at the middle school. Um, so that is coming. Um, uh, Tim Pollock, who's our director of maintenance, is working on that. whether it's going to be a fix or is it going to be a complete replacement we're working on but that is an original
073piece of equipment from 1988. So it is time to replace that. >> Mr. Chair, >> Mr. Brosk, >> just a real quick question. What is a switch gear? >> What is switch gear? So when power comes in from Dominion Power, it comes into a building and then it gets redistributed out. That is where it comes into the building. So, it's very important that that be monitored and safe and so that we don't have any issues and right it's it's not to where it's not safe right now, but we need to be replacing that in the near future. So, great question, >> Mr. Chair. I'm curious, what happens to the old buses? Can you do you sell them for profit? >> Um, if you're out behind the high school, we have six or seven out there.
074Uh, we put them up through auction. We use a uh Miss Moore kind of helps us with that. We auction them off and then we we get a little bit of money back for those and that's reinvested into the school district. >> Members, that that will always come before you because it is a sale. Um so you will see when we're doing and you actually vote on you will vote on it as well. So um we don't get a ton for them, but we do. >> Yeah. If you Well, obviously we can't sell one to you unfortunately if you're looking to buy a bus. So as an employee >> Tiny house. Sure. Yeah. >> Okay. Um, as I'm getting going here, you're going to see some highlights with the letters GF next to it. For
075all of those on this page, and there's some a couple more. These are currently on the capital plan, but we have talked about and Miss Morcon and I have talked and met with the county. We would like to move those to our general fund. Um, so that's we're requesting it here because it hasn't been moved yet, but we would love to have these on the other side. So, um, we're going to request some paving and striping of $100,000. Uh, we need a new trailer ramp at Newkin Elementary School. We've replaced one. We need to replace the other one. Roof maintenance, $35,000. HVAC maintenance, $150,000. And painting in the amount of $50,000. So for the general operations, tier one, that total, and remember that does not include the switch gear comes out to $2,326,914. >> And
076board members, just just a little rationale on on the general. If it is regular maintenance that we're going to do, it really should live in the general fund, our operating fund. Um, and we also have to report to the state capital money that is or capital projects done in the general fund. The county traditionally has had more money on the capital side. So, our maintenance projects have lived on the capital side. At some point, it'd be best practice to have it in and operate. So, what that point is, we'll have to figure that out, but u it is our effort to get it where it should be. Mr. Chairman, how many uh years out do you have this business plan go out for? >> So, what we're working I mentioned earlier the facility condition assessment.
077Yes. So, right now, this is a one-year plan. A couple of those I said we do over five years. When we have completed the facility condition assessment, it will be five and 10 out. >> Okay. And with when and that was the second piece that I was going to ask about with the facility assessment, are you going to do those periodically? Uh what it does we we would have to pay for that and that's an outside source that does that but it's very much worth it. We would have >> we would have to do that. Absolutely. It would be an annual thing. >> So you can have a contract that would do it annually. >> I don't know that you would need that once we have the assessment in year one. Mr. Ry, we'll work
078through what we need to replace. But you know in three five years we may need to do the assessment again. >> So what I would like to see is where there are no critical needs. >> That's what we're working towards. And one thing that the facility consision condition assessment will also give us, let's say we buy a brand new HVAC system for Newkin Elementary School. Going in, we would know the life expectancy is 20 years. So we work our way out. So bothers me that their switch gear needs replacing right now. >> Correct. >> Um I'm I'm just saying >> I agree with you. Yep. >> All right. So that was the total for uh general. Now for instructional which is tier two replacement furniture $100,000 that's also you'll noted as GF we would like
079to move that to the general fund IT infrastructure um and you heard Mr. Terry talking a little bit earlier um to support our network infrastructure, access points, switches, routers, TVs perhaps. Um the uh instructional amount would be $260,000. At the bottom, we have three lines that are highlighted in yellow. Classrooms at New Middle School, classrooms at GW. Um we are getting a cost um from our architectural and engineering company that we work with. most recent amount given to us was $3,500,000 for for those. That will be an updated number coming soon. We should have that. We're working with them. And then obviously Newkin Elementary School is still on there. Uh the last cost we had was around $58 million for a new bill. Those three are not included in our total here though, just so
