001Good evening everybody. I'd like to call to order the Tuesday, September 16th, 2025 Picosen City Public Schools School Board meeting. Um, we'd like to start off with a pledge to the flag. I'm Miss Stud. I pledge allegiance 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 Albert Kimu. Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. Thank you. Miss Carol, do we have any additions and or modifications to the agenda? >> So Barbbridge, we have no additions or modifications tonight. >> Thank you. Uh Miss Perie, do we have uh recognitions for this evening? I guess we do. Good
002evening, Chair Burbage, members of the board, colleagues, and community members. We actually don't have any recognitions this evening, but we did want to take the opportunity to introduce our new division um our division newsletter, Picosen Spotlight. As you can see, it has a new format, but furthermore, it has a new purpose. Instead of sharing repetitive information that could be found in school newsletters through parent square, we thought it might be a little bit more purposeful to share information about our various departments and programs. We will also highlight students and staff while doing this to share all the wonderful things going on in our division. This first edition focused on student services. Not only does it showcase the many facets of the department, but it also shares the familiar faces and includes upcoming pertinent events. Lastly,
003to ensure everyone is updated with specifics to each building. Each school's latest newsletter is hyperl at the bottom. Especially for new families, our hope is to provide deeper insight into all the Picosen schools offers while ensuring everyone is connected. We hope that you enjoy reading it and as always we welcome any feedback along the way. >> That seems really nice. Thank you. >> Um I guess now we'll move into presentations and reports for the instruction update. Misside. All right. Good evening, Chair Burbage, school board members, Superintendent Tilllet, staff, and community members. Tonight, I will present the recently released assessment data from the spring administration of the SOS and information about the developing accountability and accreditation system. So this slide would be familiar if you were here last year, but as you can see, Picosen continues
004to perform higher than the Virginia state average in all categories with most categories performing outperforming the state by 12% or more. This chart highlights our performance in the core subjects over the past 3 years. Notably, we achieved a 10% increase in writing scores from 2022 to 2024 with a spring 2025 assessment. With the exception of history, performance in all other core subjects has remained steady even as state directed changes in standards, assessment, and instructional materials were implemented. Keep in mind that this school year we implemented new math and reading standards, a K5 mandated curriculum, and new assessment type questions. Building on the study performance shown in the previous chart, this comparison highlights our achievement data and how it aligns with neighboring divisions. The results show that PCPS consistently ranks among the top in all subject
005areas. While the state does not formally rank division, composite scores allow for that comparison. Based on these scores, PCPS ranks eighth out of 133 school divisions statewide. This score reflects the combined assessment data presented in the previous slides. We wanted to highlight for the 2526 school year, we have implemented several key initiatives in response to our student data and our identified needs. Ongoing professional development continues to strengthen teacher practices across all grade level. At Picosen Middle School, we now have a full-time math interventionist to provide targeted support to our students in most need. We are continuing all-in tutoring, ensuring academic uh support individualized. At Pakosen High School, we have increased reading support to better meet the literacy needs of our students. We have a new full-time behavior support specialist serving grades kindergarten through 12th grade.
006At the primary school, we shifted our schedule to include a steam teacher, giving students early exposure to science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. Of course, we're expanding the use of the vowels assessment and the individualized reading plans in grades four through eight per the Virginia Literacy Act to more closely monitor and respond to student progress. Our special education teachers are receiving specialized training and co-eing, specially designed instruction and reading instruction to strengthen services for students with disabilities. At both the primary and the elementary schools, we now have full-time encore teachers. This past summer, we provided professional development in history and social sciences to prepare our staff for the new standards and in response to our academic data. And this professional development will be ongoing. We are continuing assessment creation, professional development. That professional development helping
007teachers on how to create valid and reliable assessments and also continuing to build our own common assessments across all content areas. We are also continuing the use of learning platforms for reading and math. Specifically, we're continuing with Lexia um across multiple grade levels, mathl uh to name a couple. And of course, we would be remiss if we didn't speak of our College Now program expanding our dual enrollment opportunities for our students. Together, these initiatives reflect our commitment to strong instruction, targeted intervention, and meaningful enrichment opportunities for every student. While we have implemented several local initiatives to directly support student learning, it is equally important to recognize the impact of statewide changes in standards and assessments that both shape instruction and accountability. Last year, we shared that Virginia had adopted new standards for reading and mathematics.
