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001Mr. Steven Mr. Senior Mr. >> here Mr. Bernard Jr. >> here >> Mr. Adrian Senior >> here. >> Okay, we need a motion to go. read that. >> I move that the school board go into closed meetings to consider the superintendent's recommendations for employment of division staff as authorized by section 2.2-3711 A1 of the code of Virginia for purposes of discussion and consideration of prospective candidates for employment. >> Thank you. M second How to close? So move by Mr. D. Second as required by section 2.2-3712D. 2-3712D of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act called vote will be taken to certify that to the best of each member's knowledge. One, only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements under the act. And two, only such public business matters as were identified in the

002motion by which the close session were convened or heard, discussed, or considered in the close session by the board. Prior to the vote, any member of the board who believes that there was a departure from the requirements of one and two as read shall so state the same indicating the substance of the departure that in his or her judgment has taken place. Does any board member wish to respond? Hearing no response, I will now take the freedom of information act roll call. Mr. Steven Pier senior Mr. Halby Mau senior Mr. Kenneth Pritchette >> yes >> Mr. Car Tucker Miss Joyce Proctor >> yes >> Mr. Bernard Lundy Jr. >> Yes. >> Mr. Agent T Sior. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> We do not have any action items from close session. Me motion to adjourn

003for close move by Miss Proctor. Second by Mr. D. >> All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries. Good evening once again everyone. The time now is 5:09 p.m. and we would like to call our regular board meeting to order. Miss Davis, if you will call the role once again. >> Mr. Steven El Pier, Senior, Mr. Hal B. M senior. Mr. Kenneth Pritchette >> here. >> Mr. Curry Tucker. Miss Joyce Proctor >> here. >> Mr. Bernard J. Monty Jr. >> here. >> Mr. Adrien T. Dent Senior >> here. >> Thank you. Okay, board members, we move to 1A, approval of the agenda. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? So moved by Mr. Monday. Is there a second? >> Second, >> Miss Proctor. All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries. 1B. Moment of silence. Miss

004Davis. The following are to be remembered during the moment of silence. The family of Reverend Carrie A. Organ, retired Peasburg City public school educator and her passing on Friday, October 31st, 2025. The family of Miss Charlotte Lewis, former Pittsburgh City public school educator and her passing on Thursday, November 6th, 2025. The family of Miss Daisy A. Hill, retired Peasburg City public school educator, and her passing on Friday, November 7th, 2025. the family of Miss Valeria Anita Johnson, retired Peaceburg City Public School educator in her passing on November 10th, 2025 and Peacework City Public School employees, Miss Janice Hollowman and Miss Charie Ganoway and family in the passing of their uncle, Mr. Ralph E. Fitzgerald on Saturday, November 22nd, 2025. >> Thank you. At this time, we have a moment. Thank you. Next, we'll move to

005pledge of allegiance. Ask that you stand if you are able to. And we be led by Mr. Pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Next we move to one D correspondence. Miss Davis. The board received two correspondence letters or notes. The first one says, "Thank you. There are not enough words to fully express our heartfelt gratitude for the sympathy, love, and support you have extended to our family during this time of loss. Thank you from Robert Bates and family. And the next one says, "Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your expressions of comfort during our time of sorrow as we mourn the loss of our loved one, Mary Lamb Lewis.

006Your words lifted us up in our darkest hour and gave us inspiration and hope that one day our grieving will be replaced by joy, peace, and remembering. God bless you, V. El Lewis, the daughter and Mr. Ralph spouse. >> Thank [snorts] you. Next, we move to number two, our recognitions to a Mrs. Miss Brown. >> Good evening. Thank you, board of Virginia school board members. I'm excited tonight that our very first um recognition this evening is a part of our focus in Petersburg City Public Schools around reducing the percentage of students who are chronically absent. As everyone will remember, the board has set a goal this year for us to reduce our chronic absenteeism rate by 3%. And so what we've done in Petersburg City Public Schools is we've taken time to recognize those schools

007by looking very closely at our student data. So we have been monitoring the data. We've been making sure that we've been implementing a lot of the strategies around the work within our schools. And so we want to thank our principles and our assistant principles and our teachers for their work around focusing on making sure that we reduce the number of kids who are chronically absent. And again um tonight you'll hear more about um our work. But we want to take a moment. So we have our competition each month. So that the school that reduces the um the percentage of kids who are chronically absent as compared to um their rate that they had at the end of the school year last year, which is what the state the Virginia Department of Education calculates. We want

008to make sure that our schools are focused. And so tonight, I don't know if everyone has seen our our uh commercial that was highlighted um on I think WRC. Is that correct? Um channel 6 or channel 8 that shows the video [clears throat] of the wonderful trophy that we uh have here in Petersburg, the traveling trophy. And so tonight, I want to again congratulate for the second month in a row. I want to congratulate Miss none other than Miss Alicia Fields and the entire team at Petersburg High School because again for the second month in a row you have had the highest reduction in student chronic absenteeism since where we ended at the end of last year. So, let's all stand and give Miss Fields and her entire team. [applause] [applause] If you all could

009refresh, we could pull it up. So, you all got to keep the trophy, so we didn't have to bring it back, Miss Peele. So, congratulations. Job well done. Thank you so much. We'll turn it over to you. >> Good evening, um, school board chairman, vice chair, school board members, superintendent, all in attendance, and those that are listening, you know, I said at the last meeting that this trophy will stay at Petersburg High School. So, it shows the efforts of the team, and I just want to commend the team. But the goal is not just to reduce chronic absentis chronic absenteeism, but for every parent and child to understand it's important to be in school every day that instruction is given. And we're on well on our way. We'll continue our efforts. And just remember all

010the other schools out there, the trophy will remain at Peace High School. [laughter] [applause] [snorts] Congratulations again, Petersburg High School. Thank you very much. And so you got to keep that very beautiful trophy that's traveling around. So we'll see what happens um next month. But I do know that Vernon John's Middle School was they were nipping at your heels, but you all came through in the end. So congratulations and job well done. So now for chair if I may move to recognitions for 2B. >> Um tonight we also like to take an opportunity because we know that no one does this work alone. Petersburg City Public Schools when we looked at our chronic absenteeism rate which is about 38 to 39% last year that is a very high number of students who are chronically absent.

011And so as a part of the strategy our team came together Mr. Brown Dr. Gay, Dr. Manson, who is um now on board, they all worked to put in place a strategy for us to attack chronic absenteeism. As a part of that work, what we did was we convened a Petersburg City Public Schools attendance/chronic absenteeism task force. And this task force was crossf functional. There were people who from all all corners of our school division. And so Dr. Gay will talk about the task force and the important work. And so a lot of the strategies that we are putting in place in Petersburg, including this recognition that you're seeing with the traveling trophy, came out of the brainchild of our attendance task force because we know one voice, one mind cannot do it alone. It

012must be a concerted effort. And so I'm excited to recognize tonight those task force members who took on the charge and who believed in the fact that we could absolutely make improvements around kids coming to school as um as principal Phil said. So with that I will turn it over to our chief of staff Dr. Yas McGay to talk about the work of the attendance task force and recognize them for their outstanding work. >> Thank you Superintendent Brown. Uh good evening uh to our uh wonderful board members, our board chair Kenneth Pritchard, um our staff and also our community. Uh thank you so much, Miss Brown. Um we always say that the greatest solutions to our problems are the people that are closest to it. And so when Miss Brown said that we appointed people

013in all corners of the district, it also meant our community. So I am really excited just to name uh really important people who come together every two weeks uh to help us problem solve um around our challenge with chronic absenteeism and a lot of the work that we are facilitating uh today um is again as the superintendent said the brainchild of our task force. So uh I would like to name uh those people that have been a part of our great work. uh when I call your name if you're here if you can come up and be celebrated by our superintendent and our board. So first I would like to thank uh uh Janesca Jefferson and the certificate says um [clears throat] this certificate is awarded to Janesca Jefferson. We extend our deepest gratitude for

