001flexibility we have. If you don't have enough, we can create some additional funding through other categories that haven't been expended fully. But we're watching closely cuz um it's a reality that we face. Utilities and fuel are going to go up, so we need to take account of that, not just this fiscal year, but for next year, too. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. I think the Evergreen number is correct, Dr. Lane. This is $62,500 for Evergreen. That's the 62,000. Cuz we added the additional um stipends to it. So, it was originally 55, and we added the stipends piece, and so it became 62.5. Thank you. Okay, next we move to number five, public comment period. At this time, we have no one signed up for public comments. Do we have some Who is that back there?
002Oh. Ms. Tinsley. Hello, everyone. Um Superintendent Brown, Board Pritchard, Vice Chair Tucker, and all board members, and everyone assembled. I just wanted to come and say I had the honor privilege Oh. I'm sorry. I had the honor privilege myself and Nicole Benjamin. I'm sorry. Ward five, Laquisha Tinsley. Um and so I am the chair for the Parent Advisory Committee, also known as PAC. And me and Nicole Benjamin had the honor of attending the Family Engagement Team last week for the conference in um Raleigh. And I just wanted to come and just say that it was A lot of conferences are boring, but that was really an awesome conference. It was some dynamic speakers, and I wanted to give the flowers to your family engagement team cuz they were absolutely wonderful. So, I just want to
003give a shout-out to Dr. Brandy Lee, Ms. Ebony Patterson, and Ms. Crystal McDaniel. Um Ms. Uh Dr. Lee gave their first presentation at the conference, and she was absolutely wonderful. People were asking her just how would they Petersburg just in expanded their family engagement by having the family engagement university and how it has really transformed Petersburg, and how we can do better. And I just wanted to also add my takeaway um from the conference was family engagement is not an event, it's a system that drives impact. Attendance challenges require deeper connection, not just communication. And the work is just not to engage families, but to build systems where families feel seen, valued, connected to student success. So, just wanted to put that information out there, and just your team is small and mighty, but the
004work they do is hard, but it is they're passionate about what they're doing. And I just can't wait to see more family engagement. Just wanted to say that. Appreciate it, Ms. Tinsley. And I do apologize if there's a glare back there, so we cannot see who's sitting back there. Okay, is there anyone else for public comment? Okay, if not, this ends our public comment period, and we will move next to number six, our action items. Six A. Thank you. Ms. Brown. Thank you, Mr. Presiding Officer. Six A is our field trips for PHS and Vernon Johns Middle School JROTC, the JCLC Summer Camp to Fort AP Hill, Bowling Green, Virginia on June 13th to June 19th, 2026. And you can see there, it's hard to see with the glare, but we have about 15 students
005in grades 8 8 through 12 and they will be going to for JROTC to the Bowling Green, Virginia. So at this time it is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the field trip of PHS and VJMS JROTC JCLC summer camp to Fort AP Hill, Bowling Green, Virginia on June 13th to the 19th, 2026 as provided. One thing. Mr. Miles. Uh we need to add on there cuz the name was changed to Fort Walker so put in parentheses beside Fort AP Hill Fort Walker? Walker. Walker. Fort Walker. So if you Google it online, you'll see that they have both up there so so it won't be no confusion. Thank you. I will have uh we will add the Fort and so when I make the recommendation, I'll add that as well. So again, it
006is a superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the field trip of PHS and VJMS JROTC JCLC summer camp to Fort Walker in Bowling Green, Virginia on June 13th to the 19th as provided. Thank you, Ms. Brown. Any questions? Is there a motion to accept the superintendent's recommendation? So moved, Mr. Chair. Second. Mr. Dean, second by Mr. Miles. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. 6B. Thank you. It's our 2026-2027 dual enrollment his student student handbook. It is a superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the 2026 to 2027 dual enrollment student handbook as provided. Okay, thank you, Ms. Brown. Any questions from board members? Is there a motion to accept? So moved. Moved by Mr. Miles. Is there a second? Second. Mrs. Proctor. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. 6C. Thank you, budget
007printer. It is policy recommendation for dual enrollment and special programs. So you heard that this afternoon with Miss Corraro. So it is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the dual enrollment and special programs board policy recommendation for policy IG BI-R special programs as provided. Thank you Miss Bridget. Any questions? Comments? Is there a motion to accept the superintendent's recommendation? So moved. Moved by Miss Proctor. Is there a second? Mr. Pierce. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. 6D Thank you budget Bridget. This is an updated revised job description with one minor change. And so this is for if you could pull that up. This is for the program manager position. And so what we've done is made one minor change so that we could we made adjustments to the actual um experience that
