Poquoson City Public Schools - School Board Meeting 2026-02-17

001Okay. Uh, good evening everybody. I'd like to go ahead and get the February Tuesday, February 17th, 2026 Picosen School Board meeting underway. Okay. Uh, first item of business. Uh, Miss Stud, would you come up and lead us? Actually, sorry. Uh, so we've already Yep, we're good. [laughter] Y >> Yep, you're good. I apologize. >> Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Please pause for a moment of silence. You may be seated. Today our quote comes from George Orwell. Happiness can only exist in acceptance. Thank you. >> Thank you. Carol, are there any additions and or modifications to the agenda? >> Chair Burbage, we

002have no additions this evening. >> Thank you. Uh, moving along. Uh, item four, recognitions. Miss Pertie, Chair Burridge, members of the board, Mr. Tilllet and colleagues, community members, thank you for joining us this evening. We have a few things to celebrate today. The first of which is our senior of the month. From a young age, this student has demonstrated remarkable determination and focus. She knows what she wants and consistently pursues her goals with enthusiasm and perseverance. Her academic record speaks volumes, maintaining straight A's from middle school through high school, while balancing an impressive array of extracurricular and leadership commitments. She has challenged herself with a rigorous course load, including numerous AP and dual enrollment courses, and even took initiative to enroll in additional dual enrollment biology course during her senior year to further prepare her

003for her future in nursing. This student's leadership experience is exceptional. As a manager of the show choir, she not only develops her own musical and dance talents, but also mentors others, encouraging her peers to grow as performers and teammates. and on the varsity field hockey team where she earned second in the state and became a three-time litterman. This student demonstrates both competitive drive and the heart of a team builder, lifting others up in leading by example. Her creativity and initiative are further shown in her founding of a ballroom dance club. Inspired by her four years of dedication to the art outside of the classroom, this student's compassion and sense of justice shines brightly through her volunteer work with the Boy Scouts of America, mission trips to Nicaragua, and her Eagle Scout project, where she led

004the effort to cook 100 frozen family meals for Thrive Pennsylvania, which is a local food bank. She's embodied the spirit of service. These experiences taught her not only the importance of empathy and action, but also practical leadership lessons in planning, delegation, and teamwork. Please help me in congratulating Miss Alex Ticko as Picosen High School's February senior of the month. [applause] She's not able to be with us this evening, so I will give this to her principal. Okay. A lesser known appreciation month is for our board clerks. So tonight is my honor to recognize two individuals whose dedication and behindthe-scenes work ensured the smooth operation of our school board. As we celebrate VSBA school board clerk appreciation week, we want to express our sincere gratitude to Carol Carroll, clerk of the board and Miss Ashley I

005deputy clerk of the board for their unwavering commitment to Possen City Public Schools. Mrs. Carol plays a vital role in maintaining the official records of the board, coordinating meetings, and ensuring that all necessary documents and communications are handled with precision and professionalism. Mrs. IDE in her role as deputy clerk provides invaluable support stepping in wherever needed to ensure continuity and accuracy in board operations. We are truly grateful for their hard work and we thank them for their contributions to Picosen schools. [applause] Anyone mind coming forward? I I just want to say for the record I'm more moral support to Carol. [laughter] Congratulations. >> As I was mentioning earlier, February is schoolboard appreciation month. and as we extend our gratitude as well to our dedicated members of the Picosen City School Board for their unwavering service

006to our students, staff, and community. Through their leadership, vision, and commitment to excellence, they help share the direction of our schools and ensure that every student has the opportunity to thrive. Our school board members serve as a vital bridge between our schools and the broader community, which is an important and often challenging role that requires balancing the voices and needs of many stakeholders. We are deeply appreciative of their thoughtful leadership and steadfast dedication. Thank you for the difference you make in our division. And as a very small token of our appreciation, please enjoy the dessert on us tonight. That concludes our rec Sorry. [applause] Many rounds of applause. Thank you. That does conclude our recognition for the evening. >> Thank you, Miss Certie. Okay. Long uh presentations and reports. Uh, Miss ID, could you give

007us the instruction update, please? >> Okay. Good evening, Chair Burbage, schoolboard members, Superintendent Tilllet, staff, and community members. Tonight, we have leaders from CTE clubs at Picosen High School. We'll share our work on the multi-year school support plans and of course review budget items related to the 2627 school year. February is career and technical education month and we are proud to recognize the outstanding CTE opportunities available to students in Bicosen. Our CTE programs provide meaningful realworld learning experiences that prepare students for both college and career pathways. Through hands-on instruction, industry credentials, and strong partnerships, our students develop the technical skills, problem solving abilities, and workplace competencies needed to thrive in today's workforce. We are grateful for the dedication of our CTE teachers and partners who make these opportunities possible. I would like to introduce two

008outstanding student leaders who will share about their involvement in career and technical education at Picosen High School. Ashley Grossth serves as a president of DECA and Lena Owens serves as a president of FCCLA and accompanied tonight is Miss Kimberly Chapman, CTE teacher at Picosen High School. Hi everybody. My name is Ashley Grossth and I am the president of DECA. DECA is a co-curricular student organization that prepares all of its members for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management through classroom instruction, competition, and leaders leadership, excuse me, experiences. DECA students build skills in communication, teamwork, and professionalism while representing our school at the district, state, and national levels. On this Friday, or sorry, next Friday, myself along with 18 other students will compete at the state level conference in Virginia Beach with hopes of qualifying for

009ICDC level competition in Atlanta, Georgia in April. Thank you. Hi, my name is Lena Owens and I'm the president of FCCLA. that stands for Family Career and Community Leaders of America. It's a national career and technical student organizations for students in family and consumer science classes. Um, FCCLA offers intracurricular resources and opportunities for students to pursue career that support families. Members develop skills for life through character development, creative and critical thinking, interpersonal communication, practical knowledge, and career preparation. Thank you. Before I move on, put them on the hot spot for a second. Is there anything you'd like to ask of our leaders? Thank you guys for coming out. Thank you, Miss Chapman, for accompanying them and all your work in CTE. We very much appreciate what all of you do for Picosen. We I interrupted

010a clap. I feel like we should get back to that. [applause] >> All right. Next, we're going on to my portion of the budget as related to instructional needs. So, similar to last year, just highlighting some key investments that directly support the continued growth and success of both our students and staff for the 2627 school year. We have not added any new initiatives. All the instructional investments that you see here are existing in the 2526 budget. Our focus is twofold. maintain strong programs already in place and sustain instructional systems that support daily teaching and learning. In the proposed 2526 budget, we have included funding to support curriculum writing and so remediation. These initiatives were previously funded through the state's all-in carryover funding, which is no longer available. To maintain continuity of instructional quality and student

011supports, these functions must now be absorbed into our operating budget. Curriculum is the comprehensive and coherent plan for teaching and learning that outlines the knowledge, skills, and disposition students are expected to acquire. It includes aligned learning objectives, content standards, instructional resources, assessments, and pacing to ensure instruction is systematically designed to meet state standards and prepare students for success at the next level. A clearly defined curriculum ensures that teachers are not placed in the position of creating the entire instructional menu from scratch. Just as we would not expect a waiter to take orders while also developing every recipe and designing the kitchen systems, we should not expect teachers to independently design standards aligned curriculum in isolation. A highquality curriculum provides structure and coherence so teachers can focus on engaging students, differentiating instruction, and ensuring mastery. In

012Bicosen, we develop and deliver curriculum in multiple ways to ensure both quality and fiscal responsibility. We utilize teacher teams to design division created curriculum, purchase comprehensive programs such as HMH for literacy, incorporate targeted resources resources such as Lexia, EXL or Delta Math, and subscribe to standards aligned curriculum. An example would be from Hampton City Schools, which is also used by about 25 divisions around the state. Many of these platforms along with curriculum writing and so remediation were funded through all-in. With that funding ending, the division must now sustain these instructional supports locally. As a small division, we strategically leverage multiple sources to provide a robust standards aligned curriculum in the most cost-effective way. We're also seeing increased cost in summer school and new horizons due to increased salaries and enrollment. Athletic officiating largely because our

013students rock. So this takes us to regionals and beyond band and coral operations similar but also to replace aging instruments and maintain that high quality program and experiences that we offer to students. We've also seen increased uh costs for alternative education and dual enrollment. Now dual enrollment was always on the program. We knew this when we adopted this that there would be steady increases as we increased the number of students in our cohort. We've actually been able to reduce that ask based on the amount of certified staff within our building so that we're not going out as much to the Virginia Peninsula Community College campus and through online offerings offered by Virginia Peninsula now offered at no cost and expanding virtual access uh to students when being in the traditional setting is not always the

014best fit for them to ensure they still have access to a standard diploma. We're also approaching the creation of a new strategic plan and we're requesting funding to conduct a thorough needs assessment and a an audit of our current structures. Aviation Academy and Odyssey of the Mind. The funding request for Aviation Academy has increased to match the enrollment cost. We're also including support for Odyssey of the Mind, a program with a long-standing record of success in Beosen. Again, our teams are advancing to worlds all all of them with top 10 finishes. This requires travel materials and supplies. We consider this a good problem to have as our students are demonstrating creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking on an international level. And of course, all of these instructional investments directly support our strategic plan. Focus area

015one, objective one, assess, enhance, and expand meaningful programs with real world applications. Object O objective two, develop and adopt highly effective instructional practices. Objective three, use technology to enhance teaching and learning and focus area three. Objective two and three, retain high quality staff and promote shared accountability and continuous growth. I now want to move on to our multi-year school support plans. In December, I shared that we were federally identified for students with disabilities based on the data reported to VDOE reported by VDOE. Since that time, PCPS has communicated multiple times with VDOE regarding the concerns of the accuracy of the data. We've been informed that our data remains under review and we are awaiting their official response and findings. We maintain here at Picosen City Public Schools that they used incorrect data to identify both

