School Board Regular Meeting

001Getting ready getting ready to come out of close. I was talking to you. I was talking low. I was talking low. I said we come out of close. I'm waiting on when I be look I'm looking at Miss Yates. Yay. I'm waiting for her to give me the signal. You ready? Okay. Good evening everyone. At this time board members, we need a motion to come out of close. Moved by Mr. Miles. Second second by Mr. Pierce, as required by section 2.23712D 23712D of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, a roll call vote will be taken to certify that to the best of each member's knowledge, one, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements under the act. And two, only such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which the

002close session was convened were 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 foyer roll call. Mr. Steven El Pier, senior. Yes. Mr. Hal J. Miles. Yes. Mr. Kenneth El Pritchette. Yes. Mr. Kari Tucker, yes. Miss Joyce Proctor, yes. Mr. Bernard J. Lundy. Mr. Adrien T. Dance, Senior. Yes. Thank you. There are no recommendations from close session. Is there a motion to adjourn from the close session? So move. Moved by Miss Proctor. Is there

003a second? Mr. Miles. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Good evening once again, everyone. The time now is 6:02 p.m. and we would like to call our regular schoolboard meeting to order. Miss Davis, if you'll call the role again, [Music] Mr. Steven Pier, senior here. Mr. Hal J. Miles here. Mr. Kenneth El Bridgetette here. Mr. Gard Duggar here. Miss Joyce Proctor, yes. Mr. Bernard J. Lundy Jr. Mr. Adrien T. Dance, Senior. Yeah. Thank you, Miss Davis. Board members, we move to 1A, approval of the agenda. If there are no changes, is there a motion to approve the agenda? So move, Mr. Chair. Moved by Mr. Dance. Is there a second? Second, Mr. Miles. All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. We move to 1B, Miss Davis. A moment of silence. The following are to

004be remembered during this moment of silence. Miss Leslie Northingington and Miss Tracy Anderson in the passing of their mother, Miss Priscilla C. Anderson on May 5th, 2025. And Miss Deborah A. Stark, retired PCPS teacher assistant at Westview Early Childhood Education Center, who passed on April 29th, 2025. Thank you. At this time, we'll have a moment of silence. Thank [Music] you. Thank you. At this time, we ask that you stand for the pledge of allegiance, and we be led by Miss Tucker. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands, one nation, indivisible, liberty andice for all. Thank you. One D. Do we have any correspondence, Miss Williams? Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Davis. There are none. Thank you. Next, we move to recognitions. Miss Brown. Thank

005you, board chair Pitchett and school board members. Welcome everyone this afternoon, this evening. I'm excited to start our meeting off um this afternoon with our recognitions. And so to start off our recognitions tonight, we want to recognize our wonderful Petersburg City Public School students who are enrolled at many of our specialty schools here in Virginia. And so tonight we will recognize our 12th grade students who are at our various specialty schools with starting with code RVA. Sorry. So good evening again. Thank you all. We're going to go back to the agenda and so we will hold tight on our recognitions for our specialty students and we're going to hear from our wonderful students at Lakemont Elementary School who are going to come forward tonight to talk to the board. And so we're excited to recognize

006all of our Lakemont students. So at this time you can come to the podium and we can begin the conversation. So if we'll bring the principal Thank you, Miss Mosley, our principal, uh, Erica Mosley at Lakemont Elementary School. So, thank you for being here. And so, we'll turn the mic over to you and your wonderful students. I don't think your mic is on. [Music] testing. Okay, one more time. Good good evening, chairboard pitcher, vice chair Pierce, Superintendent Brown, and all assembled here today. I am here only to do an introduction of our Lakemon Honor Society advisor, Mr. Henry Bowen, who organized along with his team all together and with our students. So, thank you for um allowing us to be on the agenda and sharing this time with you. Good evening, Chair Pritchard, Vice Chair

007Pierce, Superintendent Brown, School Board members, and all assembled. My name is Mr. Bowen, and I'm honored to serve as the adviser for the National Elementary Honor Society at Lake Elementary School. Tonight, I have the privilege of introducing to you some of the brightest students in our school. These young scholars have earned a 3.0 GPA or higher and consistently show Yes, sir. and consistently show great behavior most of the time. Um, rather than me speaking on their behalf, I'll let my honor students speak. All right. [Applause] Good evening everyone. My name is Joan and I'm 11 years old. I've been at a student at Lake since 2019. And we want to talk to you about something really important to us in our community. We have all grown up playing at our local park and we remember

008how much fun we used to have there. We love the swings, the baseball field, and the pavilion where we celebrated special occasions. But sadly, over the last four years, we noticed that many parts of the park are broken and unsafe. Many of us have been visiting this park since kindergarten, and now as fifth graders, it breaks our hearts to see the swings missing and the playground in such bad shape. We can't fully enjoy the park like we used to. Not because of the weather, but because the equipment is damaged. We believe that everyone in our community deserves a nice, safe place to enjoy great days together. Thank you. [Applause] Hello, my name Hello, my name is Bo and I'm in fourth grade at Lake M since 2024. As you can see, the drug freeze sign

009is riddled with bullet holes. The paint is cracked and lots of rust. It doesn't send a strong message that it is safe. Drug free zone. I believe it should be replaced with a new clean sign that shows we take it seriously. Thank you for your time and I hope you have a great rest of your day. Why playing is important. It helps kids get refresh fresh air and stay healthy. It gives you us a chance to take a break from screens and be active. Thank you. Have a blessful day. [Applause] Hello, my name is King, president of National Honor Society. I'm 11 years old and I have been a student at Lakemont Elementary since kindergarten in 2019. As you can see in the picture, the fence is lying on the ground. This is dangerous because

010someone could trip, fall, or get scratched or even seriously hurt. If that happens, they might not be able to play at all. We also need a fence because when we play kickball, the ball can roll into the street or hit a car in the parking lot. A strong standing fence will help us keep us safe. Thank you for [Applause] listening. Why playing outside is important. It helps us build strong muscles and coordination. two, it lets us play games and have fun with our friends. Thank [Applause] you. Hello, my name is Tom. Hello, my name is Tamara. I'm 11 years old and I've been a student at Lake Elementary since kindergarten in 2019. As you can see in the picture, there's a short pipe sticking out of the a block of concrete. This is very dangerous

011because someone could trip over it and fall or on it or get seriously hurt. The possibilities are endless. I remember playing at this park at this playground when I was a little little, but now I mostly stay inside and play video games or find other things to do in the neighborhood. I would really love it if the playground could be repaired so I can play there again, especially with my little sister. Thank you for your Thank you for Thank you for your time. [Applause] Hello Hello, my name is London and I'm 11 years old. I've been a student at Lake M Elementary since kindergarten in 2019 and I'd like to talk about the barriers around our playground. As you can see, some of the barriers are dirty and even a few are missing. We need

012more barriers to help keep cars from driving through the playground, which keeps us safe. We will also love to have the barriers painted so they look nice and bright and not old and messy. Thank you for listening. why playing outside is important. It helps us stay active and strong and it gives us a chance to socialize and make new friends. Thank you. [Applause] Hi everyone, my name is Amari. I'm 11 years old and I've been a student at Lakemon since 2019. I'm here to talk to you about our local playground. As you can see, the rock climbing wall, it's missing several grips, and if someone tries to climb to the top, they could slip, fall, and seriously get hurt. I've always loved climbing, and I know other kids do, too. So, please considering repairing it.

013Thank you for your [Applause] time. Why plan is important. It help build confidence and new skills. It support mental and emotional health. Thank you. [Applause] Hi, my name is [Music] Ashen. Hi, my name is Ashen and I'm 10 years old. I've been a student at Lakemon since 2029. I'm here to talk to you about our local playground. As you can see, the rock climbing wall is missing several grips and there's also no bar at the top. This is dangerous because if someone is nervous about climbing down, there's nothing to hold on to or help them feel safe. Without that ball, you do not get a chance to gather gather yourself before climbing down. I also like to bring attention to how the playground looks. The colors are faded from the sun and all and all

014over it just looks worn out. We want a fun, safe, and clean place to play. Please help us by making these repairs. Thank you for your time. Why playing outside is important? It keeps us physically healthy. It gives us energy to help us concentrate better in school. [Applause] Hi, my name is Sariah. Hi, my name is Sariah. I have been a student at Lakema Elementary since 221. And now I'd like to talk about the pavilion and the table underneath it. There are three issues I would like to bring to your attention. First, there's a large burn mark in the center of the table. Second, the paint on the table is chipped and peeling. And third, there are bugs and animals living inside the structure of the pavilion. These problems make it hard for the community

015to enjoy the space, and they can even be unsafe. I hope we can get the pavilion cleaned up and fixed so our community can enjoy it again. Thank you for listening. Why playing outside is important. It helps families and friends bond. It helps teachers, teamwork, and cooperation. Thank [Applause] you. Hi everybody. My name is Jayla and I've been a student at Lake M since 2020. And I would like to bring an attention to an important safety issue on our playground. There's currently lack of mulch in the playground area. Mulch is important because it helps absorb the impact and reduces the risk of serious injuries including head injuries if someone falls in attention. In addition, the weed barrier is damaged and has become a tripping hazard which can also lead to accidents. Thank you. [Applause] Hello,

016my name is Dwayne. I'm 11 years old and I've been a student at Lakemont Elementary since kindergarten 2019. Id like to point out that the bottom of the slide often collects water and anything floating in the air like deser problem. When it dries, it leaves behind her. And if someone slides down after that, it can mess up their clothes, especially if they're wearing something nice. Why playing outside is important. It's fun and helps us be creative. It keeps our bodies and minds active. Thank you. [Applause] Hi, it's me again and I would like to talk about the stairs on the playground. The steps are rotting and some are even missing. grass is starting to grow over them, which makes it hard to see where you're stepping. This is really dangerous, especially for people who don't

017want to walk down the hill and need to use the stairs. Please consider fixing the steps to help keep everyone safe. Why playing outside is important. It gives us a break from sitting inside all day. Number two, it helps us discover new interest in games. Thank you. [Applause] Hi, my name is Payton and I have been a student at Lakemont since 2024. I would like to talk about the swings on the playground. Some of the swing seats are missing or broken in half which makes it impossible to use them. Also, the chains have sharp spiky areas and if someone gets hit by them, it could cause a serious injury. Please fix the swings so they're safe for everyone to use. Why playing outside is important? It helps us enjoy some nature and sunshine. It helps

018improve our balance and coordination. Thank [Applause] you. This park is a special gem and it feels forgotten. We believe that if it were fixed, it could bring our community closer and be a place where families can create wonderful memories. We as students and future leaders want to make a difference. We are asking for your support to restore the playground, baseball field, and pavilion so everyone can enjoy this beautiful space again. Please be the first to sign our petition to help bring this park back to life. Together, we can make a positive change for our community and for all the kids who love to play there. Thank you for considering our request. Sincerely, the National Honor Society of Lakema Elementary School. [Applause] Just real quick, I just want to acknowledge my team. Um, I couldn't do

019this without my team, Miss K, Miss Kenbach here, Mr. Su-ho, my principles, Miss Johnson, Miss Bickham. All right. Did I miss anybody else? They're my team. We work together to get this done. So, u Thank you guys. Please consider our requests and everyone have a great evening tonight. Thank you. Thank you. So, thank you. Aren't our aren't our students in Petersburg City Public Schools amazing? Yes, they are. Yes, they are. Absolutely. So, u quickly, so I'll turn it over to um Vice Chair um Pierce um who is the representative for Lake Elementary School. Thank you, Superintendent Brink. Let's give these kids a I'm a little bit impressed because when I first met them and we started talking, they seem to be a little bit silent. But as they as they started talking about the playground,

020everything about them just started to exude. So I'm I'm excited for them. I wanted to I wanted to share this. U as the board is well aware uh previously two or three years back uh the city assisted us and we were engaged in uh revamping all of our school parks, playgrounds. We spent a lot of money with those gym with the gym equipment, the the the playground and making sure that they were safe in the area that they were having their their activities. So for a lot of you that weren't aware, those playgrounds that connected to those schools now, you know, the funding was raised so that we could we could make sure they had safe playgrounds. Now what they wanted to do when they called me and I said they called me. So we

