REGULAR MEETING 9/17/25

001test. Okay, good. [Music] Okay, the time now like to call out special meeting order. The time is 4:09 p.m. D called >> Mr. Senior >> here. >> Mr. Hen here. >> Mr. Howard Tucker here. Mr. George Parker here. Mr. Bernard Jr. >> here. >> Mr. A >> here. Okay. >> We need a motion to go into close. Mr. Pierce. >> I move that the school board go into close meeting as authorized by section 2.2-3711. 81 code Virginia for the purpose of discussion or consideration of prospective candidates on a second. All in favor? So we got Mr. Davis as >> Mr. [Music] As provided by section 2.2-3712D 3712D of the original freedom of information act call vote will be taken to certify that to the best of each member's knowledge one only public business matters law

002exempted open meeting requirements to act and two only such public matters as were identified motion by which the closed session will convene or heard discussed or considered in close session by the board prior to the vote and member of the board from the requirements of one and two as read so the same our judgement has taken place. Does anyone ever wish to respond? Hearing no response, I will now take the information senior. >> Yes. >> Mr. Rosen, >> yes. >> Mr. Ken, >> yes. >> Mr. Yes. >> Mr. Proctor. >> Yes. >> Mr. Bernard Jr. >> Yes. >> Mr. Adrian, >> yes. >> Thank you. Mine we do not close session motion to close by second Mr. Pierce all in favor motion carries. Good evening everyone the time now is 5:08 p.m. We will move

003into our regular meeting. Miss >> Davis if you call the please. Mr. Steven >> here. >> Mr. M >> here. >> Mr. Kenny >> here. >> Mr. Mr. Parker >> here. >> Mr. Bernard Jr. >> here. >> Thank you. Okay. At this time, board members, we move to a 18 approval of the agenda. If there are no changes, ask that you approve the agenda. They did upload the action. Can you can you go up to Can you go into the action items to make sure everything is in there? That's right. Okay. >> Yes. Thank you. Okay. Is there a motion to accept the approval of the agenda? >> Moved by M. Proctor. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mrs. Tucker. All in favor? >> I oppose. Motion carries. Next we move to one big

004moment of silence. Mr. Davis, the following are to be remembered during the moment of silence. Mr. Michael Towns and the family and the passing of his brother, Mr. Christopher Eugene Towns on Thursday, September 4th, 2025 and the family of Dr. Harold Bobby Doohart, pediatrician of the Peter High School Crimson Clinic and his passing on Friday, September 12, 2025. Thank you. At this time, we have a moment of silence. Okay. Thank you. Next, we move to the pledge of allegiance. Next, Mr. [Music] To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. The university school board received a thank you lettering during a time like this. We realize how much our friends and family really mean to us.

005Your expression of sympathy will always be remembered from Stephanie and the family of Elder Henry R. G. >> Thank you. Next is number two recognition. >> Thank you. school board members. I'm excited this evening to bring to the podium um this evening we have Miss Ebony Massie, our PK12 director of curriculum and instruction Paul Brown, chief academic officer, who's coming to the podium to recognize some of our fabulous educators who have completed some exceptional training. And so I'll have Mr. Brown and Miss Massie describe why we are recognizing our stars this afternoon or this evening. Mr. Brown. >> Yes, ma'am. Good evening. Board Chair Pritchard, board vice chair Pierce, all other board members, community members, and our superintendent, Miss Brown. Tonight, we want to take an opportunity to say thank you to some of just

006a small sample of the great educators we have here in Petburg City public schools. Last year we the governor rolled out um some requirements around reading and so and the science of reading and so we have had we put the chart out. 50 of our teachers completed the coursework and so now they have an understanding of how to teach reading but they also have an understanding of strategies to support students in reading. So before we recognize those teachers, I do want to say thank you to all of our educators who are in the classrooms with our teachers and just say thank you for what you do for our children each and every day. Thank you for implementing our new high quality materials that we have rolled out because we know that when our teachers are

007trained and we provide them the right resource and we hold them accountable, students will achieve. And so thank you to all of our teachers for what you do each and every day to serve our students. I would like to invite Miss Massie to give a little more context around the certificate um for our teachers tonight. And again, just want to say thank you to our educators. >> Thank you. And I just wanted to say that this is really no small accomplishment for our teachers. Our teachers that completed this coursework had to complete up to 90 hours worth of not 90 hours, sorry, 99 modules of course work. They received up to 90 professional development points for that work that was created um finished. And so being able to have the demand, the time, the focus

008and dedication, our teachers committed themselves fully to this. The efforts not only reflect compliance with state requirements, but also a deeper commitment to ensuring that every student in Petersburg has access to high quality reading instruction grounded in research and practice. In recognition of this achievement, participants were also able to receive a stipen based on the number of modules they completed. This statement is available for both our fully licensed and provisional licensed teachers because we know the hard work that goes into balancing teaching responsibilities with professional learning across the Commonwealth. Completion of this training is a requirement for all teachers. For those who were unable to complete the course last year, this year um will be their opportunity to do so. So I'm confident that just as these 50 teachers have shown, our entire staff will

009rise to that occasion. So today, let us applaud and recognize the teachers who have already completed this important step. Their dedication moves our district forward, strengthens our literacy instruction, and most importantly supports the success of our students. So let's take a moment to recognize their names. Okay. All right. We have Amber Williams. Oh, and if the teacher is here, feel free to come on up and we will um give you a certificate of completion. We have Jaylen Lanyard, Rosemary Duran, Octavia Bryson, Patricia Cross, Heather Mley, Jacqueline Armore, Eureka Mitchner, Jessica Jones, Oops. Annayia Morgan, Shhateri Sawyer, Siobhan Forest, Monica Taylor, Kiana Harris, Ebony Patterson, Angela Comr, Tea Campbell, Angel Smith, Janelle Perkins, Jquai Beasley, Tasha Stevenson, Josha Smith, Tia Palmer, Rosa Hopson, Jennifer Co Pepper, Tiana Zachary, Brooke Kensley, Jasmine Simmons, Maya Usher, Ashley Waters,

010Jayla Gilmore, Dorothy Patter, Jabil Leon Scott, Edward Spratley, Justin Leak, Rashan Wilson, Rosetta Jones, Angela Jackson, Kira Patterson, Carly Hubard, Sheila Brown, Carol Baker, Ramona Wright, Chanel Tinsley, Marita Harrison, Charlinda Johnson Holmes, Dominique Jones, Crystal Aoyo, Felicia Farmer, Kacina Spray, Taylor, Frank Maddox, Jacqueline Hopkins, Jessica Sims, Jordan Providence, Clarence Grayson, Lisa Marlin, Lisa, last but definitely not least, Sherry Lotus. [Applause] >> Thank you. So although um a number of the teachers are not here tonight, we do want to recognize the hard work of our educators and say to the community that we in Petersburg believe in improving and these teachers are great examples of those who stepped up to improve in their craft to support students. So again, thank you to all of our teachers. Thank you to our board uh for supporting us in

011this effort. Thank you to our superintendent and thank you to our principles. [Applause] Thank you. Congratulations to everyone. At this time, we move to number three, approve of consent and Doug, Miss Brown. >> Thank you, board chair, school board members. We'll start with 3A. Correction. Yes. >> So, we'll start with 3A. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board school board approve the final personnel agenda with the following adjustments. Item number 20, um the correct spelling of the employee name and with the correct correction of the spelling of the name for item number 44. And so it is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the final personnel agenda with item 20 and item 44 corrected as provided for September 17, 2025. Then 43B, approval of the minutes. It is the superintendent's recommendation

012that the school board approve the minutes of the 3325 PCPS board head start training, the 82025 special meeting, the 82025 regular meeting, the 932025 special meeting, and the 932025 regular meeting. 43C donations received by Petersburg City Public Schools. We have our donations for 91 2020 91 2025 to September 14th 2025 division donations. There were no donations during this time period. And so it is again the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the final personnel agenda with the corrections dated September 17, 2025 as provided and the approval of the minutes um as outlined as provided and there are no donations at this time. >> Thank you M. Any questions? Is there a motion to accept the superintendent's recommendation? >> So moved >> by Miss Proctor. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mrs. Tucker. All