008was required. And so if you scroll up to the job specifications, if you scroll a little bit more at like it to the bottom. I just want to highlight minimum qualifications is where we made the change. And so originally we had the um the number of years of experience. And so we also wanted to add we going to allow them to have experience that wasn't just in K-12 because there are federal grants that are you know people have experiences. So we wanted to be able to open it up to be able to provide more candidates with the ability to apply. And so that is the minor change that we are changing. And so um with that it is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the updated revised program manager of state and federal
009programs job description as provided. Any questions from board members? Is there a motion to accept the superintendent's recommendation? So moved. Moved by Mr. Pierce. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Dance. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. 6E Thank you. This is a purchase approval request for the board requesting pressing approval to move forward with collaborative teaching and learning group consulting. And so we can pull that up just really quickly our purchase approval request. Make it a little bit larger for me. Thank you. So Petersburg City Public Schools request um the $120,000 which will be 24,000 per school and this is using our SIG money, our school improvement grant money and this is for instructional supporting coaching for elementary and middle school science. The proposed instructional supporting coaching services are designed to strengthen tier one
010science instruction across our elementary and middle schools through a comprehensive job embedded approach. The consultant will work collaboratively with teachers, instructional coaches, and school leaders to review lesson plans for alignment, rigor, and student engagement prior to the classroom implementation. Ongoing learning walks will be conducted with school administrators and division leadership to monitor instructional practices, provide actionable feedback, and ensure alignment with evidence-based strategy strategies. This model emphasizes sustained job embedded professional learning focused on systemic instruction and the development of the science and engineering practices or the SEPs to deepen our students' conceptual understanding. Teachers will receive targeted support in establishing and refining professional learning communities with a focus on intentional planning, data-driven decision-making, and the implementation of high-quality instructional practices. This includes both during the school day planning support and after-school sessions for debriefing, reflection, and
011goal setting. And so again, the consultants will provide direct instructional support through modeling, coaching, and feedback cycles and targeted micro-professional learning sessions. Um and so of course, so this will provide so that professional learning sessions will address key instructional priorities such as science thinking routines, academic discourse among students, scaffold scaffolding techniques, and small group instruction. PLC coaching will further support teachers in designing engaging, standards-aligned lessons that promote active student learning. So, this to ensure the equitable inclusive instruction, our professional learning communities or our PLCs will integrate universal design for instruction to proactively create accessible learning environments for all students. Additionally, teachers will be supported in strengthening specially specially designed instruction for our special education students and implementing intentional scaffolds to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Emphasis will be also be placed on planning
012and facilitating hands-on investigations that foster authentic reasoning and deeper student engagement. Services will be delivered across our identified elementary schools because this is SIG grant money again, Cool Springs, Cool Spring, excuse me, Lakemont, Pleasant's Lane, and Walnut Hill, grade five, as well as Vernon Johns Middle School for grade eight, ensuring a coherent and aligned approach to science instruction across grade levels. This comprehensive model builds sustainable instructional capacity and aligns directly with the division school improvement priorities. So, I recommend that I ask the board approve this partnership as a strategic and sustainable investment in strengthening science instruction across identified schools through targeted job-embedded coaching and professional learning. By building teacher capacity, enhancing instructional practices, and supporting the implementation of evidence-based strategies, this initiative directly advances the goals of the school improvement grant or SIG. It is
013essential to ensure that our most vulnerable students have consistent access to rigorous, engaging, and high-quality science instruction that leads to improved academic outcomes. This procurement type was an informal request for proposals. We received two. It's for the federal fiscal year, which is the 2025-2026 school year, which means we have to spend it by 9:30 and have the services provided before 9:30 2026. And of course, it is a part of our school improvement grant, and the recommended vendor is Collaborative Teaching Learning Group Consulting, and does not to exceed $120,000. So, with that, it is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the purchase approval request for Collaborative Teaching and Learning Group Consulting CTLG as provided. Questions, Ms. Mells. I don't have a problem with the school improve, you know, working with the group, but I