014your exceptional hard work, dedication, and invaluable contributions as a member of the attendance chronic absenteeism task force. Your collective commitment and unwavering effort has been instrumental in decreasing chronic absenteeism in Petersburg City Public Schools. And if you've been tracking our data, our chronic absenteeism is down by almost 9%. [applause] We're already exceeding the goal of our board and it's going to continue to go down and this is because of the contributions of everyone. [clears throat] Sorry. The next person I will name uh who has just been so uh as a community member just brilliant um in the ideas that he brings um every two weeks. I would like to bring David Chase up. [applause] Mr. Chase, if I can say a couple words about you, you stand right here. Um, what I really love about

015the task force is that we don't always agree and that is a good thing, right? We always bring different perspective and Mr. Chase does a really good job in listening and will always bring a perspective. He has great questions um that we dig into and we apply to our work. Mr. Chase, thank you so much for your work and so glad that you [applause] >> Dr. Gate as you call everyone stand right here so that everybody can see. >> Yes, ma'am. >> The cameras are right here. So, Mr. J come right here in the front so that we can um give you your just do and everybody out there please see you so you can stand right there for us. Perfect. >> Thank you so much. And excuse I'm a little bit under the weather.

016So um he may or may not be here but Jamal Ellison uh was a part of communities and schools. Um he has transitioned to the Cameron Foundation. Um but just want to thank Jamal Ellison for his support and contribution to the [applause] next I would like to thank Vera Lewis. Um she's not here tonight. Um but Vera Lewis is such a brilliant mind around data. Um and so we want to thank her for her support. Next, I did not see her here in the crowd, but just want to thank Wanda Stewart. She is the CEO of uh Communities and Schools Petersburg Tri Cities. Um Wanda is always available to support our work. So Wanda Stewart, thank you so much for your support [applause] here. All right. Now, our winner was just here. Alicia Fields. Can

017you come back up [applause] again? Miss Fields has been a a a rock for our task force. Um, she has done this work for a long time in supporting schools and it's evident in the work that she's doing right now because Petersburg High School is leading the way with chronic absenteeism. Thank you for your perspective. Thank you for your push [applause] uh on us. We appreciate you. So, there you go. Uh Dr. Lee is not here, Dr. Brandy Lee. Um who is our coordinator of community engagement. Uh if you know Dr. Lee, she always have wonderful perspectives about community engagement. Um so we want to thank Dr. Lee for her support with the task force. [applause] uh Dr. Jackson uh she could not be here tonight um but want to thank Dr. Jackson who is

018our director of data assessment and accountability. Um one of the major things that we did this year is make sure that data is the center of our work. So we have implemented a lot of complex analytics uh to include not only academic data but also community data um into our work to help us understand chronic absenteeism just a little bit more. So just want to thank Dr. Jackson for supporting us in this process [applause] and I'll be quick as possible. Uh Joy Lowry is may or may not be here tonight um who is our director of uh school leadership. Uh just want to thank her for her perspective and supporting our school leaders and our schools. Thank you Joy Lies for your support. [applause] Next, uh Mr. Lamont Hobbs. Not sure if he's in the

019crowd, but um another great community member who has supported us with the chronic absenteeism work. So, thank you, Mr. Hobs, for your work. [applause] We're almost there. Let's see. Nicole Brown, it's not here tonight. Uh Nicole Brown is another community member that has supported us in the task force. Um Nicole is actually a parent. Um so we wanted to make sure that we had parent participation because their perspective is so important, right? Um in understanding our students and the challenges that we face, not only challenges but also the great things that our students are experiencing. So thank you, Miss Brown. uh for your support. [applause] We have a few more here. Um Mr. Paul Brown. [applause] Mr. Paul Brown, just an awesome colleague of mine who's always strategic in [laughter] his work. I'm going to

020hurry it up because I know he doesn't like this. So, thank you, Mr. Brown, for your perspective and your work. >> [applause] >> and Mrs. Brown is our chief academic office. >> Yes. Uh Miss Hines is not here tonight, but she's also a part of our data assessment and accountability um support. She helps us with our analytics for us to review at the task force. So, thank you, Miss Hines, for your work and support with [applause] us. Stacy Parham, Dr. Parham is not here tonight. Um but we wanted to make sure that we had the early learning perspective um in our chronic absenteeism work. She always brings great perspectives. So Dr. Parham, thank you so much for um your support. [applause] Dr. Tori Manson [applause] Dr. Manson um who we know is just such a

021great asset um is a great mind around student support always gives great perspective and knowledge. Thank you Dr. Manson for not only being a partner in the work but just being an awesome person. So thank you [applause] our board member Takari Tucker. [applause] Miss Tucker um [clears throat] is just so brilliant in her passion um around student support is unmatched. Um so not only just helping us and supporting us around the governance of this division, but you get down with us, you roll your sleeves up to support us and we honor that and thank you so much for your work. She even helps to lead meetings. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your work. >> [applause] >> And finally, uh, Naziah White, um, is not here with us, um, but another parent. Again,

022uh, parent perspective is so very important, um, with our work. So, um, again, I just want to thank everyone for your continuous effort, coming every two weeks. We're going to continue to convene because we're going to do this thing to the end of the year. things change throughout the year and so we're always incorporating this work. So thank you again uh Miss Brown. This [clears throat] was her mission um this year to make sure that we got to the root cause of chronic absenteeism and you can see the work happening and progress being made. So and you're a big part of that. Thank you so much. [applause] >> [laughter] >> Thank you. in the frame. >> Mr. Lundy. >> Mr. Londy. >> Oh, yeah. >> A little closer. >> All right. Smile, Chelsea. One, two,

023three. Thank you. Come up. And so although although the trophy was the trophy remain the trophy remains at Petersburg High School, we definitely do not want the opportunity to award you. I want to make sure that everyone sees this beautiful trophy that says the highest decrease in crime. Thank you very much. And so we didn't want to miss the opportunity to again award the chronic absenteeism trophy. Isn't that beautiful? To Miss Alicia Fields, the principal of Petersburg High School, and her wonderful team for having the highest decrease in chronic absenteeism for this month. Thank you again, Miss Fields, for you and your team for this work. [applause] We want to make sure that we award you this award even though you keep it but it is a traveling trophy. It just traveled around the the

024hallway back into your hands. So [laughter] So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Let's get pictures. >> All right. Smile Chelsea. One, two, three. Perfect. Thank you. >> Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. >> Thanks for seeing the school board members. Now, we will now bring up Miss >> Janna Vasquez, Janna Vasquez, and she would come to the podium. We're really excited. We're going to talk about our 2025 high school student video contest submission. Thank you to Miss Vasquez who does everything for our students. And so, she's been working with our students around this um video submission. We want to make sure we have an opportunity to to recognize our wonderful student. Thank you, Miss Vasquez. >> Good evening. Good evening everyone. >> This year, once again, I think for the 13th year in a row,

025this uh video contest has been running for 14 years, the BSBA, Virginia School Board Association high school video contest. And the contest asked that students or districts submit a student created video 30 seconds only. And some of the criteria are that students cannot have any professional help. They must create this on their own. So they can have guidance and that kind of thing, but they cannot have any professional help. And this year um of course you know the BSBA theme is champions of impact. And so this we got to choose from three topics. Champions of our school, our champion stories, and communities of champions. And so this year we submitted once again as you know last year we won honorable mention. This year we did not win. We did not place. However we had an

026awesome awesome contribution. Are you going to show it? >> Yes. >> And I would also like to call the student up but you can see our 30 second video. >> [applause] >> Thank you all so much. Can you give her another round of applause? [applause] Like to call forth the student who totally created this, Taylor Thomas. [applause] and [applause] Taylor Thomas for participation in the VSBA 2025 high school video contest and it's signed by the board chair and I would like to say a little bit about Taylor if you don't mind. Taylor is a senior. Um, her face, if you go to the airport and take a trip, [cheering] see her there. [applause] If you look on any of our hiring promotion flyers, you may see her there. If you look on any of our