021took the pictures and we went around the whole school and they wanted to pull out the fact that the playground over here belongs to the city. We built these playgrounds over here next to the school and we want to make sure that what we have next to the school continues to be safe and practical for us to play on. So they said what we want to do is a presentation and what you see today is that presentation that our honor society wanted to bring to you. So what they wanted to do outside of that and we're going to let our attorney take a look at the petition. The kids spoke about a petition. They want to create a petition that they can take to the city and let the city know you take care of

022your playground and we'll take care of ours. So some of the the shots that you saw, some of the pictures you saw, that area belongs to the city, that is public park. And when they were taking those pictures, what they told me was, and they don't mind me saying it, that, you know, if they want to go over there and tear up their stuff, let them do what they do, but we want to keep our, you know, that that's enclosed that you built for us, that's safe for us, we want to keep that. So that was their concern and they thought that it would be um um better if they brought that concern to the school board so that the school board is well aware of what they're trying to do. Now, we know that

023they're not going to be able to have you to sign the petitions just yet because we got to make sure that our attorneys take a good look at the petitions and make sure that it's legal and safe. So what they want to do after that if if if it's the will of the board and you all are all right with it, they want to bring that petition back, lay it out on the table so that all can sign so that they can take those th that petition to council and let council know that they want them to upgrade the park so that they can keep their so that they can keep their gym area nice and safe. And uh if we can do that, I think collectively it will raise the area not only just

024for the school but the community at large. So let's give them another hand. And just before they take their seats, I want all of our kids to come right back through, give their names, and just let it know to be to say thank you. Come on. And we'd like to take a picture with them in the front. Once they do, uh, Vice Chair Per, we like to have the the entire our student team and our and staff to take a picture. Hi, my name is Bo [Applause] King Lundy, president of honor society, Tamaria Allen, London Williams, [Applause] Amari Jackson, how you doing? Ashton Hardy, Jayla Hardy, Dwayne Perez, Sia Tucker, Payton Taylor, Jawan Williams. [Applause] All right. Thank you. Let me get in the back. Let's squeeze in the back. [Applause] They got money That'

025be a good project for one of the organizations especially that playground that city playground don't need. They just got to get it on bring it on board. All right. So, thank you again to our wonderful Lake Elementary School Honor Society students. You did an amazing amazing job. we are so very proud of you and we're absolutely going to get back to you about your petition. So, thank you for again for your presentation and thank you to the um Lake Mont um leadership and staff for your support. And so now we'll move on to recognition 2B, our specialty school programs. And so with that, I'll bring Miss Dana Carrero up. And as you all know, our students not only attend Petersburg High School, but they also attend other schools across the region. Um, and so we'll

026have Miss Carrero to talk about those schools and we'll get a chance tonight to be able to recognize all of the wonderful students who are our kids but who attend um some of the specialty schools. So with that, thank you, Miss Guerrero. Let's I'll turn it over to you. Thank you so much. Can you guys hear me? Okay, I have kind of a little voice. Okay. Um, good evening school board members. Good evening, Superintendent Brown. And good evening everyone in attendance. This is quite the setup. Feel like I'm talking to my back. Um, like Superintendent Brown said, my name is Dana Caro. Um, I'm the gifted coordinator here at PCPS. Um, I have a really cool job in that I get to work with some of the most hilarious, talented, sometimes frustrating, um, challenging in

027the best way group of students. Um, many of them you just met at the National Honor Society. Um, but we have so many more. Um we currently service about 300 plus gifted students across the division including our um specialty school partners. Um so I am so excited to be here this evening to celebrate a really special group of seniors um from all of our specialty schools. Um so like Superintendent Brown said, we currently participate in three different schools or academic programs. Um and they are Appamatics Regional Governor School, Maggie L. Walker Governor School and Code RVA Regional High School. Um, ARS is here in Petersburg. Code RVA and Maggie Walker are in Richmond. Um, so we've got students who get on the bus, they take those long bus rides all the way to Richmond, still

028get their work done and still perform. Um, so tonight we want to celebrate all of their hard work. We want to celebrate all of the seniors that are graduating in just a few short days. Um, so yeah, without further ado, we're going to take the time to do that. So I'm going to ask now, if you are currently a senior at a specialty school, could you just come up to the front so I kind of know who's here? Look at all of [Music] you. Yeah, we can climb up here. Um, and so what I'll do since you guys are lined up so perfectly, I will give you all a moment to come up to the front, I will ask you to share your name first and last, please. Um, the school that you attend, and

029then what are your plans after high school? Does that sound good? You guys are so grown up. I'm so happy to see you. All right, I'm going to give them the floor. Yeah, you can go first. Certainly. Uh, good evening. Uh, my name is Christopher Tolifer. I go to the Appamatics Regional Governor School. Uh, I plan to pursue architecture at Virginia Tech. [Applause] Good evening. My name is Amber Mosby. I go to the Appamatics Regional Gunders School for the Arts and Technology. I do plan on going to Virginia State for I I plan to go to Virginia State for for animal science. [Applause] Hello, my name is Amayra Valentine Phillips. I attend Appamatics Regional Governor School. Um I plan to go to college and study dance at Radford UN University and I will be a

030dance education minor. [Applause] Hello, my name is Kennedy Adams. I'm currently a literary arts major at Maddox Regional Governor School for the Arts and Technology. I plan to go to North Carolina Central University to major in mass communications with a concentration in media [Applause] studies. Hello, my name is Kimora Taylor. I attend Applamatics Regional Governor School for the Arts and Technology as a literary arts student and I plan on studying at North Carolina Central University as a psychology major major planning on working with veterans and PTSD. [Applause] Hello, good evening. My name is Desawn Wade. I am a theater major at Appamatics Regional Governor School. Uh my plans for the future are to join the US Navy. My job will be a sonar technician and after while still in the Navy, I plan to get

031my degree in sociology. [Applause] Um hello, I'm Taniah Taylor and I am a technical theater major at Epamax Regional Governor School and I will be attending the the Virginia State University for Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. for fashion merchandising and a minor in public relations. Good evening. Um my name is Giovanni Rodriguez and I plan on going to ODU for mechanical engineering. [Applause] Uh my name is Eddie Bautista. I go I'm from Maggie Walker and I plan on going to VA for county. All right. All right. So, I think they spoke for themselves. Some really good things happen at these programs. So, thank you all for being here to support them. Thank you, school board, for continuously um encouraging this partnership with these schools. Um and thank you for encouraging more slots so more of our students

032can go um and spread their wings and express all of their talents at these amazing programs. Um I think we're going to take a picture really quick. Um, so we'll do that. But thank you all so much. Have a good evening. Absolutely. Thank you. [Applause] And I just want to say well done to all of our students who are at Maggie Walker. You're at Appamatics Regional School and you're at Code RBA. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You have done a wonderful job and congratulations. One, two, three. Finally. [Applause] That's good. Quick, man. Again, thank you and congratulations to our students. We wish them the very best of luck as they go out and represent themselves well. We're so excited that they're still Petersburg City Public School students and they've shared their talents at each

033of the specialty schools. So, congratulations and a job well done. And to all of our parents of students, we want to thank you for your support and we know that there your students will make continue to make you proud as they move on to their next to their next on their next journey. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you everyone. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] All right. So, moving on to our two recognitions to see. So, I at this time we will begin our recognitions of our Richard Bland College and Breitpoint Community College graduates that will be recognized this coming up in just a few weeks or a few days. And so, I'll bring to the podium Miss Barbara Smith who is our coordinator for CTE programs. Good evening, board chair um Pritchette, Vice Chair

034Pierce, Superintendent Brown, school board members, colleagues, and all who love and serve PCPS. I wanted to recognize our students who will be actually graduating this Friday um at uh Virginia State University Multi-Purpose at 4 p.m. from Breitpoint Community College Completed Programs. We have Miss Camora Hulet. She'll be um completing her advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing program. And we have David Rodriguez Estrada who will be completing his precision machining program from Breitpoint Community College. I think they're here tonight. No, they're not here tonight. Um our next group of students will be graduating from Richard Bland uh College with their associates in liberal arts. Their ceremony will be next Wednesday at Richard Bland College at 6 pm. Uh we have Amelia Smith, Dave Mason. Come on [Laughter] DaVon, Quinoda uh Quinada Cannon. Tat Tatiana Walker Rawlings Lena Lloyd Dara

035Gonzalez Hernandez. Thank you. Come on students, you all come up so everybody can see you so we can celebrate you. Jakaya Mang Magnum, Shamishia Downey, and Javanda [Applause] Wiggins. Thank you. If our students would Oh, I guess sorry. If our students will never mind. Um, my name is DaVon Mason. Um, I'm attending RBC and graduating next week and I'm planning to go to VCU to study pharmaceutical sciences. Hello. We weren't able to hear him. Can you tell us one more time? We weren't able to hear him. So, if he could just tell us one more time, a little bit louder so we can celebrate you, please. And someone could assist. Thank you, Dr. Greywood with the mic. My name is DaVon Mason. I graduate next week from Richard Bland College. Um, I'm planning to go

036to VCU and I want to study pharmaceutical sciences. [Applause] Hello everyone. I am Kinatada Canon. I will be graduating from Richard Bland College next week and I'm majoring in education going to North the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to be a sixth grade math teacher. And come back to Petersburg and teach. Hello, my name is Tatiana Walker Rawlings. I will be attending Virginia Commonwealth University. I plan on being a pediatric travel nurse and I'm graduating next week. Good evening. My name is Jakaya Mangum. I plan on going to Old Dominion University and I'm going to major in psychology to be a child psychiatrist. [Applause] Thank you. And you all have a great evening. Once again, are our stu our students are absolutely amazing in Petersburg City Public Schools. And so we want to take

037a picture with you all. Congratulations, guys. [Applause] I got the next one. Okay, next we'll move to 2D. Next is board members is our VSBA business honor roll awards and we have three three businesses that we are three business partners that we are recognizing tonight. The certificate reads 2025 business honor awarded to H2O Community Church. The Petersburg School Board expresses appreciation for your ongoing support of the community, public schools, and students. Signed by Dr. Joanna Rollins Wales, Fails, VSBA president, and Gina Patterson, VSBA executive director. And at this time, we will ask that co-pastor, I do see you here, co-pastor Kim Harold, please come forward. [Applause] Okay, our next 2025 business honoral partner is Jazz Barber and and Harris. Styling Academy and that is Mr. Travis Hill. [Applause] Thank you again. They provide the haircut

038and the hairstyles for our [Applause] back. I forgot to mention also participating just let me know you can bring table and you can give back to the community if you want to do that. It's lots of fun. One more. Thank you, Mr. Hill. [Applause] Okay. And our last 2025 business honoral partner is Kimbell's Court Distinguished Wave Mentoring Program that is here at Petersburg High under the leadership of the principal Miss Fields also, but Brandon could not be here. And what is your name again? Nathaniel Henry. Mr. Nathaniel Henry, who is the co-founder along with Mr. Brandon Kim, Dr. Brandon Kimble. [Applause] One, two, three. Smile. One, two, three. Yes, I can. [Applause] All right. So, once again, thank you to all of our partners for your support and your work to to um help move

039Petersburg City Public Schools forward. And so, with that, we'll move on to section 2E proclamation. So, as everyone knows, this week is teacher appreciation week. And so we are really excited about the opportunity to recognize um our wonderful teachers here in Petersburg City Public Schools with a proclamation. And so whereas teachers in all learning environments help students grow their talents, pursue their interests, and support their needs, equipping them to lead successful and fulfilling lives. And whereas teachers are trusted, respected professionals who must be empowered and supported to do their best work and to provide high quality innovation. high quality, innovative, excuse me, learning experiences that serve all students. And whereas teachers and parents who know children best must be empowered to work together to do what is right for each student, regardless of a child's

040zip code, income, or background. And whereas every Virginiaian knows a great teacher who made the difference in their life or in the life of a loved one. And we thank those educators during teacher appreciation week. And always now therefore be it resolved, the Petersburg City School Board and Superintendent do hereby recognize May 5th through 9th, 2025 as teacher appreciation week in Petersburg City Public Schools and call this observance to the attention of our citizens adopted this seventh day of May 2025. So to all of our teachers in Petersburg City Public Schools, happy teacher appreciation week. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you, Miss Brown. Board members, next we'll move to approval of the consent agenda. Miss Brown, 3 A and 3 C. We do not have anything for 3B. Thank you, Bo Chair Pitchette. Personal agenda. It

041is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the final personnel agenda dated May 7th, 2025 as provided. And is the and it is the recommendation that the school board accepts the donations received by PCPS as provided on the screen. If there are no questions from board members, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? So move. Moved by Mr. Miles. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Dance. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Thank you. Next we move to number four, superintendent and staff reports 4A. Thank you board chair Bridget and school board members. We have our first uh presentation of this afternoon, our 2024 financial audit given by David Foley from the firm Robinson K Farmer and Cox. Mr. Foley, will you come to the podium and provide our 2024 financial audit?