014look I look at it $24,000 for a school. How much How is this thing going to Is there a calendar that they have, a schedule that they have, a itinerary that they have? How they going to do this? Because $24,000 for a school for a school is not a lot of money. And And the thing is is that if they're going to do it like a workshop, or they're going to come in and work with them during the year all during the year hours per week, hours per week. How is this How is this going to What's the curriculum? So, it ends in September. If you go back through So, if you go back through, it talks about the different pieces. Mr. Brown can come and Mr. Brown can come to the podium and talk
015about some of the pieces. But, if you go back if you all scroll back up for me, it'll talk about specifically what they're going to do. So, it >> going to do I mean timeline of the time they're going to spend in the school. Okay, I can have that. >> a schedule, a calendar of of what they when they're going to be there, what they're going to do, and spend time with the teachers. I don't know if they have itinerary for for timeline schedule of being in the schools working with the teachers. >> Yes, so once the grant is approved, and once this is approved, we will set up a timeline. But, it is over It was Some of the work will start Some of the professional development will start this summer, and then some
016of it would It would actually carry over into the beginning of the school year. >> Okay, so it will start out like a workshop working with the science teachers, and then And they also participate in um professional development and planning time. They'll be providing teachers with development during planning. but they're also being in the classroom supporting teachers. So, they will have a schedule so they can support all the schools. So, you'll know when they're supposed to be there and everything. So, is it is it for just the beginning of the year or is it they're going to continue all year long? So, that depends on the funding. And so, by because of we because this funding is from the state, we have a cutoff of when we have to have this money spent. And so,
017this money has to be spent by the October date. Okay, so you'll start out with teacher development and then go on from there and then they'll go into the classroom. Yes. Okay. >> a similar program like that now at the high school supporting math instruction and science at the high school right now. Do you have a way of showing how much it would how how much after so how much impact did it have? Yes, we can so we just started this initiative and so I can bring back at the end of the year cuz our focus has been on supporting students in biology science and so they've been working with providing professional development with our teachers. One of the things that Ms. Fields was concerned about was providing teachers with strategies to address because our
018teachers have the content knowledge and we were trying to build that strategy to support students in the classroom. So, we can bring back some of the feedback whether it is quantitative or qualitative data, we can bring it back at the end of the year. Can we do something at the end when we finish something like this get feedback from the teachers how they feel like it it it benefited them? Yes, we do do checks with teachers and pulse and so they do offer if it is worthwhile for them. And so, that's one of the reasons cuz we started with math and then we moved over to science cuz we saw the impact it had with math. Okay, very good. All right, thank you. Any other questions? Miss Yes. Mr. Brown, I know that so I
019know we talk about you say you take a pulse check and so as we collect that feedback, can we just have that feedback to be able to share what teachers have said about kind of the services? Okay. Yes, ma'am. We got you. We can make it available. Okay, got you. Okay. Great. Okay. And also just wanted to clarify I know working with Miss Dr. Jackson, I know that we're given the SIG money comes out I don't want to say late. I don't want to say that. But it comes out and it gives you a very short window to be able to put your plan together to be able to spend the money and has to be focused and so the state has to approve any plan that we have and it has to be high
020quality in order for them to say yes, you can use the funds to be able to do that. Is that correct, Mr. Brown and Dr. Correct. So, the state did approve our application and what we submitted. And so part of our application to the state was a recommendation of having this type of PD for teachers. So, the state has already approved that for us. So, we're bringing it to the board to approve as well. School Improvement Office for the Virginia Department of Education is who we work closely with to be able to put strategy in place and of course you know they're monitoring Petersburg very closely related to strategies and so things that we've seen in math that have been working, we wanted to apply to the new content area of science. So, thank you.