016the primary school and the elementary school as offtrack and we maintain we are on track with correct data. In the meantime, we are required to submit a multi-year school support plan. As part of that requirement, a needs assessment was conducted during our February SEAK meeting. This process included parents, teachers, school and division administrators, school board member Miss Caitlyn Gorsborn, and the team analyzed data, conducted a root cause analysis analysis, and develop targeted goals, all within two hours. We were tired. [laughter] A clear theme emerged. The need for strengthened professional learning, focused on co-eing practices, specially designed instruction, and effective implementation of IEP accommodations. These priorities have been embedded to an annual objectives and action steps within the three-year multi-school support plan along with specific goals focused on increasing student performance and academic growth. While it

017is listed as a three-year plan, we can come out of this designation if if they don't change our data in one year, but we're required to submit a three-year plan. So, you were provided in your board packet uh these plans. So, tonight we are seeking board approval for the primary school and elementary school multi-year school support plans. Shameless plug for learning under the lights. Again, um we do have some volunteers lined up. We are going to be hosting an egg drop competition so families can come prepared to drop an egg um to see who wins. We have NASA and VOTE, Mad Science. A lot of people already signed up to come so just keep that on your calendars. April 23rd, 5 to 7:00 p.m. at Picosen Middle School. Hopefully outside because the weather's going to

018be great. Looked it up. Okay. And future meetings to come. And are there any questions? Dr. Parlet, >> couple of questions about the multi- >> Yes, ma'am. Um but before that >> I'd like to um applaud you for your apt analogy with the restaurant and the menu as [snorts] a curriculum person that >> yes >> I had not heard that was fresh for me so [laughter] I really enjoyed that. Um the multi-year plan I have a couple of questions. Um I did a side by side on the two plans that were attached. Um, and I understand the the the unique division of our elementary and our primary >> Mhm. >> structure, although I'm I have no idea the state level understands that. Okay. So, that's the first I just don't know. But I understand why

019there are two plans, >> but side by side, they are almost exactly identical except the file name. >> Mhm. and reflects elementary versus primary. And then the header sheet, which is on page 17, I think, >> but it says PES for elementary >> on in the elementary file, but then in the body >> of the document, >> it keeps referencing PPS, PBS, PBS. Now, I I don't want to cast any dispersions on state folk, >> but I would imagine they would expect it to say PES even exactly word for word identical plan. So, I just wanted to throw that out there. That's that's >> and it makes it really should say PES and PPS. So we'll go make we'll we'll uh fix that in the state actually in this has been very responsive totally separate

020from accountability and assessment different group of people um and they answered a lot of questions beforehand and they are very aware of our prek 2 35 situation and encourage the plans to be identical because the data driving it is from the elementary school. And so, um, they actually were looking forward to our plans working in unison together and not having the division lift two separate plans. And so, we will make sure that the wording says PPS and PES throughout both plans. >> Okay? Because in the two header sheets, it's split. >> We have to submit two separate, but they can be the the same plan. >> Body is where it it just says PPS through the whole thing. >> Okay. So that was just a like a little nuts and bolts thing. My other question

021is >> this is a very detailed plan. >> Yes. >> I mean down to it could be followed by I mean it's very easy to understand if you will read it all. It's it's pretty intense. My question is, [cough] and this is not random, but how much of the plan percentage wise, this is just give me a ballpark if you can, um, new additional interventions in addition to all the great stuff y'all are already doing. Well, that was also uh welcome information to hear was that because this information came to us in January, they expected us to go back and lift up all the work that we had done since the beginning of the school year as well. And we were very thankful for that because it can be very difficult to implement a plan

022essentially at say March. By the time the board approves it here, I have to submit it to the VDOE for their approval. And now they've had an opportunity to give me feedback, but I suspect like with any other application we submit, there'll be even additional feedback once it's submitted. So essentially, we have March through June to implement this. And so it was very much so what have we already done and what can we in intensify a little bit more. So we did go back and look at all the changes that we had made from the beginning of the school year, make sure they were highlighted in some way in this plan. so that it was feasible for our team to do this work. >> That's what I was picking that up as I'm reading. I'm

023going wait a minute, wait a minute, they've already in response because even though our data is being still investigated >> and we don't know how long that might take, >> um it's still borderline even if it's ends up in our favor. >> Yes. And so I knew that there was a big concern that >> even if we get this data mess up fixed, we're still not where we want to be. So I'm happy that that's reflected in this plan today. >> Yes. And we reflected on our data before we were identified knowing that we have a gap that we wanted to close. So action was taken regardless of the identification. And so we really sought to lift up the work of the teachers, the administrators that are already doing this. >> Questions. Thank you. Thank

024you. >> If I were a teacher receiving this, I would be very happy. >> Good. Well, our next plan is once it's approved and if the state doesn't come back and say whatever it says that we'll meet meet with all of the teachers at each of the schools to sit down with them as we only had a select group at the stakeholder because that's what it called for. >> Thanks. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, next, uh, Mr. Roberts for the operations update. >> I just saw this. Am I still closer? >> All right. Well, good evening, members of the board, superintendent, Mr. Tilllet, staff, and community members. I want to first start with a transportation update. Um, I'm pleased to announce we're uh right at about 50% complete with the

025bus patrol install. That's the stop cam or stop arm cameras that are going to be installed on the buses. Um and along with that, that second bullet point is what I'm really excited about as well. That accompanies with the um interior and exterior cameras that will give us live feeds um and some cloud access so we can get rid of those tapes that may or may not work. So excited about that. Uh we we have been meeting with the police and bus patrol regular regularly and we've got a kind of a soft start date of March 16th plant for um the actual we'll call it the 30-day warning period where um it's completely live everything is functioning um if somebody receives a violation um it will go to the police to verify. So the whole

026process will kind of get a practice and those people would receive a letter in the mail saying, "Hey, if this was not the warning, uh period, you would be given that fine, but uh it will be a 30-day warning period and we'll start advertising this to the community um pretty soon." Um also the the bus app, Stopfinder, different than um the the bus patrol. I know this could be confusing, but the Stopfinder app, uh, which is the the parent app that tracks the buses, uh, we were at 33% last board meeting. Um, and we did kind of a campaign to get those numbers up and we're up to 42% usage now. So, moving in the right direction. Was pleased with that. And some exciting news, we do have one new driver in the HR process

027right now. So, if all goes well, um, we'll see an improvement there as well. [clears throat] All right, safety update. Um very excited about today. We've been planning uh we were awarded a grant uh that helped us fund some of these weapon detection systems. So just kind of as a as a refresher, the open gate weapon detection system, it's not a metal detector. Um it's actually very smart technology that you and it recognizes the signatures of weapons and things of that nature that you shouldn't have on you. Um and then alerts. Um and that allows our administrators to go to work if something that like that would occur. [snorts] But today was the first day at PHS. Uh we did have a a glitch. Uh you know, the the sensor settings needed some adjustments. We

028we learned that, you know. Um so today was a little longer. We still got everybody buttoned in by 7:30, which wasn't too bad. Um seeing I was there and I was trying to do some headcounts in the line and around 7:15 a.m. there was a mass uh movement of students. It's all of our drivers. They were coming from all the various parking lots. Um, and I counted, you know, 84 students at once that just hit the door with only five minutes to go before the bell. So, uh, you know, that kind of increased the delays and some, you know, straggled in even after the 720 bell. But, uh, overall very proud of, uh, Dr. Winchester, all administrators and the staff that helped. I do believe that was her school leadership team, um, that conducted that

029those screenings today. Uh, great job. But I think it was a great first day [snorts] and uh we look to increase the processing speed significantly starting tomorrow just because of that one little setting change uh that will help speed things up for sure. But uh congrats and I couldn't ask for more for the first day there. All right. Uh moving on to a topic we discussed last uh month. We kind of give you a preview of the the calendar that we were going to bring to you today to approve um if you so wish. But uh basically you have two different reading files. you have the 2627 full calendar and that 2728 just holiday only uh to consider for approval. Um in the board packet along with those two reading files you also see a

030calendar Q&A that was based off all the different groups the stakeholder groups that we um got involved in the calendar process um which included these bullet points that here I just kind of summarized one I kind of wanted to talk about um the first bullet there about half days uh because it seems like in every group that we you know uh met with this was a topic of where to land those half days um you know Fridays always come up as as a popular choice Um and we can certainly you know move that's you know the board's decision where that lands but um you know historically through the nation if you you read the data Mondays and Fridays are historically the the worst attendant days of any school week. Um so you know I and

031with the help of Kim Montavo Marian King pulled some uh data to see what our attendance was like on the days that we actually did our half day and one step further what was the day after like attendance-wise. um did some research. You know, VDOE really wants us to have, you know, 95% attendance rate or better daily. Um and I'm pleased to announce on each day, no matter if it was Wednesday or Thursday or the Thursday following or the Friday following, um our average attendance was between 94 and 95% consistently. So that I think spoke volumes to to um you know our decision to keep it you know kind of in the middle of the week to protect that attendance um and not risk you know um some ab absenteeism um occurring and impacting some

