001okay so the next award that we would like to recognize um from PHS once again has recipient of the wise gold star teacher award um the working in support of Education organization which is an acronym for wise is committed to helping students become financially literate adults Jessica forier has been an economics and personal finance instructor at PHS for many years and is a passionate personal finance educator in order for a teacher to achieve the Gold Star Award their students must have achieved a 93% passing rate on the why financial literacy certification test which is given which was given in May 23 passing this personal finance exam is an important graduation requirement for students in the Commonwealth Miss forier Coen City Schools applauds your accomplishment we are thankful for your success with our students can you
002pleas okay next up we have teachers of the year the teacher of the year program is a great opportunity for us to highlight some of the Brilliance that is occurring in picosen City Schools our teachers of the year are nominated and voted on by their peers and reflect the dedication Ingenuity and positive attitudes that are resounding in our Halls instead of me sharing all the reasons they were selected please enjoy these been [Music] [Laughter] [Music] gets [Music] [Applause] [Music] Miss Deon can you please come forward with your family [Music] and now for PES [Music] you [Music] Miss Barnes can you please come forward with your family [Music] we will move right along to the Middle School [Music] Mr Jones can you please come forward [Music] and our last school the picosen high [Music] school [Music]
003[Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] Miss Insley can you please come forward to your family come on up Mr Insley come [Music] on from these wonderful Educators the committee has selected the teacher who will go on to represent the division teacher of the year on the regional level at this time I'd like to have all four teacher of the year come up to be recognized and if I've remain too because we have some other um key speakers who are going to come up and honor you as well okay so I would like to congratulate our division Teacher of the Year Mr Jonathan Jones and at this time can I have members of the p and quanas come [Music] up so teachers congratulations on being awarded Teacher of the Year this is a remarkable achievement that speaks
004volumes about your dedication to your profession and your students you've inspired motivated countless students to reach their full potential and your contributions to the field of Education are truly invaluable on behalf of panas we'd like to give each of you $250 and our thanks for supporting all the students that you do every single day [Music] yeah we could just say a couple few words we want to thank you know Kanas is an organization that supports the schools that's our whole purpose is to support the schools and the Youth of our city uh we do that with the largest service organization in the city and that's because of all the interest in the schools anyone who's interested in Kanan and we do many many different projects throughout the city uh all year long uh uh certainly
005welcome uh we welcome you to come to one of our meetings and and see if you'd like to become a kananian uh it's a very very great organization um and we do a lot for the school systems um we have uh have uh uh a number of projects you may have know that we just finished the Fuski Festival that was out here a number of you probably had uh had uh participation in that and uh had that and and then coming up in uh in March uh we will have a big uh festival at the high school a big flea Market that will promote uh uh boating and fishing and and nautical arts big festival and we have that's a big event um so anyway we do a lot for the school system and we're
006we're glad to be here and to be able to recognize the uh the teachers congratulations to you all thank you the Picos and quanas group is definitely a community partner through and through they are always very supportive as are the picosen Education Foundation and at this time I'd like to invite them to come [Music] up set him up [Music] here it's my apologies can I have the teachers of the year come up one more time I'm very [Music] sorry good evening everybody it's hard to believe that one of my former students Gloria Insley is now Teacher of the Year from the high you thank you it's with great pleasure that the picosen Education Foundation recognizes the teachers of the year for pen City Public Schools but before we do that I would like to tell
007you just a little bit about what picosen Education Foundation does um our teachers write grants once each semester and we usually get anywhere from 20 to 30 grants all four schools combined and because of our loyal and generous sponsors whom we've had for many many years um PF is able to award grants each semester for a total of each semester anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000 a semester since 2010 PF has awarded a total of 312,000 ,700 in Grants to our teachers they provide supplies and materials books equipment and technology related items for classroom needs for instance when Co hit our schools PF was able to provide $50,000 to picosen City Public Schools to purchase Chromebooks for every student um our school system has done approximately $110 worth of Technology grants uh not $110 $110,000 uh
008PF also helps defray the cost for National and international competitions such as Odyssey the mind and we usually have at least three schools that are competing in those things and um over the years we've given probably about $44,000 to to that uh project in addition PF Awards $2,500 two academic Excellence scholarships awards every year okay thank you so PF has one F uh fundraiser each year and it's held on the last Saturday of October it's called Run for the Bulls and you probably have heard of it hopefully you have uh Run for the Bulls is virtual and in person so it's a walk and it's a run it's a community um effort it's a lot of fun come and join us we we also recognize our uh retiring teachers each year the PF does and
009staff members with beautiful hanging baskets and gift cards to local restaurants um then like tonight we also honor the te honors the honor the teachers of the year with um an honorary B brick in the Legacy walk at phf which the picosen Education Foundation established in 2010 so you guys will be getting your Breck they're lovely it's the gift that lasts forever it is yes it is truly the gift that lasts forever so we thank you for your service thank you okay Mr Jones for teacher of the year agreement what we're giving is kind of a picture of the Legacy walk up at the high school if you haven't seen it go take a look it's really really creative and nice um and they will have a brick there with their names on it and
010whatever you want you have to tell us what you want and Mr Jones and of course I need a picture this was fine oh that's yours but this is yours yeah is that it this is yeah you're good okay so you thought you were done with me but I actually have one more surprise there is one final announcement that I wanted to follow up with it isn't on the agenda because the division just found out if you recall last spring a pair professional from the Middle School was nominated for the state rise award which acknowledges the work done by non-certified instructional staff we had many incredible options from which to choose but the committee nominated Mr Charlie wolf and he represented pcps well so well in fact that Mr Wolf was among two people to
011win the award in the entire state of Virginia and will'll be moving on to Nationals we are so proud and grateful for his dedication Mr Wolf will you please come forward [Music] keep it short what an honor this is and what a privilege it is to work for the People The Faculty the staff the admin people at the middle school five of which are right over there and I've been in almost every classroom in the middle school and I've always always seen a sincere interest on the part of those teachers to make that experience for those years for those students a positive and educational time thank you Miss buny thank you all thank you Mr Wolf at this time that concludes our acknowledgements thank you Miss [Music] birie you're up next with the instruction update
012y okay so as mentioned earlier this year picosen City Public Schools applied for a $500,000 Grant through the Department of Defense Education Agency and this evening Mrs Brown our assistant superintendent and instruction as well as Mrs montavo who is our director of assess M and accountability they're attending mandatory training out of state so that that we can begin to utilize These funds at this time I'm pleased to share a few instructional updates with our board the division instructional leadership team has been working collaboratively with the schools to analyze data identify goals and provide in updates to our strategic plan monitoring document this evening we will briefly review the progress monitoring timeline so the pcps Strategic plan monitoring document is typically updated throughout the year and the performance data finalized once the state releases official student