080you're aware when I give you the final number. >> And and board members, so New Kent Elementary, the board has been united on We need a new school, right? So that's that piece. uh George Watkins. So, we do have those trailers uh out back that we're currently not in. That 10 classroom addition would allow you to do a fourth and fifth grade class wing basically or annex uh with bathrooms there. So, one of the problem problematic things with the trailers there is none of them have bathrooms. So, kids are having to come back in and those pieces. So, what we'd like to do for future capacity is build a 10 classroom annex there uh right off the back where those trailers are. And then we feel like we're in really good shape capacity wise for
081George Watkins. Like feel really good going down the road. Now, New Middle School, what you see there is really that same thing, a 10 classroom addition. Um, now where that goes, there are a couple options with that, but I think there needs to be further discussion on is that the right route to go for the middle school. Is expansion what the board wants to do or are we looking broader and do we need to look at two middle schools or a bigger middle school or some sort of I think that is the part that's a little gray that we need better clarity on. I think we can do an addition. We can make that work. We can build in more capacity. That's a couple hundred more kids, but they're still going to that same cafeteria
082and still that same bus loop and all those pieces. >> U Mr. Chairman, >> Mr. Ron, >> uh, so I totally agree that that discussion needs to be had. Uh, we need to do a lot of I would prefer to have that after we have the new kid elementary school decision settled, >> but at the same time uh I think we need to do a lot of preparatory work as we advance towards those next decisions. >> So, and I I agree that new Kent Elementary is this the sense of urgency on the project. uh New Kent Middle School, your bubble is coming out of there. You have 310 eighth graders that are moving on to it is getting replaced by 260 kids. So, we're going to go down a little bit there. So, we have
083a little more time to get that together and make a decision piece there, >> but it should be part of a a multi-year plan. >> Absolutely. >> Mr. Chair, I do have a question. >> What What is part of instructional needs with the $260,000 >> the replacement furniture and the IT infrastructure? >> Oh, okay. So, those Okay. Yeah, >> I see. Thank you. >> And the replacement furniture, Miss Cooney, is is classroom furniture. >> That's what I think. >> Chairs and I'm sorry. Yeah, >> I apologize. I see the number there. >> All right. So, then we move on to athletics. Uh we'd like to replace we have backboards at the middle school that are uh not of the glass variety. Um so, we would like we did that. We're doing that at the high
084school. We'd like to do that at the middle school as well. Um automation. So, right now, if we have an event in the middle school gym where you need to put the baskets up, >> it's a hand crank and it's really high and it's hard to do. We'd like to provide some automation to that. So, um it takes about an hour right now to crank all six of those backboards up. It's it's not efficient and I don't I don't think it's the way we want to do things. So, we're going to look to automate those. The gym floor at the middle school, we need to do an upgrade to that similar to what we did at the high school. um making it uh pop with school colors um and making sure it looks good. Um
085practice fields behind the high school. We have seven practice fields behind the high school. Um in year one of this, and this would be probably over seven years, we are going to start to upgrade each field one at a time, which would include fencing around the field, irrigation, which requires some electrical. Um and then what we would do is every year this cost would go down probably by about half. we would start to work on each of those fields, working our way around to provide adequate practice facilities for our teams. And then finally, uh, with athletics on there, and once again, you'll see that that is highlighted in yellow. Phase two of the athletics renovation, entryway, um, bathroom, concession, locker rooms, storage, and also we're going to add to that lighting for our baseball and
086softball complex. Um, that number, we have someone working on that once again with our architectural engineering firm. they're going to provide a more detailed number for us for that next step. Um potentially doing it all at one time and if not sort of peacemealing it um as we can. Total for athletics um not including phase two of the athletic renovation, $47,796. All right, there's your uh quick rundown of your CIP totals this year coming in at the end 3,747,56020. It's about 800,000 less than what we requested last year, but there's a few items on there obviously that I told talked about and that were highlighted in yellow that are not included. >> So, you talked about capacity uh improvements. Have you talked with the county planners um and uh with regard to their estimates about
087how much this county is going to grow during that the period that you're planning? >> I was involved in a committee about a year ago, maybe a little longer, but honestly Dr. Nichols and uh Rodney Hathaway have had most of those conversations. So I'll defer to Dr. Nichols. >> Uh yes, sir. So we continuing conversation with projects that were approved quite some time ago that are starting to come on board and then new projects that will be may be coming before the >> Have we discussed the accuracy of those growth projections >> the accuracy of them? Uh I yes we have um >> and have we suggested different models? No sir, that that may be out of my wheelhouse, but I can get some help with that. >> Uh, as far as projecting enrollment? >>