027social media, you may see her there. Additionally, she has really pushed herself this year and she um had can follow her on social media at PHS Media Girls. You may have noticed during our sports season, she has been doing quite a few interviews and she posts the content, you know, as we're moving forward. And she is a 2025 Debbie Tant in our community. [applause] She also is an honor student [applause] and she's on our she's on our speech team. Just last week she came in second in in her round for competition. [applause] We need to move her in the shape to the first city public school and we want to thank her for everything that she does for us. [applause] >> Last question. Can I say one more thing because we have some guests here

028that we're going to recognize. She's planning to major in mass communication. >> Yes. [applause] [laughter] >> And also She has parents who have and these these parents here, they stick with us. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, they follow us. They come to our competition. [applause] They support her. Anything that we any condition that we need signed, it's automatically done. So, they are amazing people. Thank you so much for all you do. Also, thank you for Miss Field for giving us the opportunity again to participate and to submit on behalf of not just Petersburg High School, but also Petersburg City Public Schools. Thank you. [applause] >> One, two, three. >> Thank you. [applause] Okay, this next one is done. Okay, the next one is is the school boards. Each year, PSDA allows each school division to recognize

029individuals for the media honor role. And this year, we have chosen three individuals that we are recognizing for the 2025 BSBA media honor role. And tonight we want to honor Joy Folks from CBS 6 WTVRTV. The Petersburg City Public School Board recognizes your fair and balanced reporting on school division and education related topics signed by Dr. Joanna Rollins Falls and Gina Patterson VSBA executive director. Um Dr. Joanna Rollins was the VSBA president and also Mr. Miles is here. He serves as our southside chair for VSBA. At this time, we would like for Miss Joy Folks to come forward. [applause] And I think this basket >> I know [laughter] you did an awesome story on this fast place. What was the name of it? >> That's my girl. Uh well, it was a CBS6 gift, but

030we like introed it with her incredible work that she does here. And so that was awesome. >> Thank you for working. [applause] Thank you. One, two, three. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Thank you. >> Okay, our next honore of the 2025 BSP media ensemble goes to Brendan Kaine who is also with CBS 6 [cheering] [applause] >> just to share that that Brenda came on our first day of school and did a story on Petersburg City Public Schools. Thank you for the positive story. [laughter] This way. One, two, three. >> Thank you. [applause and cheering] [snorts] Okay. And our last individual that we're going to recognize and you all know him very well. He's been in the radio business for a long time and every year in the Blandford parade, he always always calls out Petersburg

031City Public School and the school board. This media award goes to none other than Mr. or Reverend or either pastor Cavell Phillips [applause] radio. CONGRATULATIONS. [cheering] [laughter] >> YEP. He's this way. >> I like the tie. It matches with our branding. That's what it is. And it's it's because of Sheriff Crawford >> that you're here every year recognizing the school board through BL. [laughter] >> I'm going to have you smile this way for me. One, two, three. Thank you. Perfect. [applause] [laughter] >> Thank you so much. Appcate Thank you everyone and congratulations once again. Next board members will move to the approval of the consent agenda. M A B and C. Thank you board chip bridges. School board members. Our approval of the personnel agenda. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve

032the final personnel agenda dated 123 2025 as provided. 3B approval of minutes. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the minutes of the 9:23 2025 division 5-year strategic plan work session meeting. Then our 10:15 2025 work session meeting and 1110 2025 student disciplinary hearings meeting as provided. And then our 3C donations received by PCPS. please click on the next slide please. Thank you. So just want to so make you aware that there are no donations during this period but we do include it in our agenda. So it is the superintendent's recommendation the school board approved 3 A 3B and of course 3 C thereations at this time as provided. >> Thank you Mr. Brown. You heard the superintendent's recommendation. Is there a motion to accept? >> Moved by Mr. Miles. Is there

033a second? Second. >> Mr. Dance. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Next we will move to number four. our superintendent, staff, and guest reports. 4 A. >> Thank you again for your preaching and schoolboard members. Our first presentation of this evening is our attendance and chronic absenteeism monthly board update. And then we also have a policy recommendation this evening. And so I'll bring up um I'll bring up Dr. Gay who is in place for Dr. Darter Jackson who couldn't be here this evening. And then I will swing in once we begin to talk about the policy work and the recommendations around a first read policy for attendance. Dr. Okay. >> Thank you again, Superintendent, uh our awesome board, uh board chair, uh staff, and our community. Um as superintendent said, I'm standing in for

034Dr. Dartra Jackson, our director of data assessment and accountability, and I will be sharing our attendance and chronic absenteeism monthly update. So the that we will go um again key definitions. We always want to do some level setting on the meaning of chronic absenteeism and average daily attendance because they are different. Uh we will talk about our schoolboard goals. We always try to make sure that's the forefront of our work. Um division level data. Um again we as the superintendent mentioned we will also share um our attendance policy board recommendations. Um again and this is the work uh from our attendance and chronic absenteeism task force. So one of the uh uh things that we were tasked to do is to reook at our current attendance policy uh to see how we can improve it

035uh to bring accountability around attendance and chronic absenteeism and also support. We will also talk about uh the superintendent uh presentation of the monthly attendance award but we already did that earlier. [laughter] Next, thank you so much. Again, just key definitions. Uh we always always want to make sure we level the set for our community. Chronic absenteeism is missing 10% or more school days for any reason. That is excused um or unexcused. Right? Just want to make that clear. Our average daily attendance is the percentage of students present each day across the division. Okay? So, there's a difference here. So just looking back and looking forward here, uh, school year 2526, our school board goal is to reduce chronic absenteeism by 3%. Last year, school year 2425, our endofyear divisionwide chronic absenteeism rate was at

03637.8%. And that is a little above the national average. Currently, as of November 20th, we are at 28.28% [clears throat] that should be celebrated [applause] and we will continue to go down um uh especially with the work that's happening uh with uh Dr. Tory Manson and Mr. Brown who's working doing targeted support with schools also. Um and also our communications work has also contributed that to that as well. So just want to mention that we have an internal goal. So the state of Virginia doesn't have like a a a target goal for average daily attendance. However, the superintendent has charged us to establish an internal goal for average daily attendance. And so our goal for every school every day is to be at 95%. 95%. Thank you so much. [snorts] So chronic absenteeism uh year

037overyear meaning um from if you look at from November 2024 to 2000 November 2025 you can see the comparison between uh the two school years and each school. So, as you can see here, Cool Spring Elementary School increased by 2%. Again, this is year-over-year from November 2024 to November 2025. Walnut Hill decreased chronic absenteeism by 9%. Lake Month Elementary School decreased chronic absenteeism by 8%. Pleasant Lane Elementary School decreased by 13%. Bamford 6 Academy has decreased their chronic absenteeism by 13%. Vernon John's Middle School decreased by 15%. And we also want to acknowledge again Petersburg City uh Petersburg High School won the attendance award. [snorts] Vern and John's was on their back only two points away. So, we are really our school leaders are so competitive. They're asking questions on how we can uh improve.