013in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. Next we'll come to our superintendent and guests in Stanford course. Miss Brown 48. Thank you board chair and schoolboard members. We will start this evening off with our very first presentation that will be given by uh Miss Kimberly Mason and Miss Bianca Lamp Lamp Lamp Lee, excuse me, from our Petersburg Education Association entitled Teacher Pay Equity Presentation. Miss Mason, Miss Lampley, please come to the podium. Good evening, school board chair, school board, superintendent, community members. My name is Bianca Lampley. I'm an eighth grade civics and economics teacher at Grand John Middle School. Good evening. I'm Kimberly Mason. I'm the school nurse at Cool Spring Elementary. So, good evening, chair, vice chair, school board members, and superintendent. >> Today, we are going to be presenting on teacher pay equity,

014specifically talking about new teachers versus veterans. Next slide. Okay. Right now, um, the retention efforts in Petersburg City are lacking. Every year we have veteran teachers leaving, at least in my school. Every year we lose veteran teachers and it's continued to happen. Um, the group of teachers I came in working with. There are only three of us left in the division at this point. So, I have watched teachers leave and I'm in my 10th year here in Petersburg City. So, I feel like it's important that we address the equity and teacher pay to help retain teachers and come up with some kind of plan for teacher retention. Next slide. I do understand that we need qualified teachers. I understand we have a lot of vacancies as someone that's in the building helping to cover vacancies.

015So, I do understand that and assign on bonuses are great way to attract new teachers. But there There is not really a bonus that's comparable to the teachers that have put in the time and dedication in this division. Again, this is my 10th year that I'm in teaching here for the division. I am a department head, my assistant coach volleyball. I've been a member and I've been vice president PA for the last two years. So there's a lot of things that I feel like are great to the district and I don't feel the appreciation that the new teachers are receiving because of the disparity in the bonuses. Next slide please. Um veteran teachers are a very important piece to all school buildings. Um, we are the ones that help out with teacher work week when

016teachers are working in the building. New teachers don't necessarily know that function is more important than having a beautiful classroom. Yes, you want your classroom to be nice, but you also want your classroom to be proactive and prevent in preventing situations and things like that. And these are things that veteran teachers bring to the table. Um, a lot of times we are asked to mentor new teachers and that's not a problem. But the way our pay scale now sits for their first year and in my building alone, I know of two fully licensed teachers and this is their first year in the building, they are because of the sign on bonus, they are both making more than I am this year. Um, and they both need quite a bit of assistance and we have been

017providing them with extra assistance this year as a veteran teacher being asked to mentor someone that is making more than you. That's kind of a I hate to say it face, but that's what it feels like. Um, because I'm teaching them I'm giving my skills away to someone that you all are paid more than what I receive. And it just again I get that we need new teachers but there should be some kind of equity in that. There should be some kind of investment in the teachers that have been here 9 10 years and we aren't seeing that. And then lastly I think um for my last slide I believe that showing veteran teachers some type of appreciation. I I do know that you all have given us a $1,000 bonus here and a $1,200

018bonus there. Um but again, it does not compare to what you're offering brand new people that you don't know whether they can even handle our kids into the building. And so we are just speaking to teacher retention and ways to improve teacher retention and address the pay equity issue. >> Next slide. Empowerment for collective bargaining allows employees to have a seat at the table. We are in the learning environment every day and we know what works and what doesn't. Collective bargaining allows you to benefit from this expertise. Unity strengthens employee voice for better working conditions. enhances collaboration between educators and administration. Historically, success examples show improve job satisfaction in retention rates. Data reveals higher student achievement in unionized districts with collective bargaining. Next slide. Giving teachers a voice. Teacher retention increases when teachers have a

019voice. In districts where teachers have input on decisions, overall satisfaction improves. Teachers are more likely to stay if they feel valued. Next slide, please. Looking forward to the future. Retaining qualified teachers is crucial for student success. Recognize the value of ex experience educators in shaping learning. Increasing retention efforts can enhance school outcomes. Investing in teacher appreciation fosters a positive school culture. Next slide. Conclusion. Addressing equity and teacher pay is crucial for teacher retention. Veteran teachers play an essential role in the education system. Recognition of teachers dedication is vital for morale. Collective bargaining can promote fair pay structures. strategies must focus on retaining and valuing experienced educators. Um and I do have um a conclusion slide myself acknowledgement empowerment and summary points. I would like to acknowledge Superintendent Brown for speaking with me target on this

020matter in the process of hiring a company to do salary analyst on all employees in Petersburg City Public Schools. All employees will be receiving a link to complete a survey and it's imperative that you do your part. Now, today we outline Not just a list of points but a vision for what our educational institution could be. Fair compensation is not a privilege. It is the foundation of a stable, motivated and dedicated workforce. The power to achieve this belongs to each of us together. Let's stand united for our value, our students, and our profession. This isn't just about a number on a paycheck. It's about building a sustainable future for our educators, our employees, and our school. Let's commit to working together. Not for what we've been given, but for what we deserve. Our collective future

021is bright, is a bright one, but it's one we must build together, one step at a time. We began this presentation by reflecting on the dedication and hard work that define our daily lives. Let us end by committing to a future where that dedication is matched by a fair and dignified living. The solution is within this room, within our union, within you. Join us. Join us. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you, Miss Mason and Miss Langley. Any questions for warers before they take their seat? >> Thank you for the presentation when I put together your seat. We appreciate it. Next, we move to B. >> Thank you, board school board members. um will bring to the podium Miss Michelle Hines um who um will come and bring us a preliminary student enrollment and class size update

022presentation. And so I just want to emphasize preliminary because we will be working on the numbers because we have to submit to the state I think in October the final enrollment um information for so we wanted to just bring it a little bit earlier just so that you all have a sense of how many kids are in Petersburg, what our class sizes are looking like and what are we doing to address any of the gaps that we have. So with that I'll turn it over to Miss Michelle Hines. Thank you. Good evening, board chair pressure, vice chair Pierce, board members, superintendent, Miss Brown, and Petburg family. My name is Roelle Hines. I'm the supervisor of testing and state reporting, and I bring to you information on preliminary enrollment and average class size um updates. Thank

023you. Next slide. On this agenda, we're going to talk about the enrollment comparison between this year and last year, our average class sizes for all of our schools, and our notion list um as of this 16th um day of school. As you can see here, we have a slight decrease in our enrollment for our K through 12 um enrollment for for in comparison to last year. 2 students. And it's important to note that our K2 is our funded um number. That's what goes to the Virginia Department of Education and how that's how they determine our funding for our students. Um if you're looking at the slides, the first set of numbers are our pre preK12. Um for 2023, that number is 4460. For 2024, that number is 4616. for this year. The number is 4520.

024Again, this is based off of our 15th day of school. Thank you. Is it possible to make it a little bit larger? Um, so that we can see. I know that's embedded in the slides. I don't know miss Can we make that just the number part really large? >> So we can kind of see. So you know the year the blue is what year is this? >> The blue is 2023. >> Okay. And the red >> the red is 2024 and the gold is the current year where we stand. That is the enrollment for prek on the left and then K12 on the right. Is that correct? So, as you can note, we do have a drop in our enrollment based off of the 15th day. Um, it's 100 student 102 students decrease, which equates

025to a 2.5 variance um in our decrease in numbers in comparison to last year. Next slide. Miss said K2 is the K12. K12, sorry, K12. Thank you. Now, these are your enrollments per school and the number of classes for each of the grade levels and the average class sizes for all of our schools. Um, remember that we need to stay in compliance with the department of education with our teacher, excuse me, teacher and student ratios K through for kindergarten at cool springs. the ratio of 24-3 to 24.3 with four classes. First grade is 20 students per class with four classes. Second grade, four classes with average class sizes of 21.5. Third grade, four classes, 20. Fourth grade, four classes, 22.25. fifth grade four classes at 23.5 but our total number of students in that building

026are 541. Next slide. Lake Mount Elementary School class sizes for kindergarten kindergarten 15.5 with four teachers. First grade 14.3 with four teachers. Second grade 15 with four teachers. 17 Third grade 17.25 with four teachers. Fourth grade 19.3 with three teachers. Fifth grade 15.7 with three teachers with the total enrollment at Lake M 368 students for K5. Next slide. Pleasant Lane Elementary kindergarten has five teachers. Average class size is 17.8. First grade four teachers. Average class size is 20.25. Second grade is five teachers at 15.2 average class size. Third grade, four teachers at 21.5 average class size. Fourth grade, five teachers with 17 average class size. Fifth grade, four teachers with 22.5 average class size. And total enrollment for classes plans is 516 students. Walnut Hill um kindergarten has five classes. Average class size is 19.