021Hope that answers everybody's questions. Made your recommendation. Okay. Yes. Okay. Is there a motion to accept the superintendent's recommendation? >> So moved. Moved by Mr. Miles. Is there a second? >> Second. Mr. Dance. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Six F. Thank you, Virtual School Board members. Our next purchase approval request for the School Board is Hubbard Educational Consultants. And so if we will pull that up, we can talk through that really quickly. And so, this is also the other part of our school improvement grant, and this is primarily for our our CSI elementary schools that we have that are in comprehensive school improvement. So, Petersburg City Public Schools is requesting $172,939.50, which is $57,646 per school through the school improvement grant to support comprehensive support and improvement efforts at the elementary school level,
022specifically at Cool Spring, Lakemont and Pleasants Lane, which are our three identified comprehensive school improvement schools. The purpose of this investment is to strengthen the capacity of our administrators, our teachers, and instructional staff by building on existing practices and introducing evidence-based strategies that ensure high-quality instruction is consistently implemented across reading and mathematics. This partnership provides a comprehensive approach that includes technical assistance, job-embedded professional development, leadership coaching, and a formal comprehensive school quality review, or CSQR. Hubbard Educational Specialists will support schools in developing and refining school improvement plans to align to the research-based practices, including the creation of smart goals, targeted strategies, and systems for ongoing progress monitoring. The work emphasizes collaboration with school leadership teams and instructional staff to to ensure alignment between planning, instruction, and student outcomes. The scope of services includes ongoing technical
023assistance to guide the school improvement process, monthly and quarterly feedback cycles grounded in qualitative and quantitative data, and structured learning walks to monitor the implementation of tier one instruction. Leadership teams will engage in a structured professional learning series focused on effective leadership practices, instructional observations, data analysis, and the development of high-functioning professional learning communities, or PLCs. Instructional staff will receive targeted professional development centered on unpacking the standards, differentiating instruction for students, small group teaching, and the use of aligned assessments, including the technology-enhanced items to inform daily instruction. A key component, scroll up for me a little bit. Thank you. A key component of this work is the comprehensive school quality reviews that would take place during which a team or specialist will conduct classroom observations, analyze instruction and planning artifacts over a 3-year period, and
024gather stakeholder input through interviews. This process will result in a detailed written report and presentation outlining strengths, areas of growth, and actionable recommendations to guide continuous improvement. The proposed services are designed to build sustainable systems that improved instructional effectiveness, strengthen leadership capacity, and sure that teaching practices aligned to the diverse needs with the diversities of all of our learners. This partnership represents a strategic and sustainable investment in advancing the goals of our school improvement grant by improving instructional quality and student outcomes in targeted in these three targeted schools. It is essential in ensuring that our most vulnerable students have consistent access to rigorous, engaging, and high-quality instruction that supports long-term academic success. The procurement type was we put we we reviewed informal request was an informal RFP request for proposals. We received 10. The federal
025fiscal year is a term that we were provided again is 25-26, and then the proposed end date, of course, is by the time you have to spend federal dollars, which is 9/30/2026. The contract spending amount again is 172,939 for our most comprehensive schools. Um, and so this is our school improvement will fund it, and it's not to exceed the amount of $172,939.50. And so with that, you want to ask the question before we make the recommendation? It is the super- Any questions from board members? I think Mr. Miles is good. You good? Now, it has to be because it's the school federal school year because of the federal, you know, the federal school year for the federal government doesn't end in June. It has to be done. Exactly, that's correct. It has to be done
026in order for the SIG grant to pay for it. So, that's why we are pushing a lot, and remember it's over the summer. It's now, so we get a chance to really, really work and hone in on it. It should be over the summer and the beginning of the year, Dr. Gay, Dr. Mr. Brown. It should be done because what happens is because we have August and September, we also have April, May, and then of whatever professional learnings. I'll turn it over to you. It should start right away once you once we get approval. Yes, uh, some of the work will start right away, um, but a lot of the work will be done over the summer and in the school year. Um, I just want to make sure the community understand that we we