013achievement data this year VOA delayed the release of the S so so student performance data and they received divisions received the preliminary data reports in mid-september that were all finalized in October in September Governor Yan announced his all in Virginia campaign requiring schools to focus on attendance literacy and learning loss these areas were already self-identified by pcps luckily and in October school-based teams reviewed the release data disaggregated it drilling down to IND individual subgroups and compared it to projections our pcps division instructional team worked collaboratively I'm sorry I just read that sentence individual school and division data is an essential piece of the Strategic plan monitoring document and this information drives School Improvement plans for each School this year plans were reconstructed I'm sorry restructured to allow for ongoing monitoring schoolwide ownership and closer alignment
014with our division-wide strategic plan the updates to this plan will be formally presented to the board in January and then lastly our students and staff have been hard at work incorporating Hands-On stem activities inside and outside of the classroom I'm not sure if you've seen some of the recent posts on social media but there's been a lot of it and it's it's really exciting to see and we're going to be highlighting these learning opportunities in January as well does board have any questions okay thank you thank you Dr Ratliff you have operations update good evening Madame chair Martin Mr tillet and board members for your oper for your operations update tonight I'm going to review a little bit about transportation and Food Services with the exception with the exception of the primary school our writers
015ship counts for the morning runs are basically at the same level from the 2223 school year to the 2324 school year the primary school decline is in alignment with the enrollment recline from decline from last year to this year excuse me all of the ridership counts in the afternoon are down slightly from last year to this year with the middle school and the high school basically being very close to level again the primary school decline is in alignment with what we're seeing with the enrollment uh and the elementary school indicates that we have more parent pickup and more Walkers as the enrollment is constant from last year to this year moving on to Food Service with the exception of the primary school breakfast CS are up at all the schools uh one of the changes
016that we had with the breakfast process at the primary school was rolling breakfast back into the cafeteria um while it has resulted in fewer students eating breakfast what we have seen is now really the kids that are going to breakfast are those that really want breakfast and don't just want to hang out with friends so U those that are are that want to be fed are getting fed um lunch counts are up at the elementary school and the middle school um and lunch CL lunch counts are down slightly at the primary school again probably looking it in being in line with enrollment same cases with Transportation while the lunch lunch counts are down at the high school what we have seen month-to month is very large increases in the actual participation rate um if the
017trend continues as you seen throughout the beginning of the year to now I would anticipate that their their participation rate will be about the same at the end of the year as what we saw for last year that's the end of my report i' be happy to answer any questions if you have any yeah I have one uh is the USDA are they still doing the student breakfast and and lunch the free Mills they only for those that qualify we do not we do not qualify for the community eligibility provision and we do not qualify and in the community to for us s da to cover all of our lunches so only those students that qualify for free or reduced lunch get that thank you thank you Miss Spence Finance update good evening Madame chair
018members of the board Mr tillet you have heard me mention the audit for several months now this was a process that began in July and was completed in November on in front of you you have the annual comprehensive Finance report which was completed by Brown Edwards who have been with our Auditors for the last two years the school division is included as a component unit in the city's annual comprehensive Financial report otherwise known as AER the Auditors issue several reports within this document the first one is the report of independent auditor which describes the scope of the audit and confirms that there were no significant audit findings beginning on page 127 of the Acer the compliance audit opinions are provided two opinions are offered the first on the financial statements and the second on the
019federal Awards I am pleased to report that the auditor's opinion was unmodified for the financial statements and federal Awards which is the best opinion that an entity can receive in addition the School Division had no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies identified this is an excellent audit report and as a result of the hard work and dedication of all pcps employees but in particular our school bookkeepers principals assistant principals M uh Miss Brown and Dr Ratliff and also definitely the finance and SBO staff who would like I like to recognize at this time Miss Jean Ray hallstein who's our finance coordinator miss Karen Lindsay our payroll coordinator Miss key Sullivan operation specialist Miss dubby bunting the HR coordinator and Mrs April birth the administrative specialist for executive leadership to all I say thank you for the
020excellent work that you do on behalf of the schools you have all the documents I just spoke about though I know you just got them this evening but if you have any questions want you have more time to review just let me know with the upcoming budget process and since we are beginning a new bium I'm going to switch gears to talk about the state rebenchmarking process and the effect on the local Composite Index re benchmarking Begins the banial budget development process and involves the Board of Education the governor and general assembly every two years the direct Aid to public education budget is updated or re Benchmark the re benchmarked budget represents the state cost of continuing the existing direct Aid to public education programs with banal up updates in the input data and formulas
021used to determine the cost of the programs during the rebenchmarking process the local Composite Index or LCI is updated for the next bional budget as you know the local Composite Index or LCI determines a school division's ability to pay education cost fundamental to the state's so soq with local funds the general assembly establishes the composite index formula in the appropriation act the formula uses three indicators to estimate the ability to pay for each locality these include the true value of the property in the locality Virginia adjusted gross income in the locality as well as taxable retail sales in the locality each locality's index is adjusted to maintain a state overall uh share of 45% and an overall State share of 55% the composite index is recomputed using the most recent data of available as a
022result of this rebenchmarking I'm pleased to say as far as the local funding is concerned bosen's Composite Index decreased slightly for this upcoming bium from 3641 to 3466 the rule is as the LC R LC rate decreases State funding increases so pcps should receive additional state revenue based on the new LCI assuming all other factors remain the same the graph shows the trend of the last 10 bium for picosen we will now review the school's upcoming FY 25 budget dates to note the first is very important is December 20th which is the anticipated release of the governor's budget while we may learn some of the general impact of his proposed budget to C through2 education the detailed assessment won't come until the Department of Education releases its budget calculations St tool and staff has had
023time to review the proposed changes this will most likely occur after the H holiday break the superintendent will present a budget update at the school board work session on January 16th February 20th marks the date that he will present a proposed budget the public hearing and Schoolboard approval of this proposed budget is slated for March 19th finally there will be a Joint School Board and city council work session on Monday April 22nd that concludes my report for this evening I'll entertain any questions okay thank you very much thank you Miss Spence Miss F do we have anybody signed up for public com yes ma'am we have nine speakers okay great I'll read my um and then we'll um have the speakers so uh first say thank you the pen School Board welcomes public comment during