032accountability um numbers as well. So um very pleased with that data. Uh I think the lowest I found you know one given day this year um so far as the half day was uh 91%. So, I thought that was pretty compelling that, you know, we're we're I think in a good spot. Um, on the Wednesdays, I think overall the the the lowest day I thought I saw was 87%. So, not where we want it, but not drastically terrible. So, um, very very promising on on the half-day selection for the days there. And of course, when you read through the packet, it has Q&As's on all these things that we kind of already discussed um, you know, at the previous meeting. All right, on to the uh PHS roof project. Just trying to keep you in

033the loop here. Um the contract has been signed. I've cuh talked to the gentleman column that came to the that one board meeting. Um they're, you know, r and ready to go. Um hopefully the weather will will uh permit the the start of this to begin during spring break. Uh where this uh kind of this restoration of the roof has very well no odor and and very, you know, it's quiet. you know, they're they're not beating and banging too much. We can do the bulk of this work still with the building occupied, so we're not going to have to kick out the high school for a second straight summer. Uh we had to do that for the Hback last summer. Um so very promised, uh to be able to gain a lot of ground even

034when people are occupying the building. Uh we are, you know, currently monitoring any leak that is occurring. We do have some weak spots in the building that we're trying to repair in the meantime and also putting some canopy systems with some drains to if uh you know it it gushes sometimes the depending on the rain and wind direction um to put them into uh you know containers that we can dump. We're not wetting tiles and if that occurs we're cleaning that stuff up and making sure you know above and below the ceiling is 100% dry at all times. >> [clears throat] >> I have had some people reach out to me about air quality testing and I just going to kind of go on record and say we have performed this test uh as recent

035as right before um winter break. Um and if you don't know anything about how air quality testing is conducted, basically you do an outside air sample and an inside air sample, however many you want to do. And your goal is to be at or below the exterior air sample to be considered, you know, a good air quality. um pleased to announce ours was well below sometimes or certain areas of the building 72 more times below um the the level that was you know measured from the outside that day. So um we are keeping an eye on that. Um also worth mentioning this new HVAC system we installed last summer. It has ionizers do units and a a series of advanced filters. And basically what I'm trying to tell you is we're we're pulling in very

036fresh air that's conditioned. you know, controlling that humidity and all the ionizers and filters are doing their job to to take those contaminants out of the system both inside and the air that they're drawing out from the outside. Okay. All right. And continuing the theme tonight, uh, budget with our recruit, retain, and grow. Um, the first thing I want to mention, uh, being, you know, part of HR is, uh, 82% of this budget is for personnel. Um I think that shows our commitment to our our greatest resource, our staff. Um and the only thing I would like to say our goal is just to remain competitive. We've we've made some great ground um last uh year with the compet or compensation study. Um hope to be able to continue that progress um and remain competitive.

037Um unfortunately like the thing that uh Miss Odd started here is everything is increasing. Um you know we have some aging buildings. Uh I looked up the square footage. This is a rough number. We have a little over uh 322,000 square ft of building space to maintain. Um to kind of put in perspective and thank you Miss Spence for the idea. Um that's roughly just under six football fields if that gives you a better picture in your mind. So a lot of space uh that is aging. We're doing a good job I think on the bigger items like the HVAC systems, the roofs, but you know they're still painting. there's still, you know, those costs that that add up um that if you don't, you know, keep on top of things, it really makes the

038building run down. So, um all those things that we're talking about though come at a price and they just continue to increase. Um transportation is no different. Our fleet ma maintenance, uh you know, that's the preventative maintenance piece. All the old changes, the regens, everything on our buses, those prices have increased. And you know, even though we're making great advances with our school security, which we should, that's our main priority. Um, that does come with costs associated as well. So, um, you know, nothing is new. You know, everything that we're proposing in this budget as far as operating is something that is already existing. Excuse me. Uh, but unfortunately, the price is not the same as last year. Okay. And that's all I have unless you have questions. I just going way back to the

039bus app for Stopfinder. How many because we're only at 42%. >> But how many of the percentage that are not signed up are middle and high school students? I just think about knowing my own kids, they have their cell phones. I'm not as worried. But when they were in primary and elementary, I So I'm just curious what do we know that? >> I can get a breakdown of that. That's not something I had prepared tonight, but I could definitely look at that and give that to you in a report. Um, you know, I imagine you're right. you know, the bulk majority probably would be the lower grade levels that have signed up. Um, you know, it's just any initiative and I'm one of those people that like to see that number higher. So, yeah. Yep.

040>> And I guess we're kind of going in order. Right after that, I believe was the weapon detections. So, we'll move to that [laughter] the next slide there. Um, again, understanding security measures are not necessarily something that you would talk in detail about in a public forum for obvious reasons, but just to confirm my recollection and for everyone's else benefit as well, these are the mobile units still. So, these are not permanently installed at the high school. They are still mobile and can be you. They were funded with a grant. Is that correct? Okay. And they could still move to other buildings if needed fairly quickly. >> Yeah, I could get them set up anywhere. You know, drive time in 5 minutes. We're up and running. So, yep. >> And currently, are there any plans

041to I mean, I know we have done this at the high school, but at the moment, there are no set plans to go to any of the lower schools um as far as an entryway procedure unless there were to be a specific event or a need for those mobile units. in those locations. We're kind of sticking to the high school at the moment if that's vague enough. >> Secondary is our focus for right now. Um you know that that you know statistically is the area that you know uh unfortunately we're we're finding these things across the nation. So um that's the focus at the beginning but um you said it exactly right. These things are mobile and if there's a need that arises um we can definitely take care of that. >> Last question. How

042and how many units do we have? >> We have six. Thank you. I have a question about did how were the high school students aware that this was going to be started today >> 100 well I don't know about the time I don't know did we actually tell them that the day >> said next week >> next week yeah >> we we give you know a lot of messages to the parents uh Dr. Dr. Winchester staff did a good job of of you know going not going class to class but giving it to teachers to announce class to class to to get you know the student body well informed um of what to expect. Um and overall I mean I think it shocked them that it was today but it was like oh yeah this

043I got to get out this this so they knew the drill. It was just, oh, it's today. You know, >> there were there were a lot of social media posts about the line. Sure. >> Coming out of the school. Sure. That's So, I was wondering if they >> they were gobsmacked, you know, and didn't >> No, they they were well informed. Um, you know, the line thing, like I said, we did have a settings issue with the sensor and I think that slowed up a bit, but you know, for the first day, um, these things take time to to to master. Um, and you know, getting buttoned up by 7:30, uh, especially when 84 students piled in at 7:15, I think we did a pretty tremendous job working them in. Yep. But yeah, tomorrow I

044I guarantee a quicker result. >> All right. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Uh, last item for his, uh, finance and budget update with Miss Spence. Okay. Good evening, Chair Burbage, Vice Chair Dose, members of the school board, Mr. Tlet, and members of the school community. This evening, we will review the superintendent's proposed FY27 budget, highlighting our key priorities and major funding considerations. A copy of the proposed budget has been provided to you at your um the day and it will be available online at the Picosen City online and at the Picosen City Library tomorrow. I think I too far. Yeah, here we go. This slide highlights the strategic investments the board with the support of our city council made in fiscal year 26. Approximate $1,850,000 compensation package was was funded. This investment

045prioritized recruitment, retention, and recognition of our staff and enabled Picosen to become a competitive in attracting and retaining highquality teachers and support personnel while acknowledging the continued dedication and performance of our employees. There was $115,000 set up for dual enrollment, the Canvas software and certification lensure cost. This allocation supported expanding academic opportunities and professional growth. As Miss um I referred to earlier, funding for the dual enrollment increased access to college level coursework for our students, helping them earn college credit while in high school. Providing funding for Canvas continued strengthening instructional delivery and communication across the division. Support for certification and lensure ensured our staff maintained required credentials and pursue advanced qualifications directly benefiting classroom instruction and program quality. There was $40,000 for AP testing which increased student access to advanced placement testing by reducing financial

046barriers. The support for AP exam cost helped to ensure that all students regardless of economic background have the opportunity to earn college credit and demonstrate college readiness. This slide illustrates the breakdown between personnel and non-personnel expenditures for the 2627 budget. As you can see and as as uh Mr. uh Roberts referenced earlier 82% of total expenditures are associated with personnel cost. This reflects the reality that public education is a peopledriven organization. The services we we provide instruction, student support, transportation, food services, operations and administrations administration are delivered by dedicated professionals because staffing represents the largest share of our budget. even modest changes in compensation, benefits or staffing levels have a significant overall impact. This also underscores that our primary investment is in the individuals who directly serve our students each day. The remaining 18% of

047expenditures supports operational costs such as instructional materials, technology, utilities, transportation, and other non-personal expenses necessary to maintain highquality learning environments. Ultimately, this chart reinforces that our budget priorities are centered on people and the direct support of student learning. This chart reflects how positions are funded across the division. State funding supports approximately 80% of our instructional positions and only 49% of our support positions. That means a significant portion of our staffing, particularly in support roles, is funded locally. Local funding bridges the gap to ensure we can maintain class-siz targets, provide student support services, operate transportation and facilities, and meet the day-to-day needs of our schools. While the state provides the majority of funding for instructional staff, it does not fully fund the level of staffing required to meet our community's expectations or our division standards. This

048slide underscores the critical role local investment plays in sustaining the staffing levels necessary to support students comprehensively not just in the classroom but across all the operational and support functions. This slide provides a comparison of our per pupil expenditures among neighboring school divisions and within the state. Excuse me. As shown in the chart, our division ranks 120 out of 131 school districts in Virginia in per pupil spending. We are the lowest in the region 2 Tidewater area. While we operate with fewer dollars per student, our student performance outcomes remain strong and consistently rank among the highest in the region. This comparison demonstrates again our commitment to fiscal responsibility and operational efficiency. We are maximizing available resources while continuing to deliver high levels of academic achievement. At the same time, this information provides important context. Sustaining