027are trying to accelerate the learning for our adults so they can support students, especially in our schools that are deemed the low-performing schools and by the state. Good. The reason why I asked it because, um, because of the end date. I just want to make sure we get our hours that we paid for. Yes, sir. We will. Okay, so does the state. And the state, trust me, those those deep questions that they ask before they approve it, they go through it with a fine-tooth comb, and they want to know, especially those schools that are identified. So, we have to put together this plan to say, "Here's how we're going to tackle it." So, absolutely, they I think they're in agreement. Board member Miles, yep. And this plan was developed with the school with the school
028leaders. Right. So, it is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the purchase approval request for Hubbard Educational Consultants as provided. You heard the superintendent's recommendations. Is there a motion to accept? >> So moved. By Mr. >> Second. Seconded by Mr. Pierce. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Brown. We'll move next to D. Okay. Thank you, Board Chair, Petersburg School Board members. Our next one is Everdream Everdriven contract. If you pull that up, so that the board is aware. This contract is related to our transportation related to our students who programs. Is that correct? Um um So, this is the contractor. So, this is amended proposal. This is an agreement for provision. And so, this is an agreement that we will be extending to The term of this agreement is
029to extend to December 16th, 2028. This is we typically have Evergreen. So, Evergreen is not a new provider. Is that correct, Dr. Manson? Evergreen is not a new provider for Petersburg. Everdriven, I'm sorry. Forgive me. Everdriven. Thank you. Everdriven is not a new provider. Is that correct? Okay, it's new this school year. Okay, thank you. So, this is for our transportation for our students with disabilities and our students with special needs. Is this also McKinney-Vento or no? Okay, so McKinney-Vento. So, this is a transportation service that is helping us with our students with disabilities that travel to our day programs if they are placed in programs and some of our McKinney-Vento students. They provide the support that we need for additional transportation um outside of the school division. And so, this agreement this contractor and
030the district entered into the agreement provision of alternative transportation solutions. Um and so, is there anything else? We'll go to the second page for me, please. Let's see. Here are some of some of the fees that are attached. The fees for services and as you can tell, if you can look at our trip fee, the minimum trip fee, wheelchair, car seats, things that they need as a part of providing transportation. And then for the last page, Okay? And again, this is a minute to a contract. This is subcontracted drivers will wait 3 minutes after the scheduled pick up time before departing. And so we have to work with our parents to make sure because this we are we are preparing for this additional service. And so we need to make sure that we have parents
031and everyone on board to make sure that we don't waste this opportunity for us to have additional support to get kids to those specialty programs for day schools and for our special needs and for our McKinney-Vento. Listen. Any questions from board members? Your recommendation. It is a superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the Everdriven Technologies LLC contract as provided. Is it motion to accept? So moved, Mr. Chair. Mr. Miles, all in favor? I. Opposed? Motion carries. 6H Okay, 6H is our Claude Moore grant that you've heard you heard I think the last board meeting that we have. So this is the Claude Moore Scholars application for the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation. And so I just want I don't know there's not a recommendation here for action. And so I will just again remind our
032board members that we reviewed the Claude Moore grant. And so as a part of this grant, Mr. Brown, is there anything you want to add outside of the Claude Moore before I make the recommendation? It did. How much is our Claude Moore grant this year? I know we did it the last board meeting. Let's see we can Dr. The grant report Keep scrolling. Keep scrolling through Sorry, Mr. Scrolling through. Okay, keep scrolling through for us. Thank you. Thank you. Cuz it's weird. It's not a It's not a regular grant, you know, it's in the system. So, we're showing you. Here it is right here. Thank you. Okay, and so, um the dollar amount of the funding request is $177,380. And then it shows a total current organizational budget of $2,351,371. Our total project budget is