042Good evening, U Mr. Chair, members of the board. Um, thank you all for having me here this evening. Again, my name is David Foley. I'm a partner with Robinson Farmer Cox Associates and uh we performed the um audit for the school board's uh financial statements for the fiscal year into June 30th, 2024 and we've completed that audit. So, here uh to present the results of that um to you all. Um just would like to highlight a few items in the um audited uh financial statements uh for the schools. Um the first item is on um PDF uh should be a PDF page six of the report and this is our um independent auditor's report and in this report is um where we state that we did um issue an opinion uh or that we have

043issued or audited the financial statements um of the school board. and is where we issue uh the opinion um uh on the school board's financial statements. And the the second uh paragraph in this report is where we uh do issue our opinion on the financial statements and we have issued a unmodified opinion on the um uh financial statements. Um basically an unmodified opinion is a clean opinion on the set of financial statements. Uh basically an unmodified opinion means um that the uh school board's financial statements uh have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. So it is a clean opinion. Um the um couple of in addition to the uh actual audit opinion just would like to highlight a few uh financial statements that are included um in the report. Um, and I'd

044like to uh go to the fund statements because uh these are the statements that um um more closely resemble how you operate and how you budget. Um the first uh financial statement exhibit should be PDF page 13. Um and that is the uh exhibit three which is the balance sheet of the um school board's uh governmental funds. Uh so the balance sheet reports the um assets, liabilities and fund balances of the uh governmental funds for the school board at the end of the fiscal year. Um there various columns uh on the statement for the various funds uh the school board has but the first column is the general fund which is the the main operating fund of the school board. Um and at the end of FY24 um reported total assets of the general fund

045of um 17.2 2 million uh compared to uh total liabilities of 16.3 million. Um and then uh fund balances the fund balance at the end of the fiscal year um was 860,000 um at the end of the FY24. Um and then those fund balance are further broken down between uh non-spendable committed and then unassigned. And then the uh next exhibit I'd like to highlight is the next page down which is exhibit four. Uh this is a statement of uh revenues, expenditures and changes in fund balance uh for the school board's uh governmental funds getting various columns for the different uh funds that the school board has. Um but this statement uh shows the revenues, expenditures and then change in fund balance uh for the different funds. Um again the the first column the general fund

046which is the the main operating fund of the school board. Um total revenue 78.9 million um compared to uh total expenditures of uh 77.9. Um and then uh the net change in fund balance uh during the year was a little over a million dollars. Um and then again you can see the fund balance um again ended with 860,000 at the end of the fiscal year. Um so those are the the main uh financial uh statement exhibits I'd like to highlight. Uh the rest of the report uh on page uh I believe it would be PDF page 18 starts a notes to the financial statements. uh the notes of the financial statements uh discloses the um uh various accounting policies that the school board uses to prepare um its financial statements. Also, you'll see uh throughout

047the notes uh there'll be some additional um uh information and details behind some of the numbers that are included in the report. Um also was um included in the notes is a lot of disclosures related to the uh BRS um pension plan and the um the other uh other post-employment benefit plans um that the school board has. Um and then after the notes, there's various supplemental schedules uh that provide some more detail and some budgetary um information. Um, but that's all I have on the report. Um, again, the the opinion on the financial statements was clean. Um, but be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, Mr. Foley. Any questions from board members? Mr. M. Okay. You said the financial statement was clean. Did you find any um practice discrepancies or um

048accounting um areas where we can improve on? Um we didn't have any um note any uh significant or any issues uh during the audit. um really in evaluating um how the uh financial uh information is recorded. Um we didn't find any any uh significant issues or issues during the audit. Um really we didn't the the processes that school have um the information that was in the system was accurate and adjusted as it should be uh even prior to us doing the audit. Um, so I think having the financials adjusted appropriately even before an audit comes in and not have to give um audit adjustments um I think speaks to that to that system. Okay. And that um $800,000 with the federal funds um all all of that is still in that we can um time

049haven't ran out on that time period to to um spend it. Can you hear me? I can hear you. So, so we're still good with the time period for spending those funds. Oh, you can you hear me? I can hear you. So, be good. Okay. Good on the federal funds. Yeah. Well, so these the the um you said the government funds, right? Governmental funds. Yeah. The governmental fund statement. Yeah. Yeah. So, you still have uh there's um most federal funds are are on a reimbursement basis. So, you receive those funds um as you spend them, but there are some uh uh federal funds and grant funds that are included in the unearned revenue um that have not been spent, but you still have an extended period of time uh to expend those funds. Okay. Thank

050you. That's what I want to know. Any other questions? Mr. Dance, Mr. Pierce, you okay? Miss Proctor or Miss Tucker? Okay. Thank you. I do appreciate I I just had one question and maybe I don't know if you or Dr. Greywood now who you do the audits for our schools. Do you do the school audits also? Yes, we do. Okay. So, when when are they when should we receive those? Um the um FY uh 23 uh report for those uh will be forthcoming uh shortly because that audit is wrapped up. Um FY24, we still need to um get that audit uh completed. Um, so I'll work with u management to get the the rest of the information we need on the school activity fund audit which is a separate audit, separate report issued. Okay, appreciate

051it. Thank you, Mr. Philly. I have a quick question about the amount of time that it takes just understanding the audit process and so um this of course was 2024. When do we anticipate 2025? what is that cycle and what can we anticipate as a school school division when we would get these reports? Okay. Um I think so for FY25 the the in anticipation would be to have that completed no later um than December 15th. Um so what we'll do is we can start um compiling list of information that we will need uh to the to management and so that they can start um getting that information together and then once they have um you know the financial statements and everything adjusted ready then we can get started on that audit. But the anticipate what

052we anticipate is to be done by by December. Okay, thank you. So, it'll be finished in December, but how long do you think it takes for the us to hear I guess 2025? It'll be kind of in the 2026 period. How long does it take for you to prepare after everything is completed? So, we're we're hoping to issue by December December 15th. So, you know, may maybe for presenting the actual audit report maybe January of 26. Perfect. Thank you. That's what I want to know. Thank you. Miss Tucker, I know that that's that's the 2025 school year. So would that is that the anticipated time for the school audit as well for each school? Yeah, we would like to do that. Um it just Yeah, same same time frame. Y thank you. Appreciate it. Thank

053you, Mr. Foley. Thank you, sir. You're welcome. Yeah, Miss Brand, we'll move to forward B. Thank you, schoolboard, school board chair Pritchette and schoolboard members. Um I will move to our second um presentation this evening, which is our technology plan update given by Miss Mo Yates, our director of information technology. And Miss Yates, if you wouldn't mind moving the podium a little bit closer, that would be great. Thank you. Is that better? Yes. Thank you so much. Yep. Okay. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Okay. Good evening, board chair. Pritchette, Superintendent Brown, and board members and audience. I am here to give the technology improvement plan update for 2023 2026. First, I will cover the network infrastructure update. Um, the server infrastructure update, student device replacement, and staff device replacement. Just wanted to make sure the

054sound is great out there because you have the speaker facing you because we can there's another much better now since it's turned to us. Well, we have two speakers, one that way and one that way. Okay. And so first I'll go over network bandwidth update. Currently um our current network bandwidth is 4 gigs to the internet. I have put in an order for the upgrade that to 10 gigs for the internet and we will still have our remaining one gig from site to site. Um, currently with the way our internet is set up, we have unreliable access to instructional edtech tools, buffering test sessions, inconsistent internet access for students, and students were unable to accommodate growing network demands that require increased bandwidth. So after the upgrade, we'll realize more reliable use of a techch tools,

055stable connections for online test assessments, equal internet access for all students and devices regardless of location in the district, and scalable internet bandwidth to accommodate new and upcoming technologies such as AI, gaming, and more STEM tools. The benefits are we'll have more engaging instructional resources. will be have the ability to test more students at once, digital equity and resilient network efficiency. The good part about this up this bandwidth upgrade is that any price um changes will be realized by next I'll cover the server infrastructure update. Um I have it set up into four different phases for this particular update. At phase one, um, we will do, well, we've already completed an an active directory assessment that was completed in April 2025. And active directory is what is used to authenticate our user accounts. We'll also

056at this stage install our domain controllers and that is the actual software I mean hardware and software that is installed at each location. Before phase one, we're running server windows server 2012 and 2016. Users are experiencing slow login, lagging applications and device and application failures. The benefits of phase one is where we will have improved application performance and faster access to our systems. And the impact is that students will um have in enhanced user access and this funding for this was approved with the tipc plan for phase two. Phase two will include the implementation of active directory as well as Google and active directory sync. Um with this what we currently have we are using outdata protocols and we're experiencing data vulnerabilities um inconsistent syncs to the cloud of our cloud applications and the benefits

057is that we will benefits are that we will have access to more secure network access. We can do multifactor authentication and we'll be furer compliant. The impact is that we will have stronger cyber security protections and we'll be have be um legal where it comes to fura and the good thing about this is that this two this stage two was also approved with the CIP TIP um plan for phase three we're looking to introduce hybrid active directory which will allow user scalable and redundant network access. we'll be able to implement something which we call intoune which is an application that which will allow for better use of our resources. When an update is needed, staff will not need to go and touch each device. It can be done from a dashboard. And um currently with

058our current setup, we have inconsistent sync with cloud tools such as Google and we are also having to do manual sub system updates. This will allow a smooth transition to hybrid cloud tools, a single dashboard for managing users and devices, and flexibility for learning and administrative tools, quicker response times for troubleshooting issues, and this phase is not included. We're looking to ask for this in our future funding. And for the last phase, which is phase four, we're looking to implement a reliable backup solution and give us data protection across all net all of our systems. Um it will stop us from having um continuous downtimes that we are uh currently have and it will allow for quick data re restoration um instructional continuity and productivity. And this too we are looking for approval for this

059particular phase for um student device replacement. With student device replacement, we currently have four um Chromebooks and they are on a 4-year replacement cycle. Right now our prek devices um were purchased 23 24 school year. So they're up to date. Um, our K8 devices uh were purchased by Title One um during the 2425 school year and that was um three that was 3,000 devices that we just got in this past week and we are looking to also update our 9 through 12 devices and that will come from um VPSA funding. The benefits of having a student device replacement is that is that they it will improve classroom productivity, compatible with updated technologies, equal digital access, stronger cyber security and compliance, few fewer disruptions during testing, increase student confidence, and it should motivate and help students

060be more engaging during instructional time. And lastly, staff device replacement. Staff are car our staff uses laptops. They are on a they will be on a four-year replacement cycle. Right now, the devices that our staff are using um were purchased during with ESSA funds and so they are due for replacement now. Um I'm looking to replace those devices using funds recovered from other reimbursements. The benefits of a staff device replacement is that it promotes instructional effectiveness with faster preparation times, reliable access to training tools for professional development, equal digital access, stronger cyber security and compliance, operational efficiency, and increased staff morale and retention. Any questions? Thank you, Miss Yates. I'll start to my left. Any questions, Miss Tucker? Thank you so much for the presentation. When we um are looking at replacing the Chromebooks or