088Yes. >> Related to housing? >> Yes. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Yeah, we work on projecting enrollment in general uh based on live births and those different pieces, but um Hy does an incredible job of of estimating and it's really close. But uh Airport Road right now, I think there's 125 190 houses that are coming in. Um and that's a GW. >> Yes. So um so and there's conversation about other large scale neighborhoods that may or may not be coming and where those go. Uh so >> historically compare what their estimates have been versus what we have actually had to host capacity for. >> Yes. Yeah. An example I always use are those town homes that we didn't think we were getting kids with in and we have a lot of kids coming out of the
089town homes. So, uh, right there by, uh, Trojan Grove. >> Mr. Hogman, I have a spin-off question from that. So, the the two 10 classroom models, if that were to be some a project that we do and move forward with, what is the, and I realize it's just an estimate, but how long do you think that addresses capacity for us at those two schools? I mean, we talking 5 years, 10 years, we don't really know. >> 10 classrooms is about 25 kids a class at a middle school. So, that's 250 kids. So if you start looking at the projected enrollment divided by 13 I think you you know I saw an article in the paper where in 20 years we potentially are doubling our population in new Kent. Um so that would if that number
090is true wouldn't hold up to that to 20 years. Um but I think it would get us definitely through five to seven and Dr. Nichols you've been on a lot of those conversations as well. I think that the 10 classroom addition at George Watkins at the current rate of growth and even building some in gets you past that 10 year mark. Um so feel really good about that one. The middle school really is going to come back down to the common spaces and managing the traffic. As you know, we have a a challenge every morning and every afternoon getting thousands of people in and out of here. So um you know just bringing that back in. We have a couple places we could put it. Um, >> but at the same time, we we still
091got to follow it through the cafeteria. So, and through the gym. >> And there's also the transportation aspect, too, because we have a huge bottleneck right now on 249 in Egypt Road. >> Yeah, we would love to move something closer to GW if we if we had our our whisk. >> Two points of clarification. The buses and vehicle acquisitions, those are all new. >> Yes. >> Yep. And then the 1.2 2 million for the HVAC. That's per year or is that the number spread out over five? >> No, that would be a it's a rough estimate. Well, that would be repeated for we have 10 units. That would be to replace two. >> Got it. Yep. >> Thank you, sir. >> Yep. >> All right. Anybody else have any questions? >> Like said, board members,
092this will come back before you a couple times and you have conversations related to uh >> the desired direction of the board. >> Thanks, sir. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. >> All right. board. We are moving on to school board goals and review. We kind of just hit on some of this, but Dr. Nichols, Project New Kent Elementary School, sir. >> Yes, sir. I mean, you saw it in part of the um capital improvement plan is still our number one priority. Um and we stand ready and uh we have a joint meeting uh I believe November 7th between both ports where Annie and I are planning on that being conversation number one. So, looking to give momentum uh there. And then the strategic plan. Ross is actually going to be coming up in just
093a second to give you the um accountability accreditation update, which really is goal one. Uh so for the second month, if I'm wrong, I'm going to let him take the lead on strategic planning uh for me. And that's I don't think you have any policy reviews and revisions today. >> That's correct. No policy reviews, no items for the vote of consideration. Rolling on, Mr. Miller. >> All right. Um Mr. chair, members of the board, Dr. Nichols. Um, tonight I wanted to give you a preview of some information that is going to be coming from VDOE. We anticipate next week publicly. And so we're going to give you some preliminary numbers, um, some projections that we're working through with VDOE to verify and validate before it goes public, make sure that it's all accurate. U, so
094I wanted to just give you a preview of that. So before I do, I wanted to remind you of the structure of the new school performance and support framework. This is a new structure that VOE has put in place uh for this starting this year. It's our first time actually utilizing it to measure school performance. And what it does is it separates out uh previously our accreditation included the performance scores as well as all the sort of standards of accreditation with that we have to follow um some of which I mentioned earlier with standards of quality um class sizes things like that. So our performance is set separately and this is meant for a way to grade schools and to compare them across the state with how they're performing on a variety of different measures.