027First grade five teachers at 16.2. Second grade four teachers 22 average class size. Third grade four teachers average class size 21.25. Fourth grade Five teachers 17.2 average class size. Fifth grade four teachers average class size 23.75 with one hill having a enrollment of 547 students. Next slide. Um Blandford 6. Blandford 6. Just keep in mind that for our 6 through 12, we base it off of our English class enrollments because all students must take an English class. So that's how we're basing that class size um measure and it's also what's recommended for SOQ. Sixth grade has 12 teachers, average class size of 25. Next slide. Vernon John's middle school which is seventh and eighth graders. Average class size for seventh grade is 26.1 with 12 teachers. 8th grade is 24.2 with 12 teachers with total

028enrollment of 603. Next slide. Petersburg High School again English class. What determines um your class size? Ninth grade, um, 17 teachers. Average class size is 18.5 students. 10th grade, 15 classes, 18.7 average class size. 11th grade, 12 classroom teachers, 22.4 as average class size. 12th grade, 10 teachers. Average class size is 16.8 with a total enrollment of 11. 62 students. Next slide. And then we have West View. West View um the students are broken down by how they are funded, what program they are funded by. So Head Start has 136 students. VPI 3, which is our three-year pilot program, has 124 students. In VPI 4, which is our fouryear-old VPI program, has 162 students and total enrollment is 422. Next slide. And just as a note, SOQ means standards of quality and those are guidelines

029um for the Virginia Department of Education. Next, I bring it to you information on our no-show list. Um, here I did a comparison where we were last year in comparison to to this year again on the sixth day 16th date of soul. Um, Cool Spring had a remaining number of three no-shows. Wut Hill had five. Um, Lake M had zero. Pleasant Lane had 11. Vern and John's were just seventh and 8th had four. Blandford sixth grade had two students. Petersburg High had 19 students. Pitman had eight students and West View had zero students. Next slide. And these are some of the efforts that Petersburg City Public Schools have taken to um reach out and reach out with families and to get our students back into school or find out where they are if they are

030in other Virginia public schools. Um we had on on all hands on deck notifications were sent to parents. Um we required so no show attendance meetings at each schools at each school with the assistant superintendent of student services, the chief academic officer, the de director of special special education and other things that we did. We did phone calls to families, sent out emails, home visits including weekends, and we also, of course, do our parent square notifications. The parent square notifications go out all every day. Um, and for secondary, they go out um multiple times during the day. But our goal is to locate all of our no-show students and engage families to improve attendance. Any questions? >> Thank you. Besides, any questions? >> No, I just think I think that we really have done a

031fine job in trying to bring our families together and get them on time enough in order for us to service them. But whenever we get we get it started, then we lose it immediately. And we've tried very hard in the last two or three years to make sure that we were able to bring more of our kid kids in because guess what? When we don't have them, then it forces us to the other end with Richmond. And so we need to really think about that. And I do know that um the early hood center. They have really worked hard to try to get this number up. So, I can only say that we have to continue to try to do so, continue to try to get with them earlier enough to get them in because

032we were trying to get them in at the summer so that it wouldn't be so bad as school begins to start. And that's just something we're going to have to work work on together. Thank you. >> So, I'm not sure if you know right off hand. Well, first of all, amazing presentation. Thank you so much for the information. Um, can you tell me if any of the the students on the no-show list um because we've seen a significant decrease this year, which is amazing. Can you tell me if any of those students were former Mckenni Vento students? If you know all >> I don't know. can but we do know that some of them are to students. >> Okay. >> Yes. But I don't have a total number. So >> yes, >> Dr. Vans said

033if we could take a look at that data and pull together so I can give to the um to Tucker the number of students that were in the current no show for this school year 24 256 if there are any the McKenna dental suits. Is that correct? >> Yes. Thank you so much. >> Miss and did you give us the average number of students that can be in an elementary class? Did you share that with us? >> Yes, I'll go back. Can you So the per um standards of quality we have four schools, right? So um second, can we go back to schools? So we can start with cool springs or elementary. So we go back to you can talk on that. science. It's just helping you out a little bit. So right here, >>

034so what's the average class size for elementary? So as the board members and committee look at the numbers by the average class size, they'll know whether we're over and under. Yes. Is that correct? Okay. >> So for the composite um index for um pooling, which is determined by for by the standards of quality, it's not is 21. So we are comp we are not complying with our kindergarten. So what that means and that's for K3. So that again is 21 is the average um class size for um K3 for our for Cool Springs, Lakemont um Pleasant Lane it is is 21. For Walnut Hill the composite index for for K3 is 19. So that is the average class size for K3 fourth through um fourth and fifth graders. We just follow the same concept of

035of 6 through 12 of 24 as our average class size requires. So we meet that um there is funding that's tied to that K3. Um so we need to make sure that we um be within the standards of quality for those different schools. So if we're looking So as we can see with Wana Hill like I said they are 21. So we still lagging or we're falling short with our second graders. >> Okay, Miss H. Thank you for that information. I just want to make sure that I'm clear so we can hear everybody. So you said pleasant lane, cool cool spring and lakemont. The composite number for K through three for the for the SOQ is 21. >> 21. >> So for Walnut Hill, you said it was 19 >> for K3. So if you're

036looking at Walnut Hill in kindergarten, you're right there for Walnut Hill. First grade we're below the 19 and at second grade we're slightly over >> in third grade. >> And so that's what So then I think the conversation is going to be questions around how are we addressing that? How much over? You can explain for everyone at what point and do we have to get another teacher make changes based on being over the number? And so let's just use Walnut Hill as an example. Since the composite number is K3 is 19, but for four five is 24. And so at Walnut Hill, we are below the 24 average class size at grade five and at grade four. Is that right? >> Yes, ma'am. So when we do the K3 um program application, if we have

037schools that do not meet the criteria already, they do allow you opportunities of what you're going to do, hire new teachers and things of that nature. And you have until December the 30th to do that work. >> Next question. Yes. Can you go back? Can you go back to um which one? Lake [Music] I know that money is small, but those numbers look good. >> Yes. >> So, how do we get and I know we have a shortage of teachers, >> but how do we get our other elementary schools to look like that? >> The smaller the numbers, the better they're going to perform. >> So, can we research to find out what it would take? I mean, we may have the space, but what it would take next year to to get our elementary

038numbers looking like Lakemon Lake. And I've always said it Lakemont should be our top performing school. Mr. I I notice when when our kids first come to school, when they get out their cars, when they get off the buses, it's always the numbers are scattered. The kids are scattered in uh cool spring. They were just jumbled up as they came in preparation for school. And they didn't know where they were going. and they were going to different schools and it was just chaotic. And that's something we have to look at because we end up having them in different settings that they shouldn't have been here which made the numbers really be thrown off. They were extremely thrown off during that time because they were getting off. They were getting off over at um Pleasant Lane.