024regular meetings school board members do not respond to public comment during a meeting all comments 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 the school board expects that each speaker will be courteous modeling for our students how one can respectively dis 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 and to follow Schoolboard policy time allotted to speaker shall be 3 minutes our first speaker is Britney Bean of 19 Pine Street
025good evening my name is Britney bean and I teach fifth grade I also have two Elementary um school students a third grader and a fifth grader here at pen Elementary I'm here in regards to the debate on theal program caring uh schools Community there are concerns that we teachers have heard in the Schoolboard meetings and online so we wanted to share the experiences that we have had using the curriculum earlier in the year with this curriculum the scripted and structured lessons provide consistency across the grade level and within the building to ensure every child has the opportunity to learn the same inner and intrapersonal skills I want to take a moment to think about the qualities you would want an employee or coworker many of these problem solving skills skills they'll need every day empathy
026perseverance kindness resolving conflict friendship courage and community community something we've learned is a core value the people of picosen value for many years now we have talked about ways to name the type of skills we want students to develop that is the goal of this curriculum to build community and not to encourage hidden agendas it is to ensure every student is receiving the care and support and the tools they need to be the best person they can be as a community you may wonder why this curriculum is needed in schools this curriculum is to give all classroom a structure that Fosters positive behaviors and mindsets teachers have been asking for more resources to help Implement positive skill sets that can help decrease distracting behaviors and improve the community by fostering respectful relationships as Educators establishing
027norms and expectations is a crucial part to the start of a school year and a new routine this curriculum does an excellent job of guiding teachers through the setting norms and expectations like field trips and assemblies as a parent as a parent I feel the carrying schools Community I am glad the school has adopted a program that can be viewed by myself and my husband and allows for additional discussions at home this curriculum is not only to help the students at school but to help the families feel better connected with both their students and what is going on inside the classroom if this curriculum then what seal is an important and it is a for the betterment of our schools this curriculum can be viewed by anyone at the picosen public library and I encourage
028you to do so thank you next I have Tyrone Williams of 78 Kendall Drive good evening uh my name is Tyron Willams I had had two daughters here one is Tyra Willams who's moved on to Morgan State my youngest is Zena Williams um 26 years as an educator from Florida California now here to Virginia uh where I currently teach fifth grade at norfol Public Schools Lindenwood Elementary um like a math book uh SEC is actually an agenda it is a pathway for everybody to have a basic understanding of something so the SEC I'm sorry seal is actually something that's needed um I get the text messages all the time from the high school of a lockdown this happening that happening so it is clear that this type of program is needed um over the years
029the agenda from whichever side you may choose to think about has cre created a problematic time to where we aren't always getting the truth whereas here in Virginia we know the truth right we know that we start here not only just in our social studies America starts here and we want to continue that truth moving forward in every Which Way in every direction so there's been a lot of talk of CRT uh again I've been here for about eight years I look at the curriculum and I'm sure a lot of other people have as well and I'm sure that on no curriculum here for K12 is there anything remotely talked about related to CRT so we should not we should do everything in our power to make sure that we don't fall prey to false
030information and scaring the public being a school teacher has created such a new way of thinking because of the outside issues that are now coming into the school and I would even say in my 26 years far more than what was there before so these type of programs led by these educated highly qualified exceptionally trained teachers are essential to making sure like the science the social studies or the algebra textbook that everybody has a basic understanding of how to act how to relate to one another how to accept each other within our Public Schools thank you very much Trisha rone of 114 White House Drive hi good evening everyone um I've kind of come unprepared but I just want to um thank a lot of you for coming into the schools for privately doing research
031about this is about how our teachers feel about this curriculum how parents view this curriculum and I just uh appreciate just just you all doing that um I also feel like my personal opinion but I I don't think I'm alone in this if we're going to be talking about cell phones and smartw watches coming up in January I think if you really want to stop social if you want to help social and emotional learning in our schools and that is to stop cell phones from being part of the classroom time I had a conference with one of my sons teachers recently and I asked him about the cell phone use and I don't want to go too much into that but it just seems like it's just a very big distraction I think there's a
032lot of cheating going on I think they're taking pictures of tests for other kids to know that those tests are coming up this is I mean it's just and not to mention the social pieces that you have these students with these phones they're just distractions um so I appreciate the you know maybe looking at that I know that there's a study going on right now up in Richmond for Tim McCain if you want to look at that and um Matthew's High School is just now done away with cell phones along with Virginia Beach so it can be done I'm not saying do away with them completely I know some parents have different things but just overall I think a policy in place would be beneficial to our students and our teachers um and other thing
033um is is that I have concerns about the janitorial um um what is going on at the turfield after the high school games I've noticed that there's teachers out there that are replacing toilet paper roles before the games that are cleaning up trash underneath the bleachers not really sure what's going on with their janitorial system but that is not something our teachers and our staff should be doing um you know prior to games we we represent you know our town and people coming in um to these games and that's just definitely not the way we want to represent this town we want a nice clean field and maybe that just needs to be looked at I noticed that somebody was out on Thanksgiving day cleaning up garbage and it was a staff member and it
034was kind of took me by surprise so thank you next I have Sher dyra of 20 Ms Road hello members of the the board Mr tillet um my name is Sher dyra I reside at 20 EMAs um recently I've read documents that bosen City Schools sent the Department of Education dated May of 23 the document detailed the use of the Esser funds and it states picosen schools will continue to support the social emotional needs of our students as we begin recovery from the co pandemic um it has been 2 years and the majority of our children at the primary school were not even in the school at that time so I'm trying to figure out why we're still talking about Co why is everything still goes back to to co um we have so many
035children who cannot even read and write in third grade um I I don't hear a lot about um any accelerated learning for Reading Writing and math um I just keep hearing about um the seal in the mornings and and the huge need for that um when we don't have teachers who are trained in social and emotional learning um our teachers want to teach and we have a wonderful coun wonderful counselors that are in place at each school for emotional support um one thing that I've sat through two work sessions is um the board's not discussing the full plan the full four schools uh I hear Ripple effects was in the Middle School um caring schools Community I don't necessarily have a problem with that particular um resource I I want to see Ripple effects what