095And so at elementary and middle you have growth readiness and mastery whereas at high school you're looking at graduation readiness and mastery. Mastery mastery is u basically so test scores is what you're looking at. Growth is how students are growing yeartoyear and then readiness is how prepared they're getting towards graduation and post-graduation. So I'm going to go over those in a second as to what how those break down. But once a school's uh growth right in its mastery graduation is all calculated. they we are assigned an overall grade and that overall grade is then um basically we're given a a summit of label category which I'll go over in a minute and then from that it determined our level of support that we will receive from the state as needed to uh make things go
096up. So um but as you can see down the right hand side performance calculation um is overall look at how we're doing on standard standardized assessment and things like that. Then we have our designations and then we have our supports. >> And I do want to say board this was the state's effort to make things clearer and uh more transparent. Um so >> typical >> you can grade that as you wish. >> We go to the next. So I want to go through each one each of the different models just very briefly to to refresh your memory. I did this last fall as well when this first information first came out. I'm not going to spend a ton of time on this initial piece. that we'll get to the projections. So at the elementary um
097level when you're looking at mastery you're looking at their scores and for reading math and science and then also progress towards a proficiency by our English language learners. The you'll see when we get to our projections none of the English language proficiency for us um is counted. If you have less than 15 students at a school in a sub subgroup like that, then they don't count in those 10% get redistributed to other categories. The growth counts for 25% and that's in reading and math. And then readiness at the elementary level is calculated by chronic absenteeism and it counts 10% of our overall score. If you add all that up, it comes out to be 100. And so like a grade that you would be assigning a class in in school will be great basically assign
098a grade out of 100. So at the middle level the it shifts a little bit. We jump to middle. All right. All right. At the middle it jumps a little bit. So mastery uh drops to 60%. Same indicators. growth um jumps to 10% and then readiness jumps to 20%. With the the addition of one indicator in there of advanced coursework, how that works is if a student scores pass advanced on their so one year, the expectation is they are in an advanced course the next year. And so they take a look at did you score pass advance? What percentage of your students are now of those students are now in advanced coursework? And that's how that's determined as to whether or not you're going to get your 10% for advance school. >> And Russ, that's
099really only math. >> That's really only math at this point. Yes. >> High school performance changes changes more significantly. So mastery drops to 50%. Uh is what they're looking at. Readiness jumps to 35%. and the categories there shifts towards the addition of a six-year extended year graduation rate with applied studies. What that means is we take a look at all students that metriculate in so let's go back. So like for this year 2026 uh well the data we're going to look at is for graduating class of 2025 that looks at the graduating class of 2023 and looks at do we or do all of those students what percentage of those students have graduated at this point and um that includes applied studies which our federal graduation rate at the bottom does not include applied studies
100diploma. So um this applies for like students with disabilities have the opportunity to stay extra years have all of those graduated and um every now and then you'll have students who are considered sliders which mean they slide a year and so have all those students graduate. The big addition here though is the readiness for life three framework and so remind you that looks at how well are we preparing students for enrollment employment or enlistment and based on the some kind of some different indicators by the state. So and enrollment. So this uh you get points for students who earn their associates degree. You get points for students who take dual enrollment classes or AP classes. For employment, these are students who are earning or completers in CTE. So they've taken two courses of a sequence
101within a the same CTE area and have earned a credential and taken place in a workbased learning opportunity. So to get full credit for those students, uh they have to do all three of those. For enlistment, it's all based on a student's score on the ASVAB assessment. And and so then we get points for all students across that. And those get added all up and they count 25% of our total grade for that high school. And then the last category for high school that's new is graduation. Counts 15%. It's a look at the federal graduation indicator. The federal government does not recognize things like a GED. they do not recognize the applied studies diploma. And so this is students who get an advanced or a standard diploma. So let's um oh so then all that
102gets added up. Yeah. Jump to the designations. Um so all that gets added up and there's four categories. So the top category is for anyone who is getting 90 points or above which is the distinguished category. These are schools that are exceeding the state's expectations for achievement growth readiness and graduation and they are to be considered models for the rest of the state. On track is 80 to 89 points. So these are all that are meeting the state's expectation um and are receiving in the state's eyes sufficient support to to be able to meet those. Off track means they're not meeting the expectation and they need additional support. Needs intensive support. So below 65 points are those that are um in significant need of help and will have significant um support provided to them. So
103the next slides are all projections of where we believe each school will land. Um I have put on here the percent of points that we expect them to get out of each of those categories. You'll see some some odd numbers on here um like over 100%. Um that is because if you have a a certain number of students that get a pass advance pass advance score gets you more than a whole student. You get a 1.25 for those students. So that's why we have in some areas it would look as though we have over 100% pass rate which as a month or two ago I gave a presentation. It's obvious we don't have over 100% pass rate but we do have a high percentage of students or a good number of students getting a pass
104advance. And so that's why it counteracts any students who aren't successful by giving us an extra quarter of a student for each one of those. As you can see, when you basically take the percentage of points um that we expect to earn with the points possible, then we have a score for each of those. You add all that up, it comes to a 94.28. Um which puts uh that would put George Watkins in as a distinguished school this year. Uh we do expect that to hold. Um, we've been, like I said, we've been going back and forth with the state on some numbers. This is, as of last Wednesday, there's already been some shifting around, but those numbers pretty pretty close to where we're at today. >> New Elementary School. Um, here again, the numbers,