008These standards were implemented and first assessed in our spring of the 2425 school year. Looking at where we are now, the Virginia Department of Education reviewed the assessments and the results from the spring and we expect the VDOE to adopt finalized assessment cut scores for the 2526 school year. This school year, the new history standards will be fully implemented and tested in the spring of 2026. Having shared this, I would now like to share how the assessments changed for this administration. So to start, the source of these next few slides actually comes from an August 27th uh press conference held by the governor um the secretary Amy Gada and state superintendent Emily Glicken. So these slides show the difference in the more rigorous standards and how the test questions or at least the expectations have
009changed from previous assessments to now. The revised math and English and language arts standards are more rigorous and designed to ensure students achieve course and grade level proficiency. Under the new standards, students must demonstrate mastery of 30 to 40% more content than last year to pass the updated reading and math SOS. That was administered this spring of 2025. These changes have already happened. Assessments now include more complex items requiring higher order thinking skills. Students are expected to apply knowledge across multiple standards. These changes reflect a significant increase in expectations and emphasize critical thinking and problem solving skills. Here's another example of the performance expectation changes reflecting that previously students were asked to memorize and recall and now expected to summarize and analyze reflecting higher order thinking skills. It's a little bit hard to see up
010there, but this is another example question from the grade five math so previously students would have only had to answer question one. Now we're looking at question one and two. So demonstrating some knowledge across multiple skills in order to meet proficiency. Just as expectations for students have increased through more rigorous standards and assessments, expectations for schools are evolving as well. This brings us to the Virginia Department of Education's new school performance and support framework, which represents a significant shift in how schools are measured and supported. Unlike the previous system which combined accreditation and accountability into a single designation, the new model separates compliant with state requirements from student performance outcomes. Each school will now receive two distinct labels. A performance category label reflecting student outcomes and an accreditation label reflecting compliance with state requirements. The
011school performance framework will assign labels such as distinguished, ontrack, offtrack, or needs intensive support. While the accreditation system will provide the labels we're familiar with of fully accredited, conditionally accredited, or accreditation denied. At this time, the state has not yet analyzed and released all of the data needed to assign these summitive labels. We anticipate sharing the finalized performance and accreditation labels in the October or November board meeting once a state has provided that to us. We wanted to share that because this is everchanging and I can tell you that as um Kim Montal and I sit in meetings, we learn something new every time because the state is sharing something new every time. We shared this last year, but it's worth coming back to because it is so vastly different than the previous accreditation system.
012Here are the categories in which schools will be scored and how they will be weighted using the new school performance and support framework. Elementary and middle schools will be scored on mastery, growth, and readiness, while high schools will be scored on mastery, readiness, and graduation. Mastery includes performance on the reading, including the integrated reading and writing component, and math SOS, science, VAP test, and progress in English language proficiency. Growth for elementary and middle schools reflects expected progress in reading and math. Readiness in elementary and middle schools includes chronic absenteeism, performance tasks for the five C's, and advanced coursework in middle school. Readiness in high school includes chronic absenteeism, the six-year extended year graduation rate, including applied studies, the ready for life 3E framework. Additionally, high schools will be scored on graduation rates using the federal
013graduation indicator. The state is continuing to develop the system and provide school divisions with detailed information for each category. For example, we just learned that they are pausing the 5C's performance tasks per the VDOE. So, more information on that would be forthcoming. Again, we did share this last year, but it's worthwhile revisiting. What are the three E? The Ready for Life 3E readiness framework focuses on students graduating from high school for enrollment, employment, and/or enlistment. Schools will attain points for students that meet defined expectations in cross enrollment, classes that are dual enrollment, credit bearing classes, employment, high demand, industry recognized credentials, and enlistment earning a qualifying score on the ASVAB. This will take the place of the college career and civic readiness, the CCCRI indicator in the previous accreditation framework. The new framework will score