039A lot of them were on Pleasant Lane. We tried to find the paperwork to guide them with it and the guidance wasn't done. It wasn't it was really very sloppy. Uh and and we have to look at that because you were putting kids together that shouldn't have been in in either of those places. >> Thank you. We will look into that on your Thank you M. I don't see a big problem with a lot of that because you if you had uh one point 1 1.25 students over in full classroom it's almost six students. You're not going to resone the whole district because six students that grade level. We got to look at other methods. We're not looking at a major problem here. So the thing is is that before we make it a major

040problem, let's take a closer look at and see what we can do to to to um be in compliance because you're not you're not that far. You understand what I'm saying? So you're talking about for grade level, five student, six students, that's not a big, you know, to to get us within the classroom size range. So we can work that out somehow. So I'm quite sure Mr. you'll be able to resolve that without major problem. So we can we're close and closer than close in some areas. So um good report. >> So I do have one additional question. So I know you said that this data is based off the 16k school. So have these students been dropped as of now? >> Yes. Yes. Okay. For the ones that we could not find. Yes. But

041we are still responsible for finding those kids because they were enrolled with us on the on the previous school year. So they are still our students. So we have to still find out what their educational status is, whether they are out of state. Um they are not in in um in other Virginia public schools. I am able to find those students. And when I do find them in other Virginia public schools, I just transfer them out with the appropriate code. But we do and we may have students that are in private schools. But again, we have to make every effort every effort to find these students. One last thing. So if I could make a suggestion with the students that we can't find, I would suggest that we go back and look at the students

042past and tap back into the teacher that that student has had because sometimes teachers keep in touch with you know parents and things like that. So if they are at different divisions or you know they may have them on social media or things like that. So I would just tap back into um some of the teachers that the students have had. That's just a suggestion. >> Thank you. >> Okay. I just have one more. If you could go to the last slide. This would be for um Dr. G. I'm sorry. Not that one. Go back right there. Not that one. Right. Isn't it's not that one. It's the one that had the number. You're right. I need to pick a slide. Right. >> It's the one that No, it is. It It's the It's the

043number. Let me see. It's the number that all No, go to Petersburg High. That's it. >> It's Petburg High. That's That's what I want to talk about. >> Yes. >> Dr. Gate, one of the things that that I always ask and and this board ask individuals, we ask people staff to follow. See in the ninth grade we had 430 students and by the time let's take for instance they get to 12th grade it's 224 and we have we have asked can we have data to show us what happened to the students and we have not you know we haven't seen data like that you know how many dropped out how many moved away to other states or move to other school division if you know and we hit numbers like that it would be very

044helpful you know 300 in the 10th grade but by the time they get to 12th grade they won't they will not have a class of 300 because right now we I think we're graduating an average of about 200 and some students too um and we do track that information on our um graduation um reports as far as how many the mobility of our students how many are coming in even after ninth grade so we do have that opportunity to give you the information you need >> okay appreciate it >> so you can bring that back to I will you all so we can bring I think last year you prepared as high as the cohort data for each >> um I just wanted to add more chairs a really good question and it's already in

045our plans um we have uh dashboard um which will keep trend data of cohorts in real time uh so it's um uh one of our major accomplishments uh this year. So, uh anytime we need to see a particular year of students that are waiting from 9th grade to 12, um we can have that data right on hand. So, really excited about sharing that data this time as a superintendent. >> Thank you. Thank you. We appreciate it. >> Thank you for taking the Members, we're bringing you a very brief um HR update. This will be our final update related to the beginning of our school year. So, I'm asking Dr. Long Lang to come to the podium and provide a high level overview to summarize where we are at this point. Um and again, this will

046be our final report um for this meeting. Good evening, Chair Pritchette, Vice Chair Pierce, Superintendent, board members, colleagues, and community. Next slide, please. Tonight's presentation will be an update on our current teacher and other schoolbased vacancies, university instructor progress and questions and answers, highlighting changes from our last meeting. These numbers do reflect vacancies as of 925, and numbers are constantly changing asments are being made to meet the needs of our students. Next slide, please. For our elementary schools and early child care center core classroom vacancies, we move from 14 to 11. And in our other schoolbased vacancies, we move from 18 to 19 vacancies overall. At Kbury Elementary School, we have moved from four vacancies to three. Lake has remained consistent. Pleasant Lane has moved from one to zero. Hill has moved from 4 to

047three and Westby remains constant at five with an overall total of 11 down from 14. Next slide, please. And our other schoolbased vacancies at Cool Spring, we're at six vacancies, up from five. At Lakewell, we're constant with four vacancies. At Pleas, we're down from six to five vacancies. And at W here, we're up from two vacancies to three. And at Westby we are constant at one with an overall total of 19. Next slide please. In our graphs you see cool spring we're at a constant of 81.3% of classrooms filled. Next slide please. At Lake One we're constant at 93.8% of classrooms filled. Next slide please. At Pleasant Lane we move from 93.5% to 96.8%. Next slide please. At Walnut Hill, we're at 89.5% of classrooms filled. Next slide, please. And at Westview, we're at 79.2%

048of classrooms filled. Next slide. For our middle school campuses, we have a total of eight core classroom vacancies down from nine and three other schoolbased faces. Next slide, please. We're at three for our other schoolbased vacancies. Next slide, please. As we look at our graphs, we have 76.5% of classrooms do at 84.6% of our classrooms do at Vernon John's, up from 79.5%. As stated there on our um slide, we had Loom had three core and elected classroom vacancies and five core elective classroom vacancies at Vernon John's. Next slide, please. Our graph representation again, 84.6% at Vernon Johnson Middle School. Next slide, please. For our high school and Pitman Academy, we are consistent at nine core and electric classroom vacancies and four other schoolbased vacancies. Petersburg High School has four core and elective classroom vacancies and

049Pitman has five core and elected classroom vacancies. Next slide, please. Petersburg High School has three other schoolbased vacancies and Pitman Academy has five. Next slide. As we look at our graphs, Peter High School is at 94.7% of classrooms filled. Next slide. And Pip Academy, excuse me, is at 28.6% of classrooms filled. Next slide. As we look at our division in totality, this brings our overall percentage of classrooms filled from 86% to 87%. These classrooms are filled by fully licensed, provisionally licensed and resident teachers. Next slide tells us about the 87%. Uh, next slide. We're continuing our partnership with university instructors as they continue in their recruitment efforts. So far, they've hired 13 of the 15 positions with six of those being in our elementary schools, six in middle schools, and one special education position. So,

050we have two more vacancies that we're looking for university instructors to support us in finding quality personnel. Next slide, please. And last is our schoolbased administrative vacancies, which remains at three at Pitman, at our high school, and at Lakeland. Thank you. Are there any questions? Thank you Dr. Lane. Any questions for >> So can you share how is the recruitment effort going? I know we're um hiring new teachers. So what are we doing as as far as recruitment? >> So we're continuing our quest for job fairs. We have one today at App Maddox Library in Hopewell. We have another one tomorrow. We'll be attending that right point. So for this semester, we're focusing on the local area. So we're going within a 2hour radius of Petburg to try to recruit. And we're in the planning

051processes for our larger recruitments in the spring, but we'll be targeting H.B.CU in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina that have education programs and typically have salaries that are below what we offer. as a good method for us to attract teachers to our area. We're partnering with our communications department to continue our social media blitz. So, we have ads going out every Sunday now to highlight our vacancies utilizing Facebook and LinkedIn. Uh we're also working with communications to interview some of our teachers that work here and we're doing a segment called Why Wednesdays where we're going to have teachers who are here talk about why they've chosen Petersburg and be spokespersons for us to help other people get attracted to Petersburg and all the wonderful things that we have here at Halton. So that's just

052a small tidbit of some of the things that we're doing. One of our big things is we're currently looking for an HR specialist that will be responsible for recruitment and retention because we do want to make sure we're coupling the retention areas with recruitment at this point. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. Any other questions? >> And I think highlighting the commercial that we have um commercial that we showed I think at the last board meeting um that we have on I think what what channel is that? Chelsea across the the social media. I know it's on the website. We show it the banner that's floating on um our I can't remember which channel it is. >> That that was a specific time frame in which we came for that ad to be promoted over the

053summer. Yes. >> Thank you Dr. Thank you for checking schoolboard members. I'm now bringing doc Dr. Matias Greywood our chief financial officer who will come and who will provide us with our monthly budget update, our head start um expenditures upgrade update and then of course our federal and state grants update. Dr. Good evening, Chair Bridget, Vice Chair Pierce, board members, Superintendent Brown, and Petersburg city community. I am Matias Greywood, chief financial officer, and tonight I'll present our monthly budget update as of August 31st, 2025. This report reflects our financial activity across all major funds and highlights key trends and informs our strategic direction. We'll begin with Petersburg city transfer budget and actuals then move through the general fund food service and grants. We'll also review Head Start funding both federal and non-federal and conclude with