105um, again, you take your percentage points, multiply by points possible there, we do anticipate elementary school being just under the 90 at 88.72. At that point, we expect them right around 89, which would have them on track, just under the point for distinguish. >> Mr. Mr. Muller, I just have a point of clarification. A score at the end versus possible points. That's not is there a mathematical process between the percentage and the possible points? Because >> you multiply the the percentage of points by the points possible that gives you the score on the right. >> Okay. Because I was confusing. It seemed like reading growth and math growth were considerably lower than the other categories and I was confused by that. >> Yeah. Yeah. Less points there. >> Take it. Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yeah,
106there's less work. Yes. >> Thank you. >> Um Yeah. So Quinton Quinton Elementary School U again um when you when you >> number's not >> that number that number is not right. That is the lock number. the Quinton number is um 90.35 at that point. So we do anticipate them being distinguished um and um but I may correct that number in the presentation but it's it's closer to the 90. You get middle school again uh we expect them when you add all that those numbers up it's 88.42 42. We expect to be about an 80 88 grade uh score. Again, just under that the 90 that we're looking for distinguished, but still on track. And then lastly, the high school. Yeah, there we go. Um we're anticipating them coming in at 93.43 um with and
107being u a distinguished school. The um before you jump there real quick, actually, yeah, go ahead. You have a question. Um, one of the things that is not in here, um, and we're still working on calculating the statement has provided, um, basically where we would land there is there is some comparison that takes place at the final level once all scores are done on the subgroups. um those aren't um basically they aren't a part of the scoring until you get to the very end. And your lowest percentage of there's a whole bunch of mathematics that goes into it, but basically your lowest performing um schools if their overall score if your subgroup score for a subgroup is below their overall score um their whole population then it could degrade basically your status to one status
108lower. We don't anticipate being there on any of our subgroups, but we have yet to see sort of what that number is going to be. So this again I do want to just caution this these are all projections. We have yet to get the final number from the state. We expect that in the next couple days. It is expected to be released to the public sometime around next Thursday or Friday. I believe Friday is the actual date that they're anticipating. But the I'll say the SL scores we anticipated to be about a week later and they were presented by the state publicly. So, um, but we anticipating someday. >> And board members, you tend to get history questions. Um, we do incredibly well in history. We test in history, elementary, middle, high. It is not
109part of this. That is not our decision. We still do it. Um, it just does a fact. We wish it would because, uh, we have some distinguished history sports there. But just in case you get that question, I have those. >> We will. >> I do have one more question, Mr. Chair. Money. Um as in in the area of readiness um if we're looking ahead and we want to always improve >> uh where do you think our focus should be to bring that? >> So some of the work that we're doing at the high school already in that um one of the ways that is not a is not a big step. I'll start with the small steps um is we are now ASVAB testing all students and starting their junior year all students will
110take the ASVAB not just for this purpose. Dazz actually provides quite a bit of career um information for us and they have a great interface that we can put our students on to gain career exploration information based on their ASVAB score and so they can then look at okay so proficiency wise through ASVAB one in the military but one outside the military has both that are things that they might want to look at. So we're going to use that information for that. That's one step. We're also taking a look at our CTV offerings. Um that is that is a bigger step and looking at how are we um basically assign aligning our pathways both middle and high to identify students early what career paths they want to go in and make sure we we're providing
111coursework in that career path and allowing all of our CTE pathways so that there are they are completers and have credentials assigned to them and that's a bigger lift but one that we feel is both will help us here but also helps the student much more uh because we want our students graduating with credentials that are recognized in the industry, not just a credential. And so we're also looking at that of like right now we've met with economic development. Some of the things coming in as you've seen are logistics and um manufacturing. So we want to look at our logistics and manufacturing pathways. We don't currently have something logistics. We have an engineering pathway that hits some of the manufacturing, but we want to strengthen those in the future and look at how we can
112bring in more programs that align with those um basically industry needs. So, that will help. We're also taking a look at our prep work for our AP and dual enrollment courses and taking a look at our rigor the rigor of those prep courses and looking at different programs that we put in place to help students who are looking at more the enrollment pathway and strengthening those pathways so that they're more ready for dual enrollment AP courses and increasing the number of data a course we offer. So obviously there's going to be a cost to all of this that we have to keep in mind >> as we're weighing in all these other decisions. >> Yes. >> And that number that dollar amount is well >> we're not sure yet. >> Right. >> Yes. Well, and
113we'd like to achieve with this I think that's a great point question. I think we can also increase achieve some efficiency >> um with our force offerings off offerings which could offset some of that related to yeah to cost. So part of that alignment piece like within the CTE department making sure we have a completer in every area. Part of that may mean that we may need to make some hard decisions on some current pathways that maybe we aren't having good uh basically percent participation in or don't lead to a complet that that really students would benefit. >> Thank you. >> All right. Anyone else? >> I have a quick question. You mentioned a slider. What's the slider >> in graduation? um world you have students are expected to graduate in four years. So if