033$465,140. And this is for July 1st, 2026. And it's going to run through June 30th, 2027. And of course, it starts July 1 again, and the funding request will cover again June 30th. The purpose of this funding request, including a brief description. The purpose of this funding request is to help increase the number of students that complete the nurse aide program with their state license. Help advance mental health assisting careers classes with work-based learning opportunities. Explore dual enrollment opportunities and increase retention within the practical nursing program. Additionally, the funding request is to help build sustainable processes with the health and medical sciences program that are in compliance with the VDOE and BON bond. And so, the jurisdictions we serve they're serving is the city of Petersburg. And it of course will align with our new
034mission. And of course, our new mission, and I hope everybody is learning it cuz we're going to be launching all of that coming up for our strategic plan. The mission of Petersburg City Public Schools is to develop and empower student empower students through innovation and collaboration so that they demonstrate virtue, good character, and make meaningful contributions to society. And board members, you all created that mission. Virtue, good character, right? And make meaningful contributions to society. So, I just want to tap on that. Um and then of course, our goal is to for every student to graduate with the ability to become a productive member of Petersburg City community. And so we are providing career pathway exposure, exploration, and experiences that support our vision of increasing access to our high-demand career pathways. And so that is
035enough. And so at this point I will make the recommendation. So it is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the Claude Moore grant as provided. Thank you, Ms. Brown. You've heard the recommendation. Is there a motion to accept? So moved. Moved by Mr. Miles. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Pierce. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Next we move to our proclamations. Six I J K L. Thank you for our three proclamations. So we have our proclamation for our National Assistant Principals Week of April the 6th through the 10th, 2026. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the proclamation for our National Assistant Principals appreciation week for April 6th through the 10th, 2026. Thank you, Ms. Brown. You've heard the superintendent's recommendation. Is there a motion to accept? So
036moved. Moved by Mr. Pierce. Is there a second? Second. Ms. Proctor. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. J Next proclamation. Our proclamation from the Virginia School Board Association as it is Workforce Readiness Month. And so we are excited. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the proclamation PCPS recognition of our VSBA Workforce Readiness Month as provided. Thank you. You've heard the superintendent's recommendation. Is there a motion to accept? So moved. Moved by Mrs. Tucker. Is there a second? Mr. Pierce. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Our next proclamation for proclamation K. It is Administrative Professionals Day on April 22nd, 2026. And so, we It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the proclamation of Administrative Professionals' Day as provided. You've heard the superintendent's recommendation.
037Is there a motion to accept? So moved, Mr. Chair. Moved by Mr. Dance. Is there a second? >> Second. Mr. Pierce. All in favor? Aye. >> Aye. Oppose? Motion carries. Our for our next one, L, our proclamation is National Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month for April 2026. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the proclamation of National Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month as April 2026 as provided. >> Thank you, Ms. Brown. Is there a motion to accept the superintendent's recommendation? >> So moved. >> Moved by Mrs. Tucker. Is there a second? Second. >> Mrs. Proctor. All in favor? Aye. Oppose? Motion carries. Thank you all. Next, we move to number seven, our information items, superintendent's report, 7A. Thank you, board chair, Mr. Chair, and school board members. Brief updates for our superintendent's
038report this this evening. So, we will start with our first slide. So, first slide, please. It is our VSBA Art Show winner. Thank you very much. Next slide. Our VSBA Art Show winners, and we know that we will be in our next board meeting. We will be acknowledging and um supporting our students. And so, we are congratulations to Isaac Forrest, a talented 10th grader at Petersburg High School. He recently received third place in the high school category of the 2026 Virginia School Boards Association VSBA Southside Regional Art Contest. Our entire school board was able to travel to Greensville, which is Emporia, is that correct? To celebrate um to celebrate our VSBA winners and to collaborate with other boards and other localities around this work around our art show. And so, we are really excited. Congratulations
039to Isaac Forrest. We look forward to seeing you at next month's board meeting. Next slide, please. Our IT team earns our 20 earns the 2026 Southside Virginia Regional Technology Consortium Award. Congratulations to the members of our IT department who earned awards at the 2026 Southside Virginia Regional Technology Consortium Awards Banquet. An Anjanette Patterson, Instructional Technology Support Award. Sherri Ramirez, Technology Teacher Award. And Michael Lee, Technology Support Award. And I think Michael Lee is here tonight. And so, congratulations. Thank you so much. Thank you to the IT team. And thank you, of course, to none other than Miss Yates for your support and to those winners. Next slide, please. PCPS supports McKinney-Vento students and families. And so, we want to update you that the PCPS Student Services Department has recently partnered with Peoples Advantage Helping Hands