036I've seen and what teachers have sent me um it's a little bit worrisome so I am interested to see what the other resources are um for the older children our teachers are burnt out and they have a lot of extra things added on to their responsibilities our teachers are exhausted because discipline policies are not allowed to be consistently enforced why are we seeing a trend that the the students who cause the most disruption are the students with the most rights I really hope that you're looking at the discipline part too um a lot of teachers I'm talking to seal is not really cutting it um it's it's the discipline um I know in the past there's been a class for not inclusion or special education class but there was a classroom to suit a particular
037group of children's needs um it would be geared towards them and um everybody seems to be happy so I I hope you look into that um let's see in closing last month one of you chose to abstain when voting to pause sccl in our schools it is my understanding that if you abstain you have to explain why before the meeting is adjourned I hope that this particular board member makes a statement regarding your decision to abstain be before the end of tonight's meeting and I do hope unless there's a conflict of interest that everybody votes yay or nay no abstain thank you for your time next I have Dar Deerfield Muk good evening Este Este members of the school board respected educator staff parents and guests thank you for granting me the opportunity to speak
038with you today my name is Dar Deerfield Mook and I'm here to discuss the positive impacts of the social emotional learning program at our school district your dedication to our education system and the welfare of students is not only appreciated but also instrumental in shaping the future of our community prior to the pause of the pilot my daughter Adeline a bright and curious 8-year-old in second grade was included in the social emotional learning pilot osen at primary school this program has been instrumental in nurturing and significantly boosting her confidence a crucial aspect of her development at this impressionable age theal program with its innovative approach has opened a new perspective for adelyn one of the most significant aspects of this program has been its focus on initiating conversations for a young child like adelyn the
039ability to start and engage in conversations is not just about communication it's about building self- assurance and social skills this program has provided her with the tools and the confidence to approach her classmates engage in meaningful dialogue and form connections this was something not explicitly fostered in the traditional settings of the Legacy citiz citizenship program furthermore theal program has introduced an enriching activity where students pair up with a classmate for a period of time this initiative has been particularly beneficial for adelyn has not only allowed her to learn about others but also to share her own stories and experiences this reciprocal learning process has enhanced her social skills empathy and understanding of diverse perspectives the impact of these activities extends Beyond individual growth they have contributed to fostering a positive class Community by encouraging students
040like adelyn to interact and learn from one another the program has built a supportive and inclusive environment this atmosphere is vital for children at this age as it lays the foundation for the future social interactions and their understanding of community and collaboration in this nurturing environment analine has flourished her new found confidence is evident in her willingness to participate in class her enthusiasm for school activities and her growing Circle of Friends the sccl program has not just been out learning academic subjects it has been about learning life skills skills that will serve Adeline well throughout her life in conclusion the social emotional learning pilot at Cen primary school has been enhancing experience for adelyn it has equipped her with the confidence to navigate her world the skills to build meaningful relationships and the understanding to
041appreciate the value of a positive Community as a parent I am deeply grateful for this program and the positive impact that it has on my daughter's life and I hope that is be I hope that will be reinstated next I have Nikki klet of 214 according to the Aspen Institute when children possess a full array of social emotional and cognitive skills they are equipped to prosper in the classroom perform in the workplace and succeed in life as productive members of society more than 1 and a half million students in US public schools have at least one parent to employed on active duty as for them life is anything but typical military connected students on average move three times more frequently than their civilian counterparts and research has shown that frequent moves coupled with the stress
042of Parental deployment means that these students often have difficulty adjusting and connecting with their new communities which can lead to Social and academic problems down the line for military connected students School serves as a protective environment and proper support from teachers counselors and other staff can mitigate risk factors and help them grow both academically and emotionally speaking speaking as a former military child a military parent and a family practice clinician seal benefits all children several hundred well-designed Studies have documented the positive effects of seal programming on students of diverse backgrounds from preschool through high school and urban suburban and Rural settings some of the most compelling information comes from the findings of the largest most scientifically rigorous review of research ever done on interventions that promote children's social and emotional development the review of more
043than 700 studies published through 2007 included School family Community interventions designed to promote social and emotional skills in children and adolescen between the ages of 5 and 18 this large sample of studies was divided into three main areas studies about school-based interventions after school programs and programs for families and a 2008 meta analysis which included 207 studies of programs involving 288,000 students researchers use statistical te techniques to summarize the findings across all of the studies and found a broad range of benefits for in students 9% dis decrease in conduct problems 10% decrease in emotional distress 9% Improvement in attitudes about self others and school 23% Improvement in social emotional skills 9% Improvement in school and classroom behavior and an 11% Improvement in achievement test scores it's important to note that while these SEO programs took
044time out of the school day they did not detract from student academic performance in fact as I mentioned on average students receiving school-based scored 11 percentile points higher on academic achievement tests than their peers who did not receive SEO and even as grades and achievement test scores were improving classroom Behavior feelings about self and emotional problems were improving as well classrooms filled with socially and emotionally skilled students are more caring and safer and positive learning environments provide opportunities for students to use and further develop social emotional competencies I respectfully request the board to fully consider that beyond all outcomes examined the largest effect of school-based SEO programs was on students increased perception of safety and inclusion in the school next I have Laura Burbage of 19 Ferguson Street my name is Laura burbach and my
045child is in the third grade I sent you an email yesterday but I wanted to follow up put a face to my words the ad the Virginia Administrative Code says the foremost purpose of public education in Virginia is to provide children with a highquality education giving them opportunities to meet their fullest potential in life and it says the mission of the public education system is to educate students in the Essential Knowledge and Skills in order that they may be equipped for citizenship work and an informed and successful life picosen schools have an excellent reputation people move here because of it and residents count on it strong instruction in the core academics is essential for our kids education social emotional development skill development is also critical for our children's education no matter what they choose to