054strategic takeaways and questions. Please note that our FY25 year end closeout is still underway. So some figures may shift as final reconciliations are completed. Likewise, 26 categorical allocations are still being finalized and future updates would reflect any changes to fund breakouts. Next slide, please. Petersburg city transfer budget and actuals. We've received two installments totaling 2.16 million from the city. This leaves a remaining balance of 10.8 million for the rest of the year. The timing for consistent prior years and we anticipate the next transfer in early October. Next slide please. General fund budget and expense summary for FY26 budget. The fun budget is 70.49 million. To date, we spent about 13.3 million which is approximately 19% of October budget. This spacing is aligned with historical trends and um for instruction we have 6.8 million spent maintaining

055its position as our largest uh investment uh as our largest category. Technology has 2.29 29 million in funds remaining for FY26 indicating healthy patient and improved budget management. Next slide please. Food service and grants. In food service we spent about 750,000 out of 3.3 million. In grants, we spent about 1.92 million of the 14.5 million budget. Instructional spending remains dominant, but we've implemented controls to avoid the 3.4 million gap uh in FY25 for grants. Next slide, please. That's the end of the uh we're going to head into head start and that was from your recommendation. >> Do you want us to uh do questions and just keep going? Okay. >> Sorry. So for Head Start, uh Head Start program is funded through federal and non-federal sources. Federal uh we've spent about 68,000 out of the

0561.4 million in the budget, just shy of 5% for the year. Uh non-federal we have spent about 17,000 out of the 350,000 budget and um out of those transportation and donated services are the largest. Next slide. That's it. And you know, key takeaways from the budget update are that as of August 31st, we spent about 16.1 million out of the 89 million budget for FY26, which is about 18% of the budget. This is consistent with prior years and reflects discipline early spending. Key priorities maintain investment in construction closely monitor technology and transportation for potential overages activate non federal hairstyle support especially volunteer services and I'll be glad to answer questions >> are we on target for receiving from the city's to go. >> Yes. Um the the way it works with the city, they don't

057give us all the money up front. They break it into 12 installments and they send it to us every month. We've received everything we need to receive as of August 31st and uh the next one will be in uh in next month which is uh October. Second question, what about >> we've received, you know, yes and uh based on what you've seen over there, we have a budget of about 1.4 million and um we're currently in um in the early stages of spending our budget. So only about 5% of it has already been spent this time. Yes. And something I needed to bring to the attention of the board is something going on in grants. This is something we've alluded to before, but having gone to we've gone into detail. We have uh an issue

058where significant reimbursements have not happened up till now. We we if you look at I think it's slide um slide five if you can go back to slide five you will see that towards the end of the year we have in 07 instruction there's about 3.4 million it shows like a shortage uh reimbursements have now happened for quite a bit we have about 2.6 6 million in reimbursements that we've already submitted to BDOE and um if um some of the restructuring that has happened in uh in grants is as a result of that where we've restructured it so that we can um segregate the fiscal side of grants from the program side of grants and because of the uh transitions we faced it's been a challenge and going forward uh we've put things in place

059so that monthly uh re would happen and deal with the gaps in the uh in in funding in place. But my question would be because of those cuts, what is the significant overall cut on reduction of the budget? Have you have we seen or is it between last year this year? >> Are you speaking specifically in terms of grants or just speak about grants? We don't see any uh any cuts and um there was just a freight freeze >> but that has been lifted and there is no impact of the budget currently but because we are in uh in an environment of uncertainty what we're doing is to uh be very conservative on the spending side and so that we can accommodate any uh unforeseen issues down the road. >> Thank you Dr. Gray. I

060do appreciate your turn on a season of uncertainty. I get you. So, thank you for that. >> Okay. Those um that amount that was um wasn't paid up that you is that due to compliance? >> Are we um can you >> where you said it was that reimburse 3.4 Is that due to you trying to make sure the person that hand it to make sure everything is in compliance because it's a grand because we have the money correct but we don't paid it up. We've spent money the way grants work. Yeah, I'm trying to simplify it so that um but I know you get it. But the way it works, we spend the money and then we send in information to the agency to get reimbured for that money. So the what has happened is

061that we've spent money to the tune of, you know, 3 million or so and we haven't gotten it back because some of our fiscal side of the grant, you know, processes have been caught on and I think um it's partly because it hasn't been prioritized and they there was just not a there was a lack of you know on what needed to happen and the impact of this um um lack of uh reimbursement on the uh on the overall budget and cash for on on be but the main thing is definitely in compiance. >> Yes. >> So everything is in compiance. >> Yes. >> Okay. So we're just waiting on them to rein their things, correct? >> Yes. But it's a significant cash flow issue if you look at it. We spent money, it's gone

062out the door, and we haven't received it. In general, we should be reimbursing for these every month. So the gap between what you spent and what you need to receive should not even go past 45 days. This has happened for months on end and it's causing some cash flow issues. And all of this is the federal >> title grants majority federal grants >> the the major grants that we have title >> major yes 2.6 million that we've just done it's in the pipeline and we're waiting for them to be approved and to get those funds back. >> So Dr. Greywood can you just I want to make sure you clarify. So because the reimbursements were not done, that's the two the 3.3 million that we spent out of our budget and never got back. What

063are the implications of us not getting that $3 million back that we spent? How did it impact our budget? And I think you said it's creating a cash flow issue. So I just want to make sure I highlight that and you can just make sure that that's really clear. What impact has it had on us not submitting those reimbursements as required? >> It's just money out the door that you haven't received in months and it should really be days, 45 days maximum. If we were in a situation where money was tight, this would really impact our operations. We're not there yet, but it's something I need to highlight as a growing uh issue that I'm trying because it's a historical issue. We've done the reinforcements. We're pretty close. I think in the next few months

064we will get caught up and the new process we have in place will make sure that this doesn't happen again. One thing you did say at the very beginning when we were thinking about where monies might end up being, you made it clear that that might take place and that sometimes that happens with in our arena that the some people need to give us money, but they don't give us that money. And so you did speak on that That might be a situation that might take place at one time very direct with it. You know, I'm not going to let you go. But you did right about that. >> So that's going to be a help towards the board and that will trickle down to where it should. >> Yes. And I'm >> categorically >>

065Yes. and I will continue to provide updates to the board because this is significant and I have highlighted it today but on my in my future monthly updates I'll provide updates until we're caught up and can the last time Mr. was here, what was his promising as far as the what does he do? >> I I don't remember. I'll have to bring that back to you, Mr. Bridget. Um what I can say is that um we need to be ones to engage with him so that that process can start. Where we are right now is closing out the end of the year. The annual school report was due on Monday, but with an extension, it's now going to be submitted before the end of September. Once that's done, there are some uh activities that need

066to be uh um um conducted internally before that process can begin. But I'll let you know um definitively what day he said. But we also need to do some things on our internal processes before that process can begin. Mr. We're going to start engaging with him right after the annual school report is done which is very shortly. Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay. Next we move to our public comment period. We have two individuals that have signed up to speak. each have three minutes. Please state your award, your school or your is it award school or address and first I'm not going to mess your name up but Mr. N. >> Good evening everyone. My name is Michaela a science teacher John Middle School and um I'm here today to speak about a serious problem

067in our district. um the way we treat our returning teachers. Again, the PA mentioned something about it earlier, but this is really really serious. If this is my ninth year at Petersburg dedicated >> and it is not fair for me to be doing what I do in my school and somebody coming outside with the same experience fully licensed and making more money than what I'm making. We have families to feed and this difference in salary is not just 500 1,000. This is real difference. Then put in the bonuses that you give new teachers. Yes, we know we need new teachers, but what about people that have been in your district for 9, 10, 15 years? We said we are doing salary scale and all this. We need to do something right now. If we don't

068do something, people are going to leave. And when people leave, that's it. That is where that is why we don't have consistency in terms of quality people within our buildings because people get tired and they leave. Um the message that this send is a wrong message. We are telling teachers that loyalty is not recognized in our district. Their dedication is not necessary. Doesn't matter. We spend hours with our students on the average 400 hours a week >> is the time spent with students. So how do you think or feel when new people come in make more money and they don't spend a year or two before they go? >> We reward them to come in which is why we want good people to come in. What about people that have been dead in the last