114they are freshman who just stepped in in 2025 so in 2028 256 sorry 2029 um they they're expected to graduate that is a four-year graduate. However, if for some reason they um they stay for a fifth year they become a slider. They don't count as much but they do still give us some points towards our graduation index. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Miller. >> Thank you, sir. Thank you. >> All right. Next item, Dr. Nichols. Schoolboard calendar. >> Oh, yes, sir. This is uh pretty quick. Just uh we have some adjustments board members. Um so, anytime we change the calendar, we have to share that. Um we're here today. Uh we are not having a work session on the 21st. Uh we have a joint budget retreat with the board of supervisors
115on the 7th. Uh time and location. I just got that this this morning. Um, so I believe it's 9:00 a.m. uh >> at Providence Forest Force Center, but we'll make sure you have that. Um, Tuesday the 11th is our regularly scheduled board meeting. Um, instead of the 21st work session, we have a work session on November 17th. Um, so the two in red that you see are the adjustments uh related to calendar uh board members. So I do believe that comes to you with action uh later this evening. So >> correct. Anybody have any questions? >> All right. The item that we added earlier this evening at the start of our meeting is now up. Mrski, Victims of Communism Memorial Day. If you want to explain again or perhaps read the resolution into the record
116that we're all going to consider. >> Okay. Uh so on a few occasions I brought forth this resolution which I found um on the civics alliance uh website and it was something that I really felt important about and so I brought it to the school board and as previously mentioned I had the approval given at the last schoolboard meeting to bring it forward or to take the the time to meet and uh discuss the curriculum aspect of it. And I want to thank uh Mr. Miller and Jamie Hutchinson who provided me with their their time. I thought we had a really great meeting. I learned a lot. And in light of the recently released history and social studies standards, specifically as they relate to communism, I have, as I mentioned, decided to withdraw my previous
117proposal for the school board to go through the process of approving that victims of communism memorial free online curriculum. That said, I do still want to consider having us consider moving forward with requesting having the board consider adopting the victims of communism memorial day resolution which has been revised first by removing any references to encouraging or endorsing the use of any specified curriculum and then thanks to Mr. Banano he has streamlined it quite a bit and made it so it's fits nicely on one page. Um so with permission I'll go ahead and read it as requested >> please. Whereas on November 7th, 1917, Vladimir Lennon's Boleviks seized control of the Russian government, resulting in the world's first communist regime, and in communist parties around the world, subsequently subjecting peoples from all walks of life to
118theft, destruction, famines, surveillance, and violent repression, destroying political, religious, economic, and scientific and artistic freedom. Whereas the people of the United States should always remember the crimes committed by communist regimes which are still being committed today. Whereas multiple states including Virginia have either established or introduced bills designating November 7th as victims of communism memorial day. Whereas based on the philosophy of Karl Marx, communism has proven incompatible with the ideals of liberty, prosperity, and dignity of human life. Whereas communist regimes worldwide have killed approximately 100 million people and subjected countless others to widespread human rights abuses and robbed their own citizens of the rights of freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom of association through coercion, brutality and fear. Whereas educating our students about the history of communism and its impact on the world is
119essential to promoting freedom, democracy, and human rights. And victims of communism memorial, sorry, I think we need to take that out. Victims of communism memorial today day provides an opportunity for our students and communities to learn about this important part of history and to reflect on the importance of freedom and democracy. Now therefore, be it resolved that the New Kent County School Board hereby designates November 7th as Victims of Communism Memorial Day to be observed annually in honor and remembrance of all the victims of communism regimes and encourages all school administrators, teachers, students, and members of our community to commemorate this day by promoting the values of freedom, democracy, and human rights. Uh going back to the portion about the state of Virginia having either introduced or established November 7th as victims of communism memorial
120day. It has been introduced in Virginia, but it has not passed. There have been a couple of years where our governor has uh promulgated it as a a day of recognition, but it's not anything that's specific and and ongoing on an annual basis. He would have to do it every year to make it an official recognition. >> So, should we strike that paragraph? >> Well, it says >> it's fair. >> They have either established or introduced bills. >> Virginia has introduced a bill >> which we but we can remove the well it says multiple states. Some states have passed this already. >> We just streamlined it to include just specifically Virginia but good question. >> All right. Anybody have any questions or comments? The only other thing I wanted to add was that in meeting
121with uh Mr. Miller, I asked if it would be possible just to offer some suggestions as to what our middle and or high school could do. And obviously that's not anything they would have to do. It's just some ideas that I would send forward to him and anybody else if you have ideas. >> I have a question. Does that website provide suggestions? >> Well, the website is specific to the curriculum which provides a lot of different resources, but as to whether or not those resources are appropriate. Um, I'm I've made Mr. Millerware well well aware of everything it offers and it if in his review he decides that there's something in there that is appropriate and could be utilized. But as far as advocating or requiring our schools, let me strike the advocation part. As
122far as requiring our schools to implement or do anything specific on this day, we are not doing that. It would just be here are some suggestions. Take them or leave them. >> So I guess my question then is where did you get the suggestions from? My brain. Oh, okay. All right. Anybody else have any questions? All right. Moving on. Next item is citizen comment period, but we have no signups this evening. So we are moving on to the action items. >> All right. Do I hear a motion to approve the superintendence advisory committees as presented? >> So move. >> Mr. Rhymer has the motion. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. Ba has a second. Miss Davis, please pull the board. >> Mr. Rhyme, >> I. >> Mr. W. >> I. >> Mr. Rosski.