038I know Mr. Brown is getting a lot of questions uh from our school leaders on how to make this work. But our school leaders and our teams are working really hard. Petersburg High School decreased by 16%. Pitman Academy decreased by 6% and Westview um early learning center decreased by 4%. Next slide please. Thank you. Now this [snorts] is a comparison of chronic absenteeism for end of the year 2024 2025 and the year to date. So, we're comparing uh what we ended with at 2020 uh 2425 in May to where we are now. And you can see those numbers here. Cool spring um in the blue 2024 2025 was at 25.36% chronic absenteeism. That's where they ended uh in May. They're currently at 24%. Walnut Hill 24.58%. Currently they're 18%. Lake Mont 29.09%. That's in the

039year again. They're currently at 25%. Pleasant Lane 44.62% currently at 34%. Bamford 6 41.08% end of year they're currently at 30%. Vernon John's ended at 41.62% they are currently at 31% chronic absenteeism. Petersburg High School ended at 44.37% currently at 32%. Pitman Academy was at 94.45%. They're currently at 61%. And Westview ended at 26.82% and currently at 23%. And again, that is end of year chronic absenteeism in comparison to where we are currently. So now uh we're going to talk about average daily attendance. That's how many students are in school every day. Um, and this is uh November 2024. And again, the marker uh was November 20th, right before we left for the break, for the Thanksgiving break. As you can see here with average daily attendance what some schools are not too far from

040the 95%. We have Pitman Academy uh which is at 77.4%. Cool spring almost again making that 95%. They're at 94.3% again that as of November 20th of last week. Westview has exceeded the 95% threshold at 95.59%. Yes, 59%. >> Last year, last year was last. >> I'm sorry, last year. I apologize. And currently [clears throat] at 93.1%. Is the goal is to have 95% every day is our goal internally to have 95% of the kids in attendance. And so in the red is the percentage of kids that are attending, the percentage of students of that population that are attending school each day. Yes, and I misspoke. I apologize. The blue is 2024, red is November 2025. All righty. So I will hand it over to our superintendent for our policy recommendations. >> All right. So

041thank you Dr. Gay and thank you board members. I wanted to bring as a part of again as Dr. Gay talked about the work of our attendance and chronic absenteeism task force. Um, as you'll recall, we had our board member Tucker who was a big part of this work. And so, we had a chance to actually take a look. And I want to thank the team for taking a deep look at our policy because policy impacts our ability to make changes um to things that we need to do in order to make the work that we're doing go even further and impact even more kids. And so tonight I'm bringing as a first read and recommendation as first read recommendation to the board around um what we should do with our policy Jed-R student absences

042slash excuses slashd dismissals. And so I want to just take your attention to the current PCPS regulation or guidelines. The first one said, "Students who are absent must bring a parental note within 24 hours after the absence or two days of the students return to this within two days of the students return to school stating the reasons for absence." That's what our current regulation says. It also says work missed shall be made up and all makeup work is is is the student's responsibility. It also says number three, students who are tardy to school must bring a parental note stating the reason for the tardiness. This note must be received no later than the day following the tardiness. Tardiness is defined as arriving after the published start time for the school and or class. That's our

043current regulation. We are recommending as first read tonight to add students that are absent five consecutive or non-consecutive days must be added to the school attendance team case [clears throat] load to address attendance concerns, establish attendance goals and strategies and provide relevant supports. We're also recommending in relation to number two, the work missed. Work missed that shall be made up and all makeup work is the students responsibility. The task force and the superintendent we are recommending to add the recovery of time. Schools must implement an attendance recovery strategy to improve student attendance and maintain academic achievement. We've outlined this as elementary schools to say that three hours of recovery would recoup one day of absence. We also recommend adding for the middle school and high school level that we add 3 hours of recovery would

044recoup one day of absence. Schools must calculate recruitment of time throughout the school year. Then we want to also add that suspension days can be recouped. We also want to add that students must be in school or at an approved partner location to recoup the days absent. Then for our current regulation number three that again says students who are targeting a school must bring a parental note stating the reason for the tardiness. This note must be received no later than the day following the tardiness. Tardiness again is defined as arriving after the public start time for school and or class. Our recommendation for change is to add students who are tardy and or leave early from school must bring a parental note stating the reason for the tardiness or early release. This note must be

045received no later than the day following the tardiness or early release. Tardiness is defined as arriving after the public start time for school and/or class. We also want to add early release is defined as leaving school 2 hours before the published dismissal time. We also like to add if a student is tardy or leaves early 5 days within a month then they must be added to the school attendance team case load to address attendance concerns establish attendance goals and strategies and provide relevant supports. That is the first read of recommendations that we want to change and add to our current policy regulations for our attendance/attendance policy for PCPS Jed-R student absences, excuses, and dismissals. Now, for our general attendance policy recommendations, we have additional pieces. So, we don't have any changes, but I do want

046to make sure that everyone knows our current general provisions. A student out of school for the observance of a religious holiday, on a field trip, or representing the school at a special activity shall [snorts] not be charged with an absence. The teacher's record must show that the student was not present, but that will not count as an absence and shall not appear in the student's record. Nor shall the student be deprived of any award or eligibility or opportunity to compete for any award or at the right or the right to take the alternate test or examination and makeup work is required. There are no changes. That is a provision we still want to provide to our students. This next one too, regular student attendance is important. This is what we currently have in our provisions.

047Parents are encouraged to provide the appropriate documentation for student absences. Students are expected to attend each class meeting. Regular class attendance affords the student the opportunity to complete requirements of the course satisfactory. Excessive absenteeism, including the lack of the proper documentation, may result in poor or unsatisfactory grades due to the students inability to compensate fully for the class assignments which were missed. It also has in the provision, a student absent 15 [clears throat] consecutive days will be withdrawn from enrollment in Petersburg City Public Schools. This provision does not apply to students approved and assigned to homebound instruction and students with illnesses substantiated by appropriate documentation. Any absence or disciplinary reasons such as suspension will be counted under this regulation. We are recommending the change to say parents are responsible for providing the appropriate documentation and

048adhere to the school's recovery structure for the student absences. Students are expected to attend each class meeting. Regular class attendance is required in order for students to achieve satisfactory course completion. Excessive absenteeism, especially without proper proper documentation, can lead to poor or unsatisfactory grades because the student may be unable to make up missed class assignments and coursework effectively. Next slide. Thank you. That concludes my recommendation. Um, board chair Richard, Vice Chair Pierce, and the entire board for policy, attendance, and chronic absenteeism. Recommendation for first read. >> Thank you, Miss Maria. Any questions from board members? Miss Proctor, >> uh, what does, uh, recovery look like? >> Thank you, Proctor, for that question. So, this is the part I'll have Dr. Manson come to the podium. But as we know, the Virginia Department of Education um

049has historically from what I've learned and also this year what I know is they are providing opportunities for school divisions to recoup time for students who are absent. And so if a student is absent and this is let's just say 20 days, what the Virginia Department of Education has done is provided a mechanism for kids to be able to come on Saturday after school and at other times in order for them to make up some of the time that they've missed when they've been absent. And so that is something that's been in place. And what I understand this year they've added more time to it. Is that correct? I think it used to be two hours and now it's three hours. But it is a recruitment of time so that you get an opportunity for

050kids to make up some of the time that they missed. But there are specific things that they must do. And I think in the policy it talked about that you must be in school in one of our approved programs or you have to be with an approved partner. And so I'll ask Dr. Manson to further get into that around what recouping time is from the BDOE that it allows students in Virginia to be able to make up some of the time so that we don't have to count it as a full absence. Is that correct? >> That's correct. Maybe even Chairman Pritchard, Vice Chairman Pierce, fellow members of the board and all that's Yes, that is correct. How recruitment time works and what the entry schools are doing this year that's a little bit different

051from last year. They are doing some things they're doing. You can do it before school. So, previously they weren't doing a lot before school. This year they're going to be doing it before school and so they're going to start most elementary schools going to start from 7:15. They're going to do it three days a week. They're going to start at 7:15 to that 8:15 hour. They're doing some other things to encourage the parents to come. And so at that time it's meaningful educational which means you have to receive meaningful instruction and it has to be by a licensed teacher by the Virginia Department of Education. And then I could also offer three afterchool events for those students on elementary level. the middle school and that high school are doing their events on an after school