061the computers for the students, are they going to be stationary or are they going to be allowed to take them home? Now, stu students are we are one to one, so they are allowed to take them home. Um we did pivot at the beginning of the school year. We kept them in classroom carts but due to weather we allowed them to go home. Um during that in the middle of the year did um cut down on our break fix issues. Um but we will allow them to go home. Have we considered um like hotspots? I know we did it before in this division. Have we considered for some of our students that don't have Wi-Fi in the homes? have we considered or is that something we we haven't we do have some funds and we

062do allow hotspots for some students for instance our McKenna Vento students and naturally if some students request a hot spot if we have them on hand we do disperse them perfect thank you but we do have a limited amount thank you yes any questions Mr. Proctor Mr. Pierce Mr. Mr. Miles, yeah, right there. Um, I see you have a date for phase one. Do you have um a target date for phase two and and or phase three? I don't have a target date for phase three because we are um we have not got funding approved for that. But phase two should be completed within the next 90 days. Fantastic. Okay. So, um so for the um funding approval, you have a a final uh estimate of what it cost. I have an approximate estimate for

063phase three. Yes. What is that? Phase three will be I have it right here in front of me. about $67,000 for phase three. That's very reasonable. Okay. Thank you very much. You're quite welcome. Yeah. Very reasonable. Thank you, Miss Sh. I don't have any questions. Miss Tucker asked the question for me. I was going to ask about the the take-home or stay at school also with the Chromebooks. So students, we are still onetoone. Um we have always allowed um grades 3 through 12 to take devices home. Um we have gotten back to that. So yes. Okay. Now, will the devices be Now, when will they come in or they're here? I think you said they're here, right? The 30,000 devices are here. Yes. For grades um K through eight, they're here. So, will y'all be

064doing like you did before where you be distributing over the summer or something like that? Yes. We we will pull back what they have now because they still have devices from this school year, right? And so, we'll um disperse them at the beginning of the year. Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it. You're welcome, Mr. Mr. Chairman. Yes, superintendent. Um, Mr. Miles, um, on um on approval of those funds, have y'all looked at and we have it in the budget to to do that and move forward with that once the school board approve it, once they bring it to the school board for approval. Okay. So, at this time, I'll ask Dr. Greywood. knows that I was coming to him because I know that we originally, if you remember, board member Miles, we had for our first

065part as a part of the approval back in February, we had some funds for our TIP and those were some of the upgrades you heard about. And then there's the phase two. So, Dr. Greywood, can you talk about where that potential 60 plus,000 will come? I think it's in the FY26 budget, but I just want to be sure. We have established about 2.4 4 million in the FY26 budget for uh uh capital improvements and technology improvements. So we will be looking to fund phase three in uh FY26 from that fund. Okay. Yes. All right. Yeah. And u because phase two is moving so already on target. I just wanted to make sure that you know FR 26 is going to be next year but she's ready this year. You you understand my my you know

066do we have the funds this year to do it? We have funds. We've uh from the uh first uh CIP tip that you guys approved about 5.8 8 million. We established $250,000 for technology improvements and that's what she's used for phase one and phase two. Right? We're looking to add another $250,000 in the FY26 budget so that she could continue to phase three phase phase four and we're going to gradually every year increase those amounts so that we can be in a rotation for our technology improvements. Okay. All right. Thank you. [Music] So, so when would we be the school board be receiving that proposal for approval? So, Dr. Greywood, we're looking at funds for phase three. See, I don't want to I want the league in there. We have not identified those funds yet.

067Am I correct? Phase three is going to be funded in FY26. That's what I thought. So, I would not be bringing that forward to the board until the city council has voted on the budget. And once the city council votes on the budget, which is May 20th, and we will vote on the 21st and then we that you all will vote on the 21st. And once those funds are in place and then we get those funds, then we can begin to allocate. So, it's after the city council. So, you can probably look in probably probably late June, early July. Is that correct, Dr. Greywood? Once you get them funds in and we kind of go from there. Um, but yeah. that should be coming um forward as quickly as we can get the budget approved

068and the money in. And remember, we had not had a CIP or TIP plan funded prior to now. We have setting aside that money so that we can improve our infrastructure. So this summer after July after July one question, Mr. Sure, [Music] Mr. Pierce. There you go. Just one question and I'm not going to be laboring. Um, if it's the will of the board, turn it down just a little bit. You getting feedback cuz it's pointing straight at you. The speaker's pointing at you. Yeah, this is [Music] Yeah. Yeah. Maybe not. Okay. Okay. If it's the will of the board. Um, if it's the will of the board, if it's possible, can we get a report back for the number of devices that have been lost and or damaged or stolen this year and uh

069some level or measurement stick that we can see what what that cost. Um, and I do have my reasons for asking. We're not going to beat it up yet, but I know it. The only reason that come to my attention is during student hearings, we had two cases where individuals actually neglectfully damaged some of our devices. And I know that one or two of those individuals were seniors. And uh so we're not going to beat it up right now. Um and maybe it's something we can bring back and uh wrap our arms around so that we can protect ourselves for the future. So um uh if if that can be the case, if that can be the the will of the board, we'd like to see that some type of report. Absolutely. Um pay attention.

070So that was the reason that we didn't send them home until later in the year. Um, we will um do a break do a report. I do I did pull the break fix numbers as of today so I can tell you how many devices we have tickets on currently or that have been fixed throughout the um district. Um so I'll go I'll cover it by school. And this is just break fix. This does not include any devices that have not been turned in because we haven't gotten that far yet. But for Cool Springs we are at 12%. Lake Mart 19%, Petersburg High 4%. Pleasant Lane 20%, Walnut Hill 3% and West View 2%. And that's break fix any devices that have been broken, screen breaks, um, needed replacements or anything. I appreciate that. And uh

071and I and I realize the percentages are are percentages. Tally that up in numbers and then uh so that we can see some type of a cost associated with it. I I appreciate that. That's all I got. Thank you. So you have that Miss Yates what the report should look like so that we can have Yes, I will. Okay. Gotcha. Because I want to send that to Thank you. Thank you, Miss Yates. Miss Brand, we move to 4C, policies for first read. Thank you, school board. Thank you, board chair Pitchett and school board members. We have several policies for first read tonight for May 7th. And so we're going back to many of our updates from VSBA February 2025. And so tonight, we'll start with policy number one. this PCPS policy BL and it's new.

072This policy title is school visits by schoolboard members. And so this um purpose of the review or this new policy is to document a protocol for school visits by schoolboard members as outlined in policy K, school visitors and PCPS board norms. PCPS policy number two, JCA, transfers by student victims of crime. That is a VSBA policy alignment. JCA policy language has been updated to add attempted homicide to the list of crimes. Legal references and cross references are updated. VSBA 225. Policy number three, JCB. That policy title is transfers by students in persistently dangerous schools. That is VSBA policy JCB. The purpose of this policy review was legal references and cross references have been updated BSBA 225. PCPS policy JCB option one. This PCPS policy title is admission of non-public schools for part-time enrollment. VSBA policy

073JCB option one. The purpose of this review is this policy language has been updated to specify that the school board authorizes part-time enrollment for students attending non-public school or being homeschooled pursuant to Virginia Code 22.1-254.1. Legal references and cross references are updated VSBA225. Policy number five, JFCAF F. The policy title is student removal form that is in alignment with VSBA policy JFCA-F. This form and formatting of this policy has been updated. File name code updated in alignment with VSBA 225. Policy number six, PCPS policy JFCC, student conduct on school buses that is aligned to VSBA policy JFCC. Policy language has been updated to include cross references in alignment with VSBA 225. Policy number seven, policy JHDA. The title of this policy is human research. This VSBA policy alignment is policy JHDA and this policy language

074has been updated with cross references in alignment with VSBA 225. Policy number eight, PCPS policy JAC, student athlete concussions. That is in alignment with VSBA policy JJAC. This policy language has been updated in alignment with the Virginia code 22.1-271.5 and this requires that this policy be updated by bianually cross references have been updated in alignment with VSBA 225. Policy number nine, policy JM in Petersburg City Public Schools. The title of this policy is restraint and seclusion of students. This is policy JM in alignment with BSBA policy. And this policy language has been updated to include cross references in alignment with BSBA 225. Policy number 10, PCPS policy JM-R. That policy title is policy and procedures on the use of physical restraint and seclusion. That there's no alignment to VSBA, but it is recommended that the

075current JM policy and procedures on the use of physical restraint and seclusion. Copyrighted 2020 developed by council be renamed to JM-R. The procedures include definitions, detailed procedures with timelines, checklists, and forms. In accordance with 8VAC 20-750-70, the school board must review this policy and procedures at least annually. The superintendent reviews the procedures at least annually and updates them as appropriate. The procedures in JM-R were not provided by VSBA. Policy number 11, policy JOD optional. The title of this policy is release of student data and records. This is in alignment with VSBA policy JOD optional. This policy language has been updated. The form removed from policy and cross references have been updated in alignment with VSBA 225. Policy number 12, JDF, new optional policy. The title of this policy is consent form authorizing release of student

076data and records. J O F-f is new and optional. The title of the form has been updated and the form and formatting has been updated. This form was removed from body of policy JD. That concludes our policies this evening. Thank you, Miss Brian. Any questions from board members? enrolled. Is that new or that's because I thought you said it was um revised. I you know right there right there see it says option one and said that they can enroll in in in in the public school even though they home school or or special school. So, is that new? Because I didn't know they could enroll last year. Could Can they Did they Did homeschool Can anybody answer that question? Were they able to enroll in in um public school and be homeschooled at the same

077time last year or that's brand new for this year? Hold on a second. I am not aware. I don't think we don't have any data right now, but we can get that answer. But, but did you say did they say that was revised or or new? Are they saying that's revised or new part-time enrollment of homeschooling? So that mean it's already existed. Yeah, it was already Yeah. Okay. So the reason why I brought that up because Virginia High School League had a big thing about not letting them participate in extracurricular activities at the high school if they were homeschooled. So if they enroll in school, they can participate in extracurricular activities, football, basketball, cheerleading, and everything. So they they they should be if they enrolled. You understand what I'm saying? Yeah. So Virginia High School

078League, not us, but I'm talking about Do we have But we don't know if we have any homeschooled kids enrolled in school at all, do we? We do have We do have them enrolled. Yes, because we do vote on them. You know, um homeschool. Uh usually we get a letter every year. It's exempt. They exempt from religious belie. um re reasons and they're homeschooled. Okay. But they enrolled in our school part-time and they come here to take classes. That's what this is saying. No. Uh they do not come here to take classes. They exempt all the way. I mean they the ones that we approve are exempt all the way out. Okay. So at a later at a later date the language that they changed is is from I'm looking at the policy the policy

079is is on on the list. Um Miss Yates they changed it where it says parent it said the parents of students attending. It used to say private. They changed it to nonpublic. They changed the words, right? For students attending non-public schools or being home home. She needs to pull up the policy. The policy is on there. It's attached. Do you see the policy? The policy is attached now. The policy attached. But you see part-time enrolled in our school. There go policy. Yeah. Okay. And you see part-time enrolled in our school. You see that how it's worded. That's why I'm asking, do we have anybody part-time enrolled in our school now? Part-time enrollment mean they actually attending school. You understand what I'm saying? See, I did I didn't even know that that existed. That's what I'm

080saying. Because if if this is a a revised or already existing, it's something that, you know, I'm very interested in because I've been addressing the extracurricular activities for a whole lot of kids. That's and I I definitely going to address that on a state level. Dr. Gay, if you have that note for we can work with Dr. Johnson on this particular policy and and research exactly the meaning and if we have any specific Okay. Because um because I I know a lot of families that homeschool kids and I don't I don't know if they even know that they can part-time enroll in in the public school system because there's a lot of benefits from doing that. So, and I go to I go to church and in many organization with kids. Peace got a lot