046do after graduation they will need to be able to channel their motivations develop and work toward their life goals handle stress frustration appointment problem solve communicate effectively with others and get along with co-workers or clients as well as participate in the community they will need to develop a sense of self-reliance and self-worth in order to reach their full potentials these are all social emotional skills today's kids are faced with new and intense pressures we see high rates of teen and even child depression suicide subst subance abuse in-person and online bullying and exposure to online Predators kids are struggling with their behavior towards others while interpers interpersonal conflict is glamorized social and emotional skill development helps kids become more resilient to these stressors and more resilient kids do better in the classroom and in life some
047teacher some people will say that our teachers are not mental health professionals and I agree neither are most parents that is why it is critical that teachers be given the tools of a professionally developed curriculum so that they can tailor the needs of their classrooms it is unfair to expect them to individually develop the curriculums needed to help our kids learn these skills so they can achieve their full potentials besides these are not just mental health skills they are life skills it's not a conspiracy it's not brainwashing or indoctrination it's not critical race Theory and any other ideology so when you're thinking about whether our school should implement or remove social and emotional learning curriculum and what that should look like I want you to think of my child here and all the other very
048real children in our schools our kids are relying on the schools to make them the best prepared they can be for their Futures so if you want to remove this program I want you to look my kid in the eyes look him in the eyes and tell him that it doesn't matter if he learns these skills and it doesn't matter if he's prepared to realize his fullest potential and beyond that I'm irritated that some of youve been rolling your eyes ma'am youve reached your 3 minute limit next I have Crystal Hower of six Willis Court hello oh there it is uh the definition of seal process of developing and using social skills through this children are better equipped to manage daily challenges build positive relationships with peers and staff and make good informed decisions AKA
049we used to call this being a good citizen my youngest Learners helps them grow in self-esteem helps them know who they are how they contribute to the school Community we aren't born knowing how to manage emotions we aren't born how to know to know how to solve problems or how to get along with others I teach our youngest Learners in the city and I have 33 of them and I'm really proud of that these kinds of skills have to be developed and school is one of those places that they learn these skills as social emotional skills develop foundationally from birth to 8 years old it's called early childhood development those children that don't get those skills or have gaps in those skills continue to exacerbate you pass those things on to our elementary school our
050Middle School our high school curricul this curriculum is a tool in our Educators toolbox we partner it with observation assessment family input all of those things are done with trusted and skilled Educators under there's an undercurrent of Educators and parents who support this we haven't been very loud and we haven't bed our drum very much but we're here and we're here to talk now the connection between feeling and thinking happens at the first day of development your thinking brain is way up here your feeling brain is the first thing that develops it's disheartening that some of our board members do not trust our Educators we just want to do our best work what looks like in my classroom is identifying their emotions how to manage those emotions those big feelings building self-confidence you can do
051it I'm proud of you are you proud of yourself teaching empathy oh look at your friend's face when you took that from him how do you think he felt how do you think he feels I respectfully request the board to reinstate CSC and and seriously consider seal as a big Baseline part of curriculum and give back the resource so many Educators want and need development is based on four major parts language and communication motor development that's fine and gross motor cognitive development those thinking skills and the foundation is social emotional development children have to feel safe and connected in order to learn thank you very much last I have Ben Arison of Harbor View Drive good evening pcps school board and parents uh my name is Benjamin arenson I'm incredibly grateful and I'm blessed to
052speak to you tonight um since speaking at the 17 October school board meeting my wife and I removed a third daughter from prosen primary as we uh were informed that she too would be forced into the school's Castle select experimental social emotional learning program against our will and consent I'm deeply disturbed by the pcps leadership which deliberately forced their seal indoctrination experiment onto our children and as far as I am aware to this day have not taken uh responsibility for their deceptive and misguided actions it is my sincere hope that they accept responsibility learn from their mistakes and pledge to do better in the future future or graciously step down from their current positions so that those with greater Integrity true intentions and strong character may serve all all of our beautiful children without an
053evil eye since our three daughter's removal from picosen primary and elementary schools our children have been thriving thank God my wife and I have managed to teach them traditional education at home and they are noticeably more grounded independent and confident lastly I want to thank school board members who are working toward an opt out option from this such such an indoctrination of our children thank you for your time efforts and courage to do the right thing God bless each and every one of you the speakers I have for tonight okay thank you um Dr herbage will you read the consent agenda please yes the uh consent agenda consists of four items item a is approval of financial reports Item B is authorization to change appropriation and to accept an expend funds in accordance with attached
054request is approval of personnel action and the last item item D is approval of minutes for November's regular meeting and executive session is there a motion so moved there a second second any discussion Mr Ingram I Dr cadell I Mr chis I Miss Jones I Mr deos I chair Burbage I chair Martin I motion passes vote is 70 thank you other matters for cons consideration we have a consideration of caring School Community Resources um I think we need a determination I think our last meeting was the determination was that we were going to pause the caring School community so we need a determination I think we need um some motion for continuing open back up or continuing with it being suspended or putting it as a tool in this the tool box yeah I make
055a motion that we continue the pause until we can get our lawyer to review it and um until the our next board meeting I think we do need to put some more time we really haven't put any time all we did was talk for another 50 minutes we haven't set up anything with the roll out or anything that was some of my concerns from the eode it's not seal I mean it's been in the schools it was in there last year and we still have that program we've already been using it for now four months so pausing for four to five months for us to set up a way would make me happier so I'll second it is there discussion so the motion I'm sorry just to be clear Jonathan the uh Mr Ingram the
056motion is to pause it to continue pausing understand the word okay so to continue with the pause is there any discussion there was a caveat of lawyer review what is the lawyer review yeah the lawyer review the uh policy 6-3 do4 I think I think that'll be a separate item Jonathan Mr Ingram I'm sorry I think we'll make that a separate item it's at the attorney now okay so we'll bring that to the work session then then we'll bring that separate to the CSC the caring School Community specific to the caring School Community toolkit that was the instruction we gave at the last meeting was that we would pause it until this meeting so we just need a determination of what we're going to do so motion on the table is to pause is there
057any discussion second for that is there any discussion I mean it seems like even before CSC there was still you know some material being taught still character education there were still Norms classroom Norms so I mean I I don't see what another couple of weeks would do how are the teachers that are trying to work around the pause um you know try to pull appropriate material together how should they proce that's the same as last year right CU I mean that was before CSC I believe te taking the uh resource from the teachers is going hurtful um to our students and to our teachers the present moment that's not to say that can't revisit uh CSC as a whole um but to take it out for the rest of the school year I believe is
058going to U be a detriment um to the teachers and to the students not the rest of the school year about the semester rest of the semester depends on how long we turn around and hold on it I don't want to run that risk yeah I don't either that should drive us to work on what we want to work on to make sure sure that get things rolled out the right way and make sure we set up a protocol on how these things get rolled out me see you know it's the roll out then we should be pausing the pilot and leaving it as a resource for teachers to have to teach the classes that's what they want to use rather than pausing it all in general so if they want to pause the roll
059out of saying three teachers on it then I that's what you're pausing so is there an alternate motion but what do you do about the parents that on regular resources online I mean like you said they can pull anything they want and talk about anything they want I just think having going home they can review it they have a problem with I decided to go off shilter one day and start talking about any controversial topic that I wanted to that day I'm going to hear it from my parent the next day so we have we have to trust that our teachers our principles and our Administration will do their job in educating our students um I have no problem with um providing it as a resource for them um I don't believe there was ever
060a um requirement that teachers use it I believe these teachers are volunteered to U they were volunt they were the newer teachers that were doing it and as far as being a resource we were told at the beginning of each day is when it's going to be taught well they have Home Room at the beginning of each day yeah the carpet time yeah so that would be the the the time in which they are afforded so it's mandatory it's not mandatory cuz some teachers don't do it right but the ones that are doing it is even the ones that are in the pilot don't do it every day it depends on a Class by class basis some days they have I will say I like that the resources if we if we present it as
061a toolkit the resources are available in the picosen public library if we are not mandating that this is ever to be used in any way shape or form I would strongly encourage I have reviewed the resources anyone who has the concerns at the moment can review the resources if they are known to be a toolkit available for use I have more concern about what would be pulled that we may or may not know about to fill that time outside of that resource outside of that resource correct that is the known so trusting our teachers and not saying you guys have to do this we have resources for them I'll be more comfortable with that too so is there an alternate motion pause the pilot until the end of the year and if they want the
062resources those items will still be here the year so we can revisit for next year and the teachers can use it if they want they can use the resources but so what would the amendment be or the the the old policy was what oh the old policy was that we and the and during that pause we have to decline that one and create a new one or I think we can make I correct me if I'm wrong but I think we can make an alternate motion substitute motion subtitute motion so is there a substitute motion substitute motion will be to policy requirement of teachers to use care in schools but but allow them to use the toolkit as resources if they want is there a second to that motion I'll second is there any discussion
063just to be clear the intent here is to pause the requirement but that resource kit is available for any teacher to use like everything else is online whether they're in the P whether they're in the pile goog go anything they want but at least if it get sent home you see it and then if we see anything that they don't like they just contact the ministrator for what happens in that case anything that would happen if someone ever pulled something that they didn't want you know get pulled out if the administrator thinks it should get pulled out or if we look at it it gets pulled out Ian respon that's for the principal to take care of already and and that makes it where some classes have to do this and some classes don't have
064to do it no classes have to do it the teacher choose do it or does something that teachers don't parents don't appreciate or don't want then they're going to come email already and he can investigate to see if it's something that they should do or shouldn't do teachers discretion on caring schools Community if they want to if they want to teach from else teach from the math book instead of that 10 minutes teach from anything else they want to for that time if they feel they see that their class needs something pull something use it you just don't have do it if your class don't need that day is there Jud think the the motion I think the motion on on the table right now is we will not have pilot designated pilot classrooms that
065the toolkit will be available for use for all teachers A through five any more discussion I'm just concerned I mean I trust our teachers but I'm I'm just concerned about parents cuz I mean you know they have a right to determine what happens you know to their child and if they don't like you know what's what's being taught during that optional time what recourse do they have they talk to the principal of the school just like they do if there's a image in a book that they don't like I feel they can pull anything they want off the internet I mean that's where we're at nowaday we can't regulate our lock down and say hey this is the only place you can pull something off cuz there's not something there for them and we're at
066the point now where it is trust teacher it shouldn't be tell them yall have to do this but if they feel they need something they're going to get it anyway it's not like this is oh it hasn't be coming from car in schools they can get it from other places if they don't want to get it but they're going to grab resources from somewhere if they want to professionally grow and grow their skills and counseling people want to grow in their mathematic content teaching and they're going to go seek resources to to do that I mean it's you it's all part of what about the supplemental resources want to just do the I just feel I don't think there's any way we can regulate what resources they use I I really don't they're supposed to
067not be using the discipline resources so if they pull something that's similar to it off the internet and use it I mean is it going to matter if it says Ken schools at the bottom I mean we paid for it and it's there it's just I mean like the reading books and stuff like that just stick to the Daily Guide daily uh I think that falls under letting the teachers teach what they think is best parents have concerns about it then you know talk to the teacher then they talk to the school administration um you know I trust our teachers to to choose age they print something Offline that is the same thing but they print and use I just if yeah the new day and age I can't stop people from grabbing whatever they're
068going to grab to use parents have problems with something that their teacher into the classroom then there's there's there well there is but I mean we saw in you know multiple email chains so much push back but we've also seen in multiple email chains port for I'm talk my parents that were pushing back against trying to opt their kids out and there was no way that could happen just worried that you trying to op your kid out of any resource that a teacher might find online is impossible I mean that's I mean like I said they can pull anything they want at any time we can't opt a teacher to pull something out have something in his back pocket have my math teacher can be doing Singapore math and I don't like it what am
069I going to do a lot of different things you can again take issue with lectures too muches too many videos does and you can call the teacher and or put your complaining I mean there you know everybody's not going to be everybody's cup of tea you got to trust that they're going to go and their job that they're paid and their profession that they chose to do and if we want to ever decide to do something where we're going to have a teacher or select people to go through and teach a certain way that's when I think we need to vet it better and do and I would like to set up our policy to make sure that we have more involvement and stuff like that but trying to regulate where they get their information
070from is going to be next imp possible at least this is in our library where we know where they get it from instead of them pulling stuff off that you might not agree with she might not agree with I might agree with it's just it's almost impossible it's not sign there's no basis for it right you don't know where it comes from not that people would do that but potentially but even if they don't use I mean like said anybody can use anything to help supplement teaching I mean you can find anything you can find the leaf outside I mean we do teachers do that every day they find just things around to say hey this is what we're going to use to teachs they're going to be pulling stuff out so it's here it's
071been out there we can't stop it from being out there it's everywhere we can just say hey we're not regulating and making you teach from this you can use whatever you need to teach because they're going to anywhere and they need it and they're asking for it and we Hado long time before this it's not about it's everybody wants to say oh we're all trying to get out it's not has been around it's hard do it it's just trying to make sure everybody's staying neutral with teaching and helping kids cope no one wants kids to be in there not coping I mean you can go either way and spin it any way you want with it but it's just making sure yes teachers can have what they need to but we're not making them teach
072a certain way or making them do particular programs that they might not agree with and we have to give some freedom to those teachers and if we don't then I think that's when we have to have a better process and to make sure they don't have freedom we can bet it do them and do it that way okay and so like for instance when a student's at home you know the parents want to reinforce those traits how how are they going to be able to do that do they send a worksheet home home each day how does that work have time doing my kids math homework with them well I'm not sure the question are you asking how parents can support uh the schoolwork then in the same way we've always done it there's typically
073instructions for parents to support in homework um there's nothing different in Seal um in any of the things that are being learned we expect um home support um so there's a worksheet that goes home there may be a worksheet there may be an activity there may be an assignment um something that supports the learning in school at home um or not or not and again there's nothing that that is prescript about that there are activities um in this curriculum um that that are done exclusively at school and there are activities in this curriculum that have a a home work home um support um as well I in in perusing through um the curriculum um I have noticed a a variety of different methods of how Learning Happens through this curriculum and it does have some
074home support and teachers as they have already and will continue to do if you all allow it um they'll continue to pull out the pieces that that that make sense for the instruction they're trying to um to to teach that day and now School Board member and parent I just want transparency send it home let me explain to my kid what they're learning and what they need to and install my own values in my own kids and that's where anomy comes to and yes in this day and age it's going to be tough like I said they can pull whatever they want at any time and put anything and say anything they want in school and bringing your kid in that bubble you wish you can but it's not happening anymore and at some point
075we just have to try figuring out how to work your way through it I think part of the way is through involvement with your kids in classroom and that's you know that's a relationship you have to fil so what about interweaving the Ates into the core academics is that still going to happen again um this is a toolkit resource if you all allow it to continue to be used it it'll be used in the same way we use a lot of other toolkits and re re resources that are Incorporated in all of our instruction instruction is not a um uh One-Stop shop it's a it's a Continuum that happens all day long kids are exposed to um uh uh information and material and activities and resources throughout the day they're woven into instruction um we're
076we're always getting better at that but when you're talking about science you're talking about science when you're talking about math you're talking about math there's there's all kinds of things woven into science and math and history um that are not exclusive science math and history there's all kinds of things that personal connections for it yeah there's all kinds there is no we teach math and we put our math book down and pick up our reading book we read in math there are word problems that have all kinds of scenario still math related it's not how do you feel about yeah yeah they'll be math related in math class but they'll be uh uh teachers can use these resources in a lot of different ways and that's not new I just want to add there's nothing
077new about that uh that's been going on forever teachers use all kinds of resources um we're just trying to get better at providing them for them so that their their work um of preparing U Innovative and and uh effective lessons is is lightened a bit um by us providing resources that's all this is I do I would like to revisit the our policy of approving these down the road just so it said on record too that we have some time before it comes and we have a long time to set ourselves up to but I think that the roll out of this was just not as involved as I would have loved for it to be and we learn we the same going to be the first time we learned we did something good or
078we did something bad but I can't say it was good or bad I think there's ways to improve it and that's what we should look at and I think we will have to address that but I think we're probably going to have to push that further out because we've got budget coming up and we really need to get focused on the budget so miss F will you please call for the vote mram nay Dr Mr gal I Mr chis hi Miss Jones hi Mr deos I Vice chair Burbage I CH Martin I motion passes vote is 61 thank you Communications and other Matters by the school board Andor superintendent Patrick uh to start off our usual school report I'm going to be starting off with the primary school at PPS student and staff are enjoying
079a holiday spirit week as we count down the days before winter break this week so far we have dressed in our holiday colors and our favorite holiday characters we had an amazing winter festival on Monday December 4th celebrating music and art from our kindergarten students it was a packed house the students sang beautifully and we appreciate all the hard work of Miss Parker our art teacher and miss feris our Music Teacher for all the planning and preparation they did for this evening event we had a grinch SL Green Day celebrated last Friday by kindergarten students and staff this Friday we will all be snuggled in pajam jamas and have a performance by the PMS chorus and band in the morning as well as every student will receive a free book from our PPS PTO during
080a baggot book distribution we thank our PTO for supplying a new book for every student for the holidays we have also been blessed by the teachers who have presented our students with some amazing holiday projects and activities that have tied into stem learning art and creativity as well as Community Building both the second grade tag classroom and the library Encore class have participated in stem learning Miss Insley our librarian shared some holiday read aloud stories that perfectly tied into our stem activities first graders have read many gingerbread man stories and even made disguises so we'll be hiding from all those who are chasing him which they shared and are now displayed in our hallways Miss science class made a class tree quilted together with our individual student trees showing how each one contributes to a
081bigger class Community the second grade hallway is also aligned with some amazing habitat projects now now for the elementary school our picosen elementary school students and staff are enjoying the remaining days of school before a winter break by participating in our spirit week students in staff are showcasing festive colors accessories and holiday sweaters theen Elementary School band will perform on Friday afternoon to send us all off in holid Picos Middle School band will perform of for our our school on Friday afternoon to send us all off in holiday spirit our PTO is sponsoring a holiday shop and providing students the opportunity to shop for gifts for family members thank you to our PTO for coordinating this we are so proud of our teacher of the year Miss Jen Barnes PP teacher we are so grateful
082to have you with us and appreciate all you do for our students and staff we would also like to recognize our teacher of the year nominees alista Barefoot Amber Thompson Antonia Diggs Laura Carr Maria gos Rebecca Beal and Rebecca Clancy our school is only as great as a staff who work in our school every day and we are proud of all these nominees we are proud PR of the hard work and effort put forth from all our staff and students we hope all of our students staff and families enjoy a safe and restful winter holiday break thank you for your continued support of Picos and Elementary now for the middle school report December has been a busy month at P Coosa Middle School the book for was a huge success and PMs earned 101 new
083books from the library Builders Club has been hosting a food drive and is proud to report that they were able to donate over 270 items to the parish Thrift Shop the PMS band put on a phenomenal concert last Thursday night to a packed House of supporters our cor students did an excellent job entertaining our community with two beautiful songs of the tree lighting ceremony at City Hall last Friday looking ahead they are excited for their concert tomorrow evening at 700 p.m. the PMS band and core students will end this week with performances at both the primary and Elementary School students on Friday before leaving for these concerts all PMS students will be engaged in locker cleanout sessions Friday morning picosa Middle School would like to congratulate our December golden bow students of the month mon
084in sixth grade Charlotte Jordan 7eventh grade an bolt and 8ighth grade Isabelle Jimenez We wish all of our families a joyous holiday and a happy New Year finally for the high school pen high is preparing for winter break we have spirit days planned this week and have many organizations donating to good causes we had cookies donated to the Langley spouse's annual Airman cookie Drive deck the halls with Paw Leo's Club Leo club's food and plastic drive thank you to all that supported these causes hot chocolate was served today during one lunch by our SCA for our students and staff academically we have been we have had debates in usva history job interviews in economics and personal finance photosynthesis poster poster science projects in AP Bio botney students are beginning to harvest their winter crop and
085many more engaging activities throughout our building our band will perform on December 14th at 7:00 p.m at PMS for their Winter concert our core students have been traveling through the community performing and will be caring in Friday evening fall Sports have concluded in a special congratulations to our football team for making the state playoffs our winter sports are in full swing our wrestlers placed fourth in a major tournament this past weekend at greatbridge our boys and girls basketball team will compete throughout the rest of the week we also have an indoor track meet that occurred today at buo Williams SW Pro complex our swim team has also started and are finding great success good luck to all of our student athletes this season and we want to wish everyone a safe and relaxing winter break
086for more info on PHS please check the island times on parents Square thank you yeah I want to congratulate Lexi for being senior of the month and uh for year for uh the wise Gold Star Award want to congratulate the teachers of the year and the division teacher of the year and uh want to thank the finance department for all the work they did uh for the clean bill of health and um the uh you know I've looked at a study recently there's a school in Florida that banned cell phones and their uh bullying went down and participation went up so I'm I'm all for removing cell phones in all the schools and just having Smartwatch it um because I mean if we have a bullying problem let's fix it with data that you know
087other schools have have have uh given us to you know to to study that U that's it Dr Gale yeah uh also want to congratulate Lexi and Miss Forest Area and our uh teachers uh Miss uhon Miss uh Miss Barnes Mr Jones teacher the Year my son science teacher last year as a former sixth grade science teacher I you know appreciate where his uh Journey has to go to with the Locker opening about a quarter of my time with getting combination back out and showing kids how to open lockers but you know it's a right we got to learn how to get out of that Locker um Miss hinley and Mr Wolf uh also the quanas and PF for all their funding and support for our teachers uh you know that that goes a long
088way in in helping them our speakers tonight thanks for for coming out nine that might be topics and uh just wishing everybody a safe healthy and happy holidays thanks uh thank the senior of the month wise award recipient the teachers of the year I want to thank the quanis club and the P Educational Foundation for their support to all the teachers that is awesome and thank you uh the statewise award winner and I'd like to kind of congratulate to all the sports teams that just finished competing yall did a great job and the new ones that just started I know we got basketball wrestling and a bunch more indoor cold one starting up so best of luck to all them too thank you to all the speakers and I would like to wish you a
089happy holidays Echo the same congratulations to Lexi um miss forier our teachers of the year um again thank you Mr Wolf as well congratulations thank you to the kuas as well as PF for your support um always very much appreciated and um just wanted to also um I attended the PMS band concert and just wanted to especially acknow College uh Mr Lawson at Bosa Middle School that was a very impressive show and I enjoyed it um just a fabulous display of the Arts and talents of our middle schoolers so happy holidays to all and thank you all for coming out tonight um earlier tonight there was a question about my ab uh abstention uh in the last meeting I'd like to address that prior to giving my thanks while we normally don't address uh specific
090questions brought up I am going to address that um there are six main reasons why you abstain from voting um according to Robert's Rules uh one of those happens to be lack of information um I felt during the last meeting I didn't have proper information to make my vote clear uh whether it was a yay or a nay uh so I followed my the Robert's Rules U and the six reasons why you abstain uh from a vote um as far as thanks I Echo everybody else's comments um appreciate everything um specifically Miss Cas uh Miss grisco Miss Bunting and Mr Roberts um I think I speak for everybody up here we support you we support you immensely I would um really appreciate it if you all would let all of your teachers know we send
091an email out to all of them and let them know that this school board supports you in everything that you do um we have good discussions here and uh we're very uh proud out of our community um but we don't want them to ever than thank you Dr I'd like to thank Lexi it's good to see you back in here again um I am I look forward to seeing where you end up in college Texas not exactly my favorite since I'm a since I'm a Georgia alumnist um I want to thank all of the teachers of the year um you you were awesome you know you help our kids you are inspiring them to do great things I want to thank Kanas for the awards that you gave the teachers um that's uh just thank
092you um I also want to thank all the speakers that came uh I do want to say that there's one thing we all have in common no matter what our opinions are we're all passionate about our kids um so that's a good thing and I hope every everybody has a happy holiday January I Echo the sentiments of my uh fellow board members um many thanks to those of you who came to speak tonight uh we appreciate your input Lexi good to have you back and I say gigum all the way if you need some place to stay in College Station I know some people um and it is good to see you back in Thatcher you got some big shoes to fill there Lexi was our our student board member last year um would also
093like to say thanks to miss py Dr Ratliff and Miss Spence the School Board office as well I I think you know often times they operate behind the scenes but they do a lot of things and we wouldn't be where we are without them thank you thank you all very much um to our teachers you know I I think the process of that we're going through is is growth and we appreciate everything that you're doing it's hard and challenging in these times please know we trust you we want you to take care of our kids we hope I hope that you inspire them to be a teacher this is part of the process right most of you are teachers because one of your teachers inspired you to be a teacher so I hope that you
094ignite that light in many many other children and that you know we we have teachers many many teachers to come I hope everybody has a safe and happy holiday and and thank you again um hard being last I would just say I Echo all the comments and sentiments of of our board uh members and I wish each and every one of you a very happy holiday birth any other material for Board review no ma'am all right then we are adjourned thank you all