052basis and then they're going to incorporate some sanity schools in order to recoup that time. But as Miss Brown said, it's three hours for all levels, elementary, middle, and high school that you have to do. Three hours equals one day. So that's why they're doing three days a week on elementary and middle school and at the high school. They doing those days so they can recruit that time. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Thank you, Dr. Vinc. Any other questions? I just had a question on the on the first one. Go back to the the very first one that you were changing. I just I guess we're falling in line with with the rest of them. I have I cannot see. Let me see. I can see it. >> Okay. For instance, where you

053have recommendations where you said the students the students that are absent by consecutive or non-consecutive days must be added to the school attendance team case load to address attendance concerns, establish attendance goals and strate and strategies and provide relevant support. My my question is we were not doing this. So I will say that maybe some pockets but it wasn't consistent but we wanted to make sure that it's part of our policy that it's it's like a preventive me measure before students become truent. Um I'm taking this field's words we wanted to add more teeth to the policy right. Um so five days um uh is too much really. Um students lose a lot of instruction. So five was a day that the task force um agreed upon. Um but we also wanted to make sure

054that every school was facilitating a attendance team. That's a part of our policy regulation as well as it helps to support uh this policy will help to support and provide accountability around our work. Okay. And Dr. Mason, I know tonight we we did vote on your new truency supervisor. Can you tell us a little bit about how this position will play a role in the chain? What this position will do is she will be responsible [clears throat] for overseeing all tr. She will also be responsible for ensuring and leading our children task force. She comes with um several years of experience. She knows Petersburg in depth. But also what the physician will be doing is she will be attending as Dr. uh Gabe was just stating about those attendance meetings. She will ensure that those

055attendance meetings are done with fidelity. They're consistent and they're across the board in what we put in place in regards to your your two-day, your 3-day, your 5day, 7-day, and ensuring that all schools are doing this. And the [clears throat] biggest thing she's going to be doing is I'm just going to be perfectly honest with everyone. She's going to ensure that we ramp up our legal actions which is required under the law. That is her focus. We're going to hold parents, students, and schools responsible and accountable for truency and for chronic absentism. That is her focus. I've already that is her will be her focus. That's going to be her mission. That's the whole design of the supervisor of truency to ensure that the truency officer. We're going to eliminate excuses. If you need a

056packet, she's going to ensure that packet is correct, that that packet is there, that packet is turned in on time. So her first job when she comes in is to look at all our students as truency that's truent and ensure we start the legal the legal process for those students to ensure that we can increase our attendance on a daily basis. So that's her focus that'll be that person's focus. >> Thank you sir. I appreciate it. >> Mr. >> Good evening. Do we have a strategy for our students and our parents to whereas they can get this right the first time by coming to school on time and staying in school rather than have to uh make it up before and after. Can we kind of drive that point? It's easier to get it right

057the first time than have to go back and make it up. >> And we can uh Mr. Don this will be a progress. It's a progress in place. One of the things that we did see from the interview with the individual that was chosen for this position, she came in with a community-based program where she wants to go to the communities, including in January, she wants to go to the communities and go to those communities, have community forums to start explaining in detail how missing school impacts you, how those she wants to go to them. Don't want them to come here. Sometimes families may not want to come to the school. We already we already having them having issues with them being truent and coming to the schools. She wants to go to those communities.

058So, she's going to be reaching out to the community, those community agencies. I mean, those community groups and everything in our housing projects, reaching out to them, talking with housing developments, reaching out to them, discussing how we can come and hold community forums where it's going to be truency based, chronic absentism based, but they can understand the difference between being truent and chronically absent and the importance of coming to school every day and how that impacts your child. not just on the high school or not the middle school level but from preschool through 12. >> Thank you very much. >> Can I also add to um great question board member dance. When we think about chronic absenteeism [clears throat] it's much more than students coming to school and not coming to school. The reason why

059we have a task force is to dig into the root cause of why some of our students are not coming to school on time and every day. We call them social determinants. Whereas there are challenges in the community, there are challenges with families that hinder students from coming to school. When we uh uh looked over our analytics, we spent a lot of time looking at data, academic data, student support data, community data. We found uh uh some insights that there were some things that were hindering our families from coming to school such as transportation, chronic illnesses, right? So, it's just that our our parents are not coming to There are major challenges and this helps us and informs us to fix the system that we have to create opportunities for our students to come to

060school, create a a a safe landing for our students, whether it is I know we're putting a lot of investments, Dr. Manson, Mr. Brown, Miss Brown putting a lot of efforts into transportation. um looking at our partner medical systems whereas our students that are out that are chronically ill are not missing school but that they are um engaging in instruction whether they're in the hospital or at home and we don't uh uh uh mark them down as absent. So those are the things that we're looking at as a task force again just to help fix the system which would provide better supports for our families and our students and coming to school every day. Yes. Good evening. Good evening everyone. Uh and I apologize for my time. Uh just one quick question and and it's

061good that you have a lot of work wrapped around uh the the attendance structure but the recovery part how is that going to be tracked? I know we, you know, we talk data data all the time and uh with those students with the recovery process, uh you may not have it now, but my curious question is how are we going to track that data? >> Great question, board member Pierce. Um and we just had this discussion in our task force meeting. Uh uh board member Tucker has been very intentional around recovery time. So when we look at our attendance teams, our attendance teams will be responsible for capturing that data consistently. We have to strengthen our teams. Our our teams as Dr. Manson said weren't happening with fidelity. So data will be a big part

062of the work of the attendance team. We are growing protocols. I know Dr. and has already implemented uh or instituted protocols um around data around uh looking at student support within our attendance team. So it's really around strengthening our attendance teams to capture that data. But I believe that a protocol is already in place to capture that data to funnel to our administrators and our principles uh to make sure that they are fully aware of the recovery time. Um but again it's it will be in our attendance teams. >> Okay. Okay. >> And what we've done is um we've already created the recruitment template for the for the um administrators and for those who's going to be in charge of that. And that's another um responsibility of the truency of the of the lead supervisor.

063They she will meet um monthly with each recruitment program at each individual schools and ensure that we're colle that we're collecting that data, processing that data. and she will submit that data to me and I will bring that data back to our tennis task force to show how it's working are the kids coming back for recruitment where we at how much time are we recovering and those are the things we'll be bringing back to the task force have a discussion on and off to let everyone know where we are and how we're monitoring so that is that person's one of the person's responsibilities also to ensure that they're meeting monthly with the recruitment person who's over top of the recruitment to ensure that we we're doing what we're supposed to be doing on a on

064a monthly basis Thank you. Any any break in that chain will affect that child care greatly. And the only reason I'm asking is because of that because if all of those links are together and whatever might happen and you'll be able to see that child grades right along. >> Yes. I appreciate it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you team. Um I just wanted to respond to um board member Dan when he asked about you know how do we communicate and what can we do so that kids understand that coming the first time is what's important. I also want to bring up the teaching and learning process because that is our core business and what I say is that I know Mr. Brown has talked about it the team talked about it. We've got to

065make school engaging for kids. Let's not forget that that's a part of it. So our classrooms kids you know opportunities that we provide for kids so that they want to come to school. We know it doesn't fix everything, but it's a part of a bigger plan that we want to make sure that when kids come to school, they feel welcome, that when they go in classrooms that they are getting instruction that's engaging and it's not just the same old same old, right? So that when it's hard to come to school, you know, there's still some motivation there. So, I just want to call out the fact that we're doing all the things, but the first thing kids experience is when they walk in the door of a school and then when they walk in their

066classroom. And so, how do we work with our teachers who are doing a great job to help engage kids? But we're always trying to make that better and better so that they have resources, they have opportunities to go do other things like field trips and other things that help them be excited about coming to school. We're also working on that so that that motivates them to come even when they don't want to. I wanted to add that piece. >> Great. Um I think you have a good plan on the validity the validity of this data going to be very important. So I'm going to suggest that don't wait a month to do it. You need to do that recruitment u for those those um on a weekly basis. And because you wait till the end