014school divisions on mastery, growth, readiness, and graduation depending on the grade level. And again, here are the categories that we could earn. The points will come each student earning points in these categories giving us the sumitative label. And these labels will then qualify us for any support. Should a school division receive an offtrack or needs school div uh needs intensive support then the state would provide support based on that but again the state has not released all of the data to assign Picosen one of these labels as of yet so more information would be forthcoming feel I keep repeating that but then finally here's the same calendar that we shared last time of what you can expect for our updates we are very hopeful that in October and November the state has finalized the data
015and we can share share that with you because I know we're eager as well with this being the first year to have the new support framework. Are there any questions at this time? I just have a quick question. Thank you for all of that information first of all that was very informative. Um, just going back to the history scoring that did you can you just speak a little bit more just professional development or any reason for you know the the change there or any thoughts on that? >> There are a couple of thoughts there as we focus very heavily on the new reading and math standards. Sometimes some balls go up and some balls go down but um we're still unpacking that because that was something that we want to improve on and it didn't
016meet our expectations. So, we're certainly working with teachers. Now, we have new standards in a new assessment. So, it's going to be a different playing field um when they take the spring assessment because a spring 26 assessment will reflect the new standards. Um so, what we have been focusing on is alignment with those new standards, creating pacing guides to ensure that all of those new standards are taught and even working with teachers to develop common assessments that reflect those new standards. These new standards again history a lot more critical thinking than you're used to. Um the state is focusing more on the use of primary sources. So the ability to read and interpret primary source sources versus recalling information, facts, dates, people. So that's going to be where our professional development is targeted um to
017ensure that our students have those high quality opportunities which I've already seen a lot of photos coming out of the high school of the activities that our students are doing in order to achieve that. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you so much. >> Thank you uh Mr. Roberts for the operations update. Well, good evening members of the board, Superintendent Mr. Tlet, staff and community members. Starting off with transportation. Um, huge positive here. Our three new buses have arrived. So, we will get those assigned very shortly after the uh maintenance garage gets what they have to do finished. Um, and those will hit the road soon. And that means we get to kind of uh replace the three oldest buses. Um and uh which would mean fleet our whole fleet will almost have um
018AC. I think there'll be one bus that we still have remaining that does not which will be used sparingly. So uh the parent app uh we were hopeful by now we'd be about 2 weeks into having this fully implemented. Um it's kind of a bummer but we ran into a Wi-Fi issue. the tablets that uh run the actual app uh per bus used to run on cellular data. Uh we found those to be kind of weak. The summer school only had a limited amount because, you know, we don't run all buses. Uh so that kind of hit us first thing. Um you know, our IT team did a great job checking the hardware. Uh getting the switch over happening and we're starting to release those bus um apps now. uh route 37. The parents should
019have received the invites over the weekend and we will continue to uh release more buses as we um kind of certify that they're ready. Hopefully in the next couple weeks we'll be fully there. Um bus patrol. So we're still in uh the back and forth negotiations just to make sure the contracts uh with our support of our attorneys meets our needs and we're able to sustain what that contract was contract will state. So, um, hoping to near the end soon, uh, but definitely still listing the attorney's suggestions and making sure that we meet, um, you know, the recommendations to bus patrol. All right, so the challenge right now, um, I can I think I spoke too soon at the last board meeting. We were fully staffed then, so I didn't lie. Um, but we are
020one driver down. Uh, we had one driver that did not return, unfortunately, uh, which kind of put us in a in a bond. So, um the good news is the the driver that was in training is still in training. You can see on the slide. Um they're halfway through their training. Uh they've completed all the kind of the book work part and the observation. Now they're actually headed into the portion of the behind the wheel um section where they're learning to drive. Uh this bus driver actually has previous experience, so this should be a breeze for them. Um I'm hoping to get this done quickly um and get them in the route that we need uh coverage. And uh once that happens, we will have a driver for each route. We will have that one
021uh subbus driver and we're making every recruitment effort that we can. Right now, we're getting ready to relaunch another ad that comes up on the TVs. I I frequent a restaurant in York County. Um and every time I'm in there, I see our ad. And uh I don't want to make anybody uncomfortable. I always have the habit of trying to take a picture of it, but you know, people are sitting around and it's kind of awkward, but anyways. Um but it's nice to know and see that that there. So, it's working. So, um, anyway, so if you want to apply, go to our website. All right. Food services. Um, starting out, we did have a little bit of, uh, uh, bad luck at the high school. Um, at one point, we were down all freezers.