040and the City of Petersburg on the Community Housing Resource Fair. Students and families also received support and information on housing assistance, financial assistance programs, job opportunities, and community resources. I got the chance to attend and observe our team in action, and this was a wonderful event. And I want to thank our PCPS teams for supporting our McKinney-Vento students and families in this work. So, thank you to Dr. Manson um and the teams. Our next one, PCPS provides health and wellness resources again to students, staff, and families. We recently hosted the Petersburg Wellness and Community Resource Fair in partnership with the Crater Health District and the city. Attendees received information on health and wellness. They had the opportunity to receive health screenings and on-site immunizations, and they were given fresh groceries to take home. Dr. Tori
041Manson, our Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, spoke with the community about the importance of getting immunized and the required vaccinations for students for the start of next school year. So, we are starting early so everyone can be prepared and ready for the first day of school. So, thank you again. Congratulations to our team on a job well done for this wellness health and wellness resource fair. I just want to update the board. Next slide, please. As a part of our board policy, notification of subscription renewal for cost, and so PCPS renewed the subscriptions of IXL learning platform for Cool Spring Elementary School, Lakemont Elementary School, Pleasants Lane, Walnut Hill, and Vernon Johns. IXL is a comprehensive educational technology platform that provides personalized learning experiences in math, language arts, science, and social studies for students. My
042son was very familiar with IXL. It is a great resource for our students. We've had it in Petersburg, but of course it exceeds $50,000, so I have to bring it as an information item. So, the total cost is $55,312.50 for the 2026-27 school year. So, just wanted to make the board aware. That concludes my superintendent's report this evening. I'll take any questions. Thank you, Board Chair Pritchard and School Board members. Ms. Chair, Mr. Daniels. We didn't get a chance to congratulate our third-place winner. Could you go back to that slide? Yeah. Is that Thank you. >> No, you didn't. You didn't miss it. We didn't get a chance to clap for him. Oh, got you. Okay. All right. Go back. Yay! Go back to our One more. Thank you, Isaac Forrest, talented 10th grader at
043Petersburg High School. We will be bringing Isaac so that he can get recognized and our other students at our next meeting, if that's correct. So, congratulations, third place in the high school. We were all very proud in Greensville to be called up there to have a student that made third place and made Petersburg City Public Schools and our school board so proud to get that award, and that is an amazing picture. So, he We We very talented students. Again, as I always say, talent is born here, talent is grown here, and talent is going to be nurtured here. So, thank you all and congratulations to Isaac Forrest. Can Can Can you bring Can he bring the artwork to the school board meeting when we honor him because that the title was haunted house and it
044was really impressive. Very impressive. Yeah. We'll have him bring the art and then we're getting our what we're going to award him at the next May meeting. Okay. Any other question? So, while we're because I know we are recognizing students, is it any way we can also bring the Wana Hill um LEGO team and Cool Spring LEGO team? They actually received a an award, but just to hear the instructor at the competition talk about how some of their robots had parts that she had never even seen from elementary school students. I think, you know, it's worth recognizing and honoring. Um I didn't even know we had a LEGO team. Um especially on the elementary school Yeah, I didn't. But, they did amazing even just to watch them coding. It was amazing. So, if we could
045look into bringing them for recognition as well. So, Dr. Gay, thank you add that to the board agenda for recognitions for the first May meeting. Thank you. And Mr. Brown, I I believe was it Coleman Milner who was in charge of the arts? Yes, if she could make sure that they bring all that. Okay. Thank you. Oh, she did both. Okay. Okay. Board members, we'll move next to seven B. Make sure you look at the committee reports. There are two reports under there. When you have an opportunity, you can read them on your own. Head start in the special education advisory committee. Okay, number eight A. Any new business from board members? Mr. Chair. Yes. Um congratulations again to Petersburg High School on the attendance award and I was just wondering um is it a