081of kids that homeschool. A lot of kids. Yes. Do Yes, we do. So, that would affect a lot of people if they could part-time enroll and affect us too because that would improve our enrollment, right? I will. Yeah. check all that. Yes. So, Dr. Gay, we will get with BDOE as well as um Dr. Johnson to research that and we have the notes for the other things that we need to get back to the board on as well. Yes, you're right. Because this is just a first read. Any other questions? Any other questions, Mr. mouth. Thank you. What you say? I'm gonna get it. You say I'm gonna get in trouble. You said you said it also, huh? Okay, we'll move to We'll move to number five, public comment. Period. Miss Muhammed, were you here

082for public comment? Because we don't have anyone else here. Okay. Because we don't have any other citizens here, I don't think. We said okay, Miss B. See, I got it. Appreciate it. Okay, there's no one here for public comment period. Next, we'll move to number six, um, Miss Brown for our action items. Thank you, board chair Pitchette and school board members. Our first action item this evening, 6A, is Petersburg High School field trips. So, it is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the overnight field trip request to enable PHS students to attend the drumline competition April 26, 2025 at Warren County High School, North Carolina. As you all recall that you all did a consensus um um authorization. So students went and attended and of course our students did their thing. So we're

083bringing this formally um for approval at the board meeting. Thank you. You've heard the recommendation. Is that motion to Yes, it is. Moved by Mr. M. Second Mr. Pierce. All in favor? I I oppose. Motion carries. Thank you board. Sorry. Thank you board. 6B, Local Special Education Annual Plan Application 2025 20226 by Dr. Tori Manson. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the special education annual plan application 2025 2026 as provided. Thank you. And this presentation was given by Mr. Kustler if you remember. Correct. So is there a motion to accept the plan? So moved, Mr. Chair. Moved by Mr. Dance, second by Mr. Miles. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. C. Thank you board chief pitch and school board members. We'll move now to our final school year 2025 2026

084and school year 2026 student and employee calendars. And thank you for your feedback on the 30th of April so that we could make tweaks to the calendars. And we have finalized them based on your feedback. So it is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve school year 2526 and 25 school year 2627 student and employee calendars as provided. Um Mr. Chairman, before we approve that, was the correction made on those on that um move of those two dates? Do you remember the you remember the two dates? Yes, it was uh 4th July and um and um um June 10th that they wanted to move them for certain certain employees. Can you put it up because Oh, it is up. And by they putting it up there, and I just want to make it perfectly

085clear, when we work a modified schedule, you're not entitled to um things that you miss on that. Because when you when we work a modified schedule and they working 10 hours when the when when when the holiday falls on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the days they working, they're not getting eight hours. They're getting 10 hours. They getting two hours each time it fall on that holiday. So when it falls on a on a Friday that they're not working, they already been paid for eight hours that they weren't entitled to. Now they want eight more hours and another day off somewhere else. That's that's not fair to all the other people that don't get it because you're working a modified schedule. You work your regular schedule. You would get that holiday on that day. Then plus

086we're you're not entitled to every federal holiday. We work by that. That calendar is your contract work schedule. We got federal holiday days that then federal employees get omnis day. Um um Columbus Day, different things like that. You're not that we're not entitled. We work by this calendar. This calendar is your contract work schedule. And and and if a federal holiday is not included, it's not included. We give days that we give holidays that the federal government don't give. We give New Year's Eve. Federal government don't give you New Year's Eve. They get New Year's Day. We get Christmas Eve. Federal government don't get Christmas Eve. They get Christmas Day. If you look at what they do and what we do, we have a whole lot of things that we give that don't get. Sometime

087we give um we give the day after Thanksgiving. Now we giving the whole week of Thanksgiving. Right. So the thing So the thing is is that what they did on this calendar only affect a small group of people, not the not the whole. So, uh, and I, and it's not a good idea to give them that, especially because they work in a modified work schedule during the summer. If they work the regular work schedule, they would get the holiday when it fall on a work day. And plus, June 10th and June and fourth July are not movable because if if if it doesn't fall on the work day, they don't get it neither. But it fall on a work day, they get it. And it just so happened we working in a modified schedule and

088it's not falling on a work day. So I'm just wanted to point that out. We shouldn't set a precedent of moving things and and rewarding people twice for the same thing. Like I said when we agreed to that modified schedule when they're off when they're off on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday when they when the holiday fall on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, we're not paying them for eight hours. We're paying them for 10 hours. That's an extra two hours each time. So when you get to Friday, they already receive eight hours because you're getting two hours for Monday, two hours for Tuesday, two hours for Wednesday, two hours for Thursday. Now when it falls on Friday, you want eight more hours. So I said approve it, but not with those two days involved. Just leave that

089alone because should not be compensated for that because they working a modified schedule that they approve. if they worked their regular schedule, they would get they they would be off anyway. Any other comments from board members? I do know that July the 4th is on a Saturday. The holiday would have failed on the 3. The policy states that you give the holiday either the day before or the day after. So, the holiday would have felt on the day that they were off. So, um, what what I'm saying is we have to approve. You have to apply it somewhere else or either. No, what I'm saying is our our work schedule showed that it's falling on a Friday and we're off Friday because we chose to be off Friday. Do you understand what I'm saying? And

090then plus, we're paying them on a modified schedule. So, we're paying them twice. We paying them two hours each time it fall on a on a on a regular day, Monday through Thursday. Then we going to pay them again when it falls on a Friday when they already see two extra hours each time it fall on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday cuz they only entitled the eight of regular workday. They not working a regular work day. So you got to take your you got to understand that's that's that's not good. That's not good practice. You understand about the two hours, right? Do you understand about the two hours? I really don't. I mean Okay. Okay, they're working a 10our schedule. Mr. M, can I say this? And and other board members can can also chime

091in. I'm not I'm not understanding what the big issue is. The big issue is they already been compensated cuz they chose to work a modified schedule. So instead when they're off, they're not everybody else getting covered for two for eight hours. They're getting covered for 10 hours. So they getting an extra two hours pay for being off on a holiday. Now when it comes to Friday, this time when it falls on a Friday, they want eight more hours when they don't work receive two hours each time they was off prior to that. See, so it adds up all throughout the cycle of the time they're off. How much do you normally get paid when you're off? Eight hours, right? where you working a modified schedule during the summer. You all that's 10 hour break. So

092you getting So you compensated for two extra hours 40 hours during the summer. So you So you compensated for two extra hours cuz you're getting a 10-hour break now. You're not getting an eight hour break. You You know what? We can I see what they're doing. We can either approve what they're doing or either we can do like the other divisions. we can give them the days during Thanksgiving and during Christmas and still give them July the 4th. They're trying to be they they're really taking away from themselves. No, they're not. And and putting it up there. Yes. Because in other school divisions, they actually give them the weeks off. Listen. Well, what I'm saying is if you want to give it to them all, give it to them all. But don't say it's federal

093holidays that we move. Mhm. Well, that's what they asking. That's what they asking to get it during December because they can't get it during the because uh it doesn't fall on the work date during the during the spring. That's what they asking. So, I'm saying don't even if if you going to give it to them, give it to them, but don't say we moving because of June the 10th and 4th July. That's that's not that that doesn't make that's not good um practice because now we setting the president that we going to take this holiday in the summer and give it to him during the winter. That's that's not good. So if you So how about if the motion just says how about the motion just reads that is a superintendent recommendation that the board

094approve the 2526 2627 calendar as presented and we're not calling out any dates. No I I I want to present it to me right I'm not going to sit up here I'm not going to sit up here and say I can agree to something that I haven't seen in writing the I want to make sure it's written up right. I want to make sure we present it right. We're gonna call the role. Yeah. Mr. Steven Pierce, senior. Miss Tucker, you had a question before the road. Okay. Yeah, because the other board members. So, I just want to be clear. What we're seeing is the actual is the new motion. So, this is what we will be approving, right? Aside from the dates, right, that are given. Okay. Listen, but perfectly clear. Perfectly clear what I'm

095talking about is only for the 12 month employees. Right. Right. Okay. So, you can approve everything but the 12 month employees and bring that back to us. No, the mo she's already made the motion. Who made the motion? The superintendent, please call the role. Mr. Steven El Pier, senior. Yes. Mr. Halby B. Senior, I would like to amend that a motion because I'd like to accept everything except the 12 12. Huh? I'd like to accept the schedule except for the 12 month and bring the 12 month back to us. Is there a second to accept his amendment? Second. Bring the 12 month back to us. Go ahead. He's confusing you real bad. So I just want to I just want to be clear, right? This is the actual calendar for not our 10 and a

096half month, our 11th month and our 12 month all three for the it's just excluding 4th of July and Junth that's it for the 12 month. For the 12 month move to like the other dates. So we're just excluding that wordage, right? We're just taking it out, right? Okay. So now, so do you understand what he's asking? Now I want because see what I'm asking only affect the 12 month calendar. You understand? So I would like for you to bring that the TW we approve everything but the 12 month um the 12 month um employee calendar and bring it back so we can make sure that it's worded right. I just want to make sure that we're not moving on federal holiday. We're not doing that. Okay. So, I guess where I'm having the trouble

097is, and I'm going to be honest with you, I think I'm where I'm having tr I'm looking at the calendar. Um, and I know the presentation that we received had that they were looking to substitute those days, right? But on the actual calendar, it's not up there. It's there. It's there. No, the days are there, but the wording that is substituting is not there. Right. Right. We wouldn't put that on. So, that's what we're approving. We're not approving the the presentation. We're approving the actual calendar. That's a calendar, right? But see, you can't look at both calendars at one time. They separate. So, see, one calendar have certain days. The other calendar have certain days. They're not the same. So, what they have up on the board is that for the 10, 10 and a

098half, and 11 month. That's what's on the board. It said 12. It said 12, too. This is for the 12 month. Okay. So the other one, Can you put the other one up there so she can see the difference and show her show her where the two days are? Oh, I'm I'm looking at it. The two days is December the 20. What is it? The 20 U what is it? It's in December, right? So it'll be December 26th and it'll be November the 26. Those are the two days. So November. However, what they're saying on the calendar is the calendar is actually reflecting that they're not asking for now 4th of July and Junth. The calendar is reflecting exactly what the motion is. So now they're taking that off the table and they're just saying

099this is the calendar with the days on it. So instead of them asking to substitute the days, they're asking for the days off 15 because they will that's it. So is because they're going to work during the week of the fourth and they're going to work that Junth day also. Yes. So they actually working an extra day to get the extra day to get a date. Okay. And that's that's sensible. That's the new motion. Okay. That's sensible. So what day is they are they working again? I don't I don't know. Are y'all clear? You want to know if y'all are clear? Cuz I want to know. Let Mr. M confuse you. No, no, no. So you're good. See, now he didn't say earlier that they were working a day to get a day. They didn't

100say that. I was told. So, so they're already off. So, they're off. They work Monday through Thursday. Right. So, they're off on Fourth of July and Junth already. And so, instead of them saying now that they want those days, they're saying, "Let's move the date." Well, just move the days. But now, they didn't took it off the table. So, they don't even want to move the table complet. Yeah, it's off the table completely. The day they not move. The day the day has been moved. Oh, so we move. I thought it was just on the calendar. No, now what I'm And see that's the problem. We're not moving. They are not going to be off on during the week of the 4th of July. One day. Yeah. Yeah. Gotcha. I got you. I got you.