069nine years now? I' I've fought superintendent principles, but I'm still in that building. What about us? Something needs to be done urgently about this because if nothing is done, people are going to leave. And I'm not just speaking on my own behalf. We've talked in the buildings. people are ready to move on. It is not just okay to see new people coming in same experience making more money bonuses and at the end of the day we do more than the new people doing. >> Lastly, our students deserve stability. They deserve experienced teacher who knows this district, who knows their family, who have proven their commitment. But when we underpay those teachers, we are risking driving anyway. We need to fix this. Returning teachers should never make less than new hires. Fair pay isn't just about

070salaries. It's about respect, loyalty, valuing people who hold our school together. Let's send the right message. Experience matter, dedication matter, and our teachers matter. Thank you. [Applause] Is that right? >> Yes. Freeman Bernard Middle School 10th year citizen economics teachers. I am here to express a concern shared by many of us who have chosen to dedicate our careers to teaching in this district. While we understand the need to attract new educators, the current salary and incentive structure has created an imbalance that unfairly disadvantages those who have already proven their loyalty and commitment. New teachers are being offered higher salaries and bonuses upon hiring while returning teachers who break the ability, experience, and a record of dedication are left without comparable recognition. This practice sends a troubling message that the commitment of long- serving teachers is

071worth worth less than the potential of something new. For those of us who return year after year, the lack of acknowledgement is disheartening. We have stood by the district through challenges adapting to changes supporting families and investing in our students growth. Yet, while we continue to show our commitment, the compensation structure overlooks the very value we bring. Retention is not simply a matter of keeping teachers in the classroom. It is an investment in student success. Returning teachers offer continuity, excuse me, deep relationships with families and an understanding of the school structure and needs. Students thrive when they are taught by experienced educators who know them well and remain year after year. High turnover on the other hand disrupts learning, weakens trust, and ultimately cost the district more in the long run as it must continually

072recruit and train AC. Providing bonuses and higher salaries to new hires may help fill immediate vacancies, but it does a little to solve the long spent the long-term challenge of retention. The truth is, we do not yet know what these teachers will say. Meanwhile, those of us who have already demonstrated our dedication are left unrewarded. It is both unfair and unsustainable to prioritize recruitment over retention. A balanced approach is needed, one that values attracting new educators while also respecting and rewarding the teachers who have chosen today. What many of us are asking for is fairness. A fair compensation system would include retention bonuses or step increases that reflect years of service. It would recognize the teachers who continue to return each year as the foundation of a district's success. It will send a clear message

073that loyalty, experience, and long-term commitment are valued, not overlooked. The district has an opportunity to set a stronger example. By investing in retention, you not only improve morale, but also ensure stability for students and families. Teachers should not feel that leaving and returning or being newly hired comes with greater reward than staying. Instead, the greatest recognition should go to those who have already proven they will be here day after day, year after year for the children we serve. I respectfully urge the board to reconsider the current age of recruitment is important, but retention is equally, if not more, critical to the health of our schools. The district cannot afford to lose experienced committed educators because it failed to respect and compensate fairly. By valuing teacher retention as much as recruitment, you will strengthen not only

074your workforce but also the learn long-term successes of our students. Thank you. >> Miss Freeman, can we also have a copy of that for the record if if you have an extra copy? >> I do. >> Okay. Thank you. And Mr. MJ, do you have one? >> I can. >> Okay. Yes, that you can send us a copy for the record. Appreciate it. Okay, next we will move on to our action item six. Thank you board chair Virginia school board members. So our first action item for this evening is um PCPS um our field trip form and as you can take a look the out of state field trip form for North Carolina ENT. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve that the Petersburg City Public Schools field trip to North Carolina

075ENT University for a high school day for Petersburg High School on Saturday, November 15, 2025 as provided. You can take a look at the field form if you would take a take a look at the screen. Again, this is for our high school day at Petersburg High School for Petersburg High School at North Carolina EMTT on November 15, 2025. >> Thank you, Mr. Brown. Any questions from board members? Is there a motion to accept the recommendation? Moved >> by Mr. Pierce. Is there a second? >> Second, >> Mrs. Tucker. All in favor? >> I oppose. Motion carries. >> 6B question. Do you have any idea how many students go on the field? >> Yeah, we'll click up on here. So, I think there's 20 students in grades 12. >> All right. For 6B for our

076job descriptions for approval. And so it is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the job descriptions for our school security officer, our director of security and emergency management, our data analyst, our lead truency specialist, our disciplinary hearing officer and senior accounts payable specialist as provided and all the job descriptions are included in this presentation in this section of the action items. >> Did you read? Any question? That's all. Any questions? No questions. They have a motion to accept the recommendation. >> Tucker second by Mr. Pierce. All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries. Cuc. >> Thank you, board. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the ESSA Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965 as amended by the ESSA Every Student Succeeds Act 2015 Title One Part C Education of Migratory Children

077Grant Application as provided for the 2425 school year at this time. And so you can look at the screen, the Albert County Public Schools. This is a partnership that says that if Petersburg City Public Schools ever has any migrant students that we are going to participate and those eligible students during this was last year we had I think two or three eligible students for 2425 school year and so we have to have participation a participation agreement that sign with the school division to say that if we have any of the students that they will be supported and so once we receive the certification the school board will sign along with the superintendent. And so last year, I think we had two, no more than three um migrant students. We don't currently have any migrant students,

078but I will be bringing back a form that will be for the 2526 school year. So again, this is 2425 from last year. And so we need school board support that we are partnering with the Alamar County Public Schools if we should have any migrant students, but again for last year. So again, this is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the ESSA Elementary Secondary Education Act of 1965 as amended by the ESSA Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, Title Title One, Part C, Education of Migratory Children Grant Application for 2425 as provided. >> Thank you, Miss Fram. Any questions? No questions. Is there a motion to accept the superintendent's recommendation? So move That is a second by Mr. Miles. All in favor? >> I'm sorry. She said Motion was made by Miss Proctor,

079seconded by Mr. Pierce. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. So move to D. Your resolution. >> Thank you. Okay. We have a resolution tonight. So it is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the resolution for National Hispanic Heritage Month as provided. And so we will click on that resolution. make it a little bit larger for me. Thank you so much. So, resolution for September 15th through October 15th, we are recognizing it and proclaim it as National Hispanic Heritage Month. Whereas, Virginia is proud to be home to the 16th largest Hispanic and Latino population in the country, comprised of over 800,000 Virginiaians of Hispanic or Latino descent. And whereas Hispanic and Latino Virginiaians make up the nation's largest ethnic minority, enriching every community through their vibrant and diverse culture and heritage. And whereas

080thousands of Hispanic and Latinoowned businesses contribute to Virginia's economic growth and job creation throughout the Commonwealth, which has aided in Virginia becoming the best state for business. And whereas Hispanic and Latino Virginiaians have overcome challenges and obstacles to persevere and prosper in the Commonwealth through their hard work and commitment and are included in 19.1% of the nation's total population. and the Hispanic and Latino Virginiaians make significant contributions through their leadership and work in government, service in our military, helping feed our community through agriculture, inspiring children as educators, healthc care professionals, and advancing society and technology. And whereas the stories of Hispanic and Latino men and women are woven into the fabric of our communities and Hispanic and Latino history is Virginia's history. And whereas since 2018, the most Hispanics and Latinos have been appointed to

081serve our commonwealth and support our government's work and continue to make great strides in public office and civil rights issues, supporting the fight for justice and equality for all. Whereas among the fight for equality, there have been monumental strides in education equity with the expansion of instate tuition and access to state financial aid for many Hispanic and Latino students who have previously not had the opportunity to afford a quality education. and the Commonwealth of Virginia will join with the rest of the country in celebrating the 56 National Hispanic and Latino Heritage Heritage Month by commemorating essential contributors contributions, excuse me, sacrifices and accomplishments that Hispanic and Latino people have made throughout the United States. So now, therefore, be it resolved that the school board and the superintendent of the St. Petersburg City Public Schools. You