022We had zero functioning freezers and our refrigerator went down the next week. Uh, luckily the refrigerator was kind of related to the freezer issue because that's kind of a twoin-one unit. Um, so we were getting some moisture in there and it kind of just froze up. We unfold it and it's still functioning now. The actual freezer um in the interior on the walk-in, not so much. Uh, it's very um old and unfortunately the refrigerant is outdated. Can't find replacement parts uh for the repair. So, we have to fully replace not the actual um you know bones of it, but the actual guts, the the compressors and everything that's associated with the refrigerant. So, um, lead time when we we had this happen about 2 weeks ago was about 3 weeks. So, hopefully within a week,
023I'll get an estimate of the time frame for the install on that. Uh, we did, however, replace the outdoor freezer that broke last year. Uh, it was kind of timely. It came in um this month or actually two weeks ago, but this Monday finalized uh getting that up and running and the uh uh emergency freezer truck out of our hair. Um, thank goodness cuz that was an expense. And also, I want to apologize to anyone on Odd Road. It was a diesel generator uh run emergency trucks. I'm sure through the night you would hear that uh thing crank up. So, it's gone. Uh I apologize for the noise. Um we are under a procurement review from the state. This happens every 3 years. CNR is an external audit auditing agency that works for VOE. Um
024we will have everything submitted on time of the 1st of October. we've already submitted the bulk of it and kind of been in the back and forth with the fine-tuned questions. So, um, looking to be very successful on that, but I'll definitely give you a report next month u once we finalize and hear back from them. Um, and of course the primary school serving line, we have that PO sent. Hopefully by the turn of the new year, we'll see that new serving line being installed. Very excited to see that. All right, very important stuff. Uh, the safety update. So the safety committee uh we look to go full boore again with it each year uh month this year and uh we will have a September meeting that will discuss the roll out of our open
025gate uh weapon detection system. We used it other day um at the primary school with very uh great success. Very easy to set up. It only takes about 2 to 5 minutes. Runs through an app and it works flawlessly. Um I even had the SRO's kind of go through with their different items just to make sure we're on uh tap and it it worked like a charm. Um, but the safety committee really is going to be used for that sounding board like we did uh last year for anything new that's coming up, anything that we hear or something that we're experiencing. Just a good team to take it to. Um, has all our principles, our SSOs, SRO's, um, school board members, and uh, we may be looking to add some um, different members that this
026year just to make it a little bit more diverse. But, uh, we're going to start adding some vendors, um, into these meetings. uh has kind of the cutting edge stuff and the proven stuff that's working from other neighboring divisions just to make sure that we're staying on that cutting edge. So I look forward to you know including those vendors each presentation each month uh moving forward. Um every building is doing a great job kudos to the principles here in attendance uh with the drills that we are annually required to do. Some of those include the the fire drills, lockdown drills and bus evacuation drills. Uh the um lockdown drills have been a huge success. the police have been with us um each drill for each building. We're entering each classroom, making sure positions and everything
027are correct. So, um a huge thank you to the Picosen Police Department. They're really dedicating their time and training um even nights in our buildings to make sure that we're safe. So, I really do want to thank uh Officer or I'm sorry, Chief Kates um and his team for doing that. They're really going the extra mile and we appreciate that. All right, the fun stuff, the project updates. So, of course, the HVAC finally is complete. Um, you know, we've all been trained. Uh, I know Dr. Winchester is liking that. Hopefully, the the season changing. Uh, we'll find the heat just as well as the cool we've been finding so far. Uh, the tennis courts, I did speak to that um group that's doing that study. The lab work is completed. We're just awaiting that report
028that will kind of give us the details on our next steps or help guide us for our next steps uh for that project. Um, at the middle school, there is some interior painting that was kind of left undone from the renovation that we're kind of catching up on. Um, including the baseboards and saw fit and some of those maroon accent walls. It's kind of got scuffed up. Um, the gym floor unfortunately needed some repair again uh during the roofing project during the summer. It was damaged. Um, it's going to be no cost to us, but we are in the middle of um trying to finalize the timeline for that. Um, and the roof is completed finally. So, um, and the the parts of the roof that were coated and, uh, replaced are holding tight. Uh,
029we just have to focus in on some other areas from today. Um, PES exterior painting. I don't know how well you can see this picture, but the horizontal gray paneling was really splotchy and faded. Um, it was the original paint from the 2008 build. Um, we're repainting that. We repainted the uh, parking lot, the um, bus loop lines, and the crosswalks just to brighten everything up. And I think it's looking very nice now. uh especially if you go to the back side of the building and see the new mirror tent and the the gray together. It's looking really nice back there. So, I'm really really happy and pleased with that. And then the huge note on the bottom there is the trailers are now moving. So, we've got two gone and one position to move
030out. I'm hoping uh you know by October that is a clean lot other than the trailers that we're going to to keep. So, that is definite progress. And that's all I have unless you have questions. I just have one question. How many of the trailers are we planning on keeping? >> Yeah, so we have the restroom trailer that we're going to keep. Technology has a workstation trailer that we're going to keep. There's two. Two for storage. There's four. And then the fifth one is the uh transportation trailer that we run everything transportation out of there. So, five total. >> Thank you. >> Yep. >> All right. Thank you very much. >> Thanks. Um, moving on for the finance and budget update. Uh, Miss Spence. Okay. Good evening, Chair Burbage, members of the school board, Mr.