067of the month, it's g no telling what how much you will have to do. Uh the other thing is is there a limitation on how many days they can recruit? >> Yes. 15. >> 15. They can recruit 15. >> Recruit 15. >> Yeah, that's very important because um that wasn't the limitation wasn't in there. Maybe we can add that to it. Um but the other thing like like I was saying earlier to keep it valid to keep it on point. We might want to do this on a weekly basis and make sure it's documented because the people that we have in truency, it's going to be up to them to make sure that they keep up with this and month by month it's not going to be as you know you might miss something. >>

068We could do that. >> Good evening. I just wanted to ask one thing to piggyback off of what Miss Brown stated. Um, do our schools have individualized school attendance plans whereas the principles customizes a individual plan for their building around tailor made for their students. >> We we gave them a template that they can customize around that student that individual student with the assistance of your family engagement person your CIS and that attendance need that meets the need of that that particular student. We gave them an attendance plan based off the action plan, attendance plan based off some of the recommendations from the principles when we met with the principles for that attendance plan, but they can customize that plan because it's it's an overall document around school on a daily basis. >> So, I'm

069thinking more of like the school needs. So, um I know PTA does a lot of things, but a lot of things are done after school. So to Miss Brown's point, when the kids first come in school and you know it has to be a welcoming environment and there needs to be things that are done like award ceremonies, I know um Cool Spring just did an award ceremony before we left for the break and it was amazing. We were going to the conference, but I got a lot of videos and it was amazing and you know I got feedback from parents that were excited to just be in the building to be able to see their kids you know receive these awards. So I if I could make a suggestion that all schools, you know, create

070a plan where they have a calendar built around what they're doing for attendance so that it's not all strictly academic so the kids don't get lost. We're doing we're trying to, you know, keep them there. So just something to, you know, make it more a little more engaging outside of the classroom. >> Appreciate you. >> Thank you, >> Dr. Mincson. I know that I asked earlier um I texted you all because I know that there was a question about the numbers of chronic absenteeism truent students at this moment. I know that we're going to be bringing our new truent person on. I know that you all I don't know if you have the information electronically. We can shoot it over. They can pull it up if you have the numbers by school. >> I have

071an action right here. We make copies for each one. >> Okay. Each one we want is there a way for us to show so that the community can see the numbers? is do we have it electronically that we can just shoot it to well if we can if there's a way for us to get it to you that we can pull it up but we have the data that um um was requested around how many truent students do we have currently school by school and so Dr. Gay if we could send that um and then we'll pull it up on the screen if that works >> okay so if you could go ahead and the information. >> Okay. >> And then we will add that to >> currently. Okay. Currently the number of TR students

072at Cool Springs is 74. At Lake Bun is 45. Water Hill is 42. Pleasant Lane is 110. Blandford Academy is I mean Blandford Middle School 6th grade academy 58. Vernon John's 120. Petersburg High School 226. Pitman Academy 34. Westview 5 for a division total of 714. Yes, >> we have a lot of work to do. >> A lot of work to do. >> So, can you all um because I'm not I'm not seeing it here and and maybe maybe we moved away from it, but I thought we brought it back. >> I don't see anything in here where student engagement is attached to this. Are they a part of this? >> Yes. >> When you say student engagement, Dr. Lee? >> Yes. >> Family engagement. I'm sorry. I call them student engagement. Family engagement. So,

073how would they I'm not seeing, you know, but we didn't we didn't hear anything about that. We heard about truency, but how is family engagement playing a part in all of this with the truency and stuff? >> Well, they family engagement actually sits on the um they actually sits on the attendance team. They get a case load also to make home visits and to talk to those families and try to get those families to come to school and and then we're working with Dr. in regards to creating some event likeism and students and parents and twins and issues and having those discussions. Her first meeting I believe it was in it was in regards to Dr. um Kay spoke that day about attendance how attendance matter when everyday counts and so they're actually on the

074attendance team and they could also get attendance case load to work with them also and I think she's just become fully staffed so so we had to work on some of those things too but now she's fully staffed. Miss Fields, I know currently have one that's currently for the staff up here, but they actually sit on those teams also with us. >> All right, sir. >> M. Go ahead. >> And you know, I know those numbers sound pretty high, but just for example, um that 200 that's up there at the high school, we're only looking at 20% of the kids that's really doing not doing what they supposed to do for us coming to school. And that give us a good focus and they identify. So the great thing about that is they won the

075attendance award two months in a row. So you see how that falls into play when you identify the things you need to address, the people you need to address. So that number is not as great as it sounds, but it's being addressed in a way where they are still ahead of the game. So, so I know I heard a whole lot of oo and a's when [laughter] So, I just want to let you know the progress that's being made because a lot of times in in uh when when people look at Petersburg, they always have something negative to say when they look at Petersburg public school, but we could take less and do more with most school than any other school district in this state. And I know we can can continue to achieve that.

076So, that that's not a a number that we can't overcome. And these are numbers, not percentages. And so looking at the percentages might look very different because of the number of kids that are enrolled. >> That's right. >> [laughter] >> And and I like to add while these numbers do look a little you know the recruit the recruit time will go in toward at the end of the school year. >> So it the recruit time will be reflective at the end of the year. So even though these are the numbers now, it does not mean that these kids haven't started recouping times or it doesn't mean that they won't recoup times. >> So please keep that in mind. >> That is correct. Thank you, Mr. Ter. Yeah, we can't we don't submit that time until

077the end of the school year. >> And so that's why it will still look like this. Although they're recouping the time, you can't submit it as Mr. Tucker said until the end of the school year. >> But we should track it. >> Yeah. >> Hold my mic. >> Even though you can't submit it when you do attendance, can you report how much time we did recover. >> Yes, >> we just mentioned that policy. >> We're going to be very specific about school traffic, >> right? >> Thank you all. We're We appreciate it. You want your hand up. [laughter] >> We appreciate it. Dr. Manson and Dr. G. And Dr. Manson's next. You can go ahead. >> Thank you. >> All right. And we'll bring the percentages. Dr. Thank you. I know I asked you the

078last minutes and we'll get the percentages so that they can compared to data. So, thank you all very much. [applause] >> And I just want to make a statement. Can you all give those numbers to Mr. Miles and make sure he checked those numbers at high school? >> You know there's a saying if you don't start nothing. [laughter] >> You see she You see she going on out the door. Don't listen to it. >> All right. Thank you board of pitch and schoolboard members. We have 4B. Our next presentation will be Dr. given by Dr. Tori Manson, our assistant superintendent of um student services. And this is our therapeutic day treatment selection process that we embarked upon so that we can bring therapeutic day treatment to Petersburg City Public Schools. And so we're excited that

079we have now made the selection. So we're asking Dr. Manson to come to talk the board through that selection process. Then of course we will I will make a recommendation for action during the action portion of the meeting. Dr. Manson. >> Again, good evening. I'm Chairman Pritchette, Vice Chairman Pierce, fellow members of the board, Madam Superintendent, and all those who assemble. Um this evening I'm just going to go briefly through the therapeutic treatment date provider um selection process and why we chose the u the importance of TDT and why these two providers were selected. Next slide please. And so we took the following process when we went through this um when we went through the TDT process. So the one of the requests was for proposals which is a RFP um and submission. We had

080a had to create a team composition review submission package with ratings. TDT companies were selected. Schools selected for TDT service providers. Then the positive impact of TDT services and timeline for implementation. Next slide please. And so the timeline was on August 28, 2025, an RFP was issued for TDT services. That timeline had to stay out for for 30 days. And so on September 29th, 2025, we received three proposals. They were submitted to our procurement person at the time, which was Miss Lori Newton. On October the 1st, 2025, an RFP um we received the RFP instructions for evaluation and confidentiality statement for review and the signatures were given by the team members in the team composition, which is required by law. And then on November the 4th, 2025, the evaluation team met with all three providers