082have acted. So, let me say that again. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the school board and the superintendent of the Petersburg City Public Schools stand with the nation and recognizing September 15th through October 15th as National Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month. We hereby commit to advocating for and promoting educational equity in Petersburg city public schools adopted by the school board of the city of Petersburg the 17th day of September 2025. So again it is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the resolution of national Hispanic Heritage Month as provided. >> Thank you Miss Brown. Is there a motion to accept the recommendation? >> So moved >> by Mr. Is there a second? >> Second. >> This is Proctor. All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries. M. We need to go back >> go

083back to um to see is that the right individual? >> Okay. So, yeah, we need to read it back so we can vote on the 206. >> Thank you. Okay. Again, Chair Bridget is board chair and school board members. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the ESSA Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 as amended by the ESSA Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, Title One Part C Education of Migratory Children Grant application for school years 24 2024 2025 and school year 2526 as provided. >> Thank you. You've heard the recommendations and motion to accept. >> So moved. >> Moved by Miss Proctor. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mrs. Tucker. All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Next, we move to E the amendment of the superintendent

084contract. Hopefully, you all had an opportunity to read it. If you can open it, please. The change. It's right there. Um, let me go down to the second paragraph. Where is Where is the school board and superintendent the contract on October 30th of 2024 whereby the superintendent was appointed division superintendent for the term and missing November the 1st through the 24th ended June 30th 2028 here and after the contract and whereas the parties wish to amend the contract therefore in consideration of the premises and the mutual covenant and agreement set forth herein the parties agree to the following and what we agreeing to is that the superintendent shall be evaluated annually Using the evaluation instrument adopted by the board for the first eight months, which is November the 1st, 2024 through June 30th, 2025. On

085this contract, the board shall evaluate the superintendent based on the agreed upon goals of 2024 year submitted to VDOE and the superintendent's performance in carrying out the duties in this contract. The board shall conduct the evaluation for the first eight months of the contract no later than October 31st. That's the part that's important for us. At least 30 days prior to the annual evaluation, the superintendent shall provide the board, this is a important part for her, provide the board um with the board with a self appraisal using the instrument selected and the board should take the self appraisal into consideration when conducting the evaluation. Let's go down. Keep on down. Keep on down. And so what we're going to do, board members, we are going to sign. Miss Brown has shared with me that I

086believe she is 99% complete as far as getting ready to turn her appraisal into us to use for the evaluation. So as soon as we get that, we can start the evaluation. This dates we will need for you if you have it. I know Miss Mar tell you, but we need a report. need a clean copy of the evaluation too so we can start the evaluation. Yes. Can you go down? I believe I believe goals in the contract. I read something about gold. I think it said yes. Thank you. Okay. Motion from Mr. Chair. Second. >> Moved by Mr. Pearson, by Mr. Miles to accept to accept the amendment of the superintendent's contract. All in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Board members F. F is the PCPS governor's handbook. Clerk of the board. The

087clerk also has a handbook. I submitted it um to BSBA today and Samantha shared with me there are no changes in the handbook as presented. And so all we need to do we need to vote on the handbook and we will add Miss Davis picture on there and put it on the website. And also um I believe you overhead the code of conduct. Okay. Is there a motion from a board member to approve the PSP PCPS governor's handbook for our clerk of the board? >> Moved by Miss Tucker. Is there a second? >> Second, >> Miss Proctor. All in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. And we can move to G. These are our advisory committee members. Mr. Miles, I'll have you to take the first one. You want to make a recommendation to the

088board for your health advisory committee board? >> Yes, we um that you be that's what we're going to approve the >> recommendation. Read off read that line and read off your names. >> Okay. >> For your committee. >> The following citizens are being recommended to serve a two-year term. um uh fiscal year 2526 and fiscal year 2627 on the school health advisory board. Brandon Briggs, Barness Butler, Dr. Leslie Harris, Nicole Ojo, family nurse practitioner. >> Thank you, Mr. Miles. And the following citizens have been recommended to serve a two-year term for the FY 2526 and FY 2627 school year on the gifted advisory committee is Tanisha Washington, Shauna Ganway, and Tresco Wilson Smith. Is there a motion from the board members to where is there a motion to accept the name? >> Have you Have

089you talked to them or >> the individuals who submitted Miss Cox, Miss Hamlet? um emailed me with the names and she talked to each one of them. Everyone who submitted who's over that um advisory committee, they are calling the individuals and talking to them oneon one. >> Okay, sir. >> And those are the names she said that she recommended because she spoke to them personally. >> Okay. Very good. >> Yes. Is there a motion to accept? >> I move to accept Mr. >> Mr. Pierce. All in favor? >> Oppose. Motion carries. So as soon as Miss So, it's Dr. Lee. Who else? Dr. Lee, who else we missing? Um, CA. So, it's Cak and Dr. Lee. Are we missing anyone else? >> Yes, CTE. That's that's the third one. So CT and pack as soon

090as we receive the names from them on their committee new committee members we'll vote on them in October. >> Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay. Next miss Bren to H policies. Thank you board chair and school board members. We have our policies for second read this evening and so our policies for 917 2025. So if you will click on our second policies second policies for second read please. And again, these policies were already presented and so it is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the policies for second read 917 2025 policies as provided and you'll see them on the screen. >> Any questions? Is there a motion to accept the superintendent's recommendation? >> So move by Mr. M. Is there >> Mr. Pierce? All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries.

091Next we talk information items superintendent report. >> Yes. Thank you. Budget budget and school board members. A couple brief. Thank you. Next slide please. Okay. Just want to update our board members and all of our community members as well that we have now have a human resources direct contact information line. And so the Petersburg City Public Schools human resources department has a new email and phone number to improve communication. If you need support, you can email our new emails. Em email address is hrp petersburg.k12.ba. us or call 804631-9529. Dr. Lane, is there anything we want to add about our call HR at this moment? Um, okay. Just want to we're going to post this to our website so everyone can know that we will be um open to receiving information or if you have a

092call please don't forget to call 804631-9529 and hr at petersburg.k12.ba us. Next slide. I want to update everyone again. As you've heard tonight everyone has come forward to talk about our comp compensation and so I'm excited to again bring to the board our compensation and classification study quick update. As we previously shared, we have contracted with Evergreen Solutions approved to update our classification and compensation system for all of our employees. And so we are beginning the process this week and it will it will follow the following steps. And so our first phase one is our employee outreach. And so you heard a little bit tonight that we will be sending out um we'll be sending out very specific surveys to all of our employees. We will be doing small group focused groups and so those

093members that will be talking directly to the evergreen team and so they'll have our phase one for employee outreach. We'll have phase two will do job assessments which will give an opportunity for um employees to be able to provide information on actually what they do because sometimes what's included in your job description is um not doesn't match exactly what you do. because we want to make sure that we're able to capture all of that information. Phase three is our market survey that you heard about that will go out. They will take a look at different markets. And so I met with the U. Evergreen Solutions representative today. Had a great conversation. And so they'll be looking at the market. And the market is other, you know, large um school divisions in in Virginia, but also

094our local area here in region one. And then they will come with our next the last phase will be recommendations. And so we are excited that by October 30, 2025, we should have a completed study to present to the community, but present to the board first all the recommendations to be able to address our full compensation and classification study. So again, that process started this week and we are in the employee outreach phase at this time. Is that correct, Dr. Lane? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. Um, anything else I need you need to add? >> Right. Thank you. Next slide. So, we want to just highlight again our new PCPS employee orientation. I just want to highlight that we're doing orientation more than one time because we are steadily onboarding new employees based on approval

095um of the board agenda by the personnel agenda by the board. So, on Monday, September 8th, the PCPS HR department conducted a new employee orientation. This is an opportunity for our new employees to learn about our vision for the four E, our division policies and procedures, employee benefits, lensure requirements and our instructional resources and other support systems available to them as they begin their new roles in Petersburg. And so we look forward to seeing these new individuals throughout our school division as they work to help transform opportunities, learning, and success for every student here in Petersburg City Public School so that they graduate with the lifel. Um I just want to highlight our very first uh principal principles meeting this month. There was a lot of learning that took place. Um principles received lots of