046playbook that we can maybe publish so our other schools can start doing what they're doing or uh uh uh copying what they're doing so we can kind of spread the wealth because we want all our schools to do well in attendance because it's very important that they be in school on time every day so we can teach them. So, I was just wondering if we can start sharing that information with our other schools and principals. Teamwork makes the dream work. Absolutely. Thank you, Board Member Dance. I could not agree more. So, we are working hard. Like I said, I know that you know Alicia Fields and that Petersburg High School team is competitive and so they make sure and I think you heard about the work that they've been doing. They've been leveraging what's in
047place, the attendance teams, making sure that we get kids in school because we know, like you said, we have to work together in order to tackle this cuz cuz chronic absenteeism is a problem that plagues across this country. It's a plaguing school systems and so we are pulling out all the stops. Like I said, I can't wait for you all to bring back what you proposed, um Vice Chair Tucker, to help with policy. I often talk about how policy is supposed to support what we're trying to push and so I look forward to uh more conversation around that, but we definitely So, we definitely we'd be able to share those best practices that we're already implementing in attendance that we are seeing at Petersburg High School. I also just want to say to our community
048and team and to everyone listening, next month is the SOL assessment. We understand that we have been working all year putting things in place around standards of learning assessment by the Virginia Department of Education. We do what we can and we take a step at a time and we are pushing, but we need to have every child in school. We need to make sure that everyone understands that testing is coming up and we plan on maximizing every minute from now until the beginning of May. I think it happens the first the second week in May, the second to the third second and third week in May is our standards of learning assessment um for our elementary and middle school students and I guess those high school students that have those tests, but that's coming up
049and we don't want to wait until the last minute. So, I just want to highlight that that is the focus for these last few weeks is to keep teaching, keep assessing, um filling in gaps so that our students can show all the work that we put in this year about being intentional. So, everyone who's listening to me, please make sure that you help us get our kids prepared for assessments that are given by the state SOLs that are coming up in a few short weeks. Mr. Tucker. Also parents, please take advantage of the SOL nights. Um a lot of our schools are doing SOL nights um where the parents can come, the students can come and they can get extra tips um because it's more than just going to sleep early and eating a a
050balanced breakfast. So, please make sure if you're listening that you take advantage of all of the things that are given, the resources that are provided by the division. I got it. Mr. Miles. Um this Friday we're going to be doing a lock-in at um in the gym at Wanda Hill with um CBM. We're going to have the kids from for 11 hours. So, we'll be there all night. They get to go They They come there They drop them off that that evening and they pick them up that morning at 6:00. If you uh have time to stop by and say hello, let them know that you uh just introduce who you are and that you show that you're interested, it'll be great for our mentees to see you. Uh most of the all just about
051all the kids are going to be elementary and middle school. Once in a while, we have a few high school kids, but they they have their own the you know. So, um that's this Friday at One Hundred Hills in the gym, okay? And I want to um thank Mr. Martinez for yesterday. Um we had a Ward 3 meeting um and our special guest was um Senator Lashrecse Aird, Chief um Christian, um Dr. Kimberly Boyd from Richard Bland, who shared a wealth of information and programs and grants. Mr. Miles, that she's still writing. She's talking about money that she has coming in just for Petersburg students. So, you you you missed it. She has a lot and believe it or not, Mr. Miles, she had a daughter there. Her daughter is now a professor at Richard
052Bland. Her name also is Dr. Bowden. And she And she is over there What is it? Some type of pallet? What is it? Pallet? What's it called? Drone pallet? Yeah. And she's going to be She's teaching a course at Richard Bland and they're looking for individuals to sign up for the course. It's to become licensed. Become licensed? Yeah. Yeah, I'm looking for a licensed person to show the kids. I ain't trying to I'm not trying to do it myself. You may want to take But But you may want to connect with her. Okay, I will. I want to. You may want to Who do I talk to you? You may want to connect Okay, I definitely want to connect. You may want to connect with her. >> Her name is also That's the end of
053our new business. Now we need a motion to adjourn. I move that Mr. Miles Second. Second Mr. Pierce. Next meeting is May 6th. Okay. This meeting is now adjourned. Everyone have a great evening.