049strong outcomes while operating below regional spending averages requires strategic planning, strong staff performance, and continued local support. Our success reflects the dedications of our educators and the community's investment in our school. These charts illustrate illustrate a notable enrollment trend. Since fiscal year 25, our divisions ADM has steadily increased while the overall trend across the Commonwealth of Virginia has declined significantly. This contrast is important. In a period when many divisions are experiencing enrollment losses and the associated reductions in state funding, our growth reflects the strength of our schools and the continued confidence of our community. From a financial perspective, increasing ADM has a direct impact on revenue. Because state funding is largely driven by student enrollment, growth in ADM generates additional state funding. However, enrollment growth also creates added cost. More students require additional instructional staff,

050classroom resources, transportation capacity, technology, and support services. While growth strengthens our funding base, it also increases operational demands. As a result, we carefully balance staffing, class sizes, and program capacity to ensure we maintain the highquality educational experience our community expects. Overall these this trend positions us favorably compared to many divisions but it also requires thoughtful planning to ensure sustainable growth and continued academic success. As discussed in prior meeting's local composite index, otherwise known as the LCI increased from 3466 to 3806 for the upcoming bienium under under the state funding form formula. An increase in LCI can result in a reduced share of state funding depending on the total state funding. As a result, PCP's proportion of fiscal year 27 state support has decreased due to this change in LCI and that was shared with you

051um during our meeting two two months ago. So this chart reflects a 12-year trend analysis of state, local, and federal revenue. Over this period, we have seen fluctuations in each revenue source driven by enrollment changes, economic conditions, legislative action, and one-time federal stimulus funding. State and local funding remain our primary revenue sources with local funding playing, as mentioned earlier, a critical role in maintaining stability when state funding levels shift. Federal revenue shows temporary increases during the years in which ESSER and other pandemic related funds were available followed by a return to more typical levels as those one-time funds expired. This long-term view highlights two key points. First, our revenue structure is heavily dependent on state and local funding. Second, temporary federal funding provided short-term support but did not create a sustainable ongoing funding stream. Understanding

052these trends helps frame our current budget decisions and reinforces the importance of continued local investment to maintain program stability and student performance over time. This slide outlines the state assumptions that was used in developing the superintendent's proposed fiscal year 27 budget. Our budget was built based on the governor's proposed budget which was released in 2025. Included in that proposal is a 2% salary increase for SOQ recognized instructional and support positions. It is important to note that state funds only those positions recognized under the SOQ formula. As I showed earlier, any additional positions funded locally as well as any other compensation adjustments beyond the state supported amount must be supported with local dollars based on a projected ADM of 2065, which is up from the ADM for fiscal year 26 of at this time it's 207.

053We anticipate a net increase of $84,182 in state revenue. While this represents additional funding, it's modest relative to overall personnel cost and ongoing operational needs. And that directly gets back to the the LCI increase. This slide highlights that again our revenue projections are tied closely to both state budget actions and enrollment and the state proposed increases do not fully cover the total cost impact at the local level. But we'll share we'll share in a couple slides. So this is a um breakdown of projected changes in state funding between the original budgets. While SOQ funding shows an increase of $418,423, there is a corresponding decrease in incentive and categorical funding, most notably in the compensation supplement category. It is important to note that this reduction for this comp compensation supplement does not represent a true loss

054of funding. Approximately 700,000 of this fiscal year 26 comp of the fiscical year 26 compensation fun supplement funding is being rolled into the SOQ funding for 27. In other words, the funding is shifting categories rather than being eliminated. We also see a small increase in hold harmless funding and lottery funding programs along with a small decrease in other incentive and categorical programs. After accounting for all the adjustments, we get to the state funding increase of $84,182. While the internal shifts between categories appear [snorts] significant, the overall net impact to the division is minimal. This underscores that despite movement within funding streams, the total increase in state support is relatively limited in the context of our full operating budget increase. This summarizes the net increases and decreases in state and federal funding and it highlights the

055resulting impact on the local funding request. As we've discussed in the previous slides, the overall net increase in state run revenue reflects limited growth. At the same time, our division continues to experience modest enrollment growth, rising personnel cost, and increased operational expenses. Because state and federal revenue growth does not fully cover these ongoing costs, as mentioned earlier, it must be addressed through local funding. As a result, this chart reflects a significant increase in the local funding request of 1,64,377. In short, the increase in the local qu request is not driven by new expansion as we referred to ear miss um I'd referred to earlier but by the need to sustain competiti competitive compensation support enrollment growth address the aging facility needs that was reviewed earlier and maintain again the high level of performance. So now

056we're going to start looking at what's making up our budget. The largest component is the proposed 2% salary increase regarding the personnel related cost totaling $432,900. If uh this increase supports again our our attempt to remain competitive in recruitment and retention. We're also projecting a 5% increase in health insurance cost which cost approximately 144,600. Like many other employers, we continue to experience rising benefit costs which are largely outside of our direct control. But I'll mention here uh when two two meetings I think ago it was at 9% and they got it down to 5%. So we had some savings there. Additionally, 48,500 reflects that curriculum item so remedi remediation costs that were previously supported through all in Virginia funds. With these state carryover funds no longer available, these expenses must now be absorbed in the

057operating budget. Finally, we anticipate a $30,000 increase in workmen's compensation costs and a lot of that relates to our increased salaries and our experience modification rate. Although these factors result in net total projected cost increase of 656,000. Again, it's all tied to the personnel and benefit obligations rather than new program expansion. We had 304.5 FTEES in FY26 and we have 304.5 FTEES in fiscal year 27. The next item is the instructional and student performance. um 131,200 reflects cost associated associated with the new horizon regional education programs. We also absorbing 34,000 in instructional software and professional development costs that was previously funded through all Virginia funds. Additional investments as was uh reviewed earlier expanding coral expanded dual enrollment [clears throat] which was had been planned last year and funding for strategic plan development. These allocations directly

058support academic rigor program quality and long-term division planning. In total, these instructional and student performance in initiatives represent a net projected cost increase of $291,100. These investments are focused on sustaining academic excellence, expanding our student opportunities, and then maintaining our program quality across the division. This is the uh slide which deals with the primary increases related to maintenance, transportation and technology. A significant portion of these costs reflect the ongoing needs of maintaining aging facilities. The increases in contract service cost, building materials, painting and capital outlay are necessary to preserve the condition of our schools, address our wear wear and tear, and prevent more costly repairs in the future. As our facilities continue to age, proactive maintenance becomes increasingly important to ensure safe functional learning environments for students and staff. On the tra transportation side, fleet

059maintenance costs continue to rise as buses age and require more frequent servicing and parts replacement. Also, if our fleet it as a total increases, investments in stopfinder and bus navigation software enhance routing efficiency and communication with families while bus equipment safety equipment funding directly supports student safety. These expenditures expenditures ensure our transportation system remains reliable, compliant, and safe. Technology increases including divisionwide and library software as well as lease contracts support daily instruction operations and cyber security needs. Overall, these categories represent a net projected cost increase of 188,800. These are not expansionary costs but rather necessary investments to maintain safe facilities, ensure transportation safety and also just sustain operational reliability across the entire division. Let's see here. This summary, this slide summarizes the fisc year 27 proposed revenues much of which we have discussed in the

060previous slides. The total proposed fiscical year 27 budget is 33.3 million representing an increase of approximately 1.07 million or 3.32% over fiscal year 26. As reflected in the chart, state funding continues to represent the largest share of our revenue at 55% followed by local funding at 42 and federal funding at 3%. This chart reinforces the overall funding structure of our division. This summarizes the fiscal year 27 proposed expenditures. Again, it's at 33.3 million. Instruction represents the largest portion of expenditures at approximately 70% of the total budget. When combined with transportation, operations and maintenance, technology, and district-wide support, the majority of our spending directly supports classroom instruction and student services. This breakdown again reinforces two key points. Our budget is heavily concentrated instruction and personnel-driven services. And second, non-instructional areas such as maintenance, transportation, and de

061technology represent necessary operational supports rather than areas of significant expansion. So, this shows how uh the the increase in city funding was calculated to be 1,6 1,64,377. A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held at the regular meeting on Tuesday, March 17th at 6 o'clock. Also included in your budget package is information related to your fiscal year fiscal year 27 pay plan. The teachers and licensed administrator salary schedules have been adjusted to reflect the proposed 2% salary increase. We have also added targeted supplements to strengthen student programs and leadership development, including administrative intern and mentor stipens up to $5,000 depending on the need of the school division. Excel club and LEO club, both funded at $600 each. The summer strength coach at $3,000. The girls wrestling coach, just noted, is now included under

062the varsity head wrestling. They'll get the same stipen as the um the boys, the musical pit conductor 500 and the musical choreographer at 200. I will just make a note in your pay plan that's in section 10, the musical pit conductor and musical choreographer amounts have been switched. They will be corrected in the uh pay plan that's uploaded tomorrow as well as the one that's going to be in the Picosen Library. This is just a note that the capital improvement budgets coming up for the 2028 to 2032 and that will be presented in the board um meeting in May. And again, many thanks for the continued support of our city manager, the city council, and the school board. We appreciate it. Now for any questions on Mr. Right. Just our projected ADM increase is going

063to be nine souls. I just find that really interesting because when legacy and I know this isn't our purview here but ADM is and when all of the construction was going on housing people were like really fussing and about oh my god the schools won't be able to handle this and and but our projection is only nine people. I find that really fascinating. >> Yeah, there there's a lot to that. It's a it's an interesting um dance going on here. Um the addresses in Legacy have increased um of school age children by I think over 45 if I'm not mistaken the last count we looked. But our overall ADM has only grown from our projection of this year which we landed somewhere early in the year and nine additional kids um where we are right