101Yeah. They're going to work that four day week. Yep. Yeah. Rather than working three days, they're going to work four week. Yep. Because the holiday is on a Friday, right? Oh, I'm clear, M. Mr. Chair. I'm clear, Mr. Chair, Mr. D, got this thing messed up. I'm totally confused, but I want I want to I want to say the way I see this thing. If I work four days a week, 10 hours a day, and a week is 40 hours, I work 40 hours. I have worked my Friday, right? I work my Friday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I have worked my Friday. So, if a holiday falls on my Friday that I have worked, I get another day. And that's what polic is in policy. That's that's that's the way I see it. I

102mean, I have worked Friday. Even though I'm not physically here Friday, I have worked Friday. I work two hours Monday, two hours Tuesday, two hours, Wednesday, Thursday, that's four, that's eight hours. I work over eight. I work four I've worked five days. Even though I work four days, I work five days. So, if my holiday falls on that Friday, then my holiday gets moved to I get another day because I have worked that Friday. And see now when we approved this years ago, remember now when it fell on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, they didn't get eight hours paid, they got 10 hours paid. So they being compensated for two hours that they weren't entitled to. So the thing is is that now as you go through the cycle, you for this year you got

103two hours extra. Next year you got two hours extra. Make sure you got two hours and make sure you got two hours. Then when it falls on a day you didn't work, you gonna get another eight hours. Okay. He here's a policy. See, this is what you This is Excuse me, Mr. Excuse me, Mr. Miles. When the above Excuse me, Mr. Miles. When the When any of the above holidays fall on a Saturday or Sunday, the superintendent should designate other days preceding or following the holiday as the holiday for employees. And that's what she's doing. Well, the reason why the holiday is not falling on the workday is because we modified the schedule. Go ahead, Mr. And you're not you're not getting paid. You're not getting it. My understanding you're not getting paid any extra

104money. No. Because I'm working my I'm taking two hours a day for a Friday. I'm not getting overtime Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I'm working on regular getting paid regular for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. But I have worked my Friday because I worked two extra hours each day. But there's no overtime pay involved in that. No overtime. See, you're looking at one year. I'm looking at five years cycle. I'm looking at I'm I'm looking at five years. When you when you go to a modified schedule, which is not a regular schedule, okay? When the holiday fall on the Monday, the Tuesday, the Wednesday, the Thursday, they're not being compensated for to be off for eight hours. They're being compensated to be off for 10 hours. So they getting an extra two hours off because they working

105a modified schedule, which is a 10hour a day. So now you say, "Okay, I'm going to give you a everybody else that don't work a 10-hour day, they get a eight hour holiday pay. These people are getting a 10hour holiday pay." So when it falls on a day that day on that Friday throughout that cycle they don't already receive eight hours extra pay for holiday. Now when it falls on a Friday that they chose not to work because it's a modified schedule. You going to tell me we're going to give them another eight hours? That's not what I see. Mr. But see you got to remember now they only entitled to eight hours. Okay. By them changing the schedule to a modified schedule, working 10 hours. Now when they offer the holiday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,

106Thursday, Friday, they're getting compensated for 10 hours. Now, so when it falls on the Friday, do we give them another eight hours? But now we saying 16 hours, Mr. Pierce, this is D. Can you all hear me? They can hear you. They they say they can hear you through that speaker. I understand. I can hear being that I work for the state and I work four hour four day work week 10 hours a day. They modify it annually. They modify it just like the superintendent is doing each year. It can't be modified over four years because you have leap year, you got a shorter year, you got this and that. So what this what what the policy has done was set up and designed so that each year I don't care if if we change

107superintendent a 100 times, this has to be modified by the year because it's going to change each year. That's why the superintendent has to because what we did in the past you forgot to make the modification. That's why it ran the way it ran and it never got changed and it never got modified. So next year this time when we when schedules come around again we have got to look at it very carefully because the days are going to shift but I don't the state ain't giving me nothing there. Trust and believe the state is not going to give me any additional monies. They may shift my day so that I won't have to work or take my holiday from me. They're going to give it to me, but they're not going to pay me

108for it. They already paid me for it. So, next year, next year when we get back and look at calendars again along with the board, we got to do the same thing. because we have to make sure that we're not giving away any monies as as as m Mr. uh Miles is is alluding to not and he we're not doing that. We're just making sure it's fair and lucrative to our employees. You guys you should have your days off. Can't pay you anything extra for it because we already paid you for it. We got to make sure you take your days. That's the law. So that's what the policy is geared to to make sure we follow the letter and and see it's one thing that we have to be careful and the board need

109to understand that we set our holidays based on state and federal days or we don't have to you because our holidays is even though we might use them to to to coincide with what everyone else is doing that's not what you go by when we make this calendar those are our contracted schedule that their contract to work. We don't have to accept every holiday. We don't do omnous day. We don't do Columbus Day. We don't do everything the federal government does. Just because you say it's a federal holiday, we don't do it. We are all our days are contracted. When the princ when the superintendent give us that schedule, we go by the schedule. Those are that's our contracted schedule. Not. If you look at federal holidays, they will tell you that's for federal employees.

110You look at state holidays, they'll tell you that. And it can be used for local also. We are we are local. We are contracted to work according to the calendar that we create. Okay? Not by federal holidays. We do more than just federal holidays. We we we we add to it. We add things for Thanksgiving days before and after Thanksgiving. That's not what they do. So when we send up there somebody entitled to a federal holiday, no, you're not on a contracted schedule because we're not federal employees. We create that calendar and that's what we work and that's it. So when somebody say they're entitled to a holiday, no, you're not. You're entitled to what's on that calendar that we approve. Because if you were working for a corporation, if we need you, it doesn't

111make any difference what day it is. We compensate you for the holiday. What Mr. Pierce said, if whether you work or you're not, if you have to work and then you'll be compensated a little bit more, you don't have to work, you'll be compensated for not working. That's exactly what he's saying. Our contract is based on a calendar that we approve. Now, if you're going to give them two more days, you need we need to get tell to the public what the cost of those two days going to be. Why are we approving those two days? Because we have to be good stewards. We just can't come up here and say we're going to give them two more days. We knew that that those two days is at a cost. Mr. Miles, thank you. Miss

112Tucker, you have to cut your mic. So, I just had a question. Um, it seemed to me like um modified work week. That's what it seems like we keep getting back to. Is there any way we can so moving forward, we'll have the data around it? Because I know from listening to Mr. appears. He said that um it's something that has been done in the past and we haven't looked back at it. Is there any way is there any way we can do a survey to our employees that work in the schoolboard office to see if that's something they want to continue to do because maybe they want to work five days instead of long schedules a 10 a 10 hour schedule. So, I think I think it is befitting to do a survey and

113get their opinion on whether or not they want to extend their days 10 hours or if they want to work the traditional five days and then they'll have the the Fridays off or you know and it just won't be a back and forth. Yeah. And can I can I also share it also states that the board may establish additional days during during which schools may be which schools will be closed. As I said the others divisions which Miss Brandham did not bring to us. They did not follow the other divisions. The other divisions are giving their employees the whole week of Thanksgiving all and the two weeks of Christmas all. They have not done that. They're saying that their employees must come two days before the Thanksgiving break and two days before the Christmas break.

114The board could vote right now and say, "You know what? We gonna give them the whole two weeks off for Christmas, the whole and the whole week off of Thanksgiving and leave the other days like they were and they still would get those days." That's the That's And I don't have a problem with that. I got a problem with you saying that you deserve something because of a federal holiday that we It's not even contracted to you. It's not contracted to you. What I'm saying is you're gonna approve you're gonna approve it if they approve it but don't come to us with Go ahead Mr. Miles with your Go ahead Mr. Miles with your motion and because you said you were confused and let's see if you going to sucker his motion and it just

115affect the 12 12 month employee your motion I make a motion to approve the calendar and hold the 12-mon employee calendar for so we can take another look at it but all the other calendars be approved. Is there a second? Seeing there's no second, your motion fails. Go back to the first motion. The first motion. What was your motion? Thank you, board chair, school board members. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the school year 2526 and 2627 student and employee calendars as provided. Miss Davis ask that you call the role please for the vote. Call the role for the vote. No. Uh you're just going to they're going to tell you whether or not No. What are you saying? Yeah. because you haven't started yet. Yes. This is a new Okay.

116Mr. Steven Pierce, Senior. Yes. Mr. Halby Mau Senior. I'd like to amend that a motion. You motion over the state. Yeah. Not a different amendment. Because I want to make sure it does not say anything about moving it due to federal holidays. Mr. Miles, what is your next motion? Because we're not going to be here all night. Listen, we might be here all night because let me tell you something. I want to make sure that we're not doing it because we owe them two days for federal holidays that it's not contractual because we're not federal employees. Your motion that to make to approve the calendar the calendars and that it's clear that we're giving them those two days without moving to federal holidays. for the 12-mon employee. Is there a second? So, if it's written

117on there, y'all going to have some problem. We going to have some problems because we're not moving it because of that. We If you going to give it to him, give it to him. But don't say you're giving it to him because of two holidays during the summer. Mr. M. Just give it to him. Mr. M. Do you understand? Mr. M. Do you understand? Mr. M. Yes. Ask you yes or no. I can't I didn't hear what you say. I'm sorry. Mr. Halby M senior is for her motion the superintendent's first motion because both of yours have failed. The answer is no. I'm not because I'm not clear on I'm not clear on I want to make sure it's clear and if you going to give it to him give it to him but we

118not going to do it because of no federal holiday. Mr. Kenneth El Pritchette. Yes. Mr. Car Tucker. Yes, Miss Joyce Proctor. Yes, Mr. Bernard J. Lundy Jr. Mr. Adrian T. Dance, Senior. Yes, the motion passes. What? What is that? 5 to one. Yeah, the motion passes 5 to one. Thank you. Next, we'll move to D. Thank you. Thank you board chair pitch and school board members. Um item D, big purchase items. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the big purchase item as provided. Pull it up on the screen. So this is an information um technology purchase request. So this is um contract number and title is network cabling services. Petersburg city public schools request approval for a sole source procurement to engage Anthony Commercial for Network cabling services at a value

119not to exceed $110,000. Anthony Commercial has a proven track record of delivering network infrastructure services within our school division and facilities. Their extensive knowledge of our building layouts, existing cabling, architecture, and infrastructure specifications uniquely positions them to perform this work efficiently and effectively in our school division. Engaging a new vendor would ne necessitate additional onboarding, site surveys, and system familiarization leading to potential delays and increased cost. So, the request for St. Petersburg City Public Schools is for approval to identify Anthony Commercial as a sole source um agent to do our network cabling. Given the critical need for continuity, compatibility, and efficiency, the school division believes that this sole source procurement is in the best interest of Petersburg City Public Schools. And we kindly request your approval to to proceed with this sole source award to

120Anthony Commercial for Network Cabling Services at a value not to exceed $110,000. Okay, that's the first one. fiber optics at the schoolboard office. That's correct. Yes, that's your fiber optics. That's the fiber office at the That's the That's right. Yes. This is the upgrade cabling and the schoolboard office, the cat 6A. Okay. Okay. The fiber optics run from upstairs to downstairs. Thank you. And again we provided the rationale why we wanted to recommend why the recommendation was for a sole source in this procurement. So I just wanted to highlight that once again and that was the recommendation to move forward. And so the second um purchase request is PCPS request approval for the allocation of $800,000 to award one time a one-time bonus of $1,000 to all eligible Petersburg City Public School staff. This proposal

121exceeds the requirements of the governor's budget, which provides bonuses for funded SOQ instructional and support staffs only, but does not extend to all staff. While the governor's budget ensures significant support, we in Petersburg City Public Schools believe that extending this bonus to additional eligible staff members is critical to promote retention, recognize exceptional contributions, and maintain morale across our school division. This $800,000 will cover the one-time bonuses for all staff, ensuring equity and appreciations throughout our division. At this time, we kindly seek your approval for this funding initiative to strengthen our commitment to staff retention and recommendation not to exceed $800,000. I do have a question. I do have a question about this. We have individuals that have resigned effective May 30th because contract. What happens if the governor approves it after May 30th? Dr. Greywood

122will come forward and so we talked about this earlier. So Dr. Grey, what what happens and we talked about this already. What happens if the governor approves it after May 1st and we have a plan to address those people? The the current plan is to um issue the bonuses for all staff whether they were here or not. We have their details and we're planning to pay them the bonuses. If they were here May 1st, they're still if they were employed in Petersburg before May 1st, you know, by May 1st, they will get this. So if you resigned on May 1st, you should still get the bonus. Our plan is to make sure that we locate everyone who resigns and you will still get that bonus from our school division. Is that correct, Dr. Greatwood? If