031Tillet, and the school community. For the finance report this evening, I want to review impact aid with you since October is when we collect the financial data. Impact aid is one of the federal funding sources included in our budget. In addition, I will review the key updates for the upcoming fiscal year 27 budget. Impact aid is a US Department of Education program that provides financial assistance to local school divisions. The schools receive basic support payments for federally connected children which are those students whose parents or legal guardians are number one active duty military or two work on federal property. Impact aid is distributed based on the percentage of a school division's federally connected population. Based on last year's survey, Bossen City Public Schools had 557 federally connected students, which was about 25% of the total
032enrollment. Active duty military accounts for about 58% of the federally connected students. We are required to compile information and report annually by January to support funding for the following fiscal year. So that will affect our fiscal year 27 budget. Therefore, in order to determine eligibility for students enrolled in our schools, an annual impact aid survey form must be completed. This will be completed as it was last year you utilizing parent square. The survey will be based on employment as of October 15, 2025. Families will receive notification when the survey opens for them via email, text, or phone depending on their notification preference. Impact a does require that a separate form be completed for each student. If you have three three children, then it has to have a form for each student, which is easy to
033click between the students in parent square. This form should be completed as soon as possible um and once they receive their notate notification but no later than October 31st. As you can see from this slide, the schools receive significant funding through impact aid which supports our budget. The total for the last five years is $1,165,984. We really appreciate everyone taking the time to complete these forms to assist in our efforts to secure federal funding for our schools. The next time I do want to just stop here for a second before we go to this as as you saw it was a US Department of Education grant. So hopefully you know we don't know right now um what's going to happen with the US Department of Education grant. So I just want to preface that. that
034may be a consideration for the next year's budget. So, okay. Process for fiscal year 2027 budget. By September 30th, the ma what we call the master planning tool be submitted to all our department heads to um give what their needs are for the next fiscal year 27 um budget. They will be due back by November 7th. By December 20th, we anticipate the release of the governor's proposed budget. January 14th, the general assembly will uh convene and it'll be a 60-day session compared to the short session we had last year. On January 20th, uh Mr. Tilllet will present a budget update at the school board work session. February 17th, the superintendent will present the proposed budget. um the proposed budget, what we we think we're going to um run in, how we're going to land in
035fiscal year 27. And March 17th will be the public hearing for input. We welcome you have three four different sources. Superintendent, you know, we we seek the input from the faculty and staff via the master planning tool. We'll have the public hearing. We can uh sta uh staff and community uh community can do via let's talk or of course call or email the superintendent or any staff directly. And that concludes my uh presentation for this evening. Any questions? >> Thank you. Uh, Miss Carol, do we have any public comment? >> Uh, Chair Burbage, we have no comments tonight from the public. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. Uh, moving on to section seven, the consent agenda. Uh, we have approval of financial reports. We have authorization to change appropriation and to accept and expend funds in
036accordance with attached request. We have approval of personnel action. And then we have approval of minutes for August regular meeting and work session. Uh can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So moved. >> Can I get a second? >> Second. Any questions or discussion about the consent agenda? Okay. Uh, Miss Carol, can we have the vote, please? >> Dr. Bartlett, >> I. >> Mr. Dow, >> I. >> Miss Jones, >> I. >> Mr. Maxwell, >> I. >> Miss Orsbborne, >> I. >> Barbage, >> I. >> Vote passes 6. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, moving on for to section eight, other matters for consideration. Uh the first item is consideration of approval item disposal lists. Uh these are it's a whole list in the back. Um can I get a motion to
037consider approval cons to consider item A consideration of approval item disposal lists? >> So move. >> I have a second. >> Second. >> Any questions or discussion? Guess my main question. It wasn't really clear why we were dis of all the Chromebooks. I guess they're they've reached their lifespan. >> That's the correct answer. Yeah, they have a lifespan and when they're done, they really don't have a value. Uh but we when we list them for disposal, um we we tried every avenue to uh to get rid of them. Yeah. >> Okay. Uh, Miss Carol, any other questions before we have the vote? Hey, Miss Carol, the vote, please. >> Dr. Bartlett, >> I. >> Mr. Dow, >> I. >> Miss Jones, >> I. >> Mr. Maxwell, >> I. >> Miss Orsbborne, >> I. >> Terbage.