081for the selection. Next slide, please. And so some members of the team composition included Mr. Paul Graham, uh myself, Mr. Danny Custo, the director of special education, and Mr. Alicia Fields, principal of Petersburg High School. We also um we also spoke with and got recommendations from all of our elementary principles, assistant principles, and the middle school principles in what they wanted to see from a TDT provider. It was just that because at the time we only had three submissions, it was a recommendation that we that we uh that we trimmed down the number of people on that commission, but we did speak with all them, got some guidance and got some recommendations from our elementary principles, middle school and um high school. Next slide, please. And so some of the things that in regards to

082approved providers that we selected was family services and infinite counseling and wellness. And one of the reasons why we select family services, some of those reasons, I'm not going to go through the whole thing, but I'm going give you a couple of reasons. Um, family services when they when they presented to us, one of the things that we like about them, they the enhanced access to licensed clinicians, which on their staff, many of their clinicians are LCSWS and LPC's, qualified mental health professionals that will be assisting our students. We have a a a certified expertise in certain areas of mental health and behavior related um study, I mean, behavior related um behaviors. We had collaborative with school teams. So we had experience collaborating with school teams to address the needs of our students and families

083and enhancing attendance, engaging families and students proactively addressing those attendance issues in regards to families. And one of the things that they did with both providers stated to us that one of the things that they believe in doing is assisting our attendance teams if anyone is on their case load and if they're on their case load and they're having attendance issues, they make home visits themselves. They call the parents. They said they would even go to the home and pick up those students and ensure those students are in school on a daily basis. That was from both the providers that they it informed us that they would be doing some of the other ones for Infinite. They they facilitated social emotional learning. They actually do have a curriculum and they were very familiar with our

084character strong curriculum that we're using for SEAL because they're also using that same curriculum where they work with their students. Um improving discipline they uses datadriven targeted interventions. They came in with those data targeted interventions in regards to how they look at the data. They summized where we having some issues from in regards to our data. And that's what they pinpoint to work with those students. And then another one was enhancing attendance. Again, for them, they knew that they understood that when they came in, they understood what Petersburg was looking at as far as attendance. And as they stated to us, they would be making those home visits. They would work with families. They would ensure that the families needs are met at the same time as the student needs. And so they understood those

085processes and would be willing to work with us. They also had informed us that they will assist us. Both companies have experience with the family assessment planning team through our DSS and they both said they will assist us with uh with actually doing wraparound services and they're attending those flap meetings to ensure that our students meet those wraparound services that are necessarily needed for those students. And they both are very familiar with Petersburg. So they're both very familiar with Petersburg. They're currently doing inhome counseling services. some of our students and they're also doing TDT services with some of our students. They're just not doing it within the school environment. So, they both are very familiar with Petersburg um Petersburg community and the resources and things that's necessary for our students to be successful. Next slide,

086please. And so, the four schools that was selected was the four elementary school, Cool Springs, Lake, Pleasant Lane, and Walton Hill. And one of the reason and the reason why this election was what we did as a team, we looked at the resources that we already have in our schools. And one of the things that we recognized is that um on the middle school and high school level, they have a few more resources than we do in our elementary. We also looked at our trends in data for those who serve on the school board disc um we saw the trends over the three years. We're seeing more of our students in elementary being referred for long-term suspensions um and expulsions. And we knew that we had to make sure that we provide this early intervening

087services that we had to get in early to work with those students to understand to build those students self-confidence to build those students decision- making and anger management skills. And so one of the things we did was when we looked at everything holistically and where we needed to go with we chose those four elementary schools because we needed to make sure that we meet those needs for our K through five students. Next slide please. And so the value of TDT service, some of the values of TDT services that we expect that we will see an increase in and that'll be an increase in our academic success because both providers came and they focused in on how they're going to assist us with increasing our academic success, increase school attendance, increase positive relationships in the school

088environment, increase students ability to handle stressful situations, improve communication between parents, students and schools, and increase appropriate student self- advocacy at agency. And so we came in with a idea that this is what we wanted to see from our from these these two agencies from the three agencies but the two agencies we chose they came in with the focus with the plan that they were going to put in place on day one. Next slide please. And so the monitoring of services, one of the things in order for us to ensure that the TD is meeting the needs of our students and the school, one of the some of the things we're going to be doing on beginning on January 2026, TD provides will begin supporting students and the agreed upon students. One of the things

089in regards to the reason we're starting it in January, you have to have a license, an individual license. So the TDT company after tonight, uh they will be I will call them first thing in the morning. been formed that they if if you all choose and vote for them, they have to apply for a license for each indivi individual building they will be in. So if you're going to be assigned to Cool Springs, they have to have a license for Cool Springs. If you're going to be assigned to Pleasant Lane, you have to have a license for Pleasants Lane. And it takes roughly 30 days, not business days, but 30 days. And so that would give them time to get those 30 days in so they can hit the ground running after the Christmas break

090or after the winter break. um ongoing throughout the school year. The TDT providers and the building administrators and disciplinary hearing officer which will lead this effort in monitoring the TDT providers will meet monthly with monthly reports of students being served and then those monthly reports with daily review meetings. The four selected school principles will discuss and revise data for students receiving TD services. ongoing progress. If we see that the students are not making some progress and not making gains, then we're going to have to go back through and see what we need to do differently through this would be through weekly meetings with the TDT provider and the principal administrators of each building along with the discipline hearing officer and then the principal and the hearing officer will meet monthly with the TDT executive director.

091So, we're not going to just meet with the TDT providers in the building. We're going to meet with the direct executive directors who oversee those TDT agencies on a monthly basis. And that was one of the agreements why we went with these two providers. agreed to these conditions that we would be doing moving forth. Um then the third nine weeks we're going to take the hearing officer will conduct a survey with the four building administrators, teachers and all to see the effectiveness of what the TDT providers are doing for those students so we can gain are they being effective or not. And then at the end of the year PCPS and the TDT agency would meet to discuss the end of the year data. We have to produce the end of the year datas for

092those students that we're working with. We're going to look at attendance data, discipline data, academic data, and see how those students are progressing and see what the challenges are and what we need to do differently. Next slide, please. And so, so the next step in this process upon board approval, I will contact those student service providers to let them know that they were chosen for provide TDT service within Petersburg City Public Schools. The procurement office, the procurement uh person, Miss Lori Newton, will prepare contracts for each provider for one year with the option of four year determined by Petersburg City Public Schools and the effectiveness of the TVT providers. And then as you can see on December 5th, we introduce the new TBT referral process to principles. Um we've already got that meeting scheduled upon

093your approval. December 8th, schoolbased um mental health will meet with the TDT providers to ensure that they understand how students will be referred for TDT services. Then on December the 8th and the 12th, TDT providers will meet with the principles and select the central office team. And at that time we're going to start collecting and having names that we're going to start doing that process because one of the things we want the TD2 providers to do while we out on the run going to break is to go through because what happen is they have to do a clinical on those students and meet with the parents and go through that and do an assessment. We don't want to waste any time because we want to hit the ground running on December on January 6 when

094our students return. So during that time frame while we are out of school and while schools are closing all they're going to be working with those parents doing those clinicals so that they can already have those assessments and everything in for those students to start on on the 6th. Uh and on January 5th TV providers will meet with the principles and and myself to confirm the start date that they're ready for to hit the ground running and that we do have that the principles have ensured to us that they have the list of those case managers that they have the list who they'll be working with on January 6 of those students to provide those services to. And one of the other things, the last thing in regards to why we chose this agency, they