123they meet the cutoff, we're going to pay them whether they're here or not. So that mean retirement, too? So what is that off date, Dr. Greywood? Have we established the cut off date? I know we talked about it earlier. I'll have to find out what the cuto off date is, but May 1st. I mean, Dr. L. Okay. The governor's cut off date. I'll have to get that back to you, Dr. Mr. Pitcher. So, I think by May 30, if you are working by So, we'll look at we just talked about May 30. We need to give the date and then we'll need to send communication once we need to send communication to the staff so that they understand that if you are working um in Petersburg by this time even if you're not here you

124will get that bonus from the governor because you worked this year in Petersburg city public schools. We need to be clear on the cutoff date for now but that cutoff date is going to be effective for all employees whether they subsequently left employment or not. But if they're here or left employment, we still have their details. We have a way to get them paid. So if you were here on the cuto off date, you're going to get paid. I need to get back with you, Mr. Pritchette, on what that cuto off date is. Okay, we'll get back to you get that to me and I'll make sure the board so that we can have that on and then Dr. Lane will need to do a communication to staff members. Thank you. We'll still get clarity

125on it. We'll send out a communication cut off date. Yes. So again, go ahead. Any other questions? Okay, repeat your recommendation once again. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the two big purchase items as provided. Okay, you've heard the recommendation. Is that motion? Moved by Mr. Miles. Is there a second? Mr. Pierce. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. D, I mean E. Thank you. School board office temporary relocation lease agreement. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the school board office temporary relocation lease agreement as provided. So that's from May 1st to July the 15th. You all will be out right now. Sorry. I'm click on on it. And it's only one lease, right? Okay. For for commercial street. Absolutely. Brown Street. Thank you. And I I

126do want to make it clear that the text message that I sent y'all about the incorrect information going out where someone accused us of renting from a councilman. That is not true. That we're actually renting from Destiny Services. We're not renting anything from a councilman. I sent y'all that message. Yeah. The reason why they thought that because he's the manager over top of that area some some for some reason he's the office manager. He don't own it. He's the manager. Yeah. That's what I said. Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Right. Gotcha. Yes. And so this is a Destiny Services at 315 Brown Street, Petersburg, Virginia. And so this is a copy of the lease agreement. And as you can see from the lease agreement information, um the space that we're leasing um for the determined time

127beginning on May 1st, 2025. Are there any questions? Okay. Your recommendation? Therefore, it is this it is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the schoolboard office temporary relocation lease agreement as provided. You've heard the recommendations. Is a motion to accept. So move moved by Miss Proctor, second Mr. Dance. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Next we move to F6F. Thank you, school board pitch and school board members. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the March 5th, 2025 board policies for second read as provided. Thank you. You've heard the recommendations. Motion to accept. So move. Moved by Mr. Pearson, second Mr. Miles. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. 6G. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approved the board policies from April 16th, 2025 as provided.

128You've heard the recommendation. It's a motion to accept. So move. Moved by Mr. Pearson. A second. Second, Mr. M. Proctor. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Um 6H there's going to be a recommendation board members I shared this with you the recommendation is going to come from Miss Tucker where the motion is going to come from Miss Tucker. Yes. I want to make a motion that we please change the board meetings from 6 o'clock to 5:00 p.m. starting June 4th. You heard the motion. The motion is to change our board times starting at 5:00 p.m. starting June 4th and here on out. Is there a second? Second by Mr. Which one? Dance M dance. Yes. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Thank you, Miss Brown. 6 I. Thank you, Port. It is a

1296H van disposals. Oh, I sorry. I It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approved the disposal of three vans. And as if you'll recall, board members, you were we asked to bring this back so that we can have more information. And so, if you take a look at the screens really quickly, uh Mr. Martinez, if you could come to the mic and just go through the surplus equipment disposal process and what the recommendation is this evening. Thank you, Miss Brown, honorable chair, uh, vice chair and board members. Um, so we have three nonoperational model minivans, seven passenger vans. They have no trade in value. Uh, next slide. Um the reason for disposal is engine and transmission failure. Um and we have um with board approval already replaced those three new vans. Next slide.

130And if you look at this chart right here, this will let you know um it's three Dodge vans. Um high mileage and if you look to the far right uh column, status engine failure and two uh transmission failures. And this right here is the board policy that um illustrates how do we dispose the surplus items um and per policy um we can go to bid um or um if if it doesn't meet the bidding um basically if it goes to bid and nobody bids on it the uh superintendent can um direct how we dispose of it. Um, next slide. And the recommendation of uh leadership is that we will um donate one van um that's the one with the least value um has the most mileage to Petersburg High School CTE program. Talk to Miss

131Fields um and she is overjoyed that we will um be able to donate it to um the CTE program for instructional purposes. And the other two vans we will send to public auction and hopefully um um retain funds from that. Next slide. And I believe that's it. Thank you. Any questions from board members? No questions. Your recommendation, Miss Brown. Thank you again. Is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the disposal of three bands as provided? Is there a motion to accept the recommendation? So moved by Mr. Proctor, second by Mr. Pierce. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Next we have JKLM. All proclamations. It is a superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the proclamation to recognize teacher appreciation week. Which I read earlier, and then we'll move to L K. Excuse

132me. Is there a motion to approve the teacher appreciation week proclamation moved by Mr. Miles? Is there a second? Mr. Pierce. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Month of the child. Military child. Thank you. Is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approve the proclamation month of the military child as provided. So whereas millions of American children have parents serving in our nation's armed forces, demonstrating remarkable strength and courage in the face of unique challenges, and whereas military connected children serve alongside their parents, adapting to frequent relocations, new schools, and extended separations from loved ones while maintaining their academic progress and personal growth. And whereas Petersburg City Public School Board s superintendent, teachers, and staff are committed to ensuring quality educational opportunities for all military connected children. And whereas the support of schools, communities,

133and organizations is vital to the success and well-being of military children. And whereas the month of the military child provides an opportunity to recognize and honor the contributions and sacrifices of military children. Now therefore be it resolved that the Petersburg City Public School Board and Superintendent hereby recognizes April last month as the month of milit of the military child and encourages all citizens to show appreciation for military children through appropriate ceremonies and activities. Thank you, Miss Brown. Is there a motion to accept the proclamation? So move. Moved by Miss Tucker. Is there a second? Mr. Pierce. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. a nurses appreciation week. It is a it is a superintendent's recommendation that the school board approved the proclamation to recognize nurses appreciation week. Whereas nurses in the United States constitute our

134nation's largest health care profession and whereas the depth and breadth of the nursing profession meets the different and emerging health care needs of Petersburg City Public Schools population in a wide range of settings. And whereas Petersburg City Public Schools aim to maintain a safe educational learning environment. And whereas professional nursing is an indispensable component of the safety and quality of care of Petersburg City Public Schools. And whereas Petersburg City Public Schools nursing staff provides safe and highquality health care services to all. And whereas along with the American Nurses Association, the Petersburg City Public Schools has declared May 6 through 12th, 2025 as Nurses Week with the theme, the power of nurses with appreciation for nurses unparalleled impact to health care to all students and staff and culminating on May 12th, which also marks international nurses

135day. Now therefore, be it resolved that Petersburg City Public Schools and the superintendent honor the nurses who care for all of us and show our appreciation for the nursing staff, not just during this week, but at every opportunity throughout the year. Adopted seventh day of May, 2025. Thank you. You've heard the recommendation. Is there a motion to accept? So move. Moved by Miss Proctor. Is there a second? Second, Miss Tucker. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Our last one, school lunch hero day. It is the superintendent's recommendation that the school board approved the proclamation to recognize school lunch hero day. Whereas nutritious meals at school are an essential part of the school day. And whereas the staff of Petersburg City Public Schools nutrition department are committed to providing healthful nutritious meals to Petersburg City

136children. And whereas the individuals who prepare and serve school meals help nurture our children through their daily interaction and support. And whereas the day of Friday, May 2nd, is school lunch hero day. Now, therefore, be it resolved that Petersburg City School Board and the superintendent celebrates and expresses its deep appreciation to these valuable employees and commends their good work on behalf of all Petersburg City children. Not just this school lunch hero day, but every school day throughout the year adopted this seventh day of May 2025. Thank you. You've heard the proclamation. Is there a motion to accept? So moved. Moved by Mr. Dance. Is there a second? Second. Miss Proctor. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Thank you. Next we move to number seven. Information item superintendent report. Thank you. Thank you, um, board

137chair Pritchette and schoolboard members. This is my report this evening. And so, I'd like to start on May 7th with a celebration and congratulations to board chair Kenneth Pritchette for receiving the community impact award from the illustrious Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated of Petersburg City Public Schools. The Petersburg Alumni Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated recognized Mr. Pritchette for his steadfast and unwavering support of the community by awarding him this past Saturday with the Community Impact Award. Congratulations to board chair Kenneth Pritchette. Job well done and welld deserved. [Applause] Congratulations, Boy Chair Bridget. I'm sure it's been a long time coming. All right, so our next slide of this evening, just as part of my update, we about two Saturdays ago, was it last two Saturdays ago, we had the opportunity that JROTC Military

138Ball was held. The 8th annual Central High Second Joint with Petersburg Military Ball was held on April 26, 2025 at Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, Virginia. The PCPSJRT students were recognized with Colonel Joyce Jr. and Sergeant First Class. Thank you, Patrick Rosier. Thank you. And PCPS board members, Mr. Mr. Pritchette and Mr. Lundy and members of the PCPS leadership team attended this event. take a look at all of our wonderful photos that are on the screen that shows our wonderful students and me and schoolboard members and Miss Fields and um Colonel Jr. and Sergeant First Class Patrick Rosier. Great event, lots of fun. We even got Mr. Pritchette to do the keep it shuffle. All right, so I'm excited this part of the report. human resources frontline. So, we have heard all of your concerns,

139board members. We've heard it from different um potential um um teachers, staff members here at Petersburg. We've had a lot of struggles with our current our current system of um Keystone and taking um applications, taking resumeéumés, doing all of that. We have now, I think you all approved it last year, we have now gone live with our frontline implementation. And so, we went live on May 1st. Frontline is an applicant tracking pool which streamlines and automates the applicant tracking system. It automatically posts vacancies on k12 jobspot.com. It enables our hiring managers to initiate job postings when vacancies occur, providing capabilities for scheduling interviews, and it allows our HR department to effectively track key recruitment metrics, simplifies the application process for our candidates, and increases visibility of our job vacancies and supports recruitment campaigns, and unifies

140our various HR actions into a single integrated system that we haven't had before. And so, there is a picture of our front line of what it looks like. And if you look at other localities around the the Commonwealth and around the country, lots of school systems are moving to frontline. And so this is just our first step so that we can reduce the fact that I applied for a position, but I wasn't able to upload my resume. I couldn't see the vacancy. And so we have our new frontline system. This is step one. Is that correct, Dr. Lane? And so we're excited that it has gone live. And so we are still tweaking and learning, but this is a great first step for our human resources. they can go to our website and go to

141frontline if they want to apply for Petersburg and it is a brand new system that works a lot more effectively. So our next big unveil and I think my team is probably glad that we finally able to get it done so I can smile as the superintendent. I've been on them about this. So, we're going to unveil something new. And so, when I first came to Petersburg and I flew into Richmond airport, when I was coming to this very space here to be voted in as the acting superintendent, one of the things I noticed at the Richmond airport was the baggage claim because I was waiting for my bags. And I saw at the front I saw the signs that sit over the baggage claim area. And everybody was just sitting there looking. And so

142when I came to Petersburg, one of my visions was to put in front of everyone who comes through Richmond um international airport a advertisement of Petersburg City Public Schools. And so we have gotten that done. And so I'm showing you that we will have beginning on May 15 to July 14th, we will have the sign that sits over the baggage claim at Richmond International Airport that will show Petersburg City Public Schools. And I gave you an example of two of the different signs that we are considering and working with the airport about. And so there is a bigger slide. If you can make that slide go to the big slide. Thank you. You see it? Our tagline is come transform with us. And so we have two different pictures. We have a picture of our