123>> Hi. >> Miss Kuna. >> I. >> Mr. Pagano. >> I. Motion passes unanimously. Next action item. Do I have a motion to approve the VSBA policy services contract renewal of the contract? >> So moved. Miss Kuna has the motion. Do I have a second? >> I'm sorry. Second. Sorry. Mr. Rhymer has the second. M. Davis, please pull the board. >> Mr. Rhymer. >> I. >> Mr. Vaughlet. >> Hi. >> Miss Tumbroski. >> Hi. >> Miss Kuna. >> Hi. >> And Mr. Pagan. >> I. Motion passes unanimously. Do I have a motion to approve fiscal year 2025 appropriation of funds as presented by Miss Morgine? >> So moved. >> Miss Couna has the motion. Mr. Rhymer has the second. M. Davis, please pull the board. >> Mr. Riner, >> hi. >> Mr. >> Hi. >>
124Miss Tumbrosky. >> Hi. >> Miss Kuna. >> Hi. >> And Mr. Pagano. >> I. Motion passes unanimously. Miss Davis, if you need us to slow down, you let me know. Right. Thank you. Do I have a motion to approve the CIP transfer for SEC uh for technology equipment as presented? >> So move. >> Mr. Rhymer has the motion. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Mr. Broski has the second. >> Mr. Mr. Rymer. >> Hi, >> Mr. Vaugh. >> Hi, >> Mr. >> Hi, >> Miss Kuna. >> I >> and Mr. Pagano. >> I motion passes unanimously. Do I have a motion to approve the school board meeting calendar updates as presented? >> So moved. >> Mr. Va has the motion. >> Do I second? >> Miss Kuna has the second. >> Mr. Davis.
125>> Mr. Rymer. >> I. >> Mr. Vaugh. >> I. >> Mr. Trosky. I >> Miss Kuna >> I >> and Mr. Pagano >> I motion passes unanimously and our final action item tonight. Do I have a motion to approve the resolution as read into the record for the establishment of victims of communism memorial day to be recognized annually on November 7th. >> So moved. >> Mr. Dumbroski has the motion. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Miss Kuna has a second. Miss Davis. >> Mr. IRA. >> Hi. >> Mr. Boat. >> Hi, >> Miss Tumbroski. >> Hi, >> Miss Kuna. >> Hi. >> And Mr. >> Hi. Motion passes unanimously. We are moving on now to our comment section. Mr. Rhymer. Um, I just want to say thank you to Mr. Hawkman and the
126administration for setting forward a long-term capital improvement plan. It's more than necessary and I fully support its development as well as when the request comes a uh facility assessor and hopefully take that we'll have be able to afford to take that in uh for multiple years. Uh for me this is this is one of the things that we is really important uh capital It's not just capital improvements. It's capital maintenance. It's planning for the what we're going to have to deliver in terms of the capacity. Uh it fits well within uh our refreshment of the athletic field and our commitment to building a new uh elementary school. and this county is growing rapidly yet we're going to need to plan for that. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Ry or Mr. Bot. >> Yeah, I
127just want to thank um Dr. Nichols, our administration. Um what what you see transpiring in this county um with student achievement, with capital improvement, building everything that's being worked on is over the top. It's fabulous. Um, I've never seen a more coll collaborative team working in unity for the good of the students and the citizens than what we have here in New Kent. Um, I couldn't be more proud of team new and what we do. um when you consider the size of our county which is obviously going to explode and is exploding but I think that all of you have done such a fabulous job in getting the right personnel on board appropriating funds working through a state uh department of education that is like chasing a cat hurting cats and yet we still come
128out on top every time. And as I sat and looked at these students, these students are proud to be part of new >> uh school system. And that's not always the case. And we can't underscore that. So I just want to say thank you to all of you. >> Thank you, Mr. V. Mr. Tumbroski. >> I certainly echo those those comments. It is. I'm almost started just tearing up a little bit just seeing all the amazing things that these students are doing and then what they said. You could tell they just have a sincerity about them and and it's amazing to see. I also wanted to welcome back Mr. VA. They're so excited to have you here. Um just to keep the board apprised, I have received the 2025 VSBA delegate assembly handbook. I should
129I will be reviewing it in the next several weeks. It's only 169 pages. So, um I'll through it pretty quickly. Um my plan is to then notify each of you individually of the uh legislative initiatives and uh that way you can get your thoughts together before we discuss them at the work session. Um, as previously mentioned, October is recognized as bullying prevention month. And I believe this provides us a really good time to reflect on the importance of fostering environments where respect, kindness, and understanding prevail. Bullying at its core is about power and control. It's an attempt to dominate others through fear and through force. And when we think about the broader implications of unchecked bullying, we can see its parallels in larger systems like communism, which has historically been one of the most destructive