038>> I. >> Vote passes 6. >> Thank you. Uh, moving on to item 8B is consideration to approve the adoption of AP statistics textbooks for Picosen High School. Uh, can I have a motion to approve item 8B, please? >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Any questions or discussion? Okay. Uh, Miss Carroll, the vote, please. >> Dr. Bartlett, >> I. >> Mr. Dow, >> I. >> Miss Jones, >> I. >> Mr. Maxwell, >> I. >> Miss Orsbborne, >> I. >> Chair Burbage, >> I. >> That passes 6. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh moving on to item 8 C. Uh this is an important one. Uh consideration of approval of proclamation bullying prevention month. Um I think we'll go ahead and get the motion in a second and then we'll read it out loud. Okay. Can I
039have a motion to consider approval of this proclamation? >> So move. >> Second. >> Okay. Uh any questions and discussion before we read it out loud? >> Okay. Uh Miss Jones, >> this is the bullying prevention month proclamation. Whereas school bullying has become an increasingly significant problem in the United States and Virginia. And whereas over 20% of the youth in the United States are estimated to be involved in bullying each year, either as a bully or as a victim. And whereas bullying can take many forms, including verbal, physical, and most recently in cyberspace, and can happen in many places on and off school grounds. And whereas an estimated 160,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade miss school due to a fear of being bullied. And whereas it is important for Picosen parents, students, teachers, and
040school administrators to be aware of bullying and to encourage discussion of the problem as a school community. And now therefore be it proclaimed on this 16th day of September in the year 2025 by the school board of the city of Picosen that the month of October 2025 as bullying prevention month with the intention that the issue of bullying and its prevention be discussed in Pakosen schools and classrooms during that time. >> Thank you. Any questions or discussion about that? Okay, Miss Carol the vote please. >> Dr. Bartlett >> I. Mr. Dow >> I >> Miss Jones >> I >> Mr. Maxwell >> I >> Miss Orsbborne >> I >> chair Burbage >> I >> vote passes 6. >> Okay had to print it out after last month. Uh moving on to item 8 D is
041consideration of approval of proclamation for National School Lunch Week. Um, can I have a motion to consider approval of this proclamation? >> So moved. >> A second. >> Second. >> Um, Miss Jones, could you read the proclamation, please? >> National School Lunch Week, October 13th through 17th, 2025. Whereas over 123 million student lunches were served in Virginia's public schools. And whereas studies have shown that access to nutritious programs such as the National School Lunch Program and National School Breakfast Program helps to create a strong learning environment for children and helps to improve children's concentration in the classroom. And whereas school lunches are healthier than ever, meet nutritional guidelines, are served in age appropriate portion sizes, and provide the right balance of protein, dairy, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. And whereas research has shown that students
042who eat school meals perform their best academically. And whereas the National School Lunch Program is dedicated to the health and well-being of our nation's children and has served our nation for over 60 years through advanced practices and nutrition education. Now therefore, be it proclaimed on this 16th day of September in the year 2025 by the school board of the city of Picosen, Virginia, that the week of October 13 to 17, 2025 be hereby celebrated as National School Lunch Week in all Pakosen City Public Schools. >> Thank you, Miss Carol. Can we have the vote, please? >> Dr. Bartlett, >> I. >> Mr. Dow, >> I. >> Miss Jones, >> I. >> Mr. Maxwell, >> I. >> Miss Orsbborne, >> I. Chair Burbage. >> I >> vote passes 6. >> Okay. Moving on to the last
043item. Item 8E is consideration of approval of a motion to appoint the 2025 2026 Vossen City Public Schools Special Education Advisory Committee membership. And I have a motion to consider approval of this. >> So moved. >> I have a second. >> Second. Any questions or discussion? Okay. Miss Carol, the vote, please. >> Dr. Bartlett, >> I. >> Mr. Dow, >> I. >> Miss Jones, >> I. >> Mr. Maxwell, >> I. >> Miss Orsbborne, >> I. >> Chair Burvage, >> I. >> Vote passes 6. >> Okay. Moving along to item nine, communication and/or other matters by school board andor superintendent. Uh, Miss Stud. Hello. Um, the Picosen Primary School is working hard to learn routines and expectations, and we're proud to share that our youngest Bulls have not only met those expectations, but gone above and