064now is why we chose that number. Um what we think is happening is people are moving from other places in Picosen to Legacy perhaps from floodprone areas or a variety of of address changes. It doesn't necessarily mean a net gain for us as well. about 25% of our population are military connected families and um there that uh group of families often are transient. They get orders and move from one place to another and sometimes that happens in pools of children when a squadron or a group moves out to another area or group of of military connected families move. We have seen that influx and exit of of families happen throughout the year for many many years simply because of the transient nature of military connected families. So you put all of that together in the

065wash and what you end up with is a right now a net gain of about nine kids over our projected number from this year. Uh we're still anticipating increased population uh from Legacy and a couple other smaller communities that are are de developing. Um um I still see a lot of trampolines and bicycles uh in the Legacy community and uh that usually translates to ADM for us. But good observation. >> Thanks, >> Marty. Can you just um provide a little more color to the 2024 ADM and exactly how that was actually pulled? Uh just so everybody >> Exactly. ADM is an interesting uh formula in and of itself. It's not enrollment. It's actually um average daily membership. So it accounts for attendance and a variety of other things. Um we uh use first a projection

066that comes from the state. They project our average daily membership from a formula that they use. Um as well we consult with uh Welden Cooper, the state demographers. So it's all a kind of a crystal ball process to try to figure out where it's going to land. March 20 in a given year is D-Day for enrollment uh for ADM count and your funding is actually balanced on that from that date. So wherever we are at that particular moment in time is what drives the funding uh the actual funding but we have to make a targeted guess to put in what we call the calc tool which is how we calculate all of these numbers. Um and that number you want to be safe because the state giveth and the state taketh away. Um so if

067that if we overp project that number and we did that if you'll recall those of you on the board a few years back we were pretty confident that um in the projection from Welen Cooper that we were going to grow X number and we missed that target by you remember how many it was Tracy >> significant number [laughter] >> 24 >> it was and when you when you miss it you you have to give that money back or they don't actually give you those last installments um and had it not been for some vacant savings and carry which we were able to use as carryover funds to to make that work. Uh we would been in a mess. So you want to be real careful to slide into home uh plate you know um at

068the right number um on the 20th but um at the same time every child in the formula accounts for about somewhere around $7,300 of per pupil aotment from the state. Um, so you know, you want to hit it just right and and we want to be within that narrow window of not overestimating or underestimating the ADM >> like a Goldilocks kind of not too hot, not too cold. Exactly. >> But if you had to make an error, it's better to air on the side of conservativism >> because you can still adjust at the beginning of next year. Correct. >> Exactly. And that's always been our philosophy. But at the same time, um, if you can can be pretty confident that you're going to end up there, you can build your budget around a more accurate

069number. Um, and you don't want to leave money on the table because that money uh doesn't get adjusted till March. The year's mostly over. Yeah. If if there are no more questions, I just want to take this moment publicly to thank uh Miss Spence uh and her team, our administrative uh team upstairs, the executive leadership team, Mr. Roberts, Miss ID. Um I I'd love to know the hours, but it's too many to count that are in a budget this comprehensive. uh nights, weekends, a lot of work goes into building a budget like this. I want to publicly thank this team for all their hard work. In addition to that, it starts early in the year, as you all well know, with our teams in the schools, our principles, our directors, uh leadership throughout the community,

070and then working directly with every staff member. Uh I always say, you know, it's listed as the superintendent's budget. Um it it's really every single human being associated with public with Picosen public schools has a role to play in this budget and ask for the things that they need to do their work um successfully and then we have to make hard decisions about what can survive the budget. um you know, you can't fund everything. And then we have to go to work with um uh projecting revenue from state and then asking for our local funding partners in the city who do incredible work with um out a large funding stream to um to support these schools. So, I appreciate so much uh personally and and I I think I speak for the community with the

071hard work that goes into this uh effort and and also our funding partners down the hall with now doing their um uh enormous task of trying to uh have the revenue uh to match this and they're going to do everything they can, but it's a significant challenge this year with um the LCI as you've heard multiple times going up that affects our state funding significantly. So, thank you all. >> Okay. Um, moving along along, uh, item six, public comment. Miss Carol, do we have anyone here for public comment? >> We have two speakers this evening. Chair Burbage. >> Okay. Uh, before you guys get started, let me read a public comment statement. The Picosen School Board welcomes public comment during regular meetings. School board members do not respond to public comment during a meeting. All

072comments should address a matter related to Picosen public schools. The school board will not hear public comment that involves an individual student related matter, the disclosure of which would violate applicable confidentiality requirements. School board expects that each speaker will be courteous, modeling for our students how one can respectfully disagree with others views. Speakers will address their comments to the entire school board and not to one individual board member, nor to the superintendent, a staff member, or the audience. Speakers are encouraged not to engage in personal attacks. Speakers will present their comments from the podium. To follow schoolboard policy, time allotted to speaker shall be three minutes. First speaker is Emberlye Little from Picosen Avenue regarding the school calendar. Hi, >> Good evening. Um, as I um my name is Amberly Little. I have three students

073um within Picosen schools. I have a child in IPOP, a child at the primary school, and a child at the elementary school. Um so, school matters. Um, I came to speak, um, I believe I'm pretty much a month late, unfortunately, but I came to speak, um, on the proposed school calendar, um, specifically about half days. Um I believe I speak for a large majority of parents um who believe that half days are very frustrating um and not um worth the learning time for our students especially young students. Um I have multiple friends and family members who are teachers within student within Picosen schools who feel like um not much learning is actually accomplished in the short amount of time that students are there during half days. And then also most of the other half of

074the half days um are what I think are mostly professional development instead of like actual planning and prep time for our teachers. Um, which I think is very important for my child's teacher to have time during their contract hours to have planning time and prep time. Um, and so I just really don't love half days in general for those reasons. Um, I also, like I said, have an IPOP student. Um, they are currently in the morning class, but next year for this proposed calendar, they will be in the afternoon class. There are currently, I believe, seven half days on this calendar, meaning my IPOP student will not have school for seven of those calendar days. Um, which is really upsetting for me as um a paid participant of IPOP. Um, and then I asked public

075opinion on social media and there were zero comments um in um support of half days. There were only negative comments. um on social media. So that tells me that um other parents also feel the same way. Um I wish that this would have been proposed in like a survey or questionnaire to parents um to actually get parents opinion and that I I did hear mention of groups. So that might have been um a thing that I just am not aware of. Um, so my pro proposal for a solution because I do see the answer in the question and answer section of that proposal and I heard it presented. Um, is that the issue is I'm going to run out of time. Um, is attendance. Um, I would actually propose that instead of seven half days,

076we maybe look at getting rid of half days like most of the other surrounding districts have done. Um, and actually move towards more of more 3-day. Am I allowed to continue? I'm sorry. >> How much time do you have left? [clears throat] >> Like 30 seconds. I can go ahead. >> Um, sorry. Um, to where we would have more like three, say 3-day weekends where teachers could have half of that day as professional development and then half of that day to to planning. And then the attendance problem to me wouldn't be as much of a problem because you would have those half days as full days back and that would solve the solution of or the problem of teachers not having that as planning time. Um and then also I know that bus driver retention

077and some support staff um are a problem. So, um, unless I'm incorrect, like that would give those support staff an opportunity to have those 3-day weekends off, um, instead of that's also seven days where those bus drivers are on a different schedule and have their middle of the day interrupted to have to take students at a different time. Um, and then again, um, just speaking for the working parent, I thankfully have a job as a nurse where I can, um, t like have those days off and plan those days off. But for the majority of working parents that work Monday through Friday, especially who have younger kids that require supervision and child care, they they're they have to take the entire day off or find paid child care um for their students. So, thank you

078for letting me speak. >> Thank you. >> Next speaker is Austin Overme from Picosen Avenue regarding calendar and half days. Hello. Good evening. Um, thank you for your introduction to my same topic. Uh, I won't I'll hit it from a little bit of a different angle. Um, I I looked at all the other school districts that we have um in in the area. So, >> sorry, we got Newport News, Hampton, um, York County, and looked at their schedules. Um, none of the other school districts have half days. We were this whole school district to have half days. And I think this really propagated from a pandemic era when we were giving that Wednesday half day is kind of when it started. Um however most families at the time were especially an area like this where

079you mentioned 25% military families where federal employees that were also teleworking federal employees are not able to teleawwork anymore and most most private businesses are not teleworking anymore. So this puts an really an undue burden on um families especially with two working parents to have these half days. It's I think by my count it's 11 days of half days. That's 11 days out of the school year that I need to take off work to um I all my children are are younger either elementary or primary school. So, I'd really ask you to consider how these half days are are scheduled and I would like to see us move more towards 3 4 day weekends with full days off. I think this again this transient community that we have without support family close by would allow

080us to um either take time off with families and increase attendance by having these days off. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Okay. Um, Miss Carol, that's the end of the public comment. >> Yes, those are all our speakers for this. >> Okay. Um, thank you all for providing public comment tonight. I we appreciate it. Uh, the next item up for discussion is the consent agenda. Um, we have item A, approval of financial reports. Item B, author authorization to change appropriations and to accept and expend funds in accordance with attached request. Item C is approval of personnel action. Item D is approval of minutes for January's regular meeting. Uh, can I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So moved. Can I have a second? >> Second. >> Is there any discussion? Um,