096great information regarding looking at our attendance data. We will be bringing attendance data to the board next month um for the first month of school. They learned about crisis communications, family engagement, human resources, instructional leadership focus, and our safety protocols. And so we are again pouring into our leaders to make sure that they have the tools that they need to lead the efforts of our improvement here in Petersburg. I also want to just um highlight that we're really excited that Dr. Patricia Johnson, our PCPS policy consultant that's been with us for several years um and working with Dr. Gay's team, she provide training to the department leaders on our PCPS policy manual. I've heard many times from the board around the implementation of the policies that have been adopted by the board. And so working

097in conjunction, Dr. Gay brought Dr. Dr. Johnson in so that she could meet with our team to help ensure that all of our division leaders understand the organization of our board policies, the legal and regulatory requirements of the roles and the policy relevant to their specific roles and it provided support with policy implementation across the division. So this was our first step to make sure that you understand what's in the board policy manual. How does it apply to you specifically to your leadership of your departments and the expectations around how you will be implementing these policies as we monitor closely and so that was a big training for us and I found that there's lots of great feedback because you can work in a school division and not necessarily know the policies but you need

098to know what is in your shop and what you should be overseeing as far as implementation. So, just wanted to highlight that policy training and thank Dr. Johnson for her work um and Dr. Gay for working closely with Dr. Johnson to make sure that we took a first step in making sure that we have that done for the start of what we're going to continue to do as we go deeper. I just want to highlight um the Bford reunion parade this past weekend on Saturday, September 13th, the annual Bamford reunion parade hosted by Sheriff Harper took place in the neighborhood of Blandford, the historic Blamford community. And so our PCPHS band cheerleaders and staff, Cool Spring staff, cheerleaders, our family and community engagement team and members of our schoolboard walked in the parade. You see

099the picture there, our students and staff did a great job celebrating the historic impact of the Blamford community. And even though I've been in um Virginia for a little over a year, I learned so much about the contributions of um some very famous people who had walked the halls in Petersburg and the work that they've done and the significance of the Glenford community. So, it was a wonderful event and it's always great to see our students and staff support um last night at um last night at um Lake M Elementary School. Thank you. I was there. The family engagement university kickoff was a great success. So I want to thank the family engagement team. Um so the the theme was attendance matters. And so we are focusing on attendance, right? And so as September is

100attendance awareness month, this is our central focus this year. And as as you'll hear me say everywhere, the board goal is to reduce chronic absenteeism by 3%. I say it everywhere I go so that everybody knows that we are focused on reducing chronic absenteeism and the school division cannot do it by themselves. Just because I say it as superintendent doesn't mean it's going to happen. We're trying to be very intentional, but we've got to have help from everyone, parents, teachers, staff, community. We've got to have help with this goal. And so during the kickoff last night, families learned about the impact that good routines at home can have supporting good attendance. And students made a pledge. You can see some examples to attend school every day as photographed below. So students had to write out

101their pledges and I thought it was amazing. The pledges were placed on commitment walls and those walls will be transported to schools so we can continue to engage families in a collective pledge to reduce chronic absenteeism. Next year, next month, we will be awarding the school with the highest attendance for the first month of school and be giving them um an award. And so we'll be waiting to see what those numbers look like and we'll be doing it in front of the school board next month. And so we will do that every month. So thank you again for everyone focusing on attendance for Petersburg City Public Schools. And thank you to our family engagement team for a job well done last night. It was amazing. Thank you. That concludes my superintendent report this evening. I'll

102take any questions. >> Thank you, Miss Brown. Any questions for Miss Brown? Thank you. Appreciate it. We move next. Any any updates? Any committee reports? >> Anything from operation? >> No, I don't have a committee report, but um um school safety health school health advisory board. We did meet yesterday and we're waiting on this approval of the additional members and We'll have a work our next meeting is scheduled for November, but we'll have a working meeting in October to to to select who's going to be the secretary who's going to be who's going to be that, you know, chairman of of the board. So that'll be done in October. So you have official the minutes in November for the November meeting. >> Okay. Thank you, sir. Any other updates? Okay. Next, we move to new

103business from board members. Any new business? Anything happening next Tuesday, September the 23rd at 5:00 p.m., we will be back here at Petsburg High Cafeteria um to meet with the HY consultant who will lead the strategic plan conversation with the school board. This is our very first step. They've been working very closely with Dr. And so this is the first step to our fiveyear strategic plan for PS City public schools. And so they will start with an overview of their backgrounds and then they will dive into conversation with you all around what do you want to see as the north star in five years for Petersburg City Public Schools. And so this is the first step and then they will branch out to talk to more stakeholders. But we're going to start with you next

104Tuesday. >> Thank you. Also this Friday, remember if you signed up to be at the legislative conference, some may have done virtual and some may have signed up for in person. So that's this Friday from 9 to 2. Also, next week the disciplinary board will meet on next Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the library and October the 1st will be our next school board meeting. And right We may be back. We're not sure. We're not sure yet. We're going to be back in the um in the >> Mr. Martinez, I don't want to say yes at this moment. So, we'll just say PHS for now um for the meeting for for So, we want to make sure um before we move everybody back in at the school office. >> I'm glad you I thought this

105announce was was going to say something. Can you give us an update on what's going on with the restrooms here? Where are we with the restrooms? If you come to the mic, please chair Pritchard and Vice Chair Pierce, superintendent, committee members. To answer your question, board chair, um there were uh some scheduling issues with the sink troughs. Um and um so uh there was some scheduling issues with that. So they couldn't do work until those sinks came in and those sinks are here now. So um and then there's some curating going on with the epoxy the floor. So the epoxy is now dry in the gym and now they're working on on the main floor here this way. So I believe strong estimate will be able to be done this week by the weekend as

106well. So we should be good to go. So, M. Martinez, I know that the original date was the 17th, which is today. And so, is the company, and we've had conversations, is the company continuing to move the date, or do they have a solid now that they've gotten all the different pieces? I know there was a delay in materials, shipping or what have you. Um, how certain do you think they are? I know you can't speak to them, but how certain based on your conversation with Mr. got it. How certain are we sure that by Friday those bathrooms should be finished? The bathrooms, we did six restrooms. As a reminder to everyone, we did six. We did the ones in the gymnasium and we also did the ones here at the auditorium. And so, how

107certain are they at this moment that everything will be done by the end of this week? >> Certain in in the aspect of it'll be operational, right? There's some patching on the walls that you walk into this particular restroom right here. Um, but operationally, I'm certain it'll be done by Sunday evening. Um, we will be probably doing some work this weekend. Um, it will be operational by Monday. Um, as far as going through the punch list and making sure this particular contractor is fully done with his work. Um, that will probably be another week after that. >> And moving forward as we are now that you're on board and we're working together, you and Mr. are working together as we have more projects. we can then be very thoughtful about who we select for projects

108so we can make sure that you know timelines are met and things of that nature so that we can make sure that you know I know that things are things happen but now we have a a better handle on now we kind of understand the e and flow of projects and how we need to upload front load everything now to make sure that we get the dates that we can get to um everything being finished >> absolutely it's very important to um have a process when dealing with business and contractors to to have within the contract to not only have a completion date but also to have liquidated damages if that end date doesn't uh is is not adhered to. So we definitely will have that process in place. We will not be having these

109issues moving forward. And also I spoke to Mr. I believe on yesterday. Can you give us another brief update because I believe they're on the way the They're on the way, right? >> Yes, orchard. They are absolutely on the way. Um because it's a new um so the washing machine and dryer we have now is 20 30 years old, right? So the new washing machine and dryer has different dimensions, has different um uh socket uh form forms and braces that we have to do. So, we're going to have to do certain things to make sure that the new washer and dryer is able to sit perfectly right and safe. Um, so we should be seeing that within the next two weeks. >> Absolutely. And as right >> so we do know that we will have

110those stock changes and things like that. I know there >> but as far as us getting those sinks and things and those washes wash and dry that that makes a difference too. We'll be trying to get at the same getting those contractors to do what they should do should be a easy move. >> Correct. >> They should be able to get that done. They should be able to get those sockets in. They should be the electrician should be here. All of those things should take first. >> Absolutely right. >> It won't be delivered until that is until that foundation. >> Thank you, sir. Any other questions? Thank you for watching. >> Yes, that's it. This is it. Is there a motion to >> move by all in favor? Um, so I think You can try