044beyond. So far, we've had the PHS varsity field hockey and volleyball teams join us for Fun Friday, a highlight our students absolutely loved. We are excited to kick off our birthday book vending machine in the library. Each month, students will get to choose a brand new book to take home and add to their personal library. A special way to celebrate their big day and keep the love of reading growing. We are off to to a strong start, working hard and excited for a full year of learning and growing together. Picosen Elementary School has spent the first few weeks of school working hard on our routines and procedures. At PEES, we expect our school community to be respectful, responsible, and resourceful in all school locations and on the bus. Each of our grade levels met with
045Miss Grisco and Miss Lamb for behavior expectation assemblies. Individual students who go above and beyond demonstrating our three Rs highlighted with positive office referrals with pictures in our weekly family newsletter. Our classes are also working on earning bullbucks for positive whole class behavior throughout the building. And we will have our first quarter bullbuck celebration for all classes on o on Friday, October 31st. Our teachers have been meeting weekly to discuss pacing guides, lesson plans, and assessments in collaborative planning meetings and will be sharing first quarter student interim reports via powers school parent portal on September 26th. Our teachers are also preparing presentations for parents to share in our parents back to school night on Wednesday, September 24th at 6:00 p.m. Parents are invited to hear from teachers about classroom routines, homework, grades, and other helpful
046information. This parent information night is a great way for parents to become more familiar with PES and build relationships with their child's teacher. We do not have any student activities planned during this event. PES is off to a great start and we look forward to a wonderful school year with the support of our families and community. Picosa Middle School is also off to a strong start. We started the year with new student orientation and open houses which allowed us to welcome new families, reconnect with returning ones, and ensure students felt ready to begin the year with confidence. Safety remains a top priority at PMS. Already this year, students and staff have successfully comi completed three fire drills, one intruder drill, and a bus evacuation drill. In addition, we obser observed a moment of silence on
047September 11th at 8:46 a.m. in recognition of Patriot Day and to honor the significant event in our nation's history. Students are actively earning golden bold tickets for demonstrating our schoolwide expectations of being respect respectful, acting responsibly, and building resilience. They are looking forward to the first All-In BI, which will take place during lunches on Thursday, September 25th. The Bullik serves as our school store where students can redeem their Golden Bull tickets for prizes. After school clubs are underway and student council officer elections are currently in progress, providing students with opportunities for leadership and involvement. Finally, families are reminded and encouraged to view the back to school videos available on each teacher's Canvas page to learn more about classroom expectations and plans for the school year. Finally, we have the report from the Mosen High School.
048The school year is off to a strong start with students enjoying our one lunch initiative supported by smart pl smart pass flex which also keeps parents in the loop. Athletics are thriving with success in football, field hockey, golf, sailing, volleyball, and cross country. Preparations for homecoming are underway with spirit week, a pep rally, parade, and the big game on October 3rd, followed by the dance on October 4th. Senior night will be held September 22nd at 6 p.m. to share important information about college applications, FAFSA, and more. Looking ahead, sophomores and selected juniors will take the PSAT, while seniors have the opportunity to take the ASVAB. For the latest updates, be sure to check out the Island Times. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Maxwell. All right, as always, I'm going to begin with my
049preemptive echoing of whatever my colleagues to the left are going to say that I will inevitably forget. Um, I also want to say hope everyone is staying dry and above the tide. Um, is behind us. Um, say a special thank you to the teachers, admin, and all the staff for that smooth transition from summer to the beginning of the school year. Um, thank you to Miss Hyde for to her team for keeping up with all those state standards and changes. Um just looking at that chart, it seems like major shift in change. Um so thank you for that. Um thank you to Miss Spence and her team for keeping us up with the finances. Um thank you to Mr. Roberts for his team um closing out those summer project and handling the projects that surprise
050uh us in the beginning of the school year with freezers. Um, and then I guess lastly, I want to say thank you to the coaches and the volunteers for everything they're doing to support the fall sports season. Um, a special thank you to the the fun Friday team. I know with three primary schoolers, that's a big hit in our house. We get to hear about it and stuff. >> Thank you, Mr. D. I'd like to echo everything that everybody here is going to say, but the Bull Bucks my kids are huge fans of you guys are doing a fantastic job. Uh, this is probably my middle schooler's best year yet. So, you guys are all just doing a wonderful job and I thank you, >> Miss Horses. I want to say how excited I am