130forms of political and economic oppression. And so it's a reminder as to why teaching our students to stand against bullying in all its forms is so critical, not just for their personal growth, but for the preservation of freedom and dignity in our society. So I really want to thank my board members for supporting this re resolution and uh appreciate your patience through the process. Next public service announcement. The polls are open, so don't forget to vote because nothing says that you love and care about this country like a good old trip to the ballot box. If you haven't registered, what are you waiting for? Um, shout out to Hoof Fest last Friday. It was wonderful. An absolute blast. The new track and field have been officially cushioned and the game was incredible. one play in
131particular really had me on my feet. Uh last my apologies. I know I've gone on a minute, but I wanted to take a some time to reflect on the many heartbreaking events that occurred in our country this past September, which serve as just horrific reminders of what division and hatred continues to exist and plague our country. Yet, I know that with for every dark moment we've either heard about or seen, I know that there are countless acts of kindness and goodness that are occurring every day that often go unnoticed. And I want to thank everyone, especially in New Kent, whether in our schools or throughout our community, who are choosing to live their lives with integrity and compassion. And I hope we can all commit to trying to be a little bit kinder, more respectful,
132and no matter where we are, whether it's at work, in the store, and especially online, instead of reacting and reaching out in anger, I hope we can pause and act and try to understand where the other person's coming from, learn from each other's perspectives, and continue to make New Kent an amazing place to live and to work. >> Thank you, Mr. Broki. Miss Cooney. >> Well, a lot has been said, so I'm going to keep it short. Um, I am incredibly proud of Team UK. It was like a family uh at homecoming. And the work that went into creating the pregame events, it was just spectacular. And it it really did feel like a family. So, thank you for all that hard work. Thank you for all the work that you do preparing for these
133meetings and all that. It takes a lot of work to do all of that. So, uh I'm incredibly proud of of everyone and I just want everyone to have a great night. >> Thank you, Miss Kuna. I echo my colleagues comments and we'll also keep it short. Congratulations to all the students and Miss Mallerie who received awards and recognitions tonight. That was pretty great to see. Very impressed with Mr. Ayala um as one of those students tonight. And then I want to, you know, we we generally say administration, but I want to thank Mr. Hawkman, Miss Morgant, Miss Miller, Miss Anderson, Dr. Nichols, and everyone else for all the work that you do to get us prepared. These presentations, I know, require a lot of work. There's a lot of detail involved. You're educating us
134along the way. And it really helps to have that commitment and support to the school board. So, thank you guys very much. Mr. Davis, >> uh, there is just one thing I just wanted to say. Um I'm very adamant about school spirit. I think that's easily one of the biggest factors in um considering their school as a good school. I am part of our uh spirit squad. I I'd say as a member of the marching Trojans um and I was at the home on homecoming football game. It was it was a really it was a really great night. And and basically what I'm just trying to say is that uh having all these recognitions and stuff will boost school spirit and um overall uh it just needs to be in place is is what I
135mean. >> It's good. >> Well, thank you. And if you have any ideas about that, feel free to bring them to to the board. >> And last but certainly not least, Dr. Nichols. >> Yes. And thank you board members for your comments. Uh I love the team. I get to work with um and I think it shows. Um and when I say team, the folks that you see in front of you, uh Miss Davis, who keeps us straight, but uh all 521 people who are part of this team, like we can't do it without the driver, the person in student nutrition, our teachers, our parents, and you name it. Uh tonight, you got to see threes in action uh with our DECA kids. um you know our this is athlete of the month but you
136know we have athletes of the month that have a 36 and a 38 like very few people lead the state at tackles and still are in dual enrollment and honors course work and do it we just and like Mr. Davis I get to work with incredible people I started and ended my day at Men Elementary um and you want to talk about an amazing place Dr. Day is doing great work there u to the work that's happening at Quinton George Watkins and u love the energy Mr. Fudge is bringing to the middle school uh with that incredible staff that is leading the way and they the high school really showed off today. So it's uh it's an honor to do this work and I thank you for the opportunity to do it. So thank you
137sir. Thank you Dr. Nichols. All right everybody, the next meeting of the school board will be a regular meeting held on Tuesday, November 11th here in the historic courthouse boardroom at 6 pm. Prior to that, the close session will begin at 5:30. Our meeting is adjourned at 7:57