081Miss Carol, the vote, please. >> Dr. Bartlett, >> I. >> Vice Chair Dubose, >> I. >> Miss Jones, >> I. >> Miss Orsbborne, >> I. >> Chair Max. Chair. Chair Barbage. >> Change. >> I vote passes five zero. >> Okay. Uh moving along to item eight, other matters for consideration. Uh the first item is a motion to approve the recommended draft PC PCPS calendar for the 2026 2027 school year uh reading file enclosed. Can I have a motion to approve the calendar? >> So move. >> I have a second. second >> uh questions and discussion. >> All right. So, I'll start. Um the the topic of half days um obviously is at the forefront of discussion every year and could we um I mean I have had some offline discussions but I do think it's

082valuable um you know to just kind of reiterate my understanding I I have worked a job when my children were young that would have made these half days extraordinarily difficult to work for my family. So I do hear that very very close to my heart. Um however I also hear that the overwhelming request from our calendar committee seems to be that our faculty tend to see value in the half days and I also don't wish to remove them if the benefit is there from a professional development and or planning standpoint however they are used. So could we just speak to that publicly here and then? >> Absolutely. Thank you for teeing that up because that um is the the feedback we hear after year since the half day um half days were added during COVID

083and thereafter. Um there's a there's several challenges. One is um uh work days is really what we're talking about and we would love to add work days and the and one of the speakers recommended that um the problem is the calendar law. If you add a day you have to take it from somewhere else. We have to do 180 days. Half days count as a school day. So we are able [snorts] to do a half day and count that as one of the 180 days or two or 10 or however many. If you're not going to have students attend that day, then that day as a work day has to be a another day has to be a student day. Now we can look at taking it from Christmas, spring break or adding them to

084the end of the school year. That's the calendar law. Now the calendar also allows or 990 hours of instruction. Um the goal is to build 180day calendar um which we have done. We use as you've heard multiple groups parent um group staff council and our administrative team to vet these possible scenarios. Uh we would love to just add four work days. They would certainly be productive days, but in order to do that and get 180 days in the calendar, you have to put them somewhere. So, for example, if we were to have a work day tomorrow, that day is not one of the 180 days in this calendar would have to be placed somewhere else. We did survey um some time ago um I think it's been three or four years ago now uh whether

085the the what was the community's sentiment on adding days at the end of the the school year and it was a overwhelming no. The calendar committees every year um overwhelmingly say no. Um various other school divisions around do some combination of that. Um, I think I don't want to quote their calendar without it in front of me, but I think York County's current calendar has a combination of some half days and some full days. And those full days are added to the end of the calendar year. Um, they go, I think we end on the 5th, Friday the 5th of June, and they go the next three or four days the following week. Um, to add those days to the calendar. Now, that's my understanding. you do have to do 180 days or 990 hours

086of instruction. That's the state law. So, um we've vetted this with multiple calendar committees and this is where they land each year the last several years with a calendar that starts around this same time, ends around this same time, has the recognized holidays that Picosen is used to. Um another thing, for example, I just throw this out there. Every year we discuss the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. That day, for example, could be a half day. Um, that would count as one of the 180 days. And then, uh, another day could be placed in the calendar as a work day, a full work day. And, you know, we do have one full work day built in the year. We just had it a few weeks ago for Spark. Um, but that's the calendar constraints. Now there is

087a bill that is in general assembly as we speak to allow you to start earlier and end later. Um if that happens there may be some talk to want to start the school year earlier to build time in the year in uh work days throughout the year. But again the sentiment we heard from the last survey we did was uh we're already starting too early and finishing late enough. What just didn't seem to be uh any appetite to adding additional days in the year. Now, that's um kind of it in a nutshell. Um do you have to have 11 days? Uh not necessarily. Um the days that we have built in there, two of those days are kind of unavoidable half days, they're not designed for professional development. They are designed for the homecoming and

088um seafood festival. Those are early in the year. The other days are designed one a month that we've heard overwhelmingly from staff is necessary um to do the work that we have to do. Learn new curriculum to new curriculum uh or standard for uh social studies and science coming down the pike. We just finished um English language arts and math. And this work has to happen sometime and our teachers are um overwhelmed at times with the the work uh necessary to to uh rebuild curriculum while you're teaching school. So this time we we do some work as much as we can in the pre-ervice before school year starts and we do the other um lift of this effort throughout the year in these eight nine half days scattered throughout the year. Now, um, again, lots

089of ways to do that, but if you're going to take a day, full day to do this work, that day has to be placed somewhere to get to 180 school days. Um, that's just kind of it in a nutshell. I know there's a long answer to your question, but I think it does frame it. And again, it we've c crawled through this with lots of people each year who serve on these committees who come in saying the same thing. We would like to have full work days instead of half days. Um, and certainly we understand and sympathize with the burden that it places on families to to do the half days. Well, >> Marty, if I can just add a little bit of, you know, underscored a statement you made or or, you know, and

090this is coming from, you know, being a spouse of a teacher and a and a son of a teacher, the the importance of the half days or any day for that matter, but more importantly, the half days for Picosen teachers. Um, you know, we are a small school division. We uh we rely heavily on our teachers and our staff to ensure that our students get the education that they deserve and that they get. And when you start comparing us to the larger districts, they have more staff to be able to support their teachers, plain and simple, right? You know, so >> saw that in the budget actually the the per pupil cost. Interestingly enough, that that caught my eye on the half day discussion, >> you know. So, so it's, you know, this isn't a

091matter of that, you know, um, we are taking the half days lightly. You know, this is truly for our teachers at the end of the day so they can continue to provide the the the quality education that our students that and and I think Arty said it very well. Unfortunately, the sacrifice that we would have to do if we did not do the half days, we'd have to increase our school year, you know. So, um, it's a little nuance that that that's different about Picosen when you start trying to compare them to the larger surrounding districts that they just don't experience. >> Absolutely. Um, Mr. Deose and and even with that being said, which is 100% true, um our neighbor all of our neighboring school divisions do this work through work days in some um

092capacity, whether they do a combination, like I I said the last time I looked at York counties, for example, they had a combination of both, which is a great way to do it, but in order to do, they have to move some of those days off to another uh to the end of the year. Um we there are other school divisions that have these one or two day work days within the year and they pull that day from some other day or there is you there are school divisions in the state that opt to not do 180 school days and to do only the 990 hours. But if you add up actual instructional time, they're getting less seat time with children than we do. And one thing we know is one of the the reasons

093that we excel is that we have a lot of time with kids instructionally, high productive instructional time, and it pays off um in in great dividends. We have always built a 180day calendar in Picosen. Um, as far back as I could find. I couldn't find a calendar ever built that didn't include 180 days. And I went back many, many years. So, um, that you can do it. It's not advised, but and then if you get into inclement weather, um, I don't know what you do. Um, we could fall back if we had to on the 990 hours if we could not make up all of our days or or satisfy the state law with the virtual days that can only be used in an emergency. They can't be scheduled. >> And and to also reiterate

094again just trying to think of offline conversations that may not have been made clear here in a public forum. Attendance is such a big deal as it is tied to state dollars. Correct. And we are already in a situation this upcoming year where our state dollars related to other formulas are decreasing and that is a tremendous deal for a small locality. So just again to make that clear, I do think that's an important piece of the entire equation. >> Yeah, absolutely. Especially as it relates to the Friday discussion. Um you know it comes up every year and it's it's it's not new. Um, Friday half days have been discussed in public education my whole career and this is year number 35 for me. I'm sure Dr. Bartlett can um attest to this. Uh, it is

095the day that people choose. If you were to choose a day in the calendar to pick to have a professional development or half day the it's also the poorest attended day of the week. And now that account uh it's always been important for students to come to school. That's where the learning happens and the fun, I like to say. But, um, now that it's directly tied to the state accountability model, if we have poor attendance, uh, two or three Fridays of poor attendance, and nationally, Fridays is about 20% uh, worse attendance than the other days of the week. That's a national statistic, and ours is probably fairly close. A Friday half day is abysmal. um it's just too easy. And I'm not just talking about students. It is also a day when we would have

096a hard time getting our staff uh there completely. So there's a lot of dynamics to building this calendar. It's quite easy to just say we should do this. Um that's why I always say we put groups of people together who spend hours pouring through what the state law says, what other school divisions do. Um, and then what is in the best interest of our students in as it relates to instructional time and building this calendar. And uh, like I said, I want to reiterate that we had a parent group, we had a a faculty group, staff group, and also our administrative team. That's these calendars and does that year after year to make sure that we're doing the right thing for these. And they're not easy decisions as you all know that you're getting ready

097to wrestle with. I know we need to get the vote, but I I just want to just reiterate, you know, we we we've we've talked a lot about why we're doing the half days right now. Um it's not to discount parents and, you know, especially the two the the two speakers that came here today. You know, it's important to to to take all of that into account and you know, next year, you know, we may find that it changes based on the feedback we get from the teachers and the parents that are part of the calendar committee. Um, so I don't want to uh I don't want to discount, you know, some comments that were made tonight andor, you know, the community as a whole. >> Absolutely. And and you know, we um one of

098the my takeaways tonight is I'm going to um also have our administrators do some stroll polling to make sure that the value of these days collectively. We heard from a segment of our staff for who serve on the calendar committee year after year, but I think it would be wise to go back and and also kind of get a pulse on how valuable is this knowing that that it does create a strain for families. Um because if it's not something we have to have, we you know, we can do away with it. But right now, uh our teams can't find another way to get this work done. you can't require or nor should we ask our teachers to teach all day and then work in the evenings doing this work. Um, one thing I'm not

099sure it would be very productive work uh after you've taught school all day. Um but so there this work has to happen sometime and to Mike's point earlier um we believe we believe strongly in building our curriculum and our pacing guides and our curriculum mapping and our and the work that happens here because it generates great dividends for our students rather than just kind of buying some program out there and and teaching it. Although we do buy resources as you all have invested in over the years to help our teachers with that lift, the the real work of this happens during those collaborative sessions throughout the year and of course in our pre-ervice days and in the budget all summer work that we do in in helping to build this curriculum. >> Any other questions

100or comments? Okay, Miss Carol, can we have the vote, please? >> Dr. Bartlett. >> I, >> Vice Chair Dubose, >> I, >> Miss Jones, >> I, >> Miss Orsbourne, >> I, >> Chair Burbage, >> I, >> Both passes 5-0. >> Okay. Uh, moving to the next item. Item B, is a motion to approve the recommended PCPS holidays for calendar year 2728 school year. Can I have a motion to approve the school? >> So moved. >> Can I have a second? >> Second. >> Any questions or comments? Um I would like to add that this is just to approve the holidays for the 2728 school year. Correct. >> Yes, >> that's correct. >> Okay. Um, so any other questions or comments? >> Just to be clear there, no half days. Just in case anyone doesn't have

101the reading file in front of them, this is, you know, kind of your >> state holidays, federal holidays, if you will. >> That is correct. And this came um just to tee this up a little bit also a request from from the parent calendar committee that often times uh families prepare their holidays travel months in advance, years in advance. And so um there are school divisions that do do that do two calendars at a time. We're um not recommending that for a couple of reasons. one I think Mike mentioned earlier that um you know this things could change the calendar law is is being discussed in the general assembly right now. It may change something that we want to come back and build a next calendar or even amend this calendar. So but parents have

102asked to have some understanding of when these holidays are. This is not a calendar. It's just we're going to have spring break this week and and just to clarify spring break is a kind of an agreement in the region. um always the first full week in April so that we can um partner with our uh regional programs. So one school's not out the following week or the week in advance. It's not connected to a religious holiday in any way. It's just um the first full week in April. And um there's usually two weeks at Christmas and the calendar kind of drives when that is. Um and also those three days at Thanksgiving which seems to happen around the region as well. Um, those are the primary ones and then a general start date and end

103date which right now is married to the calendar law but that could change. >> Any questions? Okay, Miss Carol the vote please. >> Dr. Bartlett >> I. >> Vice Chair Dubose >> I. >> Miss Jones >> I. >> Miss Orsbborne >> I. >> Chair Burbage. >> I. >> Vote passes 5-0. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh item C is consideration of approval of schoolboard resolution 20 hold on or 26-02 to authorize the city council to make an application through the Virginia Public School Authority to issue general obligation school bonds for school purposes. Can I get a motion to approve item C? So moved. >> Can I have a second? >> Second. >> Any questions? Yes, Dr. Bart. >> It's a It's just a clarifying question. So it from the reading file, it seemed that we have

104actually two options for sources for this money. One is private loan and the other is the um uh it's right in front of me, the Virginia public school authority to issue general obligations. All we're approving here is to um authorize the city council to make the application through the uh Virginia public school authority. Do they not need authority for the private or we don't need their authority for the private? >> That's correct. This this is uh attached to public school funding. So, and we have Austin Saxs here with us tonight who's a uh the expert in this and uh he's available for specific questions. This is my first run at this particular funding source. It does require a resolution from the school board uh for the city to go out and and do this bond

105work is my understanding. >> Yeah. But they but both options will still be analyzed and contrasted. Correct. Okay. That was all that was my >> we'll be running these tracks simultaneously. Um this is just a procedural item giving authority to the city to make this application and you know notifying the PSA of the city's intent to potentially participate in the pool. >> And really the goal here more than anything is purchasing power from a bond standpoint. Right. Yes. you know, it's an aggregation of a whole bunch of bonds, you know, across the Commonwealth and such that we can turn around and the city can actually get better rates than if they turn around and went to a single bond issuance. >> Even if somebody would even issue a bond for the size that we're talking

106about. >> Yep. You know, >> well said board member. >> Thank you. Thank [laughter] you. >> He knows this business pretty well. >> Yeah. And I was just curious too if if after this approval and we go this route, does that ultimately get posed to vote? I mean to the electorate if you will or is that not this kind of bond. Does that make sense? No, it's just a schoolboard resolution, a city council >> action of some kind and then that's it. They would the government the city government would pursue the bond >> correct >> funding. However, >> and we've got that scheduled for March 9th. Um just requirements of this type of bond issue will be a public hearing >> um to issue general obligation bonds. Um, and at that point we'll have proposals

107from banks in hand and we'll have a current estimate of the BPSA program and give our recommendation of the most cost effective financing mechanism. >> But no referendum, no public referendum. Okay, got it. >> Any other questions? Okay, thank you. Uh, >> thank you, >> Miss Carol. Can we have the vote, please? >> Dr. Bartlett, >> I. >> Vice Chair Dubose, >> I. >> Miss Jones, >> I. Miss Orsbornne >> I. >> Chair Burbage >> I. >> Vote passes 5-0. >> Okay. Uh, last item is item D is a motion for approval of PPSE and PEES multi-year support plans. Can I have a motion for approval of item D? >> Can I have a second? >> Second. >> Any questions or comments? Okay. Uh, hearing none. Miss Carol, the vote, please. >> Dr. Bartlett. >>

108I, >> Vice Chair Deose, >> I, >> Miss Jones, >> I, >> Miss Orsbborne, >> I, >> Chair Burbage, >> I, >> Bud Passes. 50. Okay, thank you. Uh, moving along to item nine is communication and or other matters by school board andor superintendent. Uh, we'll start with Miss Stud. >> Our youngest learners have been busy this month. EPS celebrated kindness spirit week with themed days and classroom activities designated to promote empathy, inclusivity, and respect. Students engaged in discussions and acts of kindness that reinforced positive behavior expectations and strengthened our overall school climate. The IPOP open house provided families with insight into instructional practices and student learning for our youngest students. Parents and guardians had the opportunity to engage with classroom teachers tour classrooms and learn how our early childhood program supports the learning and

109developmental needs of a diverse population of three and fouryear-old students. First grade students participated in a money market experience that in integrated math and financial literacy skills. Students made a product and were then able to earn money and make purchasing decisions allowing them to apply concepts such as saving, spending, and making responsible choices in an engaging and fun man. Thank you to all the families who joined the fun. Our amazing PTO helped spread kindness and positivity throughout the school by organizing candy grim deliveries and supporting multiple student centered activities. Our first PTO sponsored activity was an immersive sky dome planetarium presentation that supported science standards related to space, the solar system, and astronomy. The interactive program enhanced student understanding through visual and experiential learning, reinforcing classroom instruction in an engaging and memorable way. The second

110PTO sponsored activity was for second grade students who welcomed meteorologist Evan Stewart from 13 News Now. Mr. Stewart shared an extreme weather presentation. This realworld connection enriched the science curriculum and sparked student curiosity through interactive discussion and hands-on learning about a realworld issue that impacts all of us. We are looking forward to a successful and fun second semester. Elementary School is embracing the love for learning this February. We started the month with our teachers and staff attending our spark division professional learning conference. The teachers and staff engaged in learning sessions applicable to reading, math, science, social studies, and supporting students positive behavior. Our students completed the midyear SGA and VS assessments, which help our students or our teachers make adjustments to instruction for the second semester. Our students shared notes of appreciation to our school

111counselor during school counselor appreciation week and we had many students and staff participate in our kindness spirit week days leading up to Valentine's Day. We love that the Posen Education Foundation has supported our teachers and students by funding novel study grants for each classroom along with funding STEM activities for fifth grade STEM club. Our students continue continued the traditional Valentine's exchange within their classrooms and our SCA partnered with our PTO to offer Valentine's candygrams to spread kindness to others throughout the school. Our PTO also hosted a family bingo night where so many of our families came together for an evening of fun and connection. We appreciate the continued support of elementary school. Moving on, February has been an exciting and busy month at Picosen Middle School. Our students proudly celebrated Virginia Kindness Week, February 9th

112through the 13th, embracing daily themes and participating in kindness challenges that reinforced our commitment to a positive and supportive school culture. Kindness truly grows at PMS. Battle of the classes was also in full force. Students showed tremendous school spirit through themed spirit days, minute to win at lunch competitions, coin wars, and the culminating evening competition in the gym. Sportsmanship was outstanding as teams performed before a packed house of families, students, and staff. Four of our talented chorus students opened the event with a beautiful redemption of the national anthem. And Mr. Wson. The Picosen Middle School pep band delivered highquality performances throughout the night. Congratulations to our eighth grade class for earning the coveted trophy. And sincere thanks to the staff and volunteers who made this memorable tradition possible. We are looking forward to welcoming families

113for our rising parent information nights this Thursday. As we begin preparing for next year, [snorts] a huge thank you is extended to the Posen Education Foundation for awarding Picosen Middle School teachers with a total of $1,851 in grant money. Their support makes us makes such a positive difference in our school community. Finally, congratulations to our February Golden Bull students of the month. In sixth grade, we have Aaron Peak. In seventh grade, we have Emilyn Dow. And in eighth grade, we have Bentley Martinez. Cosen High School has been incredibly busy this month, and we appreciate your patience as we share so much exciting news. PHS is preparing for the end of course writing so assessments, and students enrolled in 11th grade English will complete the two-day assessment on March 4th. These will be asynchronous days for