051about the book men vending machines at the primary school and the elementary school and I can't wait to come see them. Um, with PMS and the Patriot Day, I will say I know in my house that made a big impact. So, I'm excited to hear that it seems like it went well and I'm just excited about the high school and the new building and everything that's going on over there and I can't wait to get to a football game. >> Thank you, Dr. Bartlett. >> Thank you. um preemptive echoing uh what everyone else is saying. I just um want to thank the faculty, staff, and particularly the students for um a great start of the new year. it from what I've everything I've heard and seen it's been extremely smooth and I haven't had any
052like negative comments or so I'm really grateful for that and I want to apologize for not being here for the last board meeting but I am grateful that you um let me stay on the to serve on the board of trustees for New Horizons and I'll keep um everyone up to date all the um things that are going on over here. >> Miss Jones, >> I echo the sentiments of all my fellow board members. Um, only a couple things to add. Uh, Miss Perty, I do love the new newsletter. Thank you. I actually, um, would happy that you highlighted that. I think that's a really nice enhancement. Um, Constitution Day tomorrow, everyone. Uh, don't forget to wear your red, white, and blue. And that has been also highlighted. uh the middle school is my primary
053source of information these days, but um appreciate uh just the recognition of all those events and calling attention to that. And lastly, uh Mr. Roberts spoke to it briefly in his presentation about just all of the safety efforts and you know, it's been an especially heavy past week, you know, of tragedies, anniversaries of tragedies nationwide. Um, and in the midst of it all, just really wanted to pause and thank um, you know, our our SSOs, our SRO's, administrators, teachers, staff, you know, our local first responders. You know, a lot of people throughout our division are involved on a daily basis. You know, making sure that our most precious resources, you know, our students are safe and they have a safe environment to learn in. and thank you for doing that and for all you do
054on a daily basis just to keep them safe and keep our schools the safe havens for learning that they are. So that is all I have. >> Thank you. Um of course by the time it gets to me it's slim pickings, but uh I I have a few things. Um Miss Perie, I definitely like the new information bulletin um for happenings in and around PCPS. I also am a big fan of the new Picosen athletic website for, you know, when different competitions are happening and things like that. Um, sometimes I'm at home and I'm like, "Oh, you know, it's a light evening. Let's go see something." Um, so thank you for putting that together. Uh, at the primary school, I was excited to hear about the, uh, steam opportunities for the kids there. Uh, getting
055kids interested in technology, engineering, architecture, and mathematics. is is extremely important. So, uh I commend Miss and all of your staff for at the primary school for implementing that. Um the I was glad to hear about the um rankings in, you know, eight out of 133 schools in the state I think is good. I look forward to hearing more as we get more details about how things landed. So, uh that's always a good thing. And uh oh, I did see uh well the three new buses, that's good. Uh I did see in the um that there's a new bus driver. I assume that's uh someone that is that in training or Okay. Uh that's a good thing. And oh yeah, the birthday book vending machine. I saw that at the open house at the primary
056school. That looks really cool. Um, so I hope the primary school kids are really enjoying that. Uh, can we get some of those at some of the other schools? So, thank you. That's all I have. >> The elementary school does have a book vending machine with a ribbon cutting. >> Oh, I guess two weeks ago. And I just echo the comments of the board and would like to um thank again everybody that's uh had a hand in um getting this great uh uh school year off to a wonderful start. It's um I will say it's been the smoothest since I've been here. Um a lot of moving parts always when you launch a new school year, but um this one has been as smooth. Um a lot of excitement in the air, upbeat. um you
057you can feel it in the in the buildings. Uh it it has been really uh on day 15, we have had a a great start to the school years. I want to thank everybody um for that heavy lift and the continued excitement and enthusiasm in our schools. >> Thank you. Um I guess moving on item 10. Uh Miss Carol, do we have any other material for board review tonight? >> Chair Burbage, we have no additional material tonight. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh well that is the end of our meeting. I adjourn the meeting.