143wonderful students, African-American male students who are telling everyone come transform with us because we are transforming opportunities, learning and success here in Petersburg for every child. And it gives the QR code that says we're hiring so that you can scan it and learn more about Petersburg. And then we also have an alternative one that we see that our three students who are our debate or speech team champions and they're looking at every traveler and if they are interested we invite you to come transform with us. So that will run starting May 15th at the Richmond airport. Everyone who comes in and checks their bags they will see the advertisement from Petersburg City Public Schools. So we're really excited about that and I wanted to unveil that as something different. What's What's the words up under

144that QR code? It says, "We are hiring." We are hiring. Yeah. We're We're hiring. So, that is a first that we're going to do something different. Great. Great. And so, when you go, if you travel this summer, during that time, when you go get your bags, you will see it over the baggage claim sitting there while you're waiting. You'll be taking in Petersburg City Public Schools, seeing our kids. And that's something different that we're going to do. You got enough space up there to make Petersburg bigger to make it a little bit longer. Can you do that? I'll say that one more time. So, I don't know. Chelsea, can you ask what was your ex make Petersburg bigger, Chelsea? Okay, she got it. She'll get with the airport, but they have them. They're looking at

145it now, but I just wanted you all to know that that is something different. So, you will see it. So, when your friends come to the baggage claim in that time, they should see Petersburg City Public Schools. Come transform with us. Job well done. Yeah. Use that whole space to be good. Yeah. Catch your eyes. Yeah. Catch your eyes. Yeah. Chelsea, would you please send that to um Miss Davis so that she can go ahead and upload the report so that the board members can take a look at it as we go through it. She has She's going to do it right now so you can pull it up. Okay. So again, everyone, please look at the Richmond airport during that time in Go Petersburg City Public Schools. All right. So our next next update

146is our capital improvement projects work in action. Wanted to just show some pictures of some work and I know many of you all board members, thank you for getting out. I feel the excitement as we go through. We see progress and thank you for your support of our capital improvement projects. I just tried to get a couple of pictures. West View if you saw them at work. We're going to eventually have a whole video of before and afters, but right now I just wanted to show you the work in action. And so Westview Early Childhood um education center, if you see them at work, look at the final product. And so it shows that the parking lot is better for kids, better for parents, and better for teachers and staff. I wanted you to see

147that they have it now. So it's been uploaded, my presentation has been uploaded in um so you can pull it up if you'd like to look at it as well. Vernon John's Middle School. They were working on the sidewalks and now you see those newly paved sidewalks and some of the asphalt areas. We were really excited. It's just an example of the work in action. We're going to be taking more and more pictures to put it in our presentation. Then at the schoolboard office, I wanted to show that they've already started with a lot of the electrical rewiring at the schoolboard office. So, they've opened up the the ceilings. Uh they're about to start the demolition tomorrow. And so, we are moving. We're on the move. In addition, you can see the painters. when you

148came today, you saw the painters here painting and so excitement is everywhere. And so again, thank you all for your support of our capital improvements plan. Um, as I tell people, Petersburg, we're coming and we're on the move. And then just lastly, I wanted to just give you update again on the temporary relocation plan overviews just so that everyone knows where everyone is located and just wanted to show you the different departments. Of course, as students move out, we will be making some adjustments, but we know we have students in school and they'll be in school for about 18 17 more days and then we'll be able to expand to more spaces in the school. Um, but right now we're just trying to huddle down until our last student leaves and then we'll be able

149to have more space to expand our departments. And so, just wanted to update you on our locations. And I want to highlight that our homebound testing will be at Virginia State University and we're really really excited about the partnership to be able to help provide a location for our for our our students for homebound support and schoolboard members. That concludes my superintendent report this evening. Thank you, Miss Thank you, Mr. Bren. Any questions? Okay. X7B is our committee reports and there are reports in here for your review from SEAK special education gifted advisory meeting and from Megan Walker finance minutes for your review. Our next schoolboard meeting, our last schoolboard meeting for 6:00 p.m. will be May 21st where we will be approved. Before you leave committee reports, uh, say it again. We still need

150who is that person for um supposed to lead the wellness Mr. Brown. Who's our wellness person? Yeah, our wellness Mr. Brown is uh managing the wellness process with Mr. M. Who who was appointed for that? Mr. Brown and Mr. Oh, I'm sorry. But you going to appoint someone, right? For the wellness or you going to be the person for the wellness? Okay. Okay. M. Yeah. Dr. Manson is the is the is the uh person who will be running the wellness committee and I know Mr. Brown has been working on that schedule. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, he will be. So, Mr. Brown, I know there's scheduling because I know we haven't had any meetings and Mr. Brown's been working on that um with M Dr. Manson to get some dates um with all the things

151we're doing. So, we on new business. You have a question? No, we on new business. Whenever you get to new business almost I was going to ask Miss Tucker. Miss Tucker. Um, minutes. We haven't received them from I just don't know how to put them in there. Oh, you have them? Yeah, I have them. Oh, just send them. You send them? Yeah, send them to the clerk. I'm sorry. Understand? I get No, we don't put our own in to the clerk. So, I'll go ahead and get on to her, but yes, sir. I got them. Yeah, Mr. Chair, I do have Yeah. The AppMax Regional Government School Board will meet tomorrow at 2. And I also would like to add that uh our graduation will be on May. Yeah. The agric um app region government

152school will board will meet tomorrow at 2 and also uh graduation is May the 30th at 10:00 and looking forward to that. Thank you. May the 30th 30th right? Yes. May school 10 o'clock in the auditorium. No, I know Rich um Richard Bland is is open to all of us because they're going to be outside. Richard Bland's graduation is May 14th. That will be outside. So that's open to everyone. Megan Walkers is the 27th. That's ticket only. And Petersburg High is May 31st. Is ticket only. Yeah. And that mag school is ticket only. So you can call the clerk. Call the clerk if you would like to um get a ticket. Thank you, Miss Tucker. Oh, which what date? Which date? He's talking about Appamatics. And I'm not sure about Code RVA. Mr. London is

153not here. I don't know that date. When is it? Code RVA. Code RVA is the 16th at 10 a.m. And I'm pretty sure it's invitation only. Oh, do not forget with Mr. um dance we own new business now which we already own. But don't forget the retirement dinner. The retirement um I'm sorry the retirement yes banquet that is Thursday May 22nd. This is the wrong I'm looking at the wrong thing. This is something else. But the retirement dinner is May 22nd at Gateway Gateway Gateway at 6 o'clock PM. Also, Dr. Mass's department, the Petersburg High School Education for Employment, they're having their um award celebration for their students on May 22nd at 11:30 a.m. at the Union Train Station. There is not an RSVP on here. That's it. That's at 11 11:30. 11:30. on the

154same day as the Okay. Yeah. One more thing with Yeah. Time was at 6:00. Yeah. I just like to add that uh the 4 day work week for Petsburg City Public Schools is a win-win situation. When we went to it sometime back, um uh the main reason is cost savings. We save a lot of money because we don't burn fuel and electricity and water and all that. And also it provides us the opportunity to give our students and our parents or extra day to travel and do things for the summer. And also there are certain things that we have to do that pertain to maintenance that the buildings have to be empty. So it gives us the opportunity to perform our maintenance on Fridays when nobody's here because a lot of things we cannot do

155when when people are in the school. So it's a win-win situation. So that's the reason why we went to four days uh a long time ago. And uh Mr. Chair, at at some time I'd like for us to take a look at our um working from home policy because a lot of our employees have hardships and they really need to work from home. So we I think we need to hopefully in the future we can take a look at that and maybe um provide working from home if you have a legitimate hardship you'll be able to do that. Now I'm I'm I'm only smiling at you because that's something you have to talk to Mr. Pierce about. You remember Miss Mr. Pierce brought us the recommendation and we looked at the policy about making sure

156we monitor how people working from home. Right. He he he was on that and now you're on about looking at it again. Yeah. If if only if you have legitimate reason. Mr. Chair. Yes. I have to be Go ahead. I I only I I I have no issue with working from home. However, what we were not doing is monitoring that. We were not monitoring it. I always believed that what gets gets monitor gets done. Mhm. And anytime you have an individual claiming to be working from home, running around through Target, down at the grocery store, claiming this, claiming that, taking showers. I know what I'm talking about. Well, you got to take showers. Wait a minute. I ain't got to see it. I'm just I'm just telling you what happened. Well, all of we know

157I don't need to see all of that. Now, I will say that Mr. that my colleague brought up a good point and I'll say it again that that individual that is to be working from home and that's case byase basis. So, that don't mean everybody working from home. You know, we we've assessed it uh and and we do have individuals who have uh medical circumstances and they may be taking care of something that's uh of necessity at home and we've uh agreed to allow that individual and of course the superintendent that you know that's that call will make sure that that the board is well aware of it but um when we were in CO and that's where we had the largest issue and of Of course, we were working from home, but people, excuse

158me, our some of our staff members took such a huge advantage and they were everywhere doing everything that you could name almost and uh it was it had no monitoring. It was not gauged and they were running rampant. So, yes, I do have an issue with that. If if we don't have a means to monitoring it, you come on do like I do. You work come on to the building and you work. But uh that that would be the only concern that I would always have that what I always said that what what gets monitored gets done and we paying attention to that. So that said, that's all I have. I appreciate it. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Superintendent, I agree with everything both of them said. I just want to point out that we

159need to be mindful that um um Miss Superintendent is going to be responsible for the work getting done and the work getting done. She going to let us know that is getting done and she's going to monitor that. So I don't think we had to worry about that. Um um so when it comes to people being responsible for their job and responsible to the school system and responsible, she going to hold them accountable. So I I'm I'm quite confident that the superintendent going to do that because she going to be held responsible to the board. So I'm not worried about that. That uh what Mr. Dan said, I support that 100%. We give them those opportunities to have the extra time at the same time. Remember them if we going to give one group two

160days more, get other group two days more. So they gonna be here, remember, they gonna be here asking you about that you gave a one small group two days why we didn't get two more days because we didn't work either. So think about that because of what you suggesting and the way you did it. It was based on they worked and they was off during the holiday. Everyone was off during the holiday. Thank you, Mr. Miles. I agree with you. Um, board members, just want to share with you that I will be bringing back information. Um, Stacy, our attorney, is looking at it for Miss Brown contract. We probably we will have to amend it. We're going to change the evaluation date because it says annually and Stacy did not catch it. In the evaluation,

161it says June 1st. We want to move it back. She signed her contract October the 30th. So, we want to do the evaluation by the before the close of October 30th. So, Stacy will be bringing back the changes and we will be amending that and we'll have to vote on that again and then that pushes the evaluation back and gives her enough time and believe it or not, it'll be the first time for us, Miss Brown. But it also for the first time we'll have the actual student data to look at when we evaluate you. The SO data will be back by then. And we usually don't have that. Usually we have to put in there unable to evaluate because data is not available but this year it will be available. So prayerfully everyone is

162doing great on the SO during the month during the month of October we would do it uh during the month right. Yeah because she signed it October the 30th and she started November 1st. Yeah. Yeah. So as long as we had it done by before October 30th but like I said I'll get with you because Miss Haney was going to work on that. revision of the contract. Okay. And and Mr. Mass also just want to update you all. Thank you for bringing it to our attention about the Virginia Avenue School and the funding that that company had said that the school was going to get. PAC is working with the city attorney on that. Dr. Greywood checked there is there is no no money, no line item to show that they ever gave us any

163money. So, I saw the email where PAC told the city attorney to please follow through and let them know what's going on. And I I have heard I don't know if you all have heard the same developers are not there. So, I don't know what what's going to happen. So, I I've turned it over to our attorney. So, I don't know what the outcome going to be. Right. Right. Yeah. So, so he's speaking with the city attorney. So as soon as I heard something, I let you all know. Right. Right. Any other any other new business? If not, is there a motion to adjourn? Moved by Mr. Miles. Is there a second? Mr. Pierce. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Thank you.