114students not testing to ensure a quiet and appropriate testing environment. Thank you to our students for their cooperation as we implemented the open gate weapons detection system. Students adapted quickly and we appreciate everyone's support as they refine this new process. Congratulations to the 17 students who represented PHS at all district band and delivered a wonderful performance on February 7th. Best of luck as the entire band prepares for the spring state assessment. We invite you to attend the preview concert on February 25th at the Picosen Middle School auditor. Congratulations to Evolution Show Choir on an outstanding start to their season at Clover Hill, earning first place in their division, best show design overall, and fifth place overall. We look forward to an exciting season ahead. Don't miss out watching our 17 students perform at District Chorus

115this Saturday at 2 p.m. Our winter athletes continue to excel. Scholastic Bowl dominated the region and advanced to states on February 28th. For the first time in Pagosen High School history, every wrestling weight class qualified for the state tournament this weekend with 11 individual region champions and a team region 2A championship as well. Track competes in regionals at Bu Williams on Wednesday. Boys swimming second at regionals and both boys and girls swimming will compete at the state tournament at swim RVA in Richmond on Wednesday. We also look forward to more news about boys basketball as their season concludes. We are incredibly proud of all of our student athletes. As we move out of winter sports, it's already time to talk about spring. Spring triyouts begin February 23rd. Best wishes to our Odyssey of the Mind

116team as they compete in the regional ch competition on February 21st while aiming to defend their world championship title. Join our seniors for the first annual seniors talent competition on February 26th at the Picosen Middle School auditorium. An evening sure to be filled with talent and fun with proceeds supporting the class of 2026. Although our snowball was postponed due to weather, we look forward to celebrating at the winter formal on March 7th at the Picosen High School. As always, please check the island Times on Parent Square for important updates and information from the Picosen High School. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Horses. >> Got used to being first. >> Yeah. [laughter] Um, I do want to say congratulations to our senior of the month and to EVO. Um, if you haven't seen their performance

117yet, you can watch them sometimes on YouTube, too, when they're at competitions if you don't want to go in person. They're really awesome to watch. So, they do they are camp Evo this year, which is been I think it's my favorite in the past couple years. Um, and then I also wanted to make sure to say good luck to it since like our DECA team's going to a competition this weekend, so good luck to them. and then also our honors course kiddos from middle and high school who are going to perform. And a big thank you to PEF for all the recent grants. I love seeing all the pictures and see what everybody's working towards right now. >> Thank you, uh, Dr. Bartlett. >> Thank you. Um, well, I can't say ditto, you know, being

118the first to, but um, I do want to, um, congratulate our senior of the month, Alexi Titco. Um, I'm sorry that she couldn't be here because I would love and I hope she can hear this eventually. I want to applaud her for not only taking dual enrollment, but taking all the extra dual enrollment that she could possibly that's that's really a good role model for um the high school students as we continue to roll out college now. They say dual enrollment in all of our reports that is college now. So, just to get it branded, [snorts] and um since this is school board uh clerk week, I do want to um throw out kudos and praises for uh Carol, Carol, and Flei. Y'all do [snorts] a a heck of a lot of work for just

119two souls. So, I um really appreciate that. I had the um opportunity to attend the board trustees meeting for New Horizons which I represent um and interest on that board. We had a snow makeup or bad weather makeup day on February 12th our meeting and [snorts] fortunately it was at the same time as their open house. And so it was it was very well attended. And if you have if you have students in the school here in high school that are interested in this, I highly recommend you go out. They'll they'll show you all around. They also um they've highlighted a report on youth workforce development which I don't know how much I never hear a lot of talk about it. It's for students who are not students now. They're and they use the UN

120definition of youth. So it's from 18 years to older like up to I know UN but there it's a program that's being run out of New Horizons and it's it's an offsite. It's not a classroom program and um at this point there have been programs in the building before but the funding the federal funding but I just wanted to throw it out there so that if any of you have students who are are children who are no longer in school but could use some some career and employment development, New Horizons has a program for you. So it's it's kind of new for me and so I thought I'd share that. And the only last thing I'll say is this period of time in school, particularly March, there are no holidays. This is crunch time when

121I mean all students are just working like crazy. So my heart goes out and all the best wishes to you in this the last short rows as we call them. >> M Jones. >> All right. Um, I will echo a big congratulations to Miss Titco, um, as well as a tremendous thank you both to Miss Carol and Miss IDE. Uh, your services to the board are invaluable and you are appreciated this week and every week. So, thank you for that. Um, to Miss Gross and Miss Owens, thank you for being here. Miss Chapman as well. Um, really neat to hear about DECA and FCCLA. And to me, um, 18 DECA members competing seems like a very large number, which is incredible. So, um, I love DECA. I think it just provides extraordinary life skills. So,

122I think that large representation from Pakosen High School is fabulous. So, best of luck to that crowd and thank you for being here to share that with us in person. Um, to Miss Spence and team, thank you for the comprehensive budget and all that goes into it. Um we really appreciate all of your time and energy. I can't imagine the challenge that that is. And to our speakers, thank you for being here. Um the calendar is an ongoing balance to provide for both the needs and time considerations for our faculty and families. So we appreciate um the time and you being here. And my last thank you to the Picosen Education Foundation uh for the grants as well as the Picosen Lions Club. I saw come up quite a bit in our donations for this

123month and a variety of donations to various clubs. So, thank you for that. And my I was not right. My last thank you actually is Battle of the Classes at Pakosa Middle School. Um that's my personal connection with my own children and the event was fabulous. The spirit week was fabulous. Um so to the gym teachers, the faculty, the staff, thank you for the time in making that such a special and memorable week for the students. >> Thank you. Uh Mr. Deose. Okay. Um last week uh we had a uh student health advisory board meeting. Um a lot of good stuff going on uh from that aspect uh with uh the school system. Um, you know, they're they're getting themselves prepared for um having a table at Learning Under the Lights, which I think is

124really cool. Um, they're talking about um involving a um new hydration uh I guess program uh for the schools to provide uh something I guess a little bit more than just water, maybe flavored water uh for the students, which I think is really cool. um you know and and also you know they gave kudos to the PTO uh for having a wellness bar at the PES um you know earlier in the month. So um you know a lot of good stuff happening there from um the uh advisory the health advisory board standpoint. Um, thanks and kudos. Um, you know, obviously echoing at what everybody says. Uh, Miss Carol, um, great things to you, uh, and Mside. Um, thank you, uh, for everything that you all do. um from a budget side of things. Um and

125of course we've thanked everybody here um and we uh but we also need to thank our counterparts um at the city uh multiple times for everything that they do uh cuz they uh do help us tremendously making sure that our budget um comes together like it needs to. Uh we talked about PEF uh that is an absolutely uh phenomenal um organization and has done um you know well into the six figures uh support system um over the last probably uh you know 12 to 15 years. So it's uh it's pretty amazing what uh what Judy and that group have uh have been able to do. And then finally uh this is a little bit from a personal note. Um I don't know if I'm happy or dreading this Thursday um and going to uh the

126middle school uh of my son. Um and I guess I will u probably apologize on behalf of all the fifth grade uh parents uh for the group coming up especially my son. So uh but um no in all seriousness um you know we uh should be a good event and I think it's going to be uh u going to be going to be a good time. So, >> thanks. >> Um, I think most things have been mentioned, but I do want to call out uh Miss Titco and this is the senior of the month. Uh, especially, uh, it wasn't mentioned, but she's also and I think well actually was mentioned that she is an Eagle Scout recipient. Um, I was one of those 30 plus years ago. So, um, congratulations on that and all the

127other amazing things that she's done. Uh, Miss Carol, um, thank you for everything that you've done on the board. Um, I know that you're how many days now? >> Eight working days. >> Eight more days until you retire. Um, >> Oh, really? >> Miss Carol, you will be missed. Um, I appreciate you for keeping the board in check and making sure we get everything that we need. So, thank you. >> Thank you. It's been my pleasure, >> Miss I. Thank you for all the work that you do. uh the budget, Miss Spence and your staff. Uh that's a big hall that you guys have done. Um your work is very much appreciated. And lastly, for the two folks that showed up tonight to speak, thank you for coming and uh talk about the school calendar.

128Um we appreciate when the community does come and speak to the board. Um here or you know, emails, our emails are out there. So, um, that's all I have. Thank you. >> And, um, I would, as always, like to echo the sentiments that have already been expressed, a lot of thank yous and congratulations, um, that that I concur with. Um, but I do want to take just a moment to thank you all personally. Um, I've worked for a lot of school boards uh, in my many years. Um uh and I have never worked for a board as committed and focused on what's in the best interest of children as this this you all to a to a person um about this community and these kids and these families and um I appreciate it personally and

129I know this community appreciates it. Often it's a thankless job to serve on a board, especially one when you're representing the best interest of everybody's most important person, their children. And um you all do it professionally and um uh passionately and and um uh we all appreciate you very much. So it's just a small token. Enjoy that. They really are good bunt cakes. Um but uh [laughter] plug there. I don't know if out there will send me a maybe they'll send me a free bunt cake. But um but thank you all for all you do. We very much appreciate you. >> Okay. Um Miss Carol, are there any additional materials for board review tonight? >> There are no additional materials tonight. >> Okay. With that, I will close the meeting. >> I just want to

130let you guys know that we have to restart our system. So the mics will stay live until that is complete. Good to know. >> Really nice. I know. I love these. >> Oh, I know. I can definitely eat it all in one. Is he [laughter] kind of want this? Do you want one of these? prefer that still be all that. I know I'm not really gambler, but it's just so much to see. Really exciting place. Good luck. I mean I think second to last [clears throat] >> Yeah. like you have five minutes you're talking to the open. >> Yeah. So next time.