095have agreed. We do know that sometimes their parents, the medic, some of the parents Medicaid can lapse, they will work with those students with those students until that Medicaid come in. So they will also provide services to some students who have Medicaid, they agree with and even those students who may not have Medicaid, but they are willing to work with some of those students also that that's not receiving those Medicaid funings. So those one the two things, one of the things the reason why we chose these agencies to work with Next slide, please. And that concludes our opportunity to process. >> Thank you, Dr. Mason. Any questions? >> M. Um, is this going to work the same way that they get paid through the Medicaid program? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. So, >> yes, no

096problem. [clears throat] >> Yes. >> So, I'm excited, of course, you know, that we are starting this and I'm glad to that evaluation piece because you remember Dr. Kenny Lewis. >> Yes. >> He would always say you all have you are providing services with the TDV providers but we never get to see an evaluation. Yes. >> At the end of the year. So I'm glad that you put that piece in there. >> Also um I'm believing myself, [clears throat] Mr. Miles and Mr. Pierce, we should start seeing less elementary students coming to us next year before the disciplinary board because they should be in this within the schools and with the TDT providers. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you. >> That is my expectation and Mr. Brown's expectation that you will see less K through

097five students coming through the [clears throat] district board. Yes. >> Thank you. Any other questions? >> We appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> They are they are under action. >> You have another question? I'm sorry. I'm not comment. [laughter] >> All right. Thank you for checking and schoolboard members. We'll now have our next presentation of this evening. It is going to be our division work order system update given by Mr. Mr. Daryl Gdet, our coordinator of facilities, and Mr. J. Martinez, our assistant superintendent of operations. Good evening, board chair Pritchette, vice chair Pierce on the board, madam superintendent, and community members. Uh, I'm the assistant superintendent of operations. Uh, Jay Martinez, been here about five months. Um I will be here uh presenting PCPS facilities work order update uh with coordinator facilities Mr. Daryl Gardet.

098Next slide. All righty. So this is just a brief update of our uh facilities work orders. Right. So um our agenda will cover work orders, our current maintenance staff um maintenance submission process standardization and compliance. Then we'll end with questions. So I'll go through this presentation and and all questions will be answered by me. Next slide. All right. Thank you. So right here, this slide right here, um, illustrates our work orders from July 1st to November 20th, 2025. If we focus on the chart to the right here, um, in that first column, we have our school sites. Uh, the next column, we have our computer completed work orders. Next column, we have our open work orders. And the last column we have our total total work orders. So quick um takeaways here are 10 completed

099469 work orders as of November 20th, 2025. The system shows 424 new work requests. This shows a high efficiency in managing the existing log. Um um so that right there shows you we had a total of 893 total work orders. Right. So we completed 469 with 424 new requests as of November 20th. Lakemont Elementary School and Cool Spring Elementary School accounts for the highest volume of new requests 192 suggesting that may require more dedicated complex maintenance resources. PHS and Walnut Hill showed the highest completion rates which indicates a focus on eliminating existing backlog items at those locations and Blamford and Pitman Academy has the highest net increases in their backlog. These sites need attention to prevent service delays. Next, so I want to pay [clears throat] close attention to our current maintenance staff. Okay, so

100we understand what the numbers are. All right, so just real quick, let me reiterate. Between July 1st and November 20th, we had 893 maintenance work orders. So currently we have a coordinator of facilities whose specific focus is oversight, planning, budget and reporting. Um our skilled trades as of right now we have one electrician, we have one plumber and we have two carpenters. Our general maintenance includes three and they um specialize in general repairs, painting, minor fixes and utility support. Okay. We also had two supporting folks which is an auto mechanic and um a male carrier. So what are the key challenges here that I want the board to um play close attention to? The ratio of staff to facilities is stretched thin. When an emergency arises such as a burst pipe, uh flood in the

101bathroom, uh somebody lost their keys, um our uh electrician, plumber, carpenter, general maintenance staff must immediately stop doing what they doing uh to respond. We estimate that up to 50% of our skilled technicians time is dedicated to these unlocked high priority emergency and expanded scope tasks. So the key word is unlocked, right? So I originally told you that we have 893 logged total work orders. So I want to pay close attention when I say unload. All right. This work that must be completed but it's lack of documentation means the board and the district do not have accurate measure of our team's um occupational output operational output. Next slide. So what are the critical consequences of unlocked work? underounted productivity. [clears throat] The team's productivity is significantly undervalued by the raw work order metrics. No preventative

102maintenance. Preventive maintenance is key, especially in older buildings. Um the con the constant interruption from emergencies prevents us from scheduling and completing necessary preventive maintenance. The work and what does PM means? It means the work that reduces future emergencies, right? Upkeep and also safety and compliance risk. When skilled staff such as our electrician or plumber are tied up with emergencies, routine inspections and necessary compliance checks are delayed, increasing long-term risk. Next slide. So, currently, this is what our submission process looks like. Currently, work requests enter into the facilities department through too many unlocked channels, resulting in understated productivity and poor resource planning. one example. So our current work order system, right? That is our desired channel for all routine work desired. Okay. So what is going on now? We'll get emails, right? That's unlocked. We'll

103get a phone phone call. God will probably get a phone call 5:00 in the morning, 6 o'clock in the morning. Um that's unlocked. And text messages afterour calls unlock. Next slide. So, what does good look like? [clears throat] Good looks like level one. All non-emergency requests must be submitted via a work order system, right? And we'll address those chronicologically and we'll use a priority order, right? So, what is an example? Um, an example would be um Miss Fields walking down the hallway. she sees some lights missing or um a custodian walks down night crew, he sees um um uh the toilet's not working correctly, he will log in the work order system and they'll get in the morning and they'll fix it. All right. Level two will be urgent. Same day we need to fix

104ASAP. We'll use the work order system and a quick call to the facilities department will alert for urgency. Level three, emergencies. Immediate phone call to the facilities department. They'll take care of the work, but what good looks like is mandatory back entry into that work order system by the facility team. Right? Remember, if we go back to the resources that we do have, it's it's it's a lot of bottlenecking going on. Right? Next slide. All right. So, any questions? Um, I'll bring that up, but I just want when we talk about our work order system, we use a a system called school due, right? Um, and by me coming here, um, I evaluated that system. Um, I'm looking at it, um, and we're looking at other work order systems that's a little more modern. Um,

105our technology department is using a work order system that, um, seems to be working really nice for the technology side. I'm going to be working with Miss Yates to see if we can pilot that system to include, um, maintenance and, um, uh, fac side of things. If not, then we'll be using a um separate work order system that I'll be bringing back um to our operation advisory council and we'll discuss more about that questions. >> Yes, Mr. [snorts] >> I do have one or two. Um go back to your current maintenance staff. Just a couple of things. Reason why I ask for this every year the same time simply because as we start to go into the holiday season, if you were staffed up, it would give you plenty of time to take care of

106a lot of work orders that were outstanding. I get that. So I'm going ask again this year. Same question I asked last year. What do you need from us staffingwise that will allow you and not saying that you're not doing well with the staff that you have to keep up your work orders as you have because you've been doing very good I would say of the minimum staff that you have and Mr. Godad had alluded to this last year. Um, I made a note from last year because you're going to need tell us what you need so that we can get these work orders not under control but maintain them at a level so that your skill work staff is not stopping on an electrical problem to go and help the general maintenance people with

107something else somewhere else. So, we want to make sure that we have a clear understanding of that. tell us what you need staffingwise so that we can take care of you now because if you do that then going forward next year is going to be different because um we I see in the reports where there's going to be some additional u stuff happening that these people are going to be tasked everywhere and without that staffing you going to be so smart it's going be ridiculous. So, we need to know, I don't mean right now, but you need to be mindful of this so that we can make sure that uh the staff that you need will take care of the necessity that we see coming cuz it's coming and it's going to, believe it or

108not, it's going to swamp. >> Absolutely, Vice Chair. And I appreciate you for bringing that point up. Um, it is it's it's very positive to hear that we had the support of the board